HAM Toolkit/HAM Toolkit.iso/text/arrl/letter1.11

Text File | 1994-06-05 | 27KB | 628 lines

The ARRL Letter
Vol. 12, No. 1
January 11, 1993

The 1992 Amateur Radio Year in Review

JANUARY

     * The ARRL Board of Directors meets and elects Larry
Price, W4RA, International Affairs Vice President; elected
to replace Price as League president is George Wilson III,
W4OYI. Rodney Stafford, KB6ZV, is elected first vice
president; and Jay Holladay, W6EJJ, and Tom Frenaye, K1KI,
are elected vice presidents.

    The board creates the new position of chief
financial officer, to which current business manager Barry
J. Shelley is elected.

     * L. Phil Wicker, W4ACY, a former Roanoke Division
director, dies January 3 at age 83. He served as director
from 1974 to 1980 and was an ARRL Charter Life Member.

     * The FCC extends -- for the last time, it says -- the
ARRL Special Temporary Authority for unattended HF digital
operation by a limited number of specified amateur stations,
to January 3, 1993.

    * In reply comments to the FCC the League continues
to support a weak-signal segment on the 222 MHz band, a
request made in 1991 in its Petition for Rule Making, RM-
7869, saying that such a subband cannot be voluntarily
enforced.

    In late December the FCC issues a Notice of Proposed
Rule Making (in PR Docket 92-289). The FCC agrees that the
ARRL proposal for a "weak signal" subband at 222.0 to 222.15
has merit and includes it in the NPRM.    The Commission also
agrees with the ARRL that allowing Novices privileges on the
entire 222 MHz band is a good idea.

    In addition, the FCC looks favorably on a petition
by Novice Class licensee Michael C. Trahos, who seeks
authorization for Novices to be licensees and control
operators of repeaters on both the 222 and 1240 MHz bands,
and the NPRM proposes such (an idea on which the ARRL has
yet to take a position).

      * The FCC assigns RM numbers to two proposals for
changes in Part 97.113 of its rules concerning so-called
business communications, in response to an ARRL proposal to
allow amateurs to legally perform public service work that
is a gray area in current FCC regulations. On June 18 the
FCC formalizes the proposed changes, assigning the proposal
PR Docket 92-136.

    FCC Personal Radio Branch (PRB) staffer William
Cross tells the Commissioners that the pecuniary interest
constraints in the current rules often prohibit public
service communications by amateurs. Cross says that out of a
number of petitions for changes in the rules, the Private
Radio Bureau chose the League's version for presentation.

    Chairman Alfred Sikes praises the League for its
initiative in suggesting the rules changes, and agrees with
Commissioner James Quello that nothing in the rules changes
should be allowed to damage the integrity of the Amateur
Service or the fundamental self-policing aspect of it.

    In June the FCC releases its NPRM in PR Docket 92-
136, to effect these changes. In December the ARRL files
reply comments, addressing concerns of others about the
proposal. The League labels proposals by broadcasters to
allow more use of Amateur Radio in ordinary newsgathering
"self-serving."

    The League requests that the FCC finalize its
proposed restated rule as soon as possible.


FEBRUARY

     * The ITU World Administrative Conference opens in
Torremolinos, Spain, climaxing two years of intensive
preparations. During the month-long conference the IARU
observer team works with members of national delegations to
fend off threats to the amateur 40-meter band as well as to
amateurs' microwave allocations. The conference adopts no
changes in the 40-meter band but sets the stage for
eliminating regional differences in allocations at a future
conference.

     * The FCC says that budget considerations will preclude
the Commission's Field Operations Bureau from handling many
RFI complaints and problems. Other cutbacks likely will
include FCC involvement in ham-to-ham interference
complaints and interference to amateurs from noise sources
such as arc welders, other industrial equipment, and the
like, and amateurs themselves will have to shoulder
additional responsibility in dealing with these matters, the
FCC says.

     * The ARRL and W5YI-VECs file separate petitions with
the FCC for all Novice class Amateur Radio license
examinations to be administered under the current volunteer
examiner (VEC) program. The Novice class currently is the
only examination that may be taken outside the VE program
(i.e., under the supervision of two General class or higher
class amateurs) as well as taken through the VE program.

    In July, the FCC issues a Notice of Proposed Rule
Making in PR Docket 92-154, essentially as proposed by the
ARRL and W5YI VECs.

    In November, the ARRL files reply comments, hoping
to address concerns about the availabilty of examination
opportunities in sparsely populated areas and to clarify
that General class licensees would be eligible to administer
Novice exams within the VE system.

    The League concludes that there is no longer
justification for having a different system for Novice
examinations because the Novice class is now one of two
entry-level license classes (the Technician class already is
VEC-administered) and that the Novice class includes many
more operating privileges than it did when the subject was
last considered, in 1983.

     * The FCC denies requests that it reconsider the
establishment of a code free Technician class license (which
went into effect in February, 1991). Objections to the Commission's
order of December 13, 1990, had sought special call signs
for such licensees and privileges different from those
granted by the order.

    * Kuwait honors Amateur Radio operators on the first
anniversary of that country's liberation from Iraqi
occupation forces. Guests of the Kuwait government February
22-29 include amateurs from the United States, Guatemala,
Sweden, Germany, Egypt, and the Netherlands, as well as
Kuwaiti amateurs, all of whom were involved in
communications from Kuwait during the occupation.

    In the spring, television station WANE TV in Ft.
Wayne, Indiana, wins a national Headliner Award in the
category of outstanding television documentary or editorial
from the press club of Atlantic City, for its film, "Last
Voice from Kuwait," produced by WANE president and general
manager Frank Moore, WA1URA.

    At its meeting in July the ARRL Board of
Directors gives Abdul Jabbar Marafi, 9K2DZ, its 1992
International Humanitarian award.

       In late 1992 John Troost, TG9VT, the "Guatemalan
connection" in the Kuwait saga, dies after a long illness.


MARCH

    * SAREX Space Shuttle STS-45 carries four licensed
amateurs among its four-person crew. Pilot Brian Duffy,
N5WQW, an astronaut since 1985, tells the Associated Press
that he "recently earned his ham radio operator's license so
he could use the amateur radio aboard *Atlantis* to chat with
school children and other folks."

    * The FCC allocates 218-219 MHz to interactive video
data services (IVDS) effective April 8, 1992. The ARRL had
sought a secondary, non-interference allocation for the
Amateur Radio Service at 216-220 MHz, in a petition for
access to spectrum in the 216-220 MHz range; that petition
remains unchanged by the IVDS ruling.

     * US Senator Wendell Ford (D-KY) enters into the
Congressional Record a statement honoring ARRL President
Wilson. Ford, a neighbor and long-time acquaintance of
Wilson in Owensboro, Kentucky, noted Wilson's election as
League president, calling ARRL "the Nation's leading
organization of amateur radio operators," and commending
"Mr. Wilson's public service to the people of Kentucky."

    * New ARRL President Wilson meets for the first time
with FCC officials to discuss matters of interest to
amateurs.


APRIL

     * The Dayton Hamvention names Richard L. Baldwin, W1RU,
its 1992 Amateur of the Year. Baldwin has been president of
the International Amateur Radio Union since retiring from
the ARRL Headquarters staff in 1982.

    Also honored by the HamVention are Gerald Cromer,
K4NHN, for technical excellence and Ned Raub, W1RAN, for
special achievement.

    Angela Fischer, KB0HXY, is named the Westlink Young
Ham of the Year for 1992. Angela, 13, is credited with
introducing a number of other youngsters to Amateur Radio.

     * The FCC on April 15 is authorized to increase fines
in all services, including Amateur, and steps up its
issuance of Notices of Apparent Liability against commercial
users and others. Included in the latter are three people: a
Technician Class amateur in Maine is fined $10,000 for a
violation in the Citizen's Band; a non-amateur in Florida
gets an $8,000 NAL for transmitting in the Amateur 40-meter
band; and an Amateur Extra Class licensee in Colorado gets a
$10,000 NAL for transmitting from a mobile installation on
frequencies near 7420 and 15050 kHz.

    In June, the FCC denies petitions to reconsider the
new, stiffer monetary fines structure.

    * The FCC's Private Radio Bureau issues its first
Order to Show Cause and Suspension Order to amateurs in
several years; Charles P. Pascal, WB6CIY, and Sandra V.
Crane, N6TFO, both Amateur Extra Class licensees, are
ordered to show cause why their Amateur operator licenses
should not be suspended and their station licenses revoked
for what the FCC alleges are volunteer examination
irregularities.

    In October, the two reach a settlement that includes
agreeing to temporary license suspensions before an
administrative law judge in Washington, D.C., who issues a
consent order "resolving all issues in the proceeding,"
according to the FCC.

    "The settlement and its terms do not constitute an
admission by either respondent of any violation of law,
rules, or policy," the FCC says.

    Crane and Pascal call the plea bargain a "stunning
reversal" for the FCC.

     * Dick Rutan, KB6LQS, co-pilot of the December, 1986
record setting around-the-world flight of his aircraft
*Voyager* and the 1992 ARRL National Convention banquet
speaker, announces a bid for the U.S. Congress from
California's 42nd District.

    In June Rutan wins the Republican Party primary but
is defeated in November by 14-term Rep. George E. Brown for
the seat from the newly-redistricted 42nd.


MAY

     * Ralph V. "Andy" Anderson, K0NL, dies May 4, at age
82. He was a former ARRL Midwest Division vice-director and
director, a prolific Amateur Radio writer and editor, and a
co-founder of the Amateur Radio News Service.

     * U.S. Representative Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), the sponsor
of H.R. 73, the "Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act,"
responds to concerns that the bill might encroach on the
FCC's authority to assign spectrum by saying that "the
American people don't elect the FCC to set
telecommunications policy. They elect the Congress to do
that."

    In November Cooper is reelected to Congress, and
sponsor of the companion Senate bill Al Gore, also of
Tennessee, is elected US Vice President.

     * The FCC changes the call sign of the Voice of America
Amateur Radio Club station in Washington, D.C. to from K3EKA
to K3VOA, in honor of the VOA's 50th anniversary.

     * The League tallies responses to a questionaire sent
to a thousand young hams about their operating and listening
habits. The FCC later cites the results of the survey as
support for enforcement actions against amateurs for their
on-the-air behavior and language.

     * The Heath Company officially announces that it is out
of the kit business, a fact known to Heath fans for some
time. Heath's president, Bill Johnson, says that "folks just
aren't buying and building very many kits anymore."


JUNE

     * An article in *USA Today* about a new rf-powered
lightbulb concerns amateurs. It turns out that the bulb is
not yet in production, although the manufacturer,
Intersource Technologies Inc. of Sunnyvale, California, says
the bulbs are expected to meet FCC Part 15 rules regarding
incidental interference. A few weeks later the designer and
patent holder of the device, Diablo Research Corporation,
tells ARRL that "We are very sensitive to interference on
our ham frequencies and take pride in designing high quality
products with this in mind. The E-Lamp has no harmonics
within any amateur band below 420 MHz." Diablo says.

     * The ARRL Foundation's major scholarship award for
1992 goes to a 32-year-old videographer from Greensboro,
North Carolina. Harry L. "Chip" Litaker, Jr., AC4BO, picks
up the $5,000 ARRL Scholarship Honoring Barry Goldwater.

    * The League expands its Washington presence with
the move there from Newington of ARRL Technical Relations
Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, who will be responsible for day-
to-day contact with federal agencies. ARRL Publications
Manager Mark Wilson, AA2Z, replaces Rinaldo as editor of
*QST*.

    * The FCC fines James Winstead Jr, KK6SM, $15,000
for allegedly using a mobile dual band transceiver to
interfere with communications on commercial UHF channels in
northern California. Winsted is identified through the
efforts of local amateurs.

    * The FCC at an open meeting discusses changes in
its Part 15 rules to enable so-called "smart houses," but
does not consider the potential for EMI in such situations.
The FCC says that EMI is outside the scope of the NPRM (in
ET Docket 91-269), which the League had commented on.

    * Several FCC officials attending the National
Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators held June 11
and 12 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, praise the VEC program
and participate in meetings with volunteer examiners on
topics including VEC guidelines; VEC self enforcement;
Novice testing under the VEC program; possible exclusion of
certain age groups from test fees as well as uniformity in
test fees among the different VECs; and General Class
volunteer examiners (in addition to the current Extra and
Advanced class volunteers).

    * On June 3 the FCC fines Advanced class licensee
James L. Brantley, K6KPS, $8,000 for malicious interference
and "broadcasting" on 20 meters.

    Technician class Russell D. Hutchings, N0QMZ, is
accused of submitting an altered Certificate of Successful
Completion of Examination (CSCE) to volunteer examiners and
fined $1,500, but in August the FCC cancels Hutchings's NAL
after the staff of his US Senator, John C. Danforth (R-MO),
asks the FCC to reconsider in light of the amateur's
"medical depression."

    * Congressman Ralph M. Hall of Texas, a member of
the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee and
also a co-sponsor of House Bill HR-73, writes to the FCC,
"on behalf of several amateur radio operators who are
interested in the establishment of an FCC system for
allotting distinctive call signs." Hall is joined by Rep.
Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, chairman of the
subcommittee, in support for a return to special call sign
requests by amateurs. Shortly thereafter ARRL President
Wilson writes to FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes, reiterating the
League's support in the matter.

    "We would be pleased to work with FCC staff in
developing a fair, workable system for assigning specific,
unassigned Amateur Radio call signs," Wilson says.

    * Robert Hertzberg, K4JBI, dies June 30 at age 87.
He was a technical writer and editor best remembered for his
book "So You Want to be a Ham," first published in 1956 by
Howard W. Sams and updated throughout the 1960s.


JULY

    * At its July meeting the ARRL Board says it will
not entertain the idea of changing the name of the
organization until members have had an opportunity to voice
their opinion on the matter. The board also encourages
promotion of ARRL family memberships and creates an ARRL
Industry Advisory Council, and adopts a position on HF
digital autoforwarding after a recommendation by the Digital
Committee. Packet enthusiasts, fearing a loss of service,
rally in opposition.

    * Members of the two Canadian national Amateur Radio
organizations, the Canadian Radio Relay League (CRRL) and
the Canadian Amateur Radio Federation (CARF) vote to
dissolve their respective organizations and then merge into
a single entity, to be called Radio Amateurs of Canada. At
year's end lawyers and accountants are still hammering out
details of the merger, which is predicted to be completed by
mid-1993.


AUGUST

    * The FCC proposes a new method of licensing
foreign amateurs visiting in the U.S. The NPRM, in PR
Docket 92-167, would include amateurs from countries with
which the U.S. has no reciprocal operating agreement and
would have volunteer examiners handle the mechanics of the
applications.

    The League comments that the proposal could lead to
other countries tightening their rules, would put an undue
burden on volunteer examiners, and as an alternative
proposes the adoption of a "common international license
endorsement" scheme.

    In November the League adds reply comments
continuing to support the goal of the proposal while
encouraging alternate means of achieving it.

    * Gino A. Turrella, of Kent, Washington, a non-
amateur and the target of what the FCC calls "numerous
complaints" for transmitting profane language and making
threats "on various amateur radio repeater stations
throughout Western Washington," is cited for "willful"
violations of Section 301 of the Communications Act, and
issued an NAL for $10,000.

    * William J. Halligan, W9AC, founder of the
Hallicrafters Company, dies July 14 at age 93.    He founded
the company in 1933 and ran it until retiring in 1975.

    * The W5YI Report publishes a report on the work
backlog in the ARRL's DXCC Branch, questioning the amount of
resources being devoted to DXCC. The ARRL Letter interviews
DXCC managers Tom Hogerty, KC1J, and Bill Kennamer, K5FUV,
to get another side of the story. Later in the year the ARRL
Administration and Finance Committee approves funds for a
DXCC "night shift" and for new computer equipment for the
Branch. At year's end the backlog still stands at about six
months but the plan to eliminate it is in place and
functioning.

    * Thomas H. Haynie, WB4PVK, convicted in September,
1990, of causing intentional interference to a
communications satellite (a felony) is ordered by the FCC to
show cause why his amateur station and operators licenses
should not be terminated. Haynie appeals but the FCC finds
his arguments unconvincing and late in the year suspends his
amateur operator license and revokes his station license.

        * The ARRL Executive Committee, meeting during the
National Convention in Los Angeles, asks the Digital
Committee to meet with representatives of the specially
authorized packet autoforwarding group to seek a solution to
the HF autoforwarding controversy.

    * Hurricane Andrew strikes the Bahamas, south
Florida, and the Gulf Coast, and a Florida amateur, Herbert
Engelman, KD4OZY, is killed while working in the relief
effort that follows. A report on amateurs' activities in the
Hurricane is published in December *QST*.

    Florida Governor Lawton Chiles sends a letter to
ARRL to ... "thank the many amateur radio operators who
assisted in the Hurricane Andrew relief effort.    The amateur
radio service can be proud of its members, who time and time
again serve the country unselfishly. The state of Florida
owes them a debt of gratitude and thanks," Chiles says.


SEPTEMBER

    * Voluntary HF band-planning for packet radio and
other digital modes is a mjor topic when the General
Assembly IARU Region 2 meets in the Netherlands Antilles.
Recommended HF digital segments are agreed upon; recommended
HF band segments for CW and for radiotelephone (including
SSTV and FAX) are unchanged. The Assembly agrees to hold its
1995 meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

    * SAREX Space Shuttle STS-47 makes several thousand
voice and packet contacts with earthbound amateurs, with
astronaut hams Dr. Jay Apt, N5QWL, and Dr. Mamoru Mohri,
7L2NJY, aboard.

    * General Class licensee Allen Burton, KA4URC,
receives an FCC fine of $1,500 for "indecent speech" on 20
meters. The Notice of Apparent Liability says that one of
the Commission's goals is to "protect children from exposure
to sexually explicit communications over the airwaves."

    In late November the FCC reduces Burton's fine to
$200 when he says he cannot afford to pay the higher levy.
The Commission warns Burton not to let it happen again.


SEPTEMBER

    * Hurricane Iniki pummels the Hawaiian island of
Kauai and amateurs from the other islands as well as the
mainland do yeoman service as communicators. They receive a
commendation from the mayor of Kauai and a feature article
in February, 1993 *QST*.

    * The ARRL Digital Committee recommends that the
part of the IARU Region 2 band plan adopted at its recent
conference to provide for digital forwarding be incorporated
into United States radio regulations. The committee also
formulates a tentative voluntary band plan for the digital
parts of the MF and HF bands and invites comment from
interested parties.



OCTOBER

    * ARRL Associate Technical Editor Jerry Hall, K1TD,
retires from the Headquarters staff after 23 years of
service, with many ARRL *Handbooks*, *Antenna Books*,
*Antenna Compendiums*, and *QST* articles under his belt.
Jerry stops back in the first time there's free food -- at
the Christmas party.

    * Extra Class licensee Richard C. Bortner, KG5WS, is
ordered by the FCC to show cause why his license should not
be revoked for not responding to earlier letters from the
Commission. In mid-November, the Commission withdraws its
Order to Show Cause "in view of on-going proceedings in the
case."

    * Three broadcast radio stations receive FCC fines
for airing "indecent" language during "times of day when
there was a reasonable risk that children might be in the
audience." The stations are in New York City, Philadelphia,
and Manassas, Virginia, and aired segments of the Howard
Stern radio show.

    * Former ARRL Hudson Division Director George V.
Cooke, W4LEP, dies October 18 at the age of 91. He served
three terms as a director, from January 1953 to January
1959.

    *The League sends a draft letter of intent to the
FCC proposing the resumption of issuing distinctive call
signs to amateur clubs and military recreation stations; at
year's end it still awaits a reply. The letter is in
response to a law passed in early October that would enable
such a resumption. The League offers to provide
uncompensated and unreimbursed volunteer service to the
Commission as the exclusive administrator of club and
military recreation call signs.


NOVEMBER


    * Michael E. Whatley, WA4D, receives an NAL for
$1,500 for deliberate interference to other amateur
stations, stemming from transmissions on 40 meters made in
November, 1991 and monitored by the FCC.    Whatley gets
the usual 30 days in which to respond or pay.

    * Hiram Hamilton Maxim, son of ARRL founder Hiram
Percy Maxim, W1AW, dies November 2. He was 92. He took over
his father's company, Maxim Silencer, when HPM died in 1936.

    * And on November 11 famed DXer Al Slater, G3FXB,
dies of a heart attack at his home in England. He had
recently been elected to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame and was
an official of the First Class CW Operators Club (FOC).

    * A Notice of Inquiry from the US Department of
Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration asks for public comment on current and future
requirements for the radio spectrum, and the League responds
with a Christmas wish list. The ARRL notes the recent
explosion of the amateur ranks to the current level of more
than 580,000, as well as amateurs' needs for a number of
relatively small frequency allocations scattered throughout
the spectrum.

    The League suggests amateurs could need all their
current frequency allocations, as well as a number of new
ones.

    * In November the ARRL Executive Committee defers
until at least the January Board meeting whether or not to
pursue H.R. 73 in the new year.

    * 22-year-old Roy L. Eyman, KC6TYR, a Technician
Class licensee, is sentenced to three years supervised
probation and 250 hours of community service for
transmitting on a tactical operations radio channel of the
San Diego police department, and is ordered to deprogram his
Amateur Radio equipment of all public safety frequencies.
The sentence is handed down by a U.S. magistrate in an out-
of-court settlement, according to the FCC.

    * Annual elections result in ARRL Board of
Directors members being returned to office. Ballots counted
November 20 return directors in the Hudson and Northwestern
Divisions, as well as vice-directors in the Central,
Hudson, and Rocky Mountain Divisions. In the Roanoke
Division Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, is elected over the incumbent
and two other challengers.

        Art Goddard, W6XD, is unopposed in a bid for vice
director in the Southwestern Division, a seat vacated by
Wayne Overbeck, N6NB.

    * ARRL Director Emeritus Robert Thurston, W7PGY,
dies November 14 at the age of 89. He was Northwestern
Division Director from 1965 to 1980.


DECEMBER

        * The ARRL finishes the year with 3.5 percent
membership growth.

        * FCC Chairman Alfred E. Sikes announces that he
will resign in January, 1993, clearing the way for a Clinton
appointee.

    * The FCC orders the re-testing of 20 amateurs who
received licenses or upgrades as a result of volunteer
examinations given in early 1992 at examinations conducted
in Waterville, New York, at two sessions coordinated by ARRL-
VEC. The FCC said the action was "due to apparent
irregularities in the examination papers of certain
applicants indicating that applicants may have had advance
access to the examination materials."

    The ARRL-VEC turned the materials over to the FCC
when the possible irregularities came to light. At year's
end no wrongdoing had been alleged but the investigation was
continuing.