Category Archives: Education

Amateur Radio, Amateur Radio Organizations, Amateur Radio Relay League, ARRL, Education, Federal Communications Commission, National, News

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.

Amateur Radio, Amateur Radio Organizations, Amateur Radio Relay League, Education, Event, Event, Hamfest, Morse Code, Podcast

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.

At the beginning of the Expo I got to Zoom with the ARRL headquarters in Connecticut.
Of course the Exposition is far from the fun of attending an actual convention. Conventions will no doubt return when COVID ends on November 5. I can see the VFairs platform being useful into the future, however. The QSO Today Exposition boasted over 26,000 and that will be difficult number to beat.

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

Amateur Radio, Amateur Radio Organizations, Bill Williams Mountain Radio Club, Coconino Amateur Radio Club, Education, Flagstaff, License Examinations, News, Williams

CARC Ends a successful exam year

This year has been a good year for Amateur Radio in Flagstaff and Williams. The exam October 19 is indicitive of that

Congratulations to Morgan KI7WTS who upgraded to Amatuer Extra and Mike who upgraded to Amateur Extra from… Well. Nothing. He passed all three exams. His dad, Don, got a General license. Congratulations to Jeremiah KF7NIQ who upgraded to General. Carl passed the Technician and General exams. Nathan and Willis, from Williams, got a Technician license.

The final talley is two new Amateur Extras, two new Generals and two new Technicians.

Thanks to Ken KF7DUR, Ron KG7OH and Glen KG7YDJ for proctoring this exam and Joe W7LUX and Janice KI7WCK for setting up the exams. Also thanks to all of the other VEs who helped this year. We, of course, thank Melissa Fisher and North Country Health Care for allowing us to use their facility.

Thanks to the instructors who helped in Flagstaff and Williams. Phil AE7HO, Ron KG7OH, Kevin KK7NAZ, Jack NT7MM, Jackie KI7YQO, and Peter. I hope I remembered everyone.

Amateur Radio, Amateur Radio Organizations, ARES, Coconino Amateur Radio Club, Emergency Communications, Event, FEMA, Flagstaff, Morse Code, National Government

Flagstaff EOC opens doors to the public

The nerve center of the Emergency Operation Center.

FLAGSTAFF – On March 23, the Emergency Operation Center in Flagstaff held an open house to allow the public to peer inside for the first time.


The Emergency Operation Center is based on a modular, FEMA model. That means that only those areas necessary for the current emergency are staffed. That could mean representatives from federal agencies, State agencies or local agencies. Local agencies can be anything from the American Red Cross, Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Community Emergency Response Team, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, representatives from fire and police departments from anywhere in Coconino County to name a few.

The Coconino Emergency Operation Center is operated by Coconino Emergency Management. It received national recognition during the Tinder Fire in the Blue Ridge area. Amateur radio operators from the Coconino Amateur Radio Emergency Service was the only communications to get through to the EOC at the beginning to issue evacuation orders.

Visitors got a chance to see the various community emergency services in Coconino County. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) sponsored by the Sheriff’s Department was one. The group is made up of volunteers that respond to various emergencies as directed by the CCSO. This can be anything from assisting in searching for a lost person to providing traffic control. CERT training, provided by the CCSO, is required to be a member.

Amateur radio operators set up antennas to demonstrate emergency communications.

The Coconino Amateur Radio Club Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) group mans their space at the EOC for almost every emergency. Amateur radio—aka “Ham”—operators are people of all walks of life licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate amateur radio equipment on several frequencies. This is not the same as a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license. Although amateurs are not required to, many donate countless hours in training and providing emergency communications. Amateur radio can get through when many other means of communications fail. They use a variety of digital and voice modes and sometimes even old-fashioned Morse code. Some FEMA courses are required to work with the amateur radio operators in the EOC, however any amateur radio operator can participate by providing reports in their area. ARES is a program sponsored by the American Radio Relay League. There is no requirement to join any group or provide emergency communications attached to an FCC amateur radio license.

The American Red Cross also provided an information table for their continuing role in many emergency situations in and outside of the EOC. The State Emergency Management Agency also presented their role.

Ground control to Major Tom. This unit provides cell and wi-fi service in remote locations.
Flagstaff Police Department bomb squad robot.

Outside there were several agencies present . The Flagstaff Police Department bomb squad had their bomb robot present. The State Emergency Management Team had their “Ground Control” unit that provides cell and Wi-Fi services in remote areas. There were also representatives from the fire department and ambulance services.

Amateur Radio, Amateur Radio Organizations, Amateur Radio Relay League, ARES, Education, Flagstaff, News, Podcast

Amateur radio podcasts can help with the learning curve

At a meeting of the Coconino Amateur Radio Club in Flagstaff, Dan SHEARER, N7YIQ, introduced the club to the ARRL® podcast The Doctor Will See You Now—also known as The Doctor Is In.

As I perused the Google Play Store with my Android phone for something else, I found something interesting. There are several apps which lead you to amateur radio podcasts.

I found one called—interestingly enough—Ham Radio podcast. I downloaded it at our Williams amateur radio club meeting. It not only accesses the ARRL® Doctor Is In, but the ARRL® news feed and ARES® newsletter, as well.

I also found one for what I thought was the Arizona Emergency Information Network. It turned out to be the Maricopa County Emergency Network. Interestingly it is taken from their over-the-air emergency Network.

There is one called AmateurLogic.TV. This one apparently gives lessons in amateur radio and licensing exam information. Currently they are running a course for the General license. I haven’t listened to a full podcast yet.

There are several others that look interesting. One is Linux in the Ham Shack. If you are interested in an alternative to Windows, Linux is just that. With some effort you can run some Windows programs under Linux. It is better, however, to simply download the free Linux programs available online and stay away from Windows.

Another nice feature (If you have the memory) is that you can download many of the podcasts to listen off-line. They are MP3 format so you can transfer them to CD and listen to them as you drive.

The one thing I noticed about the app is that it takes some time to buffer and start the podcast. That could be because I am using a cheap ZTE phone that does not even allow you to move apps to the SD card. If your Android phone or tablet has a decent amount of internal memory and speed, the buffering process might be shorter and thus the podcast might come up quicker. My cheap ZTE phone tends to take time buffering the podcast. Also I cannot transfer the app to my SD card.

I am only reviewing one of the several apps that access amateur radio podcasts. You can download others and experiment.

Amateur radio is what you make of it. If you just want to get the license and sit on it, you can do that. I know of people who got a license and never use it which is really sad because they are missing a lot. Maybe you obtained a license just for emergency use. There are those of us, however, that like to try new things: Explore new areas of the hobby. Along with the many amateur radio magazines and articles on the Internet, podcasts may help you do just that.

SEE ALSO:

  1. “ARRL® The Doctor is In” Podcast Guide Now Available
  2. Here are 9 Great Ham Radio Podcasts
Amateur Radio, Amateur Radio Organizations, ARES, Coconino Amateur Radio Club, Education, Emergency Communications, Flagstaff, News

Alternate Emergency Operation Center Activated for drill

Corrected 10/21/2017 @ 21:10
—
FLAGSTAFF – On Thursday, October 19 the Alternate Emergency Operation Center was activated in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Coconino Amateur Radio Club ARES members were a part of the activation. The Emergency EOC is located near Buffalo Park.

I was able to participate in the set up and operation. I was also able to see how the emergency center would be set up in the event of an actual emergency. It is set up in standard FEMA format with the Incident Commander, Finance Section, Logistics Section and so-forth. The amateur radio group is a component of logistics.

Emergency centers are divided into modular units and only those needing to be activated are. The purpose of the activation was mainly to acquaint member of the teams with computer equipment and programs they would be using.

On the amateur side, we were given the opportunity to test communication with various areas of northern Arizona and the emergency center in Phoenix. We were given a small break room to use which proves that it doesn’t take much room to operate emergency communications. Hopefully we’ll be able to add CW in the future.

We had to arrive early to set up the Alpha Delta DX DD dipole and Diamond X-50NA vhf/uhf antennas. We tested HF frequencies and communications to repeaters.

My main contribution was to test the 146.780 repeater on Bill Williams repeater maintained by the Bill Williams Mountain Radio club. I contacted Todd Hitzeroth N6ZXJ who happened to be traveling west on I-40 at the time. It is interesting who you meet on amateur radio.

Overall it was an enjoyable and educational experience. Unfortunately it was conducted when many people had to work. I was able to rearrange my schedule to participate in the event. There are ways in which people can participate without having to travel to the center itself. In fact, boots on the ground are as important as the people in the center. The people in the small room in Flagstaff cannot see what is happening in Valle, Williams, Ash Fork and other northern Arizona areas.

If you live in Valle, Parks, Williams, Ash Fork or any other area where you can reach a repeater or have HF capability, you can listen in and make reports concerning the condition of your area. If you hear of the activation of the EOC in the future, contact someone involved and let them know you are available.

Joe Hobart, W7LUX, ARES District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) and ARA Tech Rep.

The report from Joe W7LUX reads:

Thanks to:

Glen KG7YDJ
Janice KI6WCK
Ken KF7DUR
Lina KE7QFE

who set up and operated HF and VHF/UHF amateur radio equipment at and during the full scale activation of the alternate EOC.

Thanks to:

Bob WA6OJY Greenhaven/Page
Doug K7YCA/N0DAJ Yavapai County ARES/RACES
Earl AD7EO Indian Wells (Navajo County)
Erv KE7QFI Southwest Flagstaff (Army MARS representative)
Gary K7GH Scottsdale (Representing Arizona State EOC)
Lee KF7YRS Saint George
Jeremy KG7HZA Page (Sheriff’s substation)
Vince WB7UWW Page (Home and sheriff’s substation)

for helping Coconino ARES meet the goals of good communications around Coconino County, with Yavapai County (also conducting an exercise), and with the state.

Also, thanks to:

AC7AJ Mingus Mountain
K6DWP Good test of 40 meter short skip Flagstaff to Cottonwood
KF7WOT Prescott
N6ZXJ Williams Area
W7YRC Yavapai Club

for providing additional signal reports and Community Status Reports.

Frequencies and modes used were:

3990 KHz LSB
7252 KHz LSB

146.780 MHz FM Repeater
146.980 MHz FM Repeater (ARA)
147.140 MHz FM Linked Repeater (ARA)
448.875 MHz FM Linked Repeater (ARA)

40 meter propagation was much better Thursday than during the Alternate EOC practice setup on 10 October. 75 meter propagation was adequate, but long paths were becoming weak by 1100. The new dipole antenna at the EOC worked very well. The Northlink and Rimlink linked repeaters also worked well.

Special thanks to Vince, WB7UWW, for making an unscheduled trip to the Page sheriff’s substation to conduct 40 meter radio checks.

Citizens Band Radio Service, Education, Family Radio Service, Federal Communications Commission, General Mobile Radio Servie, Multi-Use Radio Service, News, Personal Radio Service

The FCC is the law

I keep running into people who tell me so-and-so told them or they read on the Internet such-and-such. I keep seeing sites that say you do not need a GMRS license and that is seeping into forums. I can tell when it is Christmas or when someone has a birthday, because I hear kids on the air. Fortunately they are generally using the FRS channels 8-14 or the shared GMRS/FRS channels 1-7. They do not realize, however, that these are real radios and not toy “walkie-talkies.” During one conversation I heard a kid use the word “emergency” and even gave his location. By his tone I could tell he was goofing around, but it is illegal to call for an emergency when there is not one.

The bottom line is that if the official source on the Internet for the rules should be the Federal Communications Commission. The official rules of all of the radio services are contained in 47 C.F.R..

I call these “rules” because they are not “laws” made by Congress. Congress allows agencies to make up their rules as they go along. Of all of the alphabet bureaucracies, however, I believe the FCC is one of the few that is actually constitutional. Their function is to make sure everyone shares the radio spectrum evenly and fairly. And they are really not Draconian about it.

I will also point out that the FCC makes special provisions for emergencies. Anyone can use any frequency to call for help to prevent the loss of life or property. Just about every radio service states that provision. So if you are camping in the woods and your five-year old wanders off, you can call for help in a search. If your tire pops on the freeway, however, you will need a lot of bars on your cell phone. Unless, of course, there is a medical reason threatening your life.

To get back on topic, 47 C.F.R. is divided into parts. Part 95 covers the personal radio services—citizen band radio (CBRS), general mobile radio service (GMRS), family radio service (FRS) and the multi-use radio service. Part 97 covers amateur radio, also known as Ham radio. We simply refer to them as Part 95 and Part 97.

Part 95 is further divided into Subparts for each radio service. For example, the Subpart covering GMRS is, currently, Subpart A. The GMRS rules in the future will be moved to Subpart E. The rest of the Subparts will remain the same. I will explain this change in a future series of articles on the new rules.

The problem is that people want to twist the language to their advantage. I assure you, however, the FCC is unsympathetic to any statements beginning with, “I saw on the Internet….” Unless you can show it to them on THEIR web site or in 47 C.F.R. Many do not realize that the CBRS, FRS and MURS is “licensed.” There is a legal phrase called licensed by rule. It simply means that you are not required to obtain a hard-copy license and call sign to use these radio services, BUT you must follow the rules. The rules for each of these services are written out, albeit I agree not always clearly, in Part 95.

There are some significant changes concerning all of these services in the upcoming re-write of Part 95. First they have divided the Subparts into clearer sections to assist you in finding information. The information itself may be confusing and that is why the FCC has an email address and phone number. I will do future articles on the changes forthcoming. This article is simply to let you know some important rules concerning licensing and using the radio services.

I want to make it clear that just because you can buy a radio does not mean you can use a radio. I should also note that Part 95 is being totally re-written and there are many changes on the horizon; particularly to GMRS.

Let us start by discussing licensing.
Continue reading The FCC is the law →

Amateur Radio, Education, License Examinations, News

Coconino Amateur Radio Club holding classes for upcoming exam

final logoFLAGSTAFF — The Coconino Amateur Radio Club of Flagstaff is currently holding classes for the technician class license. The classes are free and open to anyone of any age. The classes are held every Saturday from 8 am to 12 pm. They are held at the North Country Health Care facility at 2920 N 4th Street in Flagstaff.

The technician class license is the first FCC license a person can obtain to operate amateur radio equipment. You must get 26 questions correct on a 35 question examination. The examination fee is $15 and the next test is on April 16. Although anyone can come to the exam and classes, the Coconino Amateur Radio Club requests that you go to their web site and let them know that you are coming so they can provide enough material.

If you pass the examination for a Technician license, you can take the test for the General Class license. This allows you access to more frequencies and privileges. If you pass that exam, you can try for the top license; Amateur Extra. If you fail any exam along the way, you will be required to pay another $15 to retake the examination.

Read more at the Northern Arizona Gazette

Education, Morse Code, Personal

Mind your Q’s and Y’s

EDUCATION — I have been working at learning Morse code as the next step on my road to being a successful Ham operator. The main problem is one of money. Yet while I am waiting for the proper equipment to CQ CW (call for any station using Morse code), I am learning the code.

It is true that there are computer programs that perform all manner of digital codes available—including CW. You need a computer to communciate using the other digital codes, but using one for CW is cheating. Unless, of course, it is an emergency situation requiring quicker communications. Like John Henry, however, there are probably some coders who might even beat the computer.

I am not an expert, mind you. I am just starting to learn. There are some interesting things that I noticed that I will share. Your personal CW learning experience might be much different.

I suspect that everyone has at least heard of Morse code. I am not going to get into frequencies and transmit restrictions, at this point, because I am still learning the technical points. You probably know that Morse code is a series of dots and dashes representing letters, numbers and punctuation. Coders usually use the words di for dots and dah for dashes. This is rhythmically representing the dots and dashes. For example the letter A is represented by a dot and a dash, (or .-). In code we would say di-dah.

What I have found helpful in my study is to correlate certain of the coded letters. For example .- represents A and -. represents the letter N. They are reversed and spell the word AN.

That is a simple one. Two other Morse code combinations that are similar are ..-. for F and .-.. for the letter L. Perhaps the word FLy might help to remember.

Q and Y is another combination—Q being – -.- and -.- – being Y. That one still confuses me, a bit, but I am getting better. The only thing I can think of to remember this is mind your Q’s and Y’s. That is taken from the old saying mind your P’s and Q’s.

When I refer to Morse code, or CW, I am referring to what is called International Morse Code in common use in amateur radio today. I understand that it is different than the code that Samuel Morse actually developed. Samuel Morse, when developing the code, was clever in designing it. He knew, for example, that the most common letter in the English language was the letter E. Therefore he used a simple di (.) to represent it. T, also being common, became dah (-). Studying the manner in which the code developed might also help you learn it. There are many videos and articles on the subject on something called the Internet.

There are a couple of good apps for your so-called “smart phone” or tablet that might help. I will be doing articles on two of these in the near future. This site also offers some videos that might help you sort things out and there are several sites online that offer Morse code training. I will try to link to resources that might be useful to you in your endeavor to learn Morse code. I am working on getting some QRP (Ham lingo for low power equipment) to transmit Morse code. As I learn, I will pass it on.