The ARRL Letter

Vol. 12, No. 17

September 14, 1993


5-year ARRL effort bears fruit


FCC gives hams new protection against 'scanner laws'


	An FCC decision on August 20, the result of a 5-year 

ARRL effort, gives Amateur Radio operators a powerful new 

tool to use against ill-conceived local and state laws and 

ordinances.

	In the past referred to as the "Scanner laws 

proceeding," the Commission's Memorandum Opinion and Order 

actually goes much further than simply saying that amateurs 

have a federal right to own and operate their radios. The 

Commission's decision supports at length the very essence of 

the purpose of the Amateur Service.

	The story of the proceeding, PR Docket 91-36, 

actually begins with the FCC Part 97 Rules Rewrite 

proceeding in 1988. ARRL's comments in Docket 88-139 

proposed the addition of a new section to the FCC Rules to 

clarify that the possession of amateur equipment, whether or 

not that amateur equipment is incidentally capable of 

receiving communications on frequencies allocated to other 

services, is permissible.  

	Since that time, state statutes and local ordinances 

have continued to be construed and applied to permit 

confiscation of Amateur Radio mobile transceivers from 

licensed amateurs, merely because those transceivers are 

capable of receiving certain land mobile bands as well as 

amateur frequencies.  

	The Commission's ruling will relieve amateurs of the 

growing, unreasonable burden established by these laws, 

which interfere with the proper functioning of the Amateur 

Radio Service and public service communications provided by 

amateurs.

	In its handling of PR Docket 88-139, the FCC staff 

decided to confine the proceeding as much as possible to a 

restatement of existing rules, and to not address this and 

other new issues. 

	But, the ARRL Board of Directors ad-hoc Part 97 

Rewrite Committee wanted to keep the issue alive. So, in 

response to the committee's recommendation, ARRL General 

Counsel Chris

Imlay, N3AKD, brought to the Executive Committee in the fall 

of 1989 a draft request for an FCC declaratory ruling.  

	The EC concurred, and the request was filed in 

November 1989.

	The FCC's lengthy Order will be treated at length in 

November *QST*. The essence of their decision, based on the 

ARRL motion for a declaratory ruling, is:	

	"We hold that state and local laws that preclude the

possession in vehicles or elsewhere of amateur radio

service transceivers by amateur operators merely on the

basis that the transceivers are capable of the reception

of public safety, special emergency, or other radio

service frequencies, the reception of which is not

prohibited by federal law, are inconsistent with the

federal objectives of facilitating and promoting the

amateur radio service and, more fundamentally, with the

federal interest in amateur operators' being able to

transmit and receive on authorized amateur service

frequencies.  

	"We therefore hold that such state and local

laws are preempted by federal law."


Amateur service defended


	The FCC, in the "Discussion" section of its Order, 

outlines several reasons for "the strong federal interest in 

the preservation and advancement of the amateur service."

	The Order cites as evidence the FCC's comprehensive 

set of rules for the amateur service, rules made to ensure 

that strong technical standards and operating practices are 

maintained.

	The Order also notes that FCC Part 97 Rules spell 

out that the amateur service exists to "continue and extend 

the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the 

advancement of the radio art" (the FCC's words).

	Finally, the Order details recognition of Amateur 

Radio by the U.S. Congress, in specifically exempting 

amateurs from license fees and in a 1988 "Sense of Congress" 

statement that says, in part, 

	(The Congress) "strongly encourages and supports the 

Amateur Radio Service and its emergency communications 

efforts; and government agencies shall take into account the 

valuable contributions made by amateur radio operators when 

considering actions affecting the Amateur Radio Service."

	ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, 

said "This result is all the sweeter because we had been 

discouraged from getting our hopes up. The tide had been 

running against assertions of federal preemption, and there 

was some feeling that PRB-1 represented a 'high water mark' 

unlikely to be achieved again.

	"In short, the preemption declaration in PR Docket 

91-36 represents an excellent job by the FCC and its staff, 

as well as by those in the League who recognized the need, 

prepared the arguments, and then kept the faith in the face 

of pessimism about the likely outcome."  

	


League defends position on club call sign program


	The ARRL has responded to complaints filed against 

it by the W5YI-VEC Inc. and the National Amateur Radio 

Association, in the matter of choosing administrating 

organizations for a proposed club and military amateur 

station call sign program.

	On August 5 the ARRL filed  with the FCC its 

opposition to the requests of four other entities to serve 

as call sign administrators, citing shortcomings in their 

submissions and reminding the Commission that there is no requirement 

that more than one administrator be named -- "nor any 

advantage to be gained from doing so." 

	The ARRL told the Commission that it saw defects in 

the applications from the other four groups (W5YI-VEC Inc., 

the NARA, the Quarter Century Wireless Association, and the 

Southeastern Repeater Association). 

	In response, the W5YI-VEC and the NARA filed 

"Motions to Strike" the League's filing. The League has 

responded by telling the Commission that the Motions to 

Strike are not the "proper procedural vehicle" to use in 

taking issue with the League's position, and saying in 

addition that the claim made by W5YI-VEC and the NARA that 

the League's opposition was defective is untrue.

	W5YI-VEC in its Motion suggested that there is no 

FCC rule permitting the League's opposition; the League 

responded that its pleading was timely filed as opposition 

to a petition (the applications of the four other groups to 

be call sign administrators).

	The League also said that the Commission could treat 

the League's pleading (technically called a "Consolidated 

Opposition") as an informal request for Commission action 

(allowed under Section 1.41 of FCC Rules).

	The League's Consolidated Opposition calls 

"startling" an allegation of W5YI-VEC that the League "lacks 

standing" to oppose other groups' being call sign 

administrators. 

	In response, the ARRL again cited the history of the 

new FCC regulation permitting the call sign program, e.g., 

that the League had the idea in the first place, promoted it 

within the FCC and in Congress, and then finally urged the 

FCC to adopt a program once it had been enabled by Congress.

 	The League further told the FCC that W5YI-VEC 

objections to the "tone" of the League's August 5 filing 

were not a basis for a Motion to Strike. 

	"Suffice it to say," the League said in its 

Consolidated Opposition, "that the League continues to 

oppose the self-promotional efforts of unqualified or less 

qualified organizations to overly complicate and detract 

from the efficient private sector administration of club and 

military recreation station call signs...

	"Amateur radio clubs and military recreation 

stations deserve better," the League said.

	The League responded to a W5YI-VEC contention that 

it (the W5YI-VEC) could aggregate groups of people and call 

them "members," calling such a plan "the essence of a sham 

organization."

	The League said that the argument of the NARA -- 

that the League's opposition to the applications of the four 

other groups was really a petition to the FCC to reconsider 

its Order enabling the entire program -- was simply 

incorrect. 

	The League said that it merely continues to urge the 

FCC to decide to appoint only one administrator for the 

program; the decision is entirely up to the Chief of the 

FCC's Private Radio Bureau, since the enabling legislation 

has nothing to say about *how many* administrators should be 

appointed. 

	The League said that the W5YI-VEC and NARA motions 

to strike "are no more than an effort to defend (their) 

defective applications ... there is absolutely no basis 

whatsoever for striking the League's opposition, and those 

motions should therefore be promptly dismissed."

	No new club or military recreation station call 

signs have been issued since 1977. 


FCC DENIES PETITIONS

FOR A.R. RESTRUCTURING


	The FCC has denied a petition by Scott Leyshon, 

WA2EQF, to eliminate written examinations for amateur 

operator licenses.  At the same time the Commission denied a 

petition by Vincent Biancomano, WB2EZG, which, although it 

not advocate a "no written test" license, did, the FCC said, 

concur in all other respects with Leyshon's proposal. 

	Leyshon's petition, filed April 19, 1993, argued 

that current written examinations place a premium on FCC 

rules over technical content.  No comments were received on 

his petition. 

	Biancomano's petition, like Leyshon's, was 

characterized by the FCC as proposing that the Commission 

state a goal of the amateur service as being either a 

technical or a non-technical service. 

	The FCC said that of the 170 questions that appear 

on examinations for amateur operator licenses, only (their 

word) 46 concern rules and operating procedures, while 124 

concern "contemporary technical matters." The Commission 

said it did not believe that present examinations place an 

unjustified premium on rules. 

	The FCC said that amateurs have over the years 

expressed the view that they agree with the current 

statement of the purposes of Amateur Radio, as found in the 

FCC Rules, and the FCC agreed. 	 

	Biancomano has responded to the FCC, challenging 

their decision. "The FCC for the second time," Biancomano 

said, "refused to directly address the bulk of the issues 

brought out in Mr. Leyshon's petitions (and mine), 

essentially dismissing them with a one-page statement that 

contains little in the way of information.

	"While it is the purview of the Commission to accept 

or deny a given petition," Biancomano said, it is also the 

constitutional right of a citizen to petition government and 

to expect a specific response to specific questions in that 

petition. The Commission has in fact not provided such a 

suitable response."


FREE EXAMS FOR NOVICES

QUESTIONED BY W5YI-VEC  


	The W5YI Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) has 

filed a complaint with the FCC, asking that the ARRL-VEC be 

forced to change its policy and begin charging for 

administering Novice class examinations. The W5YI-VEC argues 

that the issue is one of 

"uniformity," claiming that ARRL benefits financially from 

giving free exams. 

	The League, in a response to the FCC, disagreed, 

saying that "VECs have always had the latitude to set their 

own fees. We see no compelling federal interest in whether 

or not a class of nine year olds ought to be charged for 

taking an entry-level exam." 

	Two matters are at the heart of the W5YI-VEC 

complaint, made in a letter to FCC Private Radio Bureau 

Chief Ralph Haller:

	First, that different accounting methods used by 

various VECs may be contrary to FCC rules governing VECs; 

some charge examinees on an individual basis, giving (W5YI-

VEC told the FCC) VEs and VECs the option of not recovering 

out-of-pocket costs from any particular examinee.

	W5YI-VEC also charged that the ARRL-VEC, by not 

charging for Novice examinations, stands to benefit 

financially. "Free examinations," W5YI-VEC said, "when all 

other VECs charge, attract applicants. These applicants are 

potential purchasers of examination preparation materials 

whose purchasing decisions may be unduly influenced by their 

choice of VECs." 

	The League's policy also affects codeless Technician 

licensees who are not charged by the ARRL-VEC for taking the 

5-wpm code test to upgrade to "Tech-plus" (thus gaining 

Novice HF privileges).


ARRL SUPPORTS SHARING

OF VE RESPONSIBILITY 


	The ARRL has gone on record in opposition to a 

proposal by the "Rules Committee of the National Conference 

of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators" (NCVEC) that would 

require a "contact" volunteer examiner be appointed for each 

examination session who would have "overall" responsibility 

for the session.

	In comments filed August 30, 1993 to the proposal 

(RM-8301), the League said that the concept of having three 

examiners share liability for exam sessions' integrity has 

worked well since the inception of the volunteer examiner 

program in 1983, and that the benefits of the three-person 

team would be diluted by the NCVEC proposal, if adopted.

	The League said that the FCC's original Notice of 

Proposed Rule Making more than ten years ago suggested a 

three-person team with a "team chief" who must be an Extra 

Class licensee. That idea was abandoned in favor of an ARRL 

proposal that a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator system be 

established (in FCC Report and Order 83-433, which enabled 

the VE program).

	The League said that it should be left to individual 

VE teams to designate a "team leader" if they wish, "but in 

no case should the concept of a joint and several liability 

of the three-examiner team members be diluted."

	The NCVEC proposal came out of the Conference's 

annual meeting in June, 1993. The ARRL-VEC was represented 

at the Conference but was not a party to the decision to 

make the proposal to the FCC.




HQ staffers guests at annual JARL Ham Fair. 


	ARRL International Programs Manager Nao Akiyama, 

NX1L, has been a long-time guest at the annual JARL Ham Fair 

held every August in Tokyo. But new ground was broken when 

the magazine *CQ Ham Radio* offered to bring over ARRL DXCC 

Specialist Bill Kennamer, K5FUV, as guest of honor.

	After many seconds of deliberation, Bill said yes.

	The mission Bill accepted was to speak at the event, 

held August 20-22, and to join Nao in the ritual checking of 

QSL cards for JA DXers. With an eventual 61,000 attendees it 

is no surprise that the pair eyeballed more than 10,000 DX 

QSLs, eclipsing the old record of some 8,000 checked (by a 

larger crew including field checkers) at the 1993 Dayton 

HamVention.

	Those 10,000 DXCC credits represented 202 individual 

applications, to add to the total arriving in Newington in 

September -- the Annual List month and the busiest of the 

year!

	But this visit was for more than just checking QSLs 

-- DXing was the highlight of this year's Ham Fair and 

hamdom's premier DX program, DXCC, headed the bill (pardon 

the pun).

	Bill Kennamer's job was to describe the massive job 

of administering DXCC, with special emphasis on ARRL's on-

going work to computerize more than four decades of paper 

records. 

	In advance, Bill and Nao prepared the text for a 

brochure on the DXCC program specially tailored to DXers in 

Japan, DXCC's biggest "customer" after the U.S. The brochure 

describes the mechanics of working smoothly with the DXCC 

Branch, and suggests solutions to the special problems of 

swapping paperwork from halfway around the world.

	Bill and Nao were guests at the elaborate opening of 

Ham Fair, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony to open 

the doors. Shozo Hara, JA1AN, President of JARL, gave 

opening remarks to the crowd, and served as Master of 

Ceremonies for a group of welcoming speeches that followed, 

including one by Bill. Kennamer also spoke at a noon forum, 

answering the questions that are common to DXers around the 

world. "I spent 30 minutes talking and Nao spent 45 

translating," Kennamer said with a grin.

	After that Bill and Nao went back to work; Nao made 

appointments for anxious DXers to return to the ARRL booth, 

so that no more than a handful of them were waiting on line.

	The trip ended with presentation of a plaque to JARL 

commemorating ARRL's 10th attendance at Ham Fair, another 

plaque thanking CQ Publishing for making Bill's visit 

possible, and a celebration dinner.

	Bill Kennamer also reports finding the best place on 

earth to buy watches cheap and that McDonald's gets it right 

in Tokyo, but those are stories for another time (or place). 

-- K1TN.


BRIEFS


	* The third SAREX flight of 1993 is now set for 

October 7; STS-58 on Space Shuttle *Columbia* was to have 

lifted off for a 13 day mission on September 10 but was 

delayed by recurring problems with the shuttle *Discovery* 

(STS-51, not a SAREX flight). Fifteen schools are scheduled 

to participate. Flight information updates will be available 

on W1AW as the launch date nears.


	* Philip M. Kane, N6SP, has been named Engineer-in-

Charge of the FCC's San Francisco office. Kane, 56, began 

his FCC career as an electronics engineer at the S.F. office 

in 1967 and has been acting EIC there since November, 1992. 

Before joining the FCC he worked with the Israeli Ministry 

of Communications and was licensed as 4X4UQ.

	Kane, 56, was first licensed in 1952 as K2ASP; he's 

an ARRL Life Member.


	* The high cost of countries: A newsletter on the 

scheduled February, 1994 DXpedition to Peter I Island, the 

most-needed DXCC country in *everybody's* poll, reports that 

$50,000 has been spent so far. That is a *downpayment*; The 

newsletter is going to DX movers and shakers and may be 

followed in greater detail in the various DX newsletters.


	* On August 23, 1993, KH6HME and N6CA set a new 902 

MHz terrestrial distance record of 2469 mi (3973 km), 

according to N6CA. The contact, with signals just out of the 

noise, came at 0136 UTC, on CW. For the next four hours the 

pair tried unsuccessfully to make contact on 2304 MHz. 144 

MHz was used for liaison. Chip Angle, N6CA, built the gear. 


	* Deadline for DXCC submissions to make the 1993 

Annual List is Thursday, September 30 (receipt at HQ). Don't 

forget that beginning this year the List will not appear in 

*QST* but rather will be published separately and mailed in 

early 1994 to all active DXCC program participants. 


	* Here are several corrections to the list provided 

by the Foundation for Amateur Radio 1993 scholarship winners 

published in our August 25 issue: Jeffrey Giesberg, KB2CZB, 

and Beverlie L. Hartnett, N3NZK, were winners of QCWA 

Memorial Scholarships; and David B. Perrin, KC1TS, won the 

Ralph Hasslingler Memorial Scholarship; and Patrick J. 

KA0ZEQ also was a scholarship winner.


	* Japan has made it easier for amateurs from other 

countries to operate there. On June 16 Japan revised its 

radio laws to allow foreign nationals who hold Japanese 

Amateur Radio operator licenses to establish and operate 

their own radio stations in Japan even if they are from 

countries not having a reciprocal operating agreement with 

Japan.

	Amateurs operating under the new arrangement will be 

issued "7J" prefixed-call signs, good for five years. 

Applications are taken by the International Section of the 

Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL). (Thanks *The JARL News*.)





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