April 13, 2010 by kb3ljm.

The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM) on April 13 seeking to lower the fee for Amateur Radio vanity call signs. Currently, a vanity call sign costs $13.40 and is good for 10 years; the new fee, if the FCC plan goes through, will go down to $13.30 for 10 years, an decrease of 10 cents. The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934 (as amended) to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program. The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call sign for a new term. Instructions on how to comment on this NPRM are available on the FCC Web site.

http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-looks-to-lower-fees-for-vanity-call-signs

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April 8, 2010 by kb3ljm.

Once touted as “the most successful BPL deployment in the nation,” the City of Manassas, Virginia has decided to get out of the BPL business, once and for all. At a Special Meeting on Monday, April 5, the Manassas City Council — acting on a recommendation from the Manassas Utilities Commission — unanimously voted to discontinue Broadband over Powerline (BPL) Internet service as of July 1, 2010 to the approximately 520 residents and businesses who currently subscribe to the service; these customers were told that they have three months to find a new Internet service provider.

http://www.arrl.org/news/city-of-manassas-to-end-bpl-service

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April 7, 2010 by kb3ljm.

In November 2009, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) — WT Docket No 09-209 — seeking to amend the Commission’s Amateur Radio Service rules in an attempt to clarify certain rules and codify existing procedures governing the vanity call sign system, as well as revise certain rules applicable to club stations. In March, the ARRL submitted comments and additional proposals to the FCC to update the Amateur Service’s call sign assignment system and provide for continued growth of the Amateur Radio Service, as well as enhance the pride and satisfaction of licensees in their personal achievements in the radio art. The ARRL’s positions were developed by the Executive Committee at its March 13 meeting.

http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-responds-to-fcc-s-em-nprm-em-calling-for-new-rules-on-vanity-and-club-call-signs-em-em

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March 25, 2010 by kb3ljm.

On March 24, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proposing to amend the Commission’s Amateur Radio Service rules “with respect to Amateur Radio operations during government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster readiness drills and tests.” While current rules provide for Amateur Radio use during emergencies, the rules prohibit communications where the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer. In October 2009, the FCC released a Public Notice clarifying the Commission’s rules relating to the use of Amateur Radio by licensed amateurs participating in drills and exercises on behalf of their employers. To date, the FCC has granted several dozen waivers under this new policy.

https://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/25/11405/?nc=1

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March 18, 2010 by kb3ljm.

In response to a 2006 ARRL Petition regarding spread spectrum issues, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on March 16 (WT Docket No 10-62), proposing to amend Part 97 to facilitate the use of spread spectrum communications technologies by eliminating the requirement that amateur stations use automatic power control (APC) to reduce transmitter power when the station transmits a spread spectrum (SS) emission and reducing the maximum transmitter power output when transmitting a SS emission. Through an Order attached to the NPRM, the Commission also made “certain non-substantive revisions” to the Amateur Service rules.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/18/11396/

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March 16, 2010 by kb3ljm.

This morning, the FCC held an Open Meeting to introduce its report Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) that will be delivered to Congress today. Calling it “an ambitious agenda for connecting all corners of the nation while transforming the economy and society with the communications network of the future — robust, affordable Internet,” the Commission found that nearly 100 million Americans lack broadband at home today and 14 million Americans do not have access to broadband.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/16/11393/

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March 4, 2010 by kb3ljm.

In February 2010, the American Hospital Association (AHA) filed a request with the FCC for a blanket waiver of Section 97.113(a)(3) of the Commission’s Rules “to permit hospitals seeking accreditation to use Amateur Radio operators who are hospital employees to transmit communications on behalf of the hospital as part of emergency preparedness drills.” On March 3, the FCC issued a Public Notice — WP Docket 10-54 — seeking comments if the Commission “should grant AHA’s request for a blanket waiver of Section 97.113(a)(3) to permit amateur operators who are hospital employees to participate in emergency drills that are conducted by hospitals for accreditation purposes and that are not government-sponsored.”Section 97.113(a)(3) specifically prohibits amateur stations from transmitting communications “in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer.”

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/04/11375/?nc=1

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March 4, 2010 by kb3ljm.

In mid-February, European amateurs first used a new, experimental digital mode known as ROS. On February 23, 2010 — after FCC review of the original documents provided from the developer’s Web site — the FCC made the following statements on ROS:

“Section 97.305 is the rule that specifies where different emission types are allowed to be transmitted on different bands. ‘ROS’ is viewed as ’spread spectrum,’ and the creator of the system describes it as that. We assume that he knows what he created. [Section] 97.305 authorizes spread spectrum emission types (defined in Section 97.3) to be transmitted by FCC licensed amateur stations at places we regulate communications only on 222-225 MHz and higher frequency amateur bands. European telecommunication regulatory authorities may authorize amateur stations in Europe to use SS on the HF bands, but this is of no concern to us. The Commission does not determine if a particular mode ‘truly’ represents spread spectrum as it is defined in the rules. The licensee of the station transmitting the emission is responsible for determining that the operation of the station complies with the rules. This would include determining the type of emission the station is transmitting and that the frequencies being used are authorized for that type of emission.”
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February 28, 2010 by kb3ljm.

In 2005, after the State of Florida adopted statutes aimed at pirate broadcasters and making it a felony to make a radio transmission without Commission authorization or to interfere with a licensed public or commercial radio station, the ARRL — through General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD — filed a Request for Declaratory Ruling (Request) with the FCC, seeking a declaratory ruling on portions of that statute. The ARRL argued that the Statute was written so broadly that one could infer that Commission-licensed Amateur Radio stations in Florida would be subject to felony prosecution if their transmissions interfered with broadcast or other radio receivers. In 2006, New Jersey adopted a similar statute and the ARRL’s Request was modified to include that state. Five years and one day after the original Request was filed with the Commission, the FCC denied the Request.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/02/28/11365/?nc=twiar

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February 12, 2010 by kb3ljm.

From Surfin’: The Cooling of Ham Radio by Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU

The iTunes store has a diverse selection of ham radio applications (”apps”) for the coolest gadget in the world. Visiting the iTunes store, I was surprised how many ham radio apps there are — and about a quarter of them are free! Among the free apps are a satellite tracker, an EchoLink app, ham utilities, an APRS app, a Maidenhead converter, a direction finder, a HF beacon app, a VHF/UHF/SHF contest rover logger and a bunch of ham radio exam preparation apps, including some in partnership with the ARRL. If you are willing to part with a buck or two, there are a slew of “unfree” ham radio apps, too.
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