wheatley@inuxi.UUCP (Steven Wheatley) (01/24/86)
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THE / R R \ LETTER
VOLUME 5 \ / NUMBER 01
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January 02, 1986
The ARRL Letter is published bi-weekly by the Information
Services Department of the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main
St., Newington, CT, 06111; (203) 666-1541. Larry E. Price, W4RA,
President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President; Dave
Newkirk, AK7M, Editor; Debra Chapor, Circulation Manager.
Information from The ARRL Letter may be reproduced in whole
or part in any form including photoreproduction and electronic
databanks, providing credit is given to The ARRL Letter and to
the American Radio Relay League.
The ARRL Letter is available in printed form from ARRL.
Subscriptions, limited to ARRL Members, are $19.50 (U.S. funds)
per year for First-Class Mailing to the U.S., Canada, and
Mexico. Overseas air mail subscriptions are available at $31
(U.S. funds) per year. Sample copies are available for an
s.a.s.e.
The Executive Committee of the ARRL Board of Directors met in
Atlanta, Georgia, on December 14, 1985. Here are highlights; the
full minutes will appear in QST:
The Committee considered an ARRL position regarding RM-5241,
the petition by Donald Stoner, W6TNS, for the creation of a
Public Digital Radio Service (PDRS) and reallocation of the 52-54
MHz band from the Amateur Service to the PDRS. Counsel was
directed to file comments by the deadline of January 6, 1985,
vigorously opposing the reallocation of 52-54 MHz. (Details of
RM-5241 elsewhere this Letter.)
Pertaining to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), this
resolution was unanimously adopted:
Whereas, RF susceptibility of the
current generation of VCRs and other
home electronic devices is a growing
problem; and
Whereas, the public is not aware
that responsibility for RF
susceptibility of VCRs and other home
electronic devices lies with the manu
facturers of such equipment rather than
with Amateur Radio stations operating
in the vicinity of these devices; and
Whereas, technical solutions --
while being pursued through special
committees of the American National
Standards Institute (e.g., ANSI C-63)
and by other routes -- will not have a
favorable impact on equipment reaching
consumers in the near term; now,
Therefore, Counsel is instructed to
prepare for filing, after review at the
1986 Annual Meeting of the Board, a
petition requiring the labelling of
home electronic equipment, with regard
to its susceptibility to RF energy, the
filing to emphasize that such labelling
is no substitute for technical solu
tions in the longer term.
The Executive Committee completed its review of Morse Code
examination procedures as called for at Minute 66 of the 1985
Second Meeting (see page 57, September 1985 QST). The EC
concluded that there was no immediate need to revise the Rules in
Part 97. However, the Executive Committee recognized that
consistency of standards in the examination program continues to
be a desirable objective, and the President is requested to
continue to pursue this with Commission personnel as appropriate,
keeping the Morse as well as the written test in mind.
Amateur recruitment. To increase the number of amateurs
licensed by FCC will require a cross-disciplinary coordinated
effort, which is difficult if not impossible through a separate
Development Office. Thus the Development Office is being closed,
and other organizational changes will be made. (See "HQ Shifts
Gears," this Letter.) The following elements of an amateur
recruitment program are contemplated for 1986:
a) An assertive effort through radio
clubs.
b) Newsstand publication.
c) Use of a professional public
relations firm for such projects as
the placement of articles in non-ama-
teur publications for targeted groups.
d) Cooperation with youth groups and
senior-citizen organizations.
e) Revised instructor guides.
f) "How to Become" information
tailored to the targeted groups.
The International Amateur Radio Union Secretary, David
Sumner, K1ZZ, presented a brief oral report on the IARU
Administrative Council meeting in Melbourne, Australia, and
Auckland, New Zealand, November 8, 9 and 11, 1985. It was made
clear that the Council's discussion of a possible World
Administra tive Radio Conference in the early 1990s (as has been
postulated by International Telecommunication Union Secretary
General Richard Butler) in no way implied IARU endorsement of
such a WARC being held.
HEADQUARTERS SHIFTS GEARS TO MEET GROWTH CHALLENGE
For the year 1985, ARRL enjoyed an in crease in membership of
approximately 15,000. While this is short of the ambi tious goal
of a 25,000 increase this year, +it's by far the largest
membership increase since the CB-boom year of 1977, and quite
likely the largest in the League's history in a year that did not
see a similar in crease in the number of licensed amateurs.
The continuation of this success on the membership front will
require more than a "rerun" of 1985 techniques. The reason for
this is that we've yet to make any measurable progress on the
recruitment front -- that's "recruitment" as in more radio
amateurs. Figures for upgrading from one license class to another
look promising, but the rate of first-time entry into Amateur
Radio actually declined in the FCC fiscal year ending September
30, with similar results for October and November. More radio
amateurs means a stronger Amateur Radio in government eyes.
ARRL's Executive Vice President has determined that the
revised HQ organizational structure, adopted last year (see "HQ
Reorganization" in the January 17, 1985 Letter), has not given
the League the best means of tackling the recruitment task.
Writes EVP David Sumner, K1ZZ: "The only effective way to deal
with a challenge as large as Amateur Radio recruitment is to
mobilize all the available resources, regardless of the
department in which they may happen to reside. Assigning the
respon sibility to a single office, with a relatively small
staff, doesn't get the job done unless there is some mechanism
for tapping into the resources of other departments. Accordingly,
as we close out the year we have set the wheels in motion for a
reorganizing of the development function, to focus our resources
as effectively as possible on the recruitment challenge." How
will HQ respond to this challenge?
The Development office is being phased out. Existing
personnel in Newington will continue to perform their functions
(training, audio/visual, referrals of prospective hams to clubs
and Elmers, etc.) but will be reassigned to a new Club Services
Department in the Volunteer Resources Group.
The membership promotion function is reassigned to the
Publications Group, and more specifically to the Circulation
Department.
The function of providing support to the section-level and
local Public Information Assistants and Public Information
Officers will be assigned to the Club Services Department.
Coordination of the recruitment function will become a staff
function in the office of the Executive Vice President, through
the chairing of a multi-department Task Force on Recruitment. It
will be the mission of the Task Force to develop a detailed
recruitment plan, including specific task assignments to
departments.
Representing the League to the national media also will be
done by the office of the Executive Vice President. Several
personnel shifts are being made to complete the picture:
Joining the EVP's staff in mid-January as Senior Staff
Advisor for Planning and Operations is Karl Muller, W3UBQ. Karl
recently took early retirement after a 35-year career with Gulf
Oil, and is relocating to Connecticut from Houston. His
background in financial and customer service operations will add
considerable depth to the staff.
Curt Holsopple, K9CH, will become Manager of the new Club
Services Department, effective the first of the year.
Jim Clary, WB9IHH, Assistant Manager of the Volunteer
Examiner Department, will become Manager of the department.
Watch this space for more news as ARRL tackles the challenge
of the eighties. Hint: you're the most important part of it.
PUBLIC DIGITAL RADIO SERVICE WOULD GOBBLE HALF OF SIX-METER BAND
What has one watt, four letters and wants to eat two
megahertz? Answer: the PDRS (Public Digital Radio Service) sought
for in a Petition for Rulemaking (RM-5241), brought before FCC by
Donald L. Stoner, W6TNS. Citing the rising popularity and falling
prices of computers, and juxtaposing these with increasing costs
for telephone service, Stoner proposes that the PDRS would permit
the owners of personal computers to communicate by radio, first
through Local Area Networks (LAN) and, beyond LANs, through a
national packet radio network. Transmitter power would be limited
to a maximum of one watt in a given user's "radio modem," with
output power being adjusted automatically to the minimum needed
for communication. There's one immediate hitch, from Amateur
Radio's point of view. Writes the petitioner:
"A wideband digital channel can only be accommodated with the
VHF band or higher frequencies. To keep the cost of equipment
low, a band between 30 and 300 MHz is ideal. Some readers may
feel that a service as described should be placed in the UHF or
SHF range. This might be true if a suitable allocation within the
30-300 MHz band did not exist.
"However, within this frequency range there is a band, 2 MHz
in width, which is virtually unoccupied and therefore unused. I
refer to the spectrum between 52 and 54 MHz.
"Radio amateurs are permitted to operate on frequencies
between 50 and 54 MHz (the six meter band). For a number of
reasons, this band is 'underoccupied.' It is estimated that out
of 400,000 radio amateurs in the United States, less than 1000
are active on the six meter band . . . "
The opinion of the petitioner is that most amateur operation
is confined to the bottom two MHz of "Six" because of television
interference; the proposed low power used by "radio modems" in
the PDRS would obviate their causing TVI. Check an ARRL Repeater
Directory lately? 52-54 MHz is where repeaters reside on six, and
they're doing quite well, thanks.
Next Letter, we'll detail ARRL's response to RM-5241; the
League's Executive Committee has already made the gist of its
position known (see "EC Meeting," this Let ter). It's not the
proposal for the service that's the bone of contention,
understand -- it's just that Amateur Radio intends to go right on
keeping that top two megahertz of six exclusively within the
Amateur Radio realm.
ARRL FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
The ARRL Foundation announces the availability of three
scholarship awards for the 1986-87 school year. Based on high
academic standing, financial need and dedi cation to public
service through Amateur Radio, these awards are provided through
the generosity of individual sponsors and donors:
The Perry F. Hadlock Memorial Scholar
ship of $500 will be awarded to a
student of electrical engineering. It
is open to licensed radio amateurs of
the General, or higher, class.
The Paul and Helen L. Grauer award of
$500 will be given to a student of
electronics, communications engi
neering or related fields who resides
in and attends an accredited college
or university in the Midwest Division
of the ARRL.
The You Have a Friend in Pennsylvania
scholarship is available for the first
time in the l986-87 academic year. It
will be awarded to a League member who
maintains academic excellence.
Further information and application forms for these awards may be
obtained by writing to the ARRL Foundation Scholarships, 225 Main
Street, Newington CT 06111.
COMMISSION UPHOLDS DENIAL OF PROPOSAL TO
ESTABLISH AUXILIARY MONITORING SERVICE IN ALL RADIO SERVICES
In 1982, Congress amended the Communica tions Act to
authorize the Commission to use volunteers in the Amateur and
Citizens Band Radio Services to monitor violations of the
Communications Act and FCC rules. In the fall of 1984, a
volunteer Amateur Auxiliary was established pursuant to an
agreement with ARRL concerning the training and administration of
the auxiliary. The pur pose of the Amateur Auxiliary is to foster
wider knowledge of Commission rules, conduct monitoring of the
Amateur Radio Service frequencies to encourage compliance with
the rules and good operating practices, develop solutions to
problems arising from the operation of amateur stations, and to
under take specific projects as the need arises.
FCC has upheld a staff decision denying a proposal by John P.
Weber, Jr., K4JW, Melbourne, Florida, to establish a volunteer
auxiliary monitoring service in all radio services. Weber
proposed an auxiliary monitoring service in all radio services
involving volunteers working under direct FCC supervision. The
Chief, Field Operations Bureau (FOB), denied the petition on the
basis that Congress had only authorized the Commission to use
volunteers in the Amateur and Citizens Band Radio Ser vices; that
federal law precludes such voluntary and uncompensated service
other than in these two services; that the Communications Act
prohibits the intercep tion and disclosure of radio signals by
volunteers in most other radio services; that establishment of an
auxiliary for all radio services at once would be too broad and
ambitious a project for for effective FCC oversight and
supervision; and that since the Commission's regulatory emphasis
in a number of services has concerned signal analysis, the
expense of appropriate equip ment and necessary training may be
prohibi tive.
As part of his application for review, Weber contended, among
other matters, that under his proposal there was no need for an
intermediate organization such as the ARRL, and that volunteers
would be considered agents of the Commission and protected by
federal law. He further contended that the FOB-ARRL agreement
violated the procedural requirements of the Government in the
Sunshine Act, could cause violations of federal and Florida laws
concerning the interception and disclosure of oral
communications, and had practical problems regarding
reimbursement by the ARRL for certain volunteer monitoring
expenses, travel expenses, and participation by all interested
amateurs. Weber asserted that the ARRL does not speak for the
majority of amateurs, and that his proposal would result in a
more effective volunteer organization for the benefit of the
Commission.
The Commission found no merit in the further contentions
raised by Weber in his application for review. It noted that the
most efficient development of an amateur volunteer auxiliary is
through large organi zations such as the ARRL, particularly when
such organizations bring with them extensive experience with
prior self-regulation ef forts and other volunteer experience. It
noted further that the Amateur Auxiliary is a Commission program
to be administered, in large measure, by the ARRL and any other
national or regional organization that has a similar type of
agreement with FOB. It stated that the Amateur Auxiliary is still
in its developmental stage and that FOB will be monitoring its
effectiveness in accomplishing the Congressional intent in
authorizing the volunteer service.
(K4JW became a Silent Key before FCC's denial was released --
Editor.)
YOU USE YOUR CALL, WE'LL USE OURS
In June of last year it came to the League's attention that a
low-power TV station in Columbus, Ohio, was visually identi fying
as W8BV. The real W8BV is Stuart M. Brooks of Portland, Michigan;
the assigned callsign of the LPTV station is W08BV. It's a no-no
for LPTV stations to omit the "leading zero" from their calls, as
directed by Section 74.783(d) of the Rules:
The channel number designator for
Channels 3 through 9 will be incorpo
rated in the call sign as a 2-digit
number, i.e., 02, 03, . . . so as to
avoid similarities with call signs
assigned to amateur radio stations.
As late as November 4, 1985, the W8BV callsign was still
being used by the LPTV station. However, a November 19 report by
ARRL's Washington Area Coordinator brought the news that the LPTV
had finally cleaned up its act -- with the new logo's zero
looking more like an "O." QRA?
NEW CONTEST CERTIFICATES ON THE WAY
The ARRL Contest Branch has new contest certificates on the
drawing board -- this has put our normal certificate mailings
behind their usual schedule. A sneak peek over the necessary
shoulder indicates the revised articles will be well worth a few
more weeks' wait: 8-1/2 by 11 inches and horizontal format with
screened map backgrounds. Stand by!
IT'S ALL OVER BUT THE QSLING
Results of the December 28-29 W1AW bash: 809 phone QSOs, 732
CW -- a total of 1541! We even enjoyed a little late-night "E" on
10. QSLs answered 100% -- let's have yours!
*eof