I don’t know about you, but I’m favorably impressed with the Federal Communications Commission customer service. For one thing, they process new license applications with an alacrity we could only dream of back in the good, old days. Folks that pass the Tech test generally have to wait less than a week before their callsigns appear on the FCC’s online database.

Another thing I’m impressed with is the Univeral Licensing System (ULS). This online database is easy to search, and if you want or need to download the information, it’s very easy to do so. You can search by zip code, and then have the database generate a delimited text file that you can then import into a spreadsheet or database program of your own.

I recently did this, generating a mailing list of all licensed amateurs living in zip codes starting with “481.” (There is, by the way, 4222 licensed amateurs living in those zip codes, which make up most of Southeastern Michigan.)

When I first tried this, I didn’t think that I got all the data that I’d requested, so I e-mailed tech support. Within 24 hours, I got back an e-mail explaining where I went wrong. On top of that, I just got a phone call from someone representing the FCC asking about my experience using tech support.

The moral of the story is that while we can perhaps question their recent rule-making, we certainly can’t complain about how they are administering the licensing system.

In the last couple of days, there has arisen quite a furor over a petition to change the rules regarding the use of digital modes. The petition number is RM-11392. You can find it on the FCC website by going to http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi and entering the petition number in the “Proceeding” text box. The petition will be the highest numbered document returned.

Part of the brouhaha arose because many thought that rules changes were imminent. They urged everyone to rush right over to the FCC website and comment. As far as I can see, howeever, this petition is nowhere near being turned into rules changes.

On the page FCC Rulemaking Process, the FCC describes the four steps that occur before a petition is translated into rules changes:

1. Notice of Inquiry (NOI). During this phase, they gather comments on the petition.
2. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). If they determine that a petition has merit, they move to this stage. These are the rules changes that the FCC itself proposes to make, based on the petition and the comments received.
3. Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM). Changes may be made to the NPRM after receiving comments on the NPRM.
4. Report & Order (R&O). The R&O is the document containing the rules changes or an explanation of why no rules changes are being made at this time.

Now, as far as I can see, there is no NPRM in the list of documents relating to RM-11392. The petition was filed on 3/27/07, released for comments on 8/22/07, and the first comment wasn’t entered until 11/20/07. Only two other comments were entered until the recent publicity.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that it isn’t important to read and comment on this petition. Don’t get your knickers in a twist over this just yet, though. The changes being proposed are still a long way from becoming part of Part 97, and if you ask me for a predicition, I’d guess that it will never even get to the NPRM stage.

From the website of the National Council of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators:

Official Release of the 2007 Element 3 Question Pool from the Question Pool Committee of the NCVEC

This question pool is effective for amateur General Class examinations on or after July 1, 2007. It is being made available to the public in Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) to VECs and other interested parties. If you require an editable version or other format of the pool please contact the QPC directly.

There are 486 questions in the pool. Section G7A requires the use of one illustration, a schematic drawing. The drawing file is G7-1 published separately. Also posted is an MSWord version of G7-1 . The graphic will be available in JPEG and BMP (Windows Bitmap) versions upon request.

As always, VECs are free to correct minor typographical and punctuation errors, including obvious minor omissions. Such corrections must not cause a change in the meaning of a question or any of the proposed answers to that question. Also, since rule citation references are not part of the question itself, but are included only to assist instructors and students when looking up the applicable section of the rules, errors in the reference identifiers are not considered adequate reason for removal of a question from the pool.

Jim Wiley, KL7CC
Chairman, NCVEC QPC

Members of the committee:
Roland Anders, K3RA
Perry Green, WY1O
Larry Pollock, NB5X

From the ARRL website:

NEWINGTON, CT (November 15, 2006) — Just a little over a month after the Federal Communications Commission released the Report and Order (R&O) in the so-called “Omnibus” Amateur Radio proceeding, WT Docket 04-140 (FCC 06-149) to the public, a revised version appeared today in the Federal Register. The changes in the R&O will take effect Friday, December 15, at 12:01 AM EST, 30 days after its publication.

As expected, the Report & Order as published this morning clarified two items that had raised some concerns when it was first released last month: That the 80/75 meter band split applies to all three IARU Regions, and that FCC licensees in Region 2, which includes North America, can continue to use RTTY/data emissions in the 7.075-7.100 MHz band.

Still to be resolved are three controversial aspects of the Proceeding:

• Expansion of the 75 meter phone band all the way down to 3600 kHz (thus reducing the privileges of General, Advanced and Amateur Extra class licensees, who had RTTY/data privileges in the 80 meter band, and CW privileges of General and Advanced class licensees).
• The elimination of J2D emissions, data sent by modulating an SSB transmitter, of more than 500 Hz bandwidth (thus making PACTOR III at full capability illegal), and
• The elimination of access to the automatic control RTTY/data subband at 3620-3635 kHz.

The ARRL Board is discussing the possibility of a petition to reconsider several items in the R&O.

ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, commented: “The release of the R&O in the Federal Register has started the countdown clock. We are all looking forward to being able to use the refarmed frequencies starting on December 15. We are still anxiously awaiting the release of the Report and Order for 05-235, the Morse Code Proceeding. We are hopeful that the Commission will be able to move on that petition and address the outstanding issues in the Omnibus R&O soon.”

About a half hour ago, I fired up the 2m rig and called “KB6NU listening.” Right away, I got a response from a friend in our club. “Good morning,” he said, “How are you today”? He didn’t give his callsign, but I knew who it was from his distinctive voice.

“I’m great,” I replied, “but you should give your callsign to be legal.”

“I’m sorry,” my friend said, “I thought you only had to id every ten minutes and at the end of a contact. Almost immediately, a third station broke in confirming this.

Of course, I had to confirm this. I went to the ARRL website, which has the text of Part 97. Sure enough, Part 97.119, Station Identification states:

(a) Each amateur station, except a space station or telecommand station, must transmit its assigned call sign on its transmitting channel at the end of each communication, and at least every ten minutes during a communication, for the purpose of clearly making the source of the transmissions from the station known to those receiving the transmissions. No station may transmit unidentified communications or signals, or transmit as the station call sign, any call sign not authorized to the station.

Note that nowhere does it require that you identify at the start of a communication.

There’s more there, and I’d suggest that you have a look. There are other station identification requirements that you probably should know. For example, when operating a special event station, you must not only identify with the special event station call, but also your own call once every hour.

You learn something new every day….

ARRL Bulletin 20, dated 10/13/06, follows:

The ARRL is requesting member input concerning the FCC’s Amateur
Radio proceeding, WT Docket 04-140, released October 10. The Report
and Order will not take effect until 30 days after publication in
the Federal Register. This publication date is not yet known.

The complete text is available for viewing as a PDF file on the FCC
Web site. A summary is available on the ARRL Web site.

The ARRL is specifically seeking member guidance on how the changes
will affect current operating activities on 80, 40 and 15 meters
(see the current ARRL band plans and an
ARRL FAQ, which includes a chart showing the band changes).

Comments may be submitted by e-mail to bandplan@www.arrl.org. All
e-mails will be read and considered, but individual responses will
not be possible due to the message volume expected. The deadline for
comments is October 31.

I don’t operate 80m very often, but it looks to me that the CW portion is really getting squeezed. Maybe the level of activitiy justifies it, though. If you’re more familiar with this situation, I’d encourage you to submit your comments.

The deadline for comments is October 31, which seems awfully short to me. What’s the rush?

I just noticed on QRZ.Com that there is an article dated May 18, 2006 entitled, “FCC Won’t Say Publicly When It Will Act On Morse Code Issue.” Here’s an excerpt:

“They should probably start learning code,” one staffer advised those waiting for the FCC to drop the Morse requirement before upgrading, noting that a Certificate of Successful Completion of Exam (CSCE) for a written exam element is only good for a year. Even after the FCC goes public with its decision on Morse code, still more time is likely to pass before any new rules go into effect, the staff member pointed out.

So, folks, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen this year, for sure.