KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

FCC

Revamped FCC Website Expected to Debut on December 10

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QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 35  ARLB035
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  November 25, 2015
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB035
ARLB035 Revamped FCC Website Expected to Debut on December 10

The FCC has announced that its large-scale website redesign will be completed by December 10. The switch to the new site is set to begin on December 10 at 0100 UTC and will be completed about 4 hours later.

“While the transition to the revamped site is expected to be completed almost instantaneously, there will be an ongoing process following this transition that will continue to involve user feedback, fixes by the FCC’s Information Technology team, and content updates by policy bureaus and offices,” the FCC said in a November 24 Public Notice.

The FCC said the new website has been designed to provide “better functionality, an improved design, and better searchability and navigability.” Earlier this year the Commission’s IT Department opened a beta-test version of the site, located at https://prototype.fcc.gov/, and has been gathering user comments at, https://prototype.fcc.gov/eform/submit/feedback .

“Extensive user research revealed how the FCC could improve the website’s information architecture to make content easier to find,” the Public Notice said. The FCC said its new website has been designed to operate on tablet and mobile device browsers with the display optimization based upon the device. The site utilizes a “toggle” navigation that allows visitors to browse either by “Category” or “Bureau and Office.”

When the new site comes online, the familiar current FCC website will no longer be available. The FCC said web pages and files on transition.fcc.gov that have not already migrated to the new site will remain available, and existing bookmarks will be redirected to the appropriate content on the new site. While the Commission has already upgraded some of its interactive systems, including the Consumer Help Center, and is working toward improvements on similar systems, including the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), these systems will not be directly impacted by the December 10 migration.

“This migration will impact the look and functionality of web pages that are coded in HTML and managed through a content management system, such as the homepage and individual bureau pages,” the FCC Public Notice said. The FCC said the change to a new website design was, in part, driven by a need to start using a more modern, open-source content management system to upgrade the site’s look and architecture, and to transition to a system that is compatible with the latest website innovations.

FCC Chief Information Officer David Bray has written blog posts about the website development process, and the beta site has been publicly available and soliciting feedback since April. Two additional public outreach sessions will be held before the December 10 changeover to explain the new site and its functionality to interested stakeholders.
NNNN
/EX

Media Hits: Hams gear up for Pope, clubs needed in India, ham accused of interference

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pope-francis

Amateur Radio Operators Plan To Celebrate Papal Visit With Special Stations On Air. PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — When Pope Francis arrives in the United States at the end of next month, a group of amateur radio operators from across the region will be activating special stations to mark the historic occasion.
Ron Sigismonti, a Chester County ham operator whose radio call sign is N3RS, is recruiting ham operators from the Frankford Radio Club in southeastern Pennsylvania, south Jersey and Delaware to take part.

Need for HAM radio clubs in every part of state. Patna: Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA) vice-chairman Anil Kumar Sinha on Sunday said HAM radio clubs should be established in every part of the state for disaster risk reduction. Addressing the participants at the five-day training programme at Madan Mohan HAM Radio Club at G P Sinha Centre for Disaster Management and Rural Development, Sinha encouraged the trainees to obtain licence from the government of India and set up HAM radio club for serving the mankind during disaster when all communication network collapses.

Now this is a bizarre story…Dan

Amateur radio operator accused of blocking broadcasts. It took a probe that spanned two years and a stealth visit to the Cincinnati area, but a Federal Communications Commission enforcement official says his bureau caught a Union Township amateur radio operator intentionally interfering with the transmissions of his broadcasting buddies. The man identified and now facing a proposed $8,000 FCC fine is Daniel R. Hicks, who earlier had volunteered in the search to find the culprit accused of using someone else’s call sign to broadcast interference that evolved from being a nuisance into an obscene and racist affront.

Minutes offer glimpse into the workings of the ARRL

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ARRLYesterday, the ARRL published the minutes of the March 21, 2015 Executive Committee meeting. The Executive Committee consists of President Kay Craigie, N3KN, in the Chair; First Vice President Rick Roderick, K5UR; Chief Executive Officer and Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ; and Directors Tom Frenaye, K1KI, Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, Bob Vallio, W6RGG, Dale Williams, WA8EFK, and Dr. David Woolweaver, K5RAV. I found a couple of items of interest:

  • In the Chief Executive Officer and Secretary’s report:

    [Dave Sumner, K1ZZ] observed that last year’s Ethics & Elections Committee had recommended returning to the paper ballot system for division elections because of the significantly lower rate of participation in elections since electronic voting was introduced in 2012, and that the current plan for this year’s balloting is to follow the committee’s recommendation.

    I would have thought that electronic balloting would have increased voter participation, but apparently the membership is so apathetic that electronic voting caused participation to fall.

  • In the section FCC/regulatory items, section 4.1.1 reads,

    Mr. Imlay led an extensive discussion of perceived inadequacies in the FCC’s enforcement activities. He described a cordial meeting on March 18 with William Davenport, Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Bureau, who offered assurances that Laura Smith will be returning to the Spectrum Enforcement Division to focus on Amateur Radio enforcement following her interim assignment as Acting Northeast Region Counsel. The meeting with Mr. Davenport covered concerns about specific enforcement cases, the Commission’s plans to reduce its field offices and staff, the new Consumer Help Center online complaint procedure and the need to make it more suitable for the filing of Amateur Radio complaints, and the status of the agreement between the ARRL and the FCC that recognizes the ARRL Official Observer program as the “ARRL Amateur Auxiliary to the FCC.” The ARRL’s principal concerns were also shared with the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee and were reflected in questions posed during the Subcommittee’s FCC Oversight hearing on March 19.

    Sounds like the budget cuts are really going to hurt enforcement efforts. Remember this next time you jump on the “government is the problem” bandwagon.

  • Section 10.1 reads,

    Mr. Fenstermaker, as chairman, reported on behalf of the Strategic Planning Working Group, which is meeting regularly by telephone conference and has made initial progress on its assignment. There are plans to seek input from Section Managers and the general ARRL membership.

    More information about the Strategic Planning effort can be found on the ARRL website. There’s a form there that allows you to contact this committee with your concerns. I hope they make more of an effort to get input from the membership than this simple form. Without a more concerted effort, the strategic planning project will be pretty much a waste of time. I think the main thing that the strategic plan should address is how the ARRL can increase the percentage of licensed amateurs that are ARRL members and how to involve them in ARRL activities.

So…what do you think?

FCC collecting data on how antenna restrictions affect emergency communications

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FCC LogoFrom ARRL HQ:

Do you live in a CC&R-restricted community or participate in EmComm activities? Have deed restrictions / HOA covenants prevented you from erecting amateur radio antennas? Have these restrictions prevented you from full participation in emergency communications activities during disasters?

If your answer is “Yes”, ARRL needs to hear about your experience.

As you are probably aware, Congress has directed the FCC to conduct a study of the uses and capabilities of Amateur Radio Service communications in emergencies and disaster relief. The FCC was directed to identify ” impediments to enhanced Amateur Radio Service communications, such as the effects of unreasonable or unnecessary private land use restrictions on residential antenna installations”. Finally, the study is to make “recommendations regarding the removal of such impediments.”

The FCC has issued a Public Notice – DA 12-523- soliciting input from the public as part of their study. The ARRL is gathering comments from the Amateur Radio community to present as part of its comments on the public notice.

The ARRL is looking specifically for input in two specific areas:

  • Recent Amateur Radio involvement in actual emergency communications and disaster relief;
  • Specific details about how CC&Rs and other private land use restrictions have impaired licensed Amateurs to participate fully in these disaster relief communications.

If your ability to participate in ARES, RACES, SKYWARN, CERT, or other emergency and disaster relief communications has been limited because the inability to have adequate antennas due to CC&Rs, you are asked to provide that information to the ARRL.

First, we recommend that you prepare a narrative of your exact situation, in as much detail as practical. Some areas for you to consider in writing your story might be:

  • Were there alternative properties without CC&Rs in the area you wished to reside?
  • What exactly does your CC&R allow / prohibit (please include a copy of the specific wording)
  • Have you applied for a waiver of the CC&R with the Home Owner’s Association / Architectural Review Committee but were denied? If so, what was the reason?

To assist you in sharing your information with the ARRL, please visit the special ARRL website built to allow you to readily provide the pertinent information at www.arrl.org/ccr-study-information

This page will present you with an overview of what we are asking and have links to the two forms for you to complete. Please be as factual as you can with the information you provide and please provide only information about events and activities in which you were directly involved.

If you wish to write out the details of your situation in advance, please do so. Then, they can be either uploaded to the website or they can be sent as an email attachment to an email sent to [email protected]

Keep in mind that the FCC study does not apply to ordinances and zoning laws implemented by the government – such as towns, cities or counties. PRB-1 covers those situations.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Congress directed that the FCC provide the report back within 180-days and that clock is already counting. The FCC is only accepting comments for a 45-day period, which will end May 17,2012. In order for the ARRL to collate your information in a common report, we ask that you send in your information no later than WEDNESDAY APRIL 25. If you need more information, please contact [email protected] The time to act is NOW!

Dan Henderson, N1ND
Regulatory Specialist

FCC’s Spectrum Dashboard

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Many hams feel that they “own” the ham bands. Nothing could be further from the truth, though. In the UHF and microwave regions, we share those bands with other services.

Don’t believe me? Try out the FCC Spectrum Dashboard. According to this website,

The Spectrum Dashboard allows new ways for citizens to search spectrum in the United States. Use the dashboard to find out how spectrum is being used, who owns spectrum licenses around the country, and what spectrum is available in your county.

It covers the frequency range 225 MHz – 3.7 GHz, which are the frequencies generally deemed the best for wireless broadband service, and therefore, the frequencies most sought after right now.

You can do all kinds of searches, including:

  • search by frequency band,
  • search by service,
  • search by location, and
  • browse through the spectrum.

I just did a search for frequencies used by the amateur radio service and discovered that we share the 420 – 450 MHz band with the following services:

  • Industrial/Business Radio Service
  • Public Safety Radio Service
  • Radiolocation Service

This is a great tool for any ham interested in spectrum issues.