HAM Toolkit/HAM Toolkit.iso/text/arrl/letter7.24

Text File | 1993-11-17 | 25KB | 944 lines

The ARRL Letter

Vol. 12, No. 14

July 24, 1993


Amateur Radio "business rule" to change


At ARRL's request

clarifies what

communications OK


    The FCC has amended its rules to allow amateur

operators more flexibility to provide communications for

public service projects and to "enhance the value of the

amateur service in satisfying personal communications

needs."

    The new rules are based on a Commission proposal

announced in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in July, 1992,

a proposal resulting from an ARRL request. The League at

that time suggested that new language for the rules would

permit amateurs greater flexibility in providing

noncommercial communications while maintaining the

traditional character of Amateur Radio by continuing to

prohibit routine business communications.

    In fact, the FCC in its Notice said "the League's

suggested proposal appears to best consolidate the views of

the amateur community (and) as noted by the League the

amateur radio community has a long tradition of self-

regulation and a strong commitment to maintaining the

unclouded distinction between the amateur service and other

radio services."

    The Commission in announcing the rules change (in PR

Docket 92-136) said the new rules would permit amateurs to

"facilitate events such as races and parades, to support

educational activities, to provide personal communications

such as making appointments and ordering food, to collect

data for the National Weather Service, and to provide

assistance voluntarily even where there are other authorized

radio services available."

    The FCC stopped short of granting an ARRL request

for further definition of acceptable communications,

particularly in the difference between a regular and an

irregular event, saying that providing such anecdotal

examples "would necessitate that the FCC intrude upon the

day-to-day functioning of the service to a far greater

degree than desired."  The FCC said that generating a list

of the thousands of possible examples would unduly tax the

Commission's staff.

    The wording of the new rules is not yet available;

the new rules will not be in effect until 30 days after they

are published in the Federal Register. The full text of

the FCC's NPRM is in September 1992 QST, page 62; the

rules as adopted are not expected to be materially

different.


Amateurs assist in Midwest floods


By Chuck Gysi, N2DUP


    When flood waters ungulfed the U.S. Midwest --

particularly Iowa -- earlier this month, Amateur Radio

operators were ready to pitch in with support

communications. The entire state of Iowa -- all 99 counties

-- was declared a federal disaster area, as well as many

counties in neighboring states.

    As daily downpours pelted most of the Hawkeye State,

already-swollen rivers were sent well over flood stage in

many communities. The flooding along the Mississippi River

attracted national media attention, as well as the problems

that plagued the capital city of Des Moines after flood

waters swamped and contaminated the city's water treatment

plant. The problem eventually resulted in the loss of water

for 250,000 residents for many weeks.

    In fact, at one time Amateur Radio was the only link

from inside Des Moines' besieged water treatment plant and

those on the outside, as hams relayed information from

inside the submerged facility.

    In most river communities, Amateur Radio wasn't

necessarily pressed into service, because flooding didn't

knock out communications circuits. While many towns and

cities dealt with flooded downtown streets, business and

homes, most telephones and governmental radio services

remained in operation.

    However, the magnitude of the flooding that resulted

when the Raccoon River overflowed in Des Moines resulted in

the placement of more than 100 Amateur Radio operators in

various roles.

    Chuck Willoughby, KA0VBA, is the ARRL district

emergency coordinator for nine counties in Central Iowa. He

said hams became involved to support governmental

operations. The Greater Des Moines FM Club's repeater on

146.820 was placed into service as a link between emergency

operating centers (EOCs) set up at various sites. Net

control was set up at the county EOC at the Polk County

engineer's office.

    In addition, hams were stationed at EOCs set up by

the city at East High School, by the state at the Hoover

Building, and by the fire department at its dispatch center.

    Two hams were stationed at both the city and state

EOCs because the hams often were used to track down

officials. While one ham remained on the air the other would

pass messages to officials at the EOC. There were as many as

100 officials at the city EOC at times.

    In addition to handling traffic over the 2-meter

repeater, hams at the county EOC also manned the U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers' radio at that location. The Corps was

short on manpower and the hams pitched in on the Corps'

frequency.

    One essential service performed by the hams during

the flooding was to log river readings in the area. Chris

Charron, WB0RSW, said he was one of those hams who radioed

river level readings, particularly after a critical

instrument failed on the Raccoon River near Van Meter, Iowa.

Charron said he set up a generator at the location to light

up the area where he was logging readings through the night.

    In addition to assisting governmental officials, Des

Moines area hams also set up a net for the American Red

Cross, to enable its mobile food units to have wide-area

communications coverage throughout the metropolitan area.

The Red Cross canteens fed not only flood victims, but also

the thousands of volunteers who pitched in to sandbag

endangered levees. Communications also was offered to the

Salvation Army and National Guard, Willoughby said.

    Hams who were trained by the Red Cross in damage

assessment also were utilized in the Des Moines area. Two-

person teams of hams would go into areas to start damage

assessment and would radio in hourly to their headquarters

while in areas without phone service. Willoughby noted that

at times there were not enough volunteers for shifts, which

were scheduled 24 hours in advance.

    "We're pleased we were able to do as good a job," he

said, adding "We managed to meet our target levels at all

times."

    Charron noted that the hams involved in the flood

situation also were able to serve in a rumor control

function, offering information on roads and bridges that

were closed to those who inquired on amateur frequencies.

    Looking back at the services provided by the hams,

Willoughby observed that more mobile Amateur Radio equipment

with cigarette lighter plugs and magnetic-mount antennas

could have been used during the disaster operation. The

lighter plugs allow mobile ham gear to be operated from any

vehicle so equipped, as do the mag-mount antennas.

    Safety is an important aspect of providing

communications support during an emergency, and

unfortulately there was one non-amateur, communications-

related death during the flood operation.

    Spc. Steven M. West, 30, of Ogden, Iowa, died after

an antenna he was attempting to erect fell over and came in

contact with a high-voltage power line. West was setting up

equipment at Veterans Auditorium in Des Moines for

communications with Iowa Army National Guard water trucks,

which provided potable water for the city's residents at

various locations throughout the city.

    While Des Moines and the rest of the Midwest started

cleaning up from the flooding, the hams who ride along the

Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across

Iowa (the RAGBRAI) prepared to be especially alert because

of the weather problems.

    The RAGBRAI, scheduled for late July, traverses the

entire width of Iowa, where the thousands of riders start

off on the western side of the state at the Missouri River

and end on the eastern side by dipping their wheels into the

Mississippi River.

    Charron, who works in information services for the

Register, coordinates the dozens of hams who ride along

each year as "bicycle mobile." Charron expected 30 or so

hams to ride along with the 7,000 other riders again this

year, but he noted that they would be diverted if they were

needed elsewhere.

    "If any of our people are of use anywhere else

(because of the flood clean-up) we would gladly go there,"

Charron said.


------------------

    Chuck Gysi, 35, is news editor of The Hawk Eye in

Burlington, Iowa. He is ARRL emergency coordinator for Des

Moines County, Iowa, and an ARRL public information officer.



Kenwood calls FCC fines "baseless and unfair"


3 dealers hit for

offering TS50S radios


    The Kenwood Corporation has called FCC actions

against three of its Amateur Radio dealers "baseless and

unfair ... in violation of equal protection under the laws

of the United States," and "severely damaging to Kenwood's

commercial standing in a competitive industry."

    Kenwood's complaint to the FCC is on behalf of three

of its retail Amateur Radio dealers, each of whom received a

Notice of Apparent Liability for $7,000.

    The NALs, issued July 2, said that on March 5, 1993,

the Los Angeles-area office of the FCC's Field Operations

Bureau received a complaint alleging that the stores were

marketing transceivers capable of operation outside of the

amateur bands. The complaint said these transceivers "lacked

the required Commission authorization."

    FOB investigators went to the three stores, all in

Southern California, where Kenwood TS-50S HF transceiver

were displayed and where literature about the radios

"indicated that the transceiver operated on frequencies not

authorized for amateur radio use," a fact confirmed by store

employees.

    The NALs said "Transceivers capable of operating

outside of the amateur radio band are required to have

Commission authorization before marketing. The Kenwood TS-

50S HF Transceiver lacked the required authorization.

    "The violation was willful," the NALs said.

    The NALs were received by Henry Radio, Los Angeles;

Jun's Electronics, Culver City, Calif.; and Ham Radio

Outlet, Van Nuys, Calif.

    Westlink Report    reported in its March 18

issue (less than two weeks after the "complaint" to the FCC

cited above) that "we hear rumors from the FCC that the

agency is 'concerned' with some of the out-of-band

capability of the new transceiver. ...the FCC is reportedly

most concerned about the TS-50S's ability to put out 100

watts (25 watts AM) right into the CB band without any

modification," *Westlink* said.

    By this time Kenwood had retained a Washington, D.C.

communications attorney, Chris Imlay, N3AKD. Imlay also is,

incidentally, general counsel for the ARRL. Imlay asked the

chief of the FCC's Investigations and Inspections Branch,

Enforcement Division, for a conference on the matter, saying

that "On information and belief, this complaint may have

been registered by a competitor of Kenwood, motivated by

anti-competitive, rather than substantive concerns."

    A few days after the NALs were issued in early July,

Kenwood sent a news release to its dealers, saying "We have

been aware of the FCC inquiry for some time, and our

attorney was assured by the FCC that this type of action

(NALs) would not be taken.

    "Please be assured that we are doing everything

legally possible to have this situation resolved as quickly

as possible," Kenwood said.

    On July 12 Imlay filed a response to the NALs, on

behalf of the three Kenwood dealers, to the FCC's Cerritos,

Calif. field office of the FOB, requesting that the notices

be immediately rescinded.

    Imlay said that the complaint that the radios were

being marketed without being type-accepted was without

merit, since "This characteristic is shared by virtually

every commercially made amateur radio transceiver for the

past 20 years."

    Imlay also noted that the complaint seemed to be

based in part on TS50S literature indicating that the radios

can transmit outside the amateur bands. In fact, according

to Kenwood, an initial shipment of brochures for the TS50S,

printed overseas and distributed in small quantities to

Kenwood dealers, *did* show frequency ranges greater than

the amateur band limits (e.g., 1.705-2.0 MHz, 3.0-4.0 MHz,

etc).

    Kenwood responded that they did not ever advertise

to CB operators, and that the offending brochures were

pulled and replaced when the error was discovered.

    Imlay, in his filing, recounted his letter to the

chief of Investigations and Inspections, as well as a

follow-up telephone conversation in which he was told that

"any action that would be taken in this case ... would be

done on an industry-wide basis, and not by an individual

enforcement proceeding."

    "The Commission has known for years," Imlay wrote,

"that amateur radio transceivers with the capability noted

in the NALs were being marketed throughout the United

States. Under these circumstances, the issuance of the three

NALs makes no sense whatsoever, and the only effect is to

single out Kenwood from among the manufacturers of other

amateur radio transceivers over the past 20 years."

    Imlay said "the Commission has not shown that

the Kenwood TS50S transceiver requires type acceptance. It

is an amateur radio transceiver, which, upon proof of

license, is modifiable for MARS or CAP operation by Kenwood.

It is not intended by Kenwood or the dealers for operation

on frequencies allocated to other radio services, nor have

the NALs alleged that it is.

    "There is no indication that it has been marketed or

sold to other than amateur radio operators, CAP or MARS

operators. Imlay said. "It indeed has limited transmit

capability outside amateur allocations, as do other Kenwood

amateur radio transmitters and those of virtually all

amateur radio equipment manufacturers, but that capability

alone does not obligate Kenwood, or any other amateur radio

equipment manufacturer or retailer to obtain type acceptance

for amateur radio equipment under current rules."

    Imlay told the FCC that if it thought that all

amateur radio transmitters capable of transmitting "even one

Hertz" outside of the ham bands should be type accepted,

then that should be accomplished through a full notice and

comment rule making procedure. "This is not necessary or

desirable," he said, "but it would at least provide a fair

hearing for the amateur radio industry.

    "The NALs are not only baseless as a matter of law,

they are a completely inappropriate response to an apparent

Commission concern about the possibility of misuse of the

products," Imlay said.


LEAGUE FILES REPLIES TO

219 MHZ, PROFILER PLANS


    The League has filed reply comments in two FCC

proposals, to allocate 219-220 MHz to amateurs on a shared

basis (ET Docket 93-40) and to allocate 449 and/or 915 MHz

to wind profiler radars (ET Docket 93-59).

    In the matter of 219-220 MHz, the League noted that

comments in the matter overwhelmingly supported the

allocation for amateurs, restated the cooperation between

the League and Waterway Communications System Inc. (which

operates a maritime service in the 219-220 band), and cited

comments by other amateur radio entities supporting the

League's contention that the allocation is urgently needed

to alleviate crowding in the 222-225 MHz amateur band in

much of the country.

    In its reply comments on proposed allocations for

wind profiler radars the League said once again that the

proposal was confusing, due to its dual nature, and that the

League was still skeptical that wind profilers would be kept

away from metropolitan areas (where they would have the

greatest interference potential).

    More on these proposals will appear in September

*QST*.


VEC'S PETITION TO FCC SEEKS

"INSTANT OPERATING" RIGHTS


    A petition by the Western Carolina Amateur Radio

Society (WCARS) VEC of Knoxville, Tennessee, asks the FCC to

change its rules to allow amateur privileges to people

awaiting their first license (and call sign) from the

Commission.

    The petition has been assigned RM-8288 by the FCC.

    WCARS asks that anyone who holds a valid Certificate

of Successful Completion (CSCE) for an amateur operator

license issued within the previous 365 days be authorized

the rights and privileges of the applicable license class

before their call sign is issued and received from the FCC.

    The petition proposes a temporary call sign

structure using the prefix WZ followed by numbers and

letters determined from the CSCE-holder's name. WCARS cites

a similar system having been used in the Citizens Radio

Service as a precedent.

    The petition says that the system by which upgraded

privileges are immediately available to those already

holding call signs has worked well, as well as noting that

it now is possible to walk into a VE test session as an

unlicensed person and walk out with an Amateur Extra Class

CSCE (yet not be able to operate on the air for as much as

two months).

    Finally, the WCARS VEC says that instituting an

"instant operating" rule would save the Commission time and

money by eliminating telephone calls from "licensees in

waiting."

    The WCARS-VEC aired their proposal at the National

Conference of VECs in June.

    The idea is not a new one. In 1987 the FCC

denied a similar petition, by Frederick G. Hambrecht, KJ4JE,

which sought "instant operating" privileges for Novice

licensees using call signs based on those of the

administering volunteer examiners.

    15 comments were filed in response to the Hambrecht

petition, 11 in support and four opposed. Those opposed said

that the waiting period was useful in allowing the newcomers

to put their stations together, and others opposed the

proposal on the grounds that the call sign scheme would be

confusing and unwieldy.

    The FCC, in denying the Hambrecht petition, said

that while application processing times had been long (on

the order of two months) when the petition was made, it had

been reduced to a matter of weeks and was therefore not

excessive.

    The FCC also said that "it appeared" that the

International *Radio Regulations* to which the U.S. is a

signatory would not allow an "instant operating"

arrangement.


BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTS



    The ARRL Board of Directors met in Windsor Locks,

Connecticut, July 16-17.  The following is a summary of the

actions taken:

    * The Board adopted the recommendations of its

Digital Committee, and, accordingly, will seek from the FCC

regulations to permit semiautomatic digital operation below

30 MHz on frequencies authorized for data emissions, outside

of the proposed new subbands for automatic operation.

Bandwidth of digital transmissions of such operations would

be limited to 500 Hz, and transmissions would be permitted

only in response to stations under active operator

control. Digital operators will be cautioned to strictly

adhere to IARU band plans for digital operation.

    ARRL will develop, through its Digital Committee,

operating guidelines for semiautomatic operation.

    * The League will also petition the FCC to seek

relief from regulatory restrictions on HF digital operations

to further the amateur service's ability to contribute to

the advancement of the radio art.

    * The Board affirmed its commitment to have the

League serve as the club and military recreation station

call sign administrator on behalf of the FCC on an

unconditional basis.

    * The ARRL Friendship Award was created to encourage

friendly contact between radio amateurs and the discovery of

new friends through personal communication.

    * The League will publish a DXCC Yearbook to be

distributed to active DXCC participants who are League

members at no charge.

    * The League will petition the FCC to establish a

lifetime operator license for the Amateur Radio Service.

    * A new Amateur Auxiliary Training Manual was

approved by the Board, subject to the receipt of an updated

memorandum of understanding between the ARRL and the FCC.

    * In response to a recommendation from its Industry

Advisory Council, the Board stated its support for the

concept of plug-to-plug compatibility between Amateur Radio

equipment.

    * The Board accepted DXAC-recommended DXpedition

operating practices and urged their widest practical

distribution.

    * The Board committed League support for the FCC

efforts to implement electronic filing of license and

upgrade applications. The General Counsel was directed to

file comments opposing any attempt by any authority, other

than FCC, to  provide a point-of-examination temporary

operating authority.

    * The Board endorsed the concept of an international

Amateur Radio permit, similar in nature to the international

driver's license. It urged that the foundation be laid for

the submission of a proposal to create such a permit to a

future ITU conference.

    * A new Spectrum Management Committee was created to

address changes brought about by new technology.

    * The Board affirmed its policy of seeking expansion

of the 20-meter band from 14.350 to 14.400 MHz.

    * Chris Anziano, KD1OX, was selected as the

recipient of the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award for 1992.

James McCauley, AB6EU, won the Excellence in Recruiting

Award.

    * The Philip J. McGan Silver Antenna Award was

awarded to Gary Pearce, KN4AQ.  The award recognizes

excellence in public relations.

    * The Board bestowed the Technical Excellence Award

for 1992 upon Kenneth Macleish, W7TX, for his article, "Why

an Antenna Radiates," which appeared in the November 1992

issue of QST.

    * James Stafford, W4QO, was picked  as the Herb S.

Brier Instructor of the Year.  Robert Maurais, KC1IV, won

honors as the Professional Teacher of the Year.

    * The Headquarters staff was commended for its

efforts in eliminating the DXCC backlog.

    The full minutes of the meeting will appear in

September *QST*.



BRIEFS


    * ARRL Dakota Division Director Howard Mark, W0OZC,

has resigned due to an impending move to another ARRL

division.  His resignation took effect July 18.  Per the

ARRL bylaws, Dakota Division Vice Director Rick Whiting,

W0TN, assumes the office of director for the remainder of

Mark's term, until January 1, 1994.

    ARRL Southeastern Division Director Frank M. Butler

Jr., W4RH, has been appointed by ARRL President George

Wilson, W4OYI, to replace Mark on the ARRL Executive

Committee for the remainder of Mark's term.


    * Four New Orleans-area amateurs have received

notices of violation from the FCC. Joseph F. Richard, N5INX

(Amateur Extra Class); John B. Genovese, WB5LOC (Advanced

class); Vernon A. Paroli, KA5OWW (Advanced class); and Will

T. Blanton Jr., N5ROC (General class) all were cited for

voilations of FCC Rule 97.101 (d) regarding malicious

interference.

    The alleged violations took place on 2-meter FM.

    FCC Notices of violations require a reply to the

Commission. They do not carry a monetary fine.


    * Leonard F. Shaner Jr. of Pottstown, Pa., has

received an FCC Notice of Apparent Liability for $2,000 for

allegedly causing interference to a 2-meter repeater. Shaner

is not an amateur licensee.