KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Rules, Regulations, Enforcement

Random and partly-baked thoughts: ARRL email addresses, pics on QRZ.Com, amateur radio advocate to quit Congress

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One of the features of WordPress is that you can create a draft post by jotting down an idea or cutting and pasting a URL into a blank post. I  do this frequently, then abandon the drafts. There are several reasons for this:

  • The idea was only partly-baked or just a random thought.
  • I was too lazy to write a whole post about it.
  • It wasn’t that great of an idea to start with.

I think that some of these ideas do deserve to see the light of day, however. They may get others thinking and spur discussion about a particular issue or technology. That being the case, here are some things that have crossed my mind lately.

arrl.org vs arrl.net email addresses

If you’re an ARRL member, you can request an ARRL email address. If you’re an ARRL staff member or a mucky-muck volunteer, such as section manager, you get an arrl.org email address. If you’re not one of the chosen few, they give you an arrl.net email address.

This is something that has griped me for a long time. It’s just another indication of how the ARRL views its members and makes it clear that members are second-class citizens in the ARRL hierarchy. By contrast, I am also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE has many more members than the ARRL, but when you apply for an IEEE email address you receive an ieee.org address, no matter if you are a Nobel Prize winner or a student member.

Photos on QRZ.Com

One thing that always bugs me is that when I look up someone on QRZ.com, I find a photo of their radios or their shack. Pictures of equipment, such as the one at right, do nothing for me.

What I want to see is your face like the one at left. That will tell me a lot more about you than the brand of radio that you operate.

Amateur radio advocate will not seek re-election to Congress

Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) has announced that she will not seek re-election in 2024. In May, the ARRL reported that Lesko (AZ-08) introduced The Amateur Radio Communications Improvement Act (H.R. 3241) on May 11, 2023, to require that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) eliminate the obsolete HF digital symbol rate limit with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit. Hopefully, someone else will pick up the ball and run with it.

 

RadioWorld update on proposal to use HF for stock trading

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Radio WorldOver the summer, the amateur radio world was all up in arms about a proposal by an outfit called the Shortwave Modernization Coalition—which doesn’t have a website that I could find—that the FCC allow them to transmit high-power, wide-bandwidth digital signals between 2 MHz and 25 MHz. Comments were due by August 15, and RadioWorld has just published an update on the status of this proposal and the comments it garnered.

The article, “Hams Worry About Shortwave Proposal,” is a pretty good summary of where we are just now. Here are a couple of key quotes:

  • “AARL (sic) adds: ‘SMC also proposes to substantially lessen the protections required to protect adjacent and neighboring licensees … using digital schemes with 50 kHz bandwidths and 20,000 watts of power.’” If they want to transmit wide-band signals at such high power, they should be required to meet an even higher standard than normal for harmonic and spurious emissions. Instead, they’re proposing that the FCC loosen the specifications.
  • “Another commenter from the amateur community said the FCC’s ability to track and solve any possible interference issues is severely lacking.” If the FCC could be counted upon to act swiftly should these transmissions cause interference, then the interference might not be a big deal, but as the commenter notes, the FCC just doesn’t have the resources to do this.

Radio amateurs aren’t the only ones who have commented on the proposal. Perhaps our biggest ally in this matter is the NTIA, which is the government agency responsible for the development of communications policies that affect government operations. In their comments, they write, “To the extent the Commission considers initiating a responsive rulemaking, NTIA respectfully requests that the Commission recognize that much more information would be needed to ensure protection of the significant number of incumbent federal operations in the 2-25 MHz band.”

The comments then go on to detail all of the government operations that would be affected. They include the Maritime Mobile Service, the Aeronautical Mobile Service, and Federal Emergency Management Agency National Radio System (FNARS).

There are also comments from an SMC competitor. Alex Pilosov, founder and president of Shortwave Solutions says the coalition’s request “is premature, incomplete and poorly thought out, and against the public interest,” and that its “lack of substance is matched by its audacity.”

So, stay tuned. The SMC proposal faces a lot more opposition than just ham radio.

Amateur radio videos: Texas wants FCC to loosen rules on data rates, DIY USB-CIV cable, truth is stranger than fiction

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Texas wants FCC to loosen rules on data rates

I’m not sure who got the Texas Department of Public Safety to do this, but kudos to them.

DIY USB-to-CIV cable

I’m a big fan of building things like this yourself. Not only do you spend less money, you learn something in the process.

Truth is stranger than fiction

Watch and see what I mean.

ICQ Podcast Episode 408 – Expanding your Ham Radio Activity HamRadio 2023

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In this episode, I joined Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss:

ICQ Podcast Episode 403 – ARRL dues increase, RF exposure rules, QRP, KISS technology

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In this episode, I join Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss:

This episode is kind of long, but we had quite spirited discussions about the ARRL dues increase, the RF exposure rules, and the symbol rate legislation.

This episode’s feature is KISS Technology.

ICQ Podcast Episode 393 – Radio Tips to Start 2023

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In this episode, I join Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. We discuss:

Would it be such a terrible thing if…

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Today, on reddit’s /r/amateurradio, a fellow posted:

I recently got a radio for myself and my brother so we could communicate via radio during our airsoft games. From looking online and through some of these posts I see that to transmit we would need a license. I’m not exactly sure which license I would need to get and where to get it (is it via FCC). Thanks for the help.

I replied:

Let me dig out my can opener and open up a can of worms here……

While technically it would be illegal for these guys to use their UV-5Rs on Family Radio Service (FRS) frequencies, would it really be such a terrible thing if they do? They could set their radios to the lowest power setting, and I doubt that they’d interfere with anyone doing so.

I’d call down all the fire and brimstone (what the heck is brimstone, anyway?) I could manage on them if they used amateur radio frequencies, though.

To which, a third fellow responded:

I’d say it’s somewhere between going 10 MPH over the speed limit and not coming to a complete stop at stop signs.

I think that’s pretty much what I was thinking, except that I only go 5 mph over the speed limit. :) What do you think?

Amateur radio in the news: Don’t mess with firefighters, club receives national recognition

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FCC Proposes to Fine Ham for Firefighting Interference

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to fine an amateur radio operator for alleged interference with firefighting efforts in Idaho last year.

It said Jason Frawley, WA7CQ, apparently interfered with radio communications that were guiding fire suppression aircraft working the “Johnson fire” near Elk River. Frawley later told the FCC he was only trying to help.

The $34,000 fine would the largest of its kind, the commission said in issuing its notice of apparent liability. All four commissioners approved the NAL. Frawley now has the opportunity to respond, and the FCC would then consider final action.

…read more

Ham radio group receives national recognition 

(ABC 6 News) – A ham radio group in Iowa is being recognized for their work, both on and off the airwaves.

You may not know it, but amateur radio or ham radio operators play a big part in our lives. They work with the National Weather Service during severe weather and also assist with disasters like wildfires and emergencies like search and rescue operations.

The Northland Amateur Communications group was named the top ‘non-profit’ in the state through a poll on the site ‘great non-profits’.

The group is being recognized for raising money for various charities like Alzheimer’s research, Walk MS, and RAGBRAI.

…read more

Fostering connections around the Sound, around the world

Photo by David Pan.

Puget Sound Repeater Group Vice President Jack Wolfe hosts a remote net or call-in program with amateur radio operators from across Puget Sound and the world.

Mikel Edwards initially became interested in amateur, or ham radio, more out of necessity than anything else.

Edwards owns an off-the-grid cabin that has no cellular service or electricity. But with ham radio, Edwards is able to communicate with fellow amateur radio operators.

Ham radio uses the radio frequency spectrum for the non-commercial exchange of messages, private recreation, and emergency communications.

“I can communicate 40, 50 miles from my cabin in the event there was a forest fire or some other kind of emergency,” Edwards said.

…read more

New amateur radio license fees going into effect April 19, 2022

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The $35 licensing fee that’s been talked about for more than a year now will finally be going into effect on April 19, 2022, according to Public Notice A-22-307A1, dated March 23, 2022. It says:

This Public Notice announces that the new application fee rates for the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, codified at 47 CFR § 1.1102, will become effective on April 19, 2022. Wireless application fees can be paid through the Commission’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) at https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/universal-licensing-system.

For further guidance regarding Wireless Telecommunications Bureau application fees, please refer to the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Fee Filing Guide located at https://www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fees/application-processing-fees. For further information regarding this Public Notice, please contact Roland Helvajian, Program Analyst, Financial Operations, Office of the Managing Director, [email protected].

I emailed Roland Helfajian and asked the following questions:

  • Will the Universal Licensing System have some kind of online form that licensees will use to pay the fee?
  • Will new licenses not go into effect until the licensee has paid the fee?
  • What if a licensee doesn’t have a credit card?

He replied:

Yes, there will be a form online in ULS similar to completing an application.  Generally, licensees have 10 days to pay a fee before their application is dismissed.  If they do not have a credit card, they may have a problem.  As of right now, they can mail in a check and a hardcopy Form 159 to U.S. Bank in St. Louis, MO, but the Commission will be closing the Wireless Lockbox soon.  I believe after the Lockbox is closed, all payments will need to be electronic.

UPDATE 3/31/22

This from the ARRL:

New FCC Application Fee Will Not Apply To Amateur Radio License Upgrades

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) staff has clarified in response to an ARRL request that the new $35 application fee will not apply to most license modifications, including those to upgrade a licensee’s operator class and changes to club station trustees. The FCC staff explained that the new fees will apply only to applications for a new license, renewal, rule waiver, or a new vanity call sign. As previously announced, the new fees take effect on April 19, 2022.

“We are pleased that the FCC will not charge licensees the FCC application fee for license upgrade applications,” said ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) Manager, Maria Somma, AB1FM. “While applicants for a new license will need to pay the $35 FCC application fee, there will be no FCC charge for future upgrades and administrative updates such as a change of mailing or email address. Most current licensees therefore will not be charged the new FCC application fee until they renew their license or apply for a new vanity call sign.”

Booklet outlines WRC 23 activities

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The International Telecommunication Union, ITU, has just released their WRC-23 booklet. Available in six different languages, It can be freely downloaded from https://www.itu.int/wrc-23/booklet-wrc-23/.

The booklet lists 44 resolutions that WRC will be addressing during the conference, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates (either in Abu Dhabi or Dubai), from 20 November to 15 December 2023. 9 of the 44 resolutions mention the Amateur Radio Service in some way, with the majority of them having to do with frequency bands in the microwave region.

I’m always kind of surprised at the attention that amateur radio gets at WRC, considering that the ITU has to administer all of the various radio services. In the preface to the booklet, the Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, Mario Maniewicz, even gives a shout out to amateur radio: “It has been prepared following the past initiatives of the International Amateur Radio Union (www.iaru.org) and in order to maintain this good tradition to better assist the ITU membership in the preparations for the conference.”