Ballots have been counted in the Section
Manager elections for the ARRL Rhode
Island and Utah sections. The individual
receiving the most votes was the successful
candidate. Terms of office begin June 1,
1999. The results are as follows:
…
In the New Hampshire Section, Michael Graham, K7CTW.
…
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The FCC has implemented the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) Recommendation T/R 61-01 that eliminates the need to obtain a special license or permit for US hams wishing to operate during brief visits to most European countries. In addition, the ARRL has begun issuing International Amateur Radio Permits to simplify operation by US hams in certain South American countries.
The FCC put the final pieces of the CEPT arrangement into place June 7 by issuing a Public Notice in English, German, and French that spells out the basic information about Amateur Radio operation in CEPT countries. To operate in a CEPT country, US hams only need a copy of the Notice, their original Amateur Radio document, and proof of US citizenship (a US-issued passport or a birth certificate should suffice).
US hams holding any license class but Novice are eligible to operate in CEPT countries. A US citizen with a Technician ticket may be authorized privileges equivalent to a CEPT Class 2 (ie, VHF-only) license, while a US citizen holding a higher class license may be authorized CEPT Class 1 (all amateur / amateur-satellite) privileges.
The authorization is for use of a portable or mobile station only, including stations set up at hotels or a camping site. Authorization is also granted for US hams to operate the stations of permanent licensees in host countries. The use of Amateur Radio aboard an aircraft is not allowed, however.
To identify while overseas, US stations will use their assigned call signs preceded by the CEPT call sign prefix for the country or territory visited. US licensees operating under this agreement overseas cannot request protection against interference.
Operators must abide by the provisions of the ITU Radio Regulations as well as CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 and the regulations in force in the host country. US operators planning to operate in other countries must become familiar with that country’s regulations and frequency allocations, paying special attention to regional differences.
Participating CEPT countries as of June 7 include Austria, Belgium, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (including Corsica, Guadeloupe, Guiana, Martinique, St Bartholomew, St Pierre et Miquelon, St Martin, and Reunion/Dependencies), Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (including Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man).
The ARRL has begun issuing the International Amateur Radio Permit (IARP) that allows US amateurs to operate from Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela without having to obtain a special license (the US and Canada also are CITEL signatories). The IARP is valid in any country that is a signatory to the CITEL Amateur Convention.
The Class 1 IARP—available to Tech Plus and higher class licensees—requires knowledge of Morse code and carries all operating privileges. The Class 2 IARP— equivalent to the US Technician ticket— does not require knowledge of Morse code and carries all privileges above 30 MHz. An IARP is not a license, but it certifies the existence of a license.
Complete information on CEPT and IARP operation, including an IARP application form and a copy of the FCC Public Notice on CEPT, is available from the International Operating page on ARRLWeb, http://www.arrl.org/field/regulations/io/.
The new procedures affect operation only in participating CEPT (European) and CITEL (Central and South American) countries. They do not change the procedures for US hams wishing to operate overseas in countries that are not CEPT participants or CITEL Amateur Convention signatories. Information on operation from these countries also is available on the pages of ARRLWeb.
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The ARRL has urged the FCC to act ‘’without delay’’ on Amateur Radio restructuring and has suggested that the Commission adopt the League’s restructuring plan as its own in order to speed up the process. In a letter May 19 to the FCC, the League says that the state of limbo created by the current FCC Amateur Radio restructuring proceeding, WT Docket 98-143, is stifling Amateur Radio’s growth, as current and prospective hams await an FCC Report and Order.
The League asked the FCC to adopt the League’s plan in a Report and Order ‘’at the earliest possible time.’’
The ARRL told the FCC that its comprehensive plan of four license classes and two Morse code testing tiers--5 WPM and 12 WPM—plus refarming of the Novice/Technician Plus HF CW subbands ‘’constitutes a reasonable middle ground proposal.’’ The ARRL’s restructuring proposal formed the core of the League’s comments to the FCC on WT 98-143, which the FCC refers to as the Part 97 Biennial Review.
Both the FCC and ARRL proposals would eliminate the Novice and Tech Plus licenses. The ARRL’s letter stressed that ‘’refarming’’ of the Novice class subbands was ‘’the most critical portion of the League’s comprehensive plan, or, indeed, of any license restructuring plan the Commission may adopt.’’ The League said refarming was essential to make room for anticipated additional licensees using SSB HF subbands. In addition, the League said, refarming ‘’is absolutely necessary to preserve and enhance the incentive self- training program’’ and to ensure more efficient use of limited HF allocations. Under the League’s plan, General, Advanced, and Extra class licensees would get additional HF spectrum for phone operation.
Judging from comments made at the Dayton Hamvention FCC forum by William Cross, W3TN, of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, no substantive progress has been made toward formulating Amateur Service rules changes beyond reading, analyzing, and tabulating comments. Cross said no decisions had been made on WT Docket 98-143 as of May 13. The FCC received 2250 comments from the amateur community in the proceeding.
In its letter, the League took the opportunity to express appreciation for the support for the Amateur Service by both Chairman William Kennard and WTB Chief Thomas Sugrue and to thank the FCC for the renewed enforcement efforts of Compliance and Information Bureau Chief Richard Lee and CIB Legal Advisor Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH.
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The FCC’s Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, says the Commission may have to resort to fines to curb the practice of hoarding multiple club station call signs. ‘’The reason we’re concerned about this is that we consider it an abuse of our licensing processes,’’ said Hollingsworth, an FCC legal adviser for enforcement. ‘’If somebody applies for 30 or 40 licenses over time, it really overloads the staff.’’ Hollingsworth pointed out that the call signs often must be typed in manually.
‘’If we have continued abuse, we’re going to have to levy some forfeitures, which we have done in the past for abuse of Commission processes,’’ he said. ‘’With short staff and budget considerations, we just can’t let things like this go on.’’
Earlier this month, a ham listed as the trustee for more than three dozen club station call signs agreed to give up all but one of them. Motoaki Uotome, JA1GZV, who also holds a US Extra ticket as W9BO, apparently was the trustee of 41 club station call signs. Last month, the FCC set aside 14 recently granted club station call signs and 12 recently granted club vanity call signs Uotome held and asked him to justify the grants.
Hollingsworth concedes that the FCC rules do not specify an upper limit to the number of call signs an individual may hold, but says ‘’the underpinning of the rules is common sense.’’ He recommended that multiple call sign holders seriously consider turning in their excess grants before they hear from the FCC, ‘’because we will be pursuing them.’’
In addition to the Uotome case, the FCC has contacted amateurs in California and Arizona who hold several club station call signs and has asked them to justify having them. News of the cases already has had an impact. ‘’We’re had several others come in on a voluntary basis and turn their excess number in,’’ Hollingsworth said.
The FCC says the two-year rule applies for those seeking to obtain one of the desirable call signs being yielded or called back by the FCC, and Hollingsworth plans to specify a date of cancellation on each letter to a holder so it will be clear when the two years are up.
‘’We’re also going let them know they can’t reclaim any of these call signs under former call sign holder exceptions to the two-year period,’’ he said. Close relatives also would be unable to claim any of the call signs in the future.
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No Amateur Radio examination question pool or question changes will occur July 1 for any license class—including Advanced.
Last September, the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators’ Question Pool Committee announced that all question pool updates were being put on hold until after the FCC had acted on Amateur Radio restructuring (officially known as the Part 97 Biennial Review). Until the September NCVEC QPC announcement, the Advanced class question pool had been scheduled to expire at midnight on June 30, 1999.
Current examination questions and study materials remain valid until further notice.
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The FCC has denied the ARRL’s petition that sought to expand the Amateur Radio special event call sign program. The League had asked the FCC to amend its rules to permit the use of special event call sign formats that go beyond the currently authorized one-by-one (1x1) format. The petition also had asked the Commission to include call signs denoting US territories and possessions having no mailing address within the special event program.
In an April 21 letter to League, D’Wana Terry, chief of the Public Safety and Private Wireless Division within the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau said the FCC was ‘’not persuaded that the requested changes to the system are warranted at this time.’’ The League’s petition was submitted May 18, 1998, but it was never assign a rulemaking number or put out for public comment.
ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, called Terry’s decision ‘’somewhat disappointing.’’
The special event call sign program is administered by several private sector coordinators, including the ARRL. Those wanting a special event call sign for a limited period are able to reserve one via the Internet. Under current rules, 750 combinations of 1x1 format call signs are available for limited periods. Stations operating with special event call signs still must identify with the station’s regularly assigned call sign at one-hour intervals.
In its petition, the League said there has been significant demand for special event call signs outside of the 1x1 format and for DXpeditions to locations under US jurisdiction that lack US Postal Service addresses. The League also said that there has been ‘’a great deal of interest’’ in additional special event call sign formats that would let the call sign symbolize a particular event or type of event.
Terry said the FCC has not received any indication from the Amateur Radio community that demand for special event call signs exceeded the number available. She also said the need to create additional formats was outweighed by the complexity of creating them.
Terry advised more experience with the current system before deciding to change it, and she urged the League to continue to monitor demand for special event call signs. Sumner said he was encouraged that the FCC, while denying the petition, had invited the League to revisit the issue later.
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The fee to apply for an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will increase from $13 to $14 starting September 10, 1999.
The FCC has released its FY 1999 fee schedule which rounded down the proposed $1.42 per year fee.
The FCC continues to receive in excess of 1000 vanity applications per month.
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In lieu of a legal name change, the ARRL Executive Committee will recommend to the Board of Directors to emphasize the abbreviation “ARRL” in conjunction with the tag line “The National Association for Amateur Radio.” The action came at the Committee’s meeting May 1 in Irving, Texas. The move, if accepted by the full Board, would not actually change the name of the organization, but the “ARRL” moniker and tag line would appear on all League correspondence and publications instead of the full name.
The EC also recommended putting off further discussion of a name change at least until the January 2000 board meeting. At that time, the Board is scheduled to receive a report from League Executive Vice President David Sumner on planning for Amateur Radio in 2010 and beyond.
At its January meeting, the Board tasked the Executive Committee to develop a name change proposal for consideration at the Board’s July meeting. The recommendation to emphasize the “ARRL” abbreviation and new tag line followed a discussion of various alternatives. Hudson Division Director and EC member Frank Fallon, N2FF, stressed that the organization’s name should make its purposes and objectives clear to outsiders.
In other Committee actions, the EC voted to reaffirm the League’s position that the FCC continue to issue a paper license document to amateur licensees. The Committee also was advised that the League will not seek FCC reconsideration of its petition to expand the special events call sign program. The FCC turned down the request last month but invited the League to revisit the issue later.
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The long-awaited Phase 3D Amateur Radio satellite could be launched into space as early as this fall. A statement from Phase 3D Project Leader and AMSAT-DL President Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, delivered during the Dayton Hamvention revealed that AMSAT is “in the final phase of working out the details of an agreement” to launch Phase 3D.
Meinzer’s remarks were read during the AMSAT forum by AMSAT-NA President Keith Baker, KB1SF.
Meinzer said that since an opportunity to fly Phase 3D aboard the last Ariane 5 test flight fell through last summer, the Phase 3D launch team has been seeking a replacement launch. “We have been patiently negotiating with a number of different launch agencies, and it looks now that this work is starting to pay off.” He said he’s optimistic that a launch contract can be finalized soon.
Phase 3D would remain “a standby passenger,” Meinzer’s statement said. AMSAT officials declined to identify the launch agency or vehicle. Meinzer’s statement said Phase 3D could fly as early as October but stressed that the date is very tentative and depends on successfully working out the remaining contract details.
“It’s mostly technical issues,” Baker told the ARRL. He emphasized during the AMSAT forum that things are still tentative at this point. “The October date is the opening of a window that will stretch into the future,” he said.
Phase 3D Integration Lab Manager Lou McFadin, W5DID, told the gathering that the spacecraft “is essentially complete.” Additional integration and vibration testing will be completed this spring and summer. For more information, visit http://www.amsat.org.