The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act bill now has supporting legislation in the US Senate. Idaho Sen Michael Crapo has introduced a bill that mirrors the house bill, HR 783. The Senate measure has been designated S 2183.
‘’In introducing this bill, we want to do something for Amateur Radio in return for all the good it has done the people of Idaho and elsewhere in the US by providing a reliable means of backup communication in times of emergency,’’ Crapo said. He also pledged to promote the bill in the Senate.
Like the House version, the Senate bill, if enacted, would require the FCC to provide equivalent replacement spectrum should it ever be necessary to reallocate Amateur Radio frequencies for some other purpose.
The new Senate legislation was introduced with bipartisan co-sponsorship from Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-AR), Bob Smith (R-NH) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
The bill’s introduction comes on the heels of a visit to Capitol Hill by the recently elected ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, and First Vice President Joel Harrison, W5ZN.
So far, the House version of the spectrum bill has drawn bipartisan support, with 140 cosponsors to date, and has met with no opposition. However, Congress, and the all- important House and Senate Commerce committees, have been preoccupied with non-telecommunications matters and the Amateur Spectrum Protection Act has not yet moved out of committee. The new Senate bill provides additional motivation for the Congress to consider the legislation.
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The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has upheld the FCC’s 1996 RF exposure guidelines. The court also turned away a challenge to the FCC’s exclusive ability to regulate relevant radio facility operations. The wide-ranging challenge was brought by the Cellular Phone Taskforce joined by other petitioners including the Communications Workers of America.
In an opinion released February 18, the three-judge panel upheld the FCC against the challenges on all points.
The petitioners, in part, had claimed the FCC failed to account for non-thermal effects of RF radiation, didn’t evaluate new evidence, failed to get expert testimony, and failed to account for ‘’scientific uncertainty’’ about RF exposure in deciding to not lower the maximum permissible exposure levels below the maximum permitted thermal levels. The petitioners also faulted the FCC for adopting a two- tiered MPE level system that allows for higher exposure in ‘’occupational / controlled’’ situations than in ‘’general population/uncontrolled’’ situations.
Additionally, the Appeals Court:
ARRL RF Safety Committee Chairman Greg Lapin, N9GL, credits the FCC with being comprehensive in developing its RF safety regulations and thinks the Appeals Court did the right thing. ‘’The FCC is not a health and safety organization, and the Commission never intended the rules to serve as a standard,’’ Lapin said.
Lapin pointed out that the FCC’s rules are based on accepted American National Standards Institute/Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements standards, ‘’which, in turn, are based on mountains of research and the opinions of lots of experts,’’ he said.
The resulting rules take into account a consensus of expert opinion on the topic of RF safety. ‘’The appeals court recognized this in its decision,’’ Lapin said.
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ARRL members are invited to offer their suggestions on the shape and scope of the new ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Program. A Web-based forum now is ‘’live’’ to collect member input on how the program should be designed and what it should include. ARRL Educational and Technical Advisor L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, is serving as forum moderator-facilitator.
The forum site is http://www.arrl.org/members-only/forums/index.php3 . It’s being moderated to ensure that all member input is acknowledged and integrated as fully as possible into the developing program. Members are being asked to suggest specific programs and areas of study or skills development they would like to see as part of the Program.
The ARRL Board of Directors approved the development and implementation of the self- education program for radio amateurs at its January meeting. The program is aimed at inspiring amateurs to continue acquiring technical knowledge and operating expertise beyond that required to become licensed.
The League will roll out the initial phase of the Certification and Continuing Education Program later this year.
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The Phase 3D next-generation Amateur Radio satellite has been tentatively scheduled to launch in late July. The launch is listed in the ‘’Provisional Ariane Launch Manifest’’ for February through July of this year appearing in the February edition of the Arianespace newsletter, (http://www.arianespace.com/news_espace.html).
If the schedule holds, the Phase 3D satellite would be sent aloft on Ariane 507, flight V132. A specific date in July was not available.
The Phase 3D satellite now is at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Phase 3D will be stored in its shipping container, housed in an air- conditioned integration building at the launch complex until launch preparations commence. All systems have been shut down and the batteries left uncharged.
A launch contract accepting Phase 3D as a payload for the first suitable Ariane 5 launch vehicle was signed last October.
For info about Phase 3D, visit the AMSAT- NA Web site, http://www.amsat.org.
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The ARRL has formally asked the FCC to reconsider and modify two aspects of its December 30, 1999, Report and Order that restructured the Amateur Radio rules. The League wants the FCC to continue to maintain records that indicate whether a Technician licensee has Morse code element credit. It also seeks permanent Morse element credit for any Amateur Radio applicant who has ever passed an FCC- recognized Morse exam of at least 5 WPM.
The League filed a Petition for Partial Reconsideration in the WT Docket 98-143 proceeding on March 13.
The League suggested that it would be less of an administrative burden for the FCC to maintain the Technician database as it has been doing. The database now identifies Technician and Tech Plus licensees by encoding the records with a ‘’T’’ or a ‘’P’’ respectively. The ARRL also said the inability to identify those Technicians that have HF privileges and those who do not could hamper voluntary enforcement efforts. It further suggested it would be wrong to put the burden of proof of having passed the Morse examination on licensees.
The League cited the demands of fairness in asking the FCC to afford Morse element credit to all applicants who have ever passed an FCC-recognized 5 WPM code exam. The rules already grant Element 1 credit to those holding an expired or unexpired FCC-issued Novice license or an expired or unexpired Technician Class operator license document granted before February 14, 1991. It also grants Element 1 credit to applicants possessing an FCC-issued commercial radiotelegraph operator license or permit that’s valid or expired less than 5 years.
The League has asked the FCC to ‘’conform the rules’’ to give similar credit to those who once held General, Advanced or Amateur Extra class licenses.
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After prodding by the FCC, Pacific Gas & Electric Company says it’s making headway in mitigating long-standing power-line noise complaints from several Northern California amateurs. Not all complaints have been resolved, however, and several new ones have sprung up in the interim.
The hams involved in the initial complaints had been unsuccessful getting the West Coast power company to investigate their reports of severe noise, so they turned to the ARRL and the FCC for help. In late November, the FCC wrote PG&E to remind the utility of its obligation to rectify equipment problems that cause harmful radio interference. The FCC requested that the company correct the problems “within a reasonable time” and report back.
The complainants were four hams in the Los Gatos/San Jose area and another in Berkeley. ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI— the League’s point man for RF interference issues—says the League has since received reports from additional hams in PG&E’s service area. Those complaints were forwarded to PG&E for resolution.
In a letter to the FCC, PG&E Manager for Operations and Construction Robert Lipscomb summarized progress in clearing up the initial complaints. The work included replacing poles, guy wires, insulators, and transformers as well as installing radio/television interference “clips” at one site and re-routing a service drop at another. Lipscomb conceded, however, that the utility still has additional work to do. PG&E personnel continue to work with Hare in resolving the complaints. Hare says not all of the five hams who complained have been contacted by PG&E. One still has severe interference, he says, and another has intermittent interference.
Some interference has been cleared up, however. Lipscomb told that in at least one of the five original cases, “the customer has been contacted and he is satisfied.”
The FCC’s Part 15 rules obligate utilities and others that fall under their provisions to not cause harmful interference to licensed services and to cease operating a device that’s causing harmful interference upon FCC notification. The ARRL Technical Information Service offers more information on how to deal with power line interference at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/rfi-elec.html. Amateurs suffering from interference believed to be emanating from power generation or transmission facilities may contact Ed Hare, W1RFI, 860-594-0318; rfi@arrl.org.
With a single exception, the venerable FCC Form 610 now is history. The FCC phased out the documents February 16. Amateur Radio applicants now must use the Universal Licensing System forms (Forms 605, 606) for all purposes. There is one exception: FCC Form 610B Club Station application continues to be valid until the FCC finalizes its privatized club station call sign administrator program.
Starting with the inception of the new FCC Amateur Radio licensing rules on April 15, 2000, the ARRL-VEC will charge a test fee of $6.65 to take the Element 1 (5 WPM Morse code) test. Until April 15, the 5 WPM Morse code test (Element 1A) and/or the Novice written test (Element 2) are free at ARRL-VEC test sessions.
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California has become the latest state to consider PRB-1 legislation. ARRL Southwestern Director Fried Heyn, WA6WZO, reports Senate Bill 1714 was introduced February 23 in the California Senate.
Like a similar PRB-1 measure passed last year by Virginia’s General Assembly, the California bill would require localities to accommodate Amateur Radio antennas of up to 200 feet, according to local population density.
Echoing the language of the PRB-1 limited federal preemption, the measure says that local ordinances regulating antenna placement, screening or height “shall reasonably accommodate amateur radio antennas and shall impose the minimum regulation necessary to accomplish the legitimate purpose of the city or county.”
Under the proposed bill, cities or counties with population densities of 120 persons or less per square mile (according to the 1990 US Census) would not be able to restrict Amateur Radio antennas to less than 200 feet above ground. Localities having population densities greater than 120 people per square mile would not be able to restrict ham antennas to less than 75 feet above ground. In both cases, localities would not be allowed to restrict the number of support structures.
The bill stipulates that “reasonable and customary engineering practices” be followed in erecting Amateur Radio antennas. The bill would not preclude localities from regulating amateur antennas with respect to the use of screening, setback and placement, and health and safety requirements.
Heyn credited Michael Mitchell, W6RW, will helping to get the bill introduced, and he asked California amateurs and clubs to contact their state lawmakers to support the measure.
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