The ARRL Letter Vol. 14, No. 2 January 26, 1995 Ham call sign choice soon The FCC has announced its intention to implement a vanity call sign program, and also to resume the issuance of club and military recreation station licenses. On February 1, 1995, the Commission released its Report and Order in PR Docket 93-305, Amendment of the Amateur Service Rules to Implement a Vanity Call Sign System. Amateurs will be eligible to apply for a call sign of their choice in four "gates." The first group eligible to apply will be previous holders of a call sign or the close relative of a previous holder of an amateur call sign who is deceased. The second group will be Amateur Extra Class licensees; the third, Advanced; the fourth, all others. The FCC will announce the date of opening of each "gate" by public notice. The effective date of the new rules is March 24, 1995. The FCC said that the first gate will open as soon as a new application form, FCC Form 610-V, is available and the Commissions licensing facility is prepared to begin processing the applications -- no sooner than April, according to FCC staff. In the case of applications for the call signs of deceased amateurs, normally the call sign will not be available for two years following the persons death or for two years following the expiration of the license. The exception to this rule is that a relative of the deceased amateur may apply for the call sign without regard to the two-year rule. Club station call signs will be issued systematically from the two-by-three block, unless under the fourth "gate" the trustee of an existing club station applies for the call sign of a deceased member as a vanity call sign for the club. The trustees application must be accompanied by the written consent of at least one relative of the deceased club member, and the two-year waiting period noted above is waived. "Close relative" is defined as "spouse, child, grandchild, stepchild, parent, grandparent, stepparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or in-law" for purposes of determining eligibility for a deceased amateur's call sign. A close relative may apply for the call sign of a deceased amateur without regard to license class; that is, a Novice licensee may apply for a call sign otherwise assigned to a higher license class block. Club station trustees -- but not RACES or military recreation station trustees -- will be able to request specific club call signs in the "gate" determined by their own class of operator license. If the trustee is an Amateur Extra Class licensee, he may apply for the same call (provided it's been vacant at least two years) in Gate Two, either for himself or for the club, without asking anyone's permission. Applications for new club and military recreation station licenses with sequential call signs will be accepted beginning March 24, 1995. A club must have such a license in order to be eligible to apply (later) for a vanity club call. The fee for the use of vanity call signs will be $7 per year, or $70 for a 10-year license term. The FCC said that because the normal term of an amateur station license is ten years, a fee of $70.00 will have to be paid when requesting a new or renewed vanity call sign. At this time, the FCC said, under the Communications Act, we cannot provide a one-time fee for processing vanity call sign applications. Amateurs will be able to list up to 25 call sign choices, from any call area. The ARRL had said it preferred that the traditional call area system be kept intact, and the FCC said it carefully considered this suggestion. But, the FCC said it chose not to impose that limitation, because otherwise, the applicants choice of vanity call signs would be reduced to ten percent or less of the call signs that would otherwise be assignable to the station. A limitation based on the persons place of residence, moreover, could easily be circumvented by using a mailing address in another call sign region, the FCC said. The ARRL also had asked that specific call signs in a unique call sign block be made assignable to certain special event stations, and suggested the one-by-one call sign block for such stations. The FCC said that it would set aside that block until it could address the matter later, in a separate proceeding. More information was in July 1994 QST, page 84; June QST, page 81; and February QST, page 84. ARRL board approves long-range plan The ARRL Board of Directors, at their meeting January 20 and 21, adopted a strategic long range plan for the League, continuing a process begun in May 1994, and following two in- person board retreats to consider the future of both Amateur Radio and the ARRL. The plan approved by the board was drafted in October 1994. ARRL Vice President Jay Holladay, W6EJJ, chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee, gave the board the committees final report, including a summary of goals: communicating plans to ARRL members; reviewing the Leagues infrastructure to achieve better alignment with the strategic plan; and naming a transition group to manage and monitor implementation of the plan. To begin implementation of the plan, the following ad hoc committees and appointees were named: Transition Management: Vice Presidents Holladay, (chairman), and Rodney Stafford, KB6ZV; Directors Tod Olson, K0TO, and Tom Comstock, N5TC; and North Carolina Section Manager Reed Whitten, AB4W. Governance: V.P. Stafford (chairman); and Directors Bill Burden, WB1BRE, Steve Mendelsohn, WA2DHF, and Al Severson, AB8P. Volunteer Enhancement: Directors Comstock (chairman) and Joel Harrison, WB5IGF; Vice President Tom Frenaye, K1KI; and Vice Director Kay Craigie, WT3P. ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, called the strategic plan unprecedented in recent decades, if not in the history of the organization. Other highlights of the board meeting follow: * The executive committee will develop a plan to more emphatically bring home to the Federal Communications Commission the need for enforcement in the Amateur Radio Service. * Chief Financial Officer Barry Shelley reported the first financial loss from operations for the League, in 1994, in five years. * General Counsel Christopher Imlay, N3AKDs report covered regulatory issues waiting to be addressed in Washington, including the transfer of spectrum below 5 GHz from government to nongovernment use; wind profiler radars; possible allocation of 219 to 220 MHz for amateur use; an ARRL-requested primary allocation in the 902-MHz band; RF exposure standards; so-called vanity call signs; automatic control of HF data communications; lifetime amateur operator licenses; club station license eligibility; omnibus rule making; spread spectrum rules; and repeater coordination. * Tim Ellam, VE6SH, first vice president of the Radio Amateurs of Canada, attended at the invitation of the board. He said RAC now has approximately 8,500 members. * The board voted to increase membership dues by one dollar, to $31 per year, effective April 1, 1995; dues for family and blind members and for those over 65 and under 18 will also increase, as will the rate for ARRL life membership. * The board committed up to $150,000 of undesignated contributions as matching funds for a 1995 fund raising campaign in support of the AMSAT Phase 3-D amateur satellite project. * In light of the success of the September 1994 Hiram Percy Maxim 125th Birthday Celebration, voted to hold an annual on the air operating event that highlights the ARRL Field Organization, to be called The Hiram Percy Maxim Birthday Celebration, and to be held in September spanning two weekends. * Changed the Standard Operating Procedures for Advisory Committees concerning contact by committee members with foreign governments or with other IARU societies regarding matters of concern to the committee, and added a section on communication with the public. * Heard a report from Vice President Frenaye, chairman of the Ad Hoc Computer Committee, that noted the importance of technology as a key to the long term success of the ARRL. * Heard a final report from Director Olson, chairman of the Ad Hoc 219 MHz Committee, emphasizing the need for a central coordination service for amateurs seeking to establish point-to- point links within this band. * Heard a report from Director Marshall Quiat, chairman of the Ad Hoc Repeater Coordination Committee, recommending that the ARRL invite coordinators to be represented at an open meeting having the following objectives: to explore a possible single point of contact with the coordination community, through which FCC would recognize and support local and regional coordinators; to determine if coordinators would support a return to repeater licensing; to determine the extent to which coordinators would coordinate emitters other than repeaters and whether coordinators should attempt to resolve interference between repeaters and other kinds of amateur stations; standards for service by coordinators; how appeals should be handled; recognition and succession of coordinators; and how the coordinating community should respond to new technologies. The board unanimously accepted these recommendations. * Heard a report from Director Hugh Turnbull, W3ABC, chairman of the RFI Task Group, including interim results of a survey conducted by staff to determine the extent of RFI problems encountered by the membership. * Heard a report from Vice Director Hans Brakob, K0HB, on the Future Systems Committee and its discussions with manufacturers to develop brief technical descriptions of the new HF digital modes, namely PACTOR, Clover and G-TOR. An updated version of the AX.25 protocol is being developed for the committee. * Heard a report from Vice Director George Race, WB8BGY, board liaison to the Spectrum Management Committee. The committee has initiated a response to the Boards request that it study the bands between 420 MHz and 300 GHz, the highest priority to be given to those bands subject to allocation by the US Government. It was noted that all ARRL divisions have been represented in committee deliberations. * Heard a report from Director Turnbull, chairman of the Amateur Auxiliary Oversight Committee, concerning rules enforcement by the FCC. * Heard a report from Vice Director Howard Huntington, K9KM, board liaison to the Public Service Advisory Committee. The committee has studied the desirability of executing a memorandum of understanding with REACT International, the Citizens Band radio group, as well as issues relating to the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). * Instructed the Leagues general counsel to file a petition for rule making with the FCC to permit greater flexibility in the technical parameters of a draft petition governing amateur spread spectrum operation. * The board itself, as well as staff and legal counsel, will study the feasibility of pursuing more aggressive legal and/or legislative action in opposition to restrictive covenants which severely restrict amateur operation, up to and including a total ban on amateur stations or antennas in certain residential areas. * The governance committee will study the idea of changing the terms of office for ARRL directors and vice directors from two years to three, as well as the number of vice presidents. * The board voted that it is ARRL policy that any deficit in the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator program shall be covered from membership dues income. * Elected to the executive committee were directors Marshall Quiat, AG0X; John Kanode, N4MM; Harrison; and Mendelsohn. * Elected as directors of the ARRL Foundation for three- year terms were Helen Grauer, N0BCI; and Directors Edmond A. Metzger, W9PRN, and Frank Butler, W4RH. The board at its January meeting adopted, by resolution, a legislative agenda. Here it is: Supporting legislative or regulatory measures providing for exemption from annual fees for the licensing or operation of Amateur Radio, unless such fee provides for additional services or benefits to the Amateur Radio Service. Supporting legislation that would preserve and protect current Amateur operator access to existing Amateur Radio frequencies as a natural resource for the enjoyment of all qualified individuals. Supporting legislation requiring FCC, NTIA and any other federal agency involved in the spectrum allocation process to allocate compensatory spectrum whenever any existing Amateur Radio frequency is, in whole or in part, reallocated to another radio service. Supporting legislation that would preserve and protect current amateur frequencies on a primary basis. Supporting legislation to provide liability protection for amateurs engaged in volunteer work for the Amateur Auxiliary to the FCC, and for those working as volunteer examiners under the VEC system, provided they are acting in good faith within the scope of their assigned duties. Supporting requiring the Federal Communications Commission to develop and implement effective mandatory standards for radio frequency susceptibility of consumer electronic devices. Supporting the substitution of a one-time Amateur Radio vanity call sign fee of up to $150 for the existing annual administration fee. Supporting requiring the FCC to begin meaningful enforcement activities against criminal violators engaged in illegal Amateur Radio operations. Supporting legislation to provide liability protection for Amateurs engaged in volunteer emergency communication activities on behalf of RACES, ARES, Red Cross, the Salvation Army or any other government or recognized emergency service organization, provided they are acting in good faith within the scope of their assigned duties. 200 JAPANESE AMATEURO IN QUAKE RELIEF EFFORT More than 200 amateurs are providing communication in the Kobe, Japan, area following an earthquake on January 16 that killed more than 5000 people and left tens of thousands homeless. Amateur Radio is being used to connect relief centers and to exchange information on road conditions and traffic; the health, welfare, and whereabouts of residents; and the availability of water and food, according to the Japan Amateur Radio League. The JARL and the Japan Amateur Radio Equipment Industry Association (JAIA) are conducting the effort, at the request of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. 200 hand-held transceivers for 430 and 1260 MHz, as well as three repeater stations, were supplied by JAIA member companies for the operation. Each portable station has been assigned a special call sign--8J3AAA, 8J3AAB and so on. JA3YRL in Kobe serves as communication coordinator, while JA3RL, at the JARLs Osaka office, monitors the activity. 400 of the 600 relief centers (with a total of 240,000 evacuees) are not being served by this communication system, and the JARL is considering equipping at least half of them with amateur stations. BALLOONISTS VOW RETURI AFTER PAYLOAD FAILS We will be back, said the leader of the Iowa Balloon Scientists, following an unsuccessful attempt to launch a balloon carrying Amateur Radio on January 21. Barry Buelow, WA0RJT, said that the group, based in Boone, Iowa, hoped to loft payloads including a transmitter sending global positioning information on 446 MHz, a 2-meter packet digipeater, and a 144/440 MHz crossband voice repeater. This was the first attempted launch for this payload and difficulties were expected, Buelow said. Unexpected interactions between the 144/440 repeater and the GPS receiver forced the team to remove the repeater from the payload. Winds also were a problem, and although the balloon ultimately was launched, the payload failed. 2310 TO 2360 MHz BANA TO BE REALLOCATED The FCC has voted to allocate spectrum from 2310 to 2360 MHz for satellite digital audio radio services (DARS). The FCC said the new DARS would allow direct satellite-to-ground radio to areas of the country and to minority and ethnic groups that are inadequately served by traditional, terrestrial radio. The Commission said that service and licensing rules for the new allocation would be addressed in a later rule making. This was action in FCC General Docket 90-357. SHUTTLE FLIGHT WAS TO BE HAM RADIO FIRST Shuttle flight STS-63, scheduled for launch February 2, was to be the first informal SAREX mission--Mission Specialist Mike Foale, KB5UAC, hopes to make random QSOs, even though there are no scheduled Amateur Radio contacts with schools during this mission. The next SAREX flight, STS-67, scheduled for March 2 to 18, will include the usual scheduled radio contacts with schools, random radio contacts with amateurs, and personal contacts with the astronauts' families. Flying on STS-67 are Stephen S. Oswald, Commander, KB5YSR; Wendy B. Lawrence, Mission Specialist, KC5KII; Ronald A. Parise, Payload Specialist, WA4SIR; and Samuel T. Durrance, Payload Specialist, N3TQA. Two more crew members have passed Technician class exams and await call signs. Schools expected to participate are located in 17 states, as well as South Africa, India, and Australia. TEXAS GROUP PLANNEA FEBRUARY 4 BALLOON On February 4, 1995, the North Texas Balloon Project, sponsored by the Lockheed Radio Club in Fort Worth, planned to launch its sixth high altitude balloon experiment carrying Amateur Radio. The payload includes a variety of radios and instruments that can easily be used by any amateur with a Technician or higher class license: A crossband FM repeater will operate on 147.580 receive and 445.850 MHz transmit; flight data, including GPS position, will be transmitted by 1200-baud AFSK (packet) on 144.290 MHz; and a live, elevation-controlled, color video camera will be used with a 10-watt ATV transmitter on 439.250 MHz. According to Doug Howard, KG5OA, the ATV frequency is cable television channel 60, and an outdoor antenna, along with a television tuned to cable channel 60, should provide acceptable pictures. The balloon was expected to reach 100,000 feet about two hours after launch, giving it a radio horizon of about 400 mi. The launch is scheduled for 1400 UTC; if the launch was delayed, it was to be rescheduled for February 5 or the following weekends. AUSTRALIAN AMATEURO CLAIM 10-GHz RECORD Roger Bowman, VK5NY, and Walter Howse, VK6KZ, have claimed a new world distance record on the amateur 10-GHz band. On December 30, 1994, the two worked over a path of 1911 kilometers. Both VK5NY and VK6KZ were portable, the former near his home in Adelaide and the latter near Perth. VK5NY used 180 milliwatts to a 40-cm dish while VK6KZ ran 100 mW to a similar antenna. The two-way contact was on SSB. The previous world record of 1660 km was set on July 8, 1983, by I0SNY/EA9 and I0YLI/1E9; The North American 10- GHz record of 1018 km is held by WA6CGR and XE2/N6XQ. N6CA and KH6HME continue their efforts to span the 3973-km path between California and Hawaii on 10 GHz. Howse said there was a typical high pressure cell in the Great Australian Bight, a large inlet body of water, and that good signals were present over the 1900-km, nearly all-water path on 144, 432, and 1296 MHz. On the second night, VK5NY drove 250 km to another location in an attempt to once again increase the record distance, but no contact was made. VK6KZ reports hearing, and being heard by, David Minchin, VK5KK, a few km farther than VK5NY, but no 10-GHz two-way contact resulted. VK6KZ lives about 1000 km (some 600 miles) from his portable location near Perth, and must drive there to make these attempts at UHF records. "I have to choose the right time!" he said. *eof