Thanks to Stuart Sheldon, AG6AG for this information.
All posts by Glen
Senator Blumenthal Supports Amateur Radio at Senate Confirmation Hearing
Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT) received an affirmative reply from FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel when he asked her to commit to providing his office “an update on the steps that the FCC is taking to support amateur radio operators.” The Senator posed the written question as part of Rosenworcel’s renomination hearing conducted by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
Blumenthal took note specifically that “Radio amateurs voluntarily provide an array of public services, especially emergency and disaster-related support communications when infrastructure has been destroyed by a hurricane or similar disaster. Their contributions in this area are regularly recognized by local and state authorities.”
“ARRL is grateful to Senator Blumenthal for his support and recognition of radio amateurs,” said ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR. Blumenthal has previously co-sponsored legislation supporting amateur radio, and his staff was recently briefed by ARRL on pending amateur radio matters at the FCC. Roderick added, “We need the partnership of the FCC and Congress to ensure our rules and spectrum continue to support the march of technological innovation in our vibrant Amateur Radio Service.”
Multiple proceedings to update or change the FCC’s amateur Part 97 rules to account for changes in technology and operating practices have been languishing at the FCC, some going back five or more years. ARRL is hopeful that these will be addressed soon.
The Senate Committee approved Rosenworcel’s renomination with a bi-partisan vote on December 1, 2021. She has served on the FCC since 2012, and the Committee’s vote to approve her nomination for an additional term sends it to the full Senate for final consideration.
Cheap Like Me
Now you can be cheap like me. In that caste I offer the following tip.
I ordered a couple of cables for my external drives. They came in a nice bag and I decided to use them to store my programming cables for my DMR radios. They seal up nice and hang quite conveniently on the hook I have near my computer. Thus, I can make quite changes in my radios without having to dig around for cables.
ARRL Board Considers Plan to Cover New $35 FCC Fee for Some Young Applicants
02/17/2021
At its Annual Meeting in January, the ARRL Board of Directors considered a motion to offer a new service that would pay the new but not-yet-implemented $35 FCC application fee for a limited number of new radio amateurs younger than age 18 who, at the time of testing, belonged to an ARRL Affiliated 501(c)(3) charitable organization and passed their tests through an ARRL VEC-sponsored exam session. The proposal called for reducing the VEC fee for these candidates to $5.
The initial proposal came from ARRL Southeastern Division Director Mickey Baker, N4MB. Other Board members offered subsidiary motions. Supporters said the purpose behind the motion was to ameliorate the potential financial hardship the pending FCC application fee posed on certain minors applying for their first license, and to encourage new youth membership.
Consideration of the motion, which was subject to considerable discussion, was deferred to an ad hoc committee composed of the members of the Administration & Finance Committee, two Members of the Programs & Services Committee, and ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA (or his designated representative). The Board directed the panel to review and more fully develop the proposal and report back to the Board by the end of March with a recommendation as to whether such a program should be adopted and, if adopted, how it should be implemented.
Supporters expressed the belief that recruitment and training of young radio amateurs “is a necessary and proper mission of the ARRL” and that subsidizing the $35 fee “will reduce the number of new amateurs that otherwise would be lost from these groups.”
In December, the FCC agreed with ARRL and other commenters that the initially proposed $50 fee for certain amateur radio applications was “too high to account for the minimal staff involvement in these applications.” In a Report and Order (R&O), the FCC scaled back to $35 the fee for a new license application, a special temporary authority (STA) request, a rule waiver request, a license renewal application, and a vanity call sign application. All fees are per application. There will be no fee for administrative updates, such as a change of mailing or email address.
As the FCC noted in its R&O, although some commenters supported the proposed $50 fee as reasonable and fair, “ARRL and many individual commenters argued that there was no cost-based justification for application fees in the Amateur Radio Service.”
“After reviewing the record, including the extensive comments filed by amateur radio licensees and based on our revised analysis of the cost of processing mostly automated processes discussed in our methodology section, we adopt a $35 application fee, a lower application fee than the Commission proposed in the NPRM for personal licenses, in recognition of the fact that the application process is mostly automated,” the FCC said in the R&O. No fee would apply to minor modifications or administrative updates, which, the FCC noted, “are highly automated.”
The FCC turned away the arguments of some commenters that the FCC should exempt amateur radio licensees. The FCC stated that it has no authority to create an exemption “where none presently exists.” The FCC also disagreed with those who argued that amateur radio licensees should be exempt from fees because of their public service contribution during emergencies and disasters.
The FCC has directed the Office of Managing Director, in consultation with relevant offices and bureaus, to draft a notice for publication in the Federal Register announcing when rule change(s) will become effective, “once the relevant databases, guides, and internal procedures have been updated.”
Make your comments for or against upcoming fees on amateur radio licenses.
The FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) MD Docket 20-270 appeared in the October 15 edition of The Federal Register and sets deadlines of November 16 to comment and November 30 to post reply comments, which are comments on comments already filed. That means that the deadline for you to make comments is only days away.
I was able to finally figure out how to submit comments, so I’ll impart what I have learned. First, there are two ways to submit comments. One is to prepare a word processor document, as I did, and upload it to the FCC at the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System. The other is to make a brief statement for, or in opposition to, the proposed fees. You can type that right into the ECFS.
Yes, you can make comments that you agree with the proposed increase. Remember, however, that your comments are public and we know who you are (Just kidding).
First I will explain how to make a brief statement which is probably the prefered method for those who do not have a lot of time. Second I will explain how to upload a document. You might want to peruse the ARRL guide to submitting comments web page before you start.
They recommend not dwelling on how devastating such an increase might be to amateur radio. Obviously do not make accusatory statements. There are some blogs out there contending the FCC is trying to destroy amateur radio so they can sell our frequencies to private companies. This may, or may not, be true, but it is an example of what not to say in your comments.
Try to stick to what you know. Old timers have seen developments in amateur radio that benefited humankind and contributed to the landing on the moon (or what ever). Stick to those elements. I concentrated some effort on emergency communications because that is what got me interested in amateur radio to begin with. If you have participated in community service events, you might indicate how you feel part of the community because of it. If you have had to call for help with amateur radio, that might be something to tell them.
Making a Brief Statement
The brief statement is the easiest and quickest method of making a comment. If your comment is going to be 500 words, or less, this is probably the best method. My statement was about five pages so I had to use the method outlined next.
I recommend that you type out your comments in your favorite text editor. Read it over a couple of times and make any corrections. Be concise, but clear. If you read your statement and it sounds like a politicians campaign speech, you probably want to cut it down. If you have several points, you can use a number-bullet-type of arrangement such as:
I oppose the proposed fees on amateur radio licenses because:
1) I have participated in community events and have seen how amateur radio protects the lives of people in these events. On at least two occasions I have witnessed amateur radio operators calling for help for runners in distress that may have saved their lives [That was my personal experience. Wish I had thought to add that to my statement.]
2) I participated in actual emergencies with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service during weather emergencies that kept me up-to-date on what was happening and allowed me to keep in contact in case I had an emergency.
3) I find the life-long learning of amateur radio to be a benefit to me and helps me to keep abreast of technological advance in amateur radio and in other fields.
4) I personally constructed a robot that can take instructions through amateur radio and can perform appendetomies. [Only use if you happened to construct a robot that can take instructions through amateur radio and can perform appendectomies. Don’t use otherwise.]
Once you have your statement ready to cut-and-paste, go to the the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System Express Comment section. The following steps also apply for the standard filing.
In the Proceeding(s) box, type “20-270”. Two items will come up, but you obviously want to select 20-270.
Put your name in the Name(s) of Filer(s). If you are making the statement with others, add their names, as well. For example you could add all of the amateurs in your home.
Unless you are a law firm or attorney, go down to Primary Contact Email and add your email. Just below that click on the drop-down menu and select Comment for Type of Filing.
Go down to the Address of section and fill out your address. You can use any address where you receive mail, but I recommend using the address you used to obtain your license. I seriously doubt that the FCC is going to send you a letter on the matter. At the bottom, however, there is a box for Email Confirmation. I recommend that you check that and you will get an email confirmation that the FCC received your comments.
Click on the Continue to review button. If it looks good submit it. You’re done.
Standard Filing
If your comments are going to be lengthy, you might want to choose Standard Filing. Use the same steps as above to prepare to upload your comments. You can simply drag-and-drop from your directory to the web site.
The site says it will accept PDF, text, ppt, pptx, docx, xlsx, doc, xls, rtf, dwg documents of 25 MB per submision and a maximum of 5 files. I used LibreOffice (the freebie program because I am cheap) to create a docx file. When I tried to submit it, however, it kept giving me an error. When I saved it to a PDF, it uploaded with no problem. So if the site give you an error, I recommend saving it as a PDF to upload.
SUMMARY
I hope this helps you to get a comment in before the comment period is up. Remember the last date for comments is November 16.
I will let you know that in my comments, I did say that if they needed an increase, I would not totally object to a $15 fee. I also said that I agreed to a $50 fee (or higher) for vanity license fees. We have people that have been changing their vanity calls several times tying up a call you might want. A healthy fee might just prevent that. I also said that anyone under 18-years-old should remain free and to upgrade your license should remain free. That is my opinion and I am sticking with it.
What ever your opinion, I hope you will get it in before the comment period ends.
ARRL Urges Members to Join in Strongly Opposing FCC’s Application Fees Proposal
ARRL will file comments in firm opposition to an FCC proposal to impose a $50 fee on amateur radio license and application fees. With the November 16 comment deadline fast approaching, ARRL urges members to add their voices to ARRL’s by filing opposition comments of their own. The FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) MD Docket 20-270 appeared in the October 15 edition of The Federal Register and sets deadlines of November 16 to comment and November 30 to post reply comments, which are comments on comments already filed. ARRL has prepared a Guide to Filing Comments with the FCC which includes tips for preparing comments and step-by-step filing instructions. File comments on MD Docket 20-270 using the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS).
Under the proposal, amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio application for new licenses, license renewals, upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. The FCC also has proposed a $50 fee to obtain a printed copy of a license. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees. Amateur Service licensees have been exempt from application fees for several years.
The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the “Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act” of 2018 — the so-called “Ray Baum’s Act.” The Act requires that the FCC switch from a Congressionally-mandated fee structure to a cost-based system of assessment. In its NPRM, the FCC proposed application fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS), including the Amateur Radio Service. The 2018 statute excludes the Amateur Service from annual regulatory fees, but not from application fees. The FCC proposal affects all FCC services and does not single out amateur radio.
ARRL is encouraging members to file comments that stress amateur radio’s contributions to the country and communities. ARRL’s Guide to Filing Comments includes “talking points” that may be helpful in preparing comments. These stress amateur radio’s role in volunteering communication support during disasters and emergencies, and inspiring students to pursue education and careers in engineering, radio technology, and communications.
As the FCC explained in its NPRM, Congress, through the Ray Baum’s Act, is compelling regulatory agencies such as the FCC to recover from applicants the costs involved in filing and handling applications.
In its NPRM the FCC encouraged licensees to update their own information online without charge. Many, if not most, Amateur Service applications may be handled via the largely automated Universal License Service (ULS). The Ray Baum’s Act does not exempt filing fees in the Amateur Radio Service, and the FCC stopped assessing fees for vanity call signs several years ago.
See also “FCC Proposes to Reinstate Amateur Radio Service Fees,” reported by ARRL in August, and a summary page of the proceeding at www.arrl.org/FCC-Fees-Proposal.
Ted KF7QPG Silent Key
When I first started in amateur radio in 2015, I connected with a fellow Navy veteran in Seligman, Arizona by the name of Theodore “Ted” Shelly KF7QPG. I learned tonight that he is a silent key.
He used to rag me about my Baofeng UV-5r that I started with, as most new Technician licensees do. I was happy when he finally gave me a good report on the UV-82. I got my Technician license in October of 2015 after a serious Internet/phone outage occurred in February in northern Arizona. Ted was always there to talk to on the Bill Williams 146.780 repeater. I daresay we hogged the repeater at times because we were both studying to upgrade our licenses. I was working on the General and he the Amateur Extra.
In December of 2015, I rode with him to the Coconino Amateur Radio Club exam in Flagstaff. We both left as Amateur Extras. While he was able to use the “Stroke AG” on HF, I was still relegated to the Technician spectrum because of income. That was okay because I mainly was interested in emergency communications and getting into the Amateur Radio Emergency Service system with the CARC.
Ted and I also became volunteer examiners and had a little competition on how many exams we could do. He was way ahead at one time, but I blame ARRL because they did not give me credit for a couple.
Ted also gave me some of his old equipment, some of which I still use.
He moved to Georgia a couple of years after we met, as I understand it, but I learned today that he passed away on May 20 of this year due to cancer. He was one of my first amateur radio friends and I morn his passing, but he did live a good long life. He had many years as a Ham and I am sure he continued to touch lives as he did mine.
FCC Proposes to Reinstate Amateur Radio Service Fees
[UPDATED 2020-09-01 @1845 UTC] Amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio license application if the FCC adopts rules it proposed this week. Included in the FCC’s fee proposal are applications for new licenses, renewal and upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees.
The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the “Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act” of 2018 — the so-called “Ray Baum’s Act.”
The Act requires that the FCC switch from a Congressionally-mandated fee structure to a cost-based system of assessment. In its NPRM, the FCC proposed application fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS), including the Amateur Radio Service that had been excluded by an earlier statute. The 2018 statute excludes the Amateur Service from annual regulatory fees, but not from application fees.
“[A]pplications for personal licenses are mostly automated and do not have individualized staff costs for data input or review,” the FCC said in its NPRM. “For these automated processes — new/major modifications, renewal, and minor modifications — we propose a nominal application fee of $50 due to automating the processes, routine ULS maintenance, and limited instances where staff input is required.”
The same $50 fee would apply to all Amateur Service applications, including those for vanity call signs. “Although there is currently no fee for vanity call signs in the Amateur Radio Service, we find that such applications impose similar costs in aggregate on Commission resources as new applications and therefore propose a $50 fee,” the FCC said.
The FCC is not proposing to charge for administrative updates, such as mailing address changes for amateur applications, and amateur radio will remain exempt from annual regulatory fees. “For administrative updates [and] modifications, which also are highly automated, we find that it is in the public interest to encourage licensees to update their [own] information without a charge,” the FCC said.
The FCC also proposes to assess a $50 fee for individuals who want a printed copy of their license. “The Commission has proposed to eliminate these services — but to the extent the Commission does not do so, we propose a fee of $50 to cover the costs of these services,” the FCC said.
The Ray Baum’s Act does not exempt filing fees in the Amateur Radio Service. The FCC dropped assessment of fees for vanity call signs several years ago.
Deadlines for comments and reply comments will be determined once the NPRM appears in the Federal Register. Interested parties may file comments by using the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), posting to MD Docket No. 20-270. This docket is already open to accept comments, even though deadlines have not yet been set.
SOURCE: ARRL
QSO Today Ham Expo review
From 00:45 August 8 (5:45 August 7 local time), until August 9, I attended the QSO Today Ham Expo. This exposition was a virtual event on the Internet hosted on theVFair.com web site. There was quite a few sponsors of the event including the American Radio Relay League, ICOM, Gigaparts, RFinder, Flex Radio, RT Systems, Elecraft, and several others. There were others that did not have “booths.” I searched the parking lot for the tailgate hams, but could not find any.
I did get a chance to discover some organizations I did not know existed. One is Youth on the Air.
Some presentations in the form of videos may have been transferred to YouTube. Marcel Stieber AI6MS posted some of his QSO presentations on his YouTube page. He also has videos on ExamTools—a remote amateur radio licensing test system. His presentation on Fully-Remote Amateur Radio Exam Administration is well worth watching.
Ward Silver N0AX gave a good presentation on Bonding and Grounding. There are several videos with him on different amateur radio topics on YouTube.
I also liked the presentation of the CW Ops CW Academy. Eric Silverthorn NM5M gave a great brief on the four-stage program the academy offers. I received feedback from one student who really enjoyed their program. I hope to be able to take the course in the future.
The Exposition is closed now, but for the next thirty-days people who got tickets can still check in and watch, or re-watch, videos of the presentations. I do not know if you can now “sign up” and check in now that it is over.
I was also able to hold a QSO with Bill KQ1S; a fellow member of the Coconino Amateur Radio Club. He discovered that there was a list of participants in the QSO Lounge and found me to start the QSO. There was no easy way to find a person at the Expo. If they did not go to the QSO lounge, you could not search for them. The QSO chat between Bill and me was through a Skype-like set up. The problem was you could not move it around the screen so you could see something else.
The Q&A sessions after the presentation were on Zoom. You could ask text questions, but chat, your video and audio were not functioning. That is understandable, of course, since you are not answering the questions. The Q&A sessions were recorded so I believe they are available
Can you get your amateur radio despite the coronavirus?
With what is going on in the world today, it may have sparked your interest in amateur radio. With the appropriate license, equipment and propagation, you may be able to contact areas hard-hit by the coronavirus and get on the scene reports. You may realize that it helps in emergency communications locally. You may just want to chat or use it just for communications while camping or hunting. What ever your reason, if you have an interest in an amateur radio license, you can still study for it. There are several resources that may help you prepare for an upcoming exam in your area (if they have not been cancelled).
Let me first explain the licenses. There are three levels. From lowest-to-highest they are Technician, General and Amateur Extra. Most people that have taken our Coconino Amateur Radio Club sponsored classes have been able to get the General license. The Amateur Extra is much more difficult to get and only gives you a few more frequency privileges. The Amateur Extra, however, give you the ability to assist amateur radio in other administrative ways.
There is a separate exam for all three levels of license. The exam fee is $15. This does not pay the people giving the exam. The examiners are all unpaid volunteers. The classes (if held) are also free and run by volunteers. The exam fee pays for the administration of the exam (printing the exam, postage, etc.). When you go in, you must take the Technician exam first. You must bring in a valid picture ID, also. We recommend that you bring a FCC Registration Number (FRN) to the exam. You need this to deal with the FCC and you can obtain it at their web site. If you plan to get a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license, you need to get an FRN also. It only takes about an hour to get the FRN, so I always recommend people do it a couple of days before the exam in case you decide not to take the exam. If you do not get an FRN, you must bring your social security number. We prefer the FRN for your security.
When you pass the Technician exam, you can take the General exam free. If you pass that, you may take the Amateur Extra exam free. If you fail an exam, however, you must pay the $15 exam fee to take it again. For example, if you pass the Technician and fail the General, maybe you feel you can pass the General if you had another shot. You have to pay the $15 to retake the exam.
Another point is that once you are licensed, you are under no obligation to join any group or organization to use that license. You may go merrily along calling out on the radio and QSOing. (You will learn what that means when you study) There are obvious advantages, of course, to supporting the ARRL and joining a local Ham club.
By the way, I gave you the information to answer about three exam questions in the above paragraphs.
As of this writing, the Coconino Amateur Radio Club has an exam scheduled for April 18 and Saturday classes starting April 25. This may change depending on current conditions. The Bill Williams Mountain Radio Club sponsors periodic classes in Williams when there is enough interest.
The American Radio Relay League has information on becoming licensed. They also offer books. These books and other resources are available on Amazon, as well.
There are web sites on line which offer practice exams, also.
I recommend the videos at http://www.hamwhisperer.com/p/ham-courses.html. The videos cover an outdated question pools, but most of the information is still valid. The updated pools ask some new questions about digital radio and ask some questions a little different, but overall the information is still good. The videos go through each question of the old exam pool give a very basic explanation of the information. The videos on electronics and radio wave propagation, for example, will give you valid information even though the questions have changed. There are some updated questions in the area of radio equipment, but those are minor.
With the plethora of resources available, we still have an uncertain future concerning actual exams. We are hopeful that this situation is resolved by April 18. If it is, you will be ready without the need for classes.
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