The ARRL Board of Directors has voted to approve a resolution to create a new West Central Florida section. The vote was 14-0 with one abstention, said Board Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ.
The resolution approved calls on ARRL Field Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE, ‘’to establish, at the earliest date consistent with a smooth transition, a West Central Florida section consisting of the counties of Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota.’’
After consulting with Southeastern Division Director Frank Butler, W4RH, Southern Florida Section Manager Phyllisan West, KA4FZI, and petitioner Paul Toth, K2SEC, of the West Central Florida Section Committee, Palm said that January 15 was determined to be the best date to formally bring the new section into existence. A recommendation on the appointment of a manager for the new section is pending.
The nine Southern Florida counties involved voted overwhelmingly in favor of creating the new ARRL section, which will be number 71. Ballots counted September 15 at ARRL Headquarters showed 920 ARRL members in the proposed new section favored the idea, while 86 were opposed.
The West Central Florida Section Committee filed the petition with the ARRL last April. The Committee’s Web site is at http://www.qsl.net/wcfla.
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The FCC’s Legal Adviser for Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth says hams can expect more rigorous enforcement on 10 meter issues next year. Over the Labor Day weekend, Hollingsworth told visitors to the Shelby Hamfest in North Carolina that the next area of enforcement would be the encroachment of unlicensed individuals into the 10-meter band and a crackdown on illegal RF amplifiers. His announcement drew loud applause from the Shelby crowd. Hollingsworth elaborated on the comments this week in an interview concerning this and other enforcement issues.
“We’re coming on to ten months of rejuvenated amateur enforcement now, and two issues are clear—two areas we need to really crank up on next year,” Hollingsworth said. “One is the incursion into 10 meters by unlicensed operators—CBers and so forth. The other is sales of illegal equipment on the Internet and at hamfests.”
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Hollingsworth says his recent enforcement initiative aimed at call sign hoarders has met with some success. “I appreciate the people who have come in on their own and either turned in or trimmed down the number of club call signs that they had,” he said this week. During a two-week period in late August, Hollingsworth said 43 call signs voluntarily were turned back to the FCC.
Hollingsworth says he’s received replies from all of the letters the FCC has sent to multiple call sign holders, including members of the Tucker family in La Mirada, California. On June 30, the FCC requested that family patriarch Roy T. Tucker, N6TK, and other licensees in the Tucker family provide justification in writing for the two dozen or so club call signs held by various family members.
“I have about a half a dozen cases in the hopper,” Hollingsworth said of the call sign inquiries initiative, but added that he’s deferring judgment on whether the message has gotten across to the amateur community. “I would like to think so,” he said, “but I won’t know until I’ve seen these responses.” His stack includes replies from the Tucker family, who have hired an attorney to handle the FCC inquiry.
Hollingsworth says he’s optimistic that an anticipated FCC internal reorganization that will create a new Enforcement Bureau will occur no later than the end of the year but could be as early as October 1--the start of the new federal fiscal year. Hollingsworth has assured that the change will have no effect on Amateur Radio enforcement efforts.—John Kanode, N4MM, provided some information for this report
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A provision in a bill authorizing appropriations for the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other government weather services has raised fears that Amateur Radio-related activities such as SKYWARN may be endangered. The provision, Section 3(c) entitled “Competition with Private Sector”, also has triggered concern on the part of some that the bill could reduce the government’s ability to monitor and issue severe weather warnings. Some hams already have contacted their Senators requesting them to oppose the measure, HR-1553.
Section 3(c) says the NWS “shall not provide, or assist other entities to provide, a service if that service is currently provided or can be provided by commercial enterprise.” There would be exceptions if the private sector were unwilling or unable to provide the service or if the service provides “vital weather warnings and forecasts for the protection of lives and property of the general public.”
The provision is being championed by commercial weather services that provide fee-based “cloudy and warmer”-style and so- called “value-added” weather forecasts, primarily to commercial broadcasters. Some believe the bill could keep the NWS from providing needed weather information, including storm watches and warnings, storm tracking information, and other weather-related data to ARES/RACES or to emergency management officials.
ARRL Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Steve Mansfield, N1MZA, says HR 1553, “generally can be construed as supporting the National Weather Service’s role in the dissemination of severe weather warnings, because it specifically designates the service as the sole issuer of severe weather warnings.” Mansfield notes, however, that NWS and NOAA authorizing legislation hasn’t passed for 6 years.
Beyond that, the “private sector” provision in Section 3(c) has drawn fire from the White House, which has requested its removal. A Statement of Administration Policy notes that the provision “could create confusion about who' is responsible for specific marine and aviation weather forecasts.” Mansfield says that even if the bill does make it through Congress intact, he does not believe it will harm Amateur Radio’s SKYWARN relationship with NWS.
HR 1553 has passed the House. Action is pending in the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee.
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