karn@eagle.UUCP (06/03/83)
To : All Packeteers
>From : Paul Rinaldo, W4RI (ARRL HQ)
Subject: FCC Relaxes Rules -- No need to cw i-d on packet
We received the verbatim text of an FCC release of
yesterday. Although individual packet stations are relieved of
the need to send cw i-d, I would certainly encourage the
retention of cw i-d for all packet repeaters and packet beacons.
That would help packeteers tell which repeaters are available to
them and would help propagate the faith to current non-
packeteers.
Here it is:
Before the
Federal Communications Commission FCC 83-247
Washington, DC 20554 33301
In the Matter of )
)
Amendment of Part 97 of the )
Commission's Rules Pursuant to the )
Commission Regulatory Review )
Program. )
ORDER
Adopted: May 26, 1983 Released: June 1, 1983
By the Commission: Commissioner Fogarty not participating;
Commissioner Sharp absent.
1. Pursuant to the Commission's Regulatory Review
program, the rules addressed herein are being amended or
deleted, as appropriate, in order to eliminate unnecessary
restrictions and rules, codify requirements of the Communi-
cations Act of 1934, as amended, or make editorial correc-
tions necessary for simplifiction or clarification of the
rules. The affected rule sections are: ~ 97.13, 97.32,
97.61, 97.69, 97.81, 97.84, 97.99 and 97.173.
2. We are deleting ~ 97.32(f), which currently prohi-
bits the renewal of Interim Amateur Permits, since renewals
may be justified in circumstances where there is an extra-
ordinary delay in the issuance of permanent amateur operator
and station licenses.
3. We are revising ~ 97.13(c) and ~ 97.13(d) to cor-
rect an omission in order that amateur operator license
renewal applicants may submit a photocopy of their license
in place of the original document. We are deleting ~
97.67(a)(3), and revising ~~ 97.61(e), 97.69(a)(2) and
97.67(b)(3) in order to rectify certain unintentional incon-
sistencies in our recent Order authorizing the use of the
digital code "AMTOR" on Amateur Radio Service frequencies
below 50 MHz. /1/ We are revising ~ 97.99 to delete the
reference to the obsolete Form 452-C. We are also revising
~ 97.173(d) to change the incorrect reference to ~ 97.41 to
the correct reference, ~ 97.42.
4. We are adding a new paragraph to ~ 97.81 which
codifies into the rules the existing requirements of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, that specify that
the Commission has the "...authority to inspect all radio
installations ... which are subject to the provisions of any
Act, treaty, or convention...." /2/ This amendment also
codifies longstanding Commission policy in that the author-
ity to inspect amateur radio stations is a general condition
of grant of all amateur licenses.
5. Finally, we are revising ~ 97.84 to allow station
identification for amateur stations to be made by video when
specific transmission standards are used, or, under some
circumstances, by using certain common digital codes. This
will relieve a number of burdens amateur operators have
faced when required to identify "packet radio" transmis-
sions, television transmissions where audio cannot be prac-
tically transmitted on the same operating frequencies, and
transmissions where international third party traffic is
exchanged and identification of the station being communi-
cated with is required. /3/
6. We are dispensing with the prior notice and comment
procedure provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act
(APA) in this proceeding since the subject rule changes are
either interpretative (~~ 97.13, 97.69, 97.81, 97.99) or
relate to agency procedure (~ 97.32), or since it is unlike-
ly that any objections would be received in view of the
obvious benefits which are being conferred and we, there-
fore, find it unnecessary (~~ 97.61, 97.69, 97.84, 97.99).
/4/ The APA's effective date requirements are also not
applicable to these rule amendments because they either
relieve a restriction, or are interpretative. /5/ Certain
rule changes also addressed merely make editorial correc-
tions and the APA, therefore, does not apply (~ 97.173).
7. Inasmuch as general notice of proposed rule making
is not required, the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 does
not apply.
8. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED That, effective June 15,
1983, Part 97 of the Commission's Rules and Regulations, 47
CFR Part 97, IS AMENDED as set forth in the attached Appen-
dix. This action is taken pursuant to authority contained
in Sections 4(i) and 303 of the Communications Act of 1934,
as amended. Further information on this matter may be
obtained by contacting: Maurice J. DePont, (202) 632-4964,
Federal Communications Commission, Private Radio Bureau,
Washington, DC 20554.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
William J. Tricarico
Secretary
Attachment: Appendix
/1/ 48 FR 7457 (February 22, 1983).
/2/ See Section 303(n) of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended.
/3/ Article 25, ~ 5 of the International Radio Regulations
(Geneva, 1979) permits identification signals in the form
of, among others, "a telegraph code compatible with conven-
tional printing equipment." Furthermore, the television
emissions which we are authorizing to be identified by video
are those which can only take place on frequencies where
international propagation is unlikely.
/4/ See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3).
/5/ See 5 U.S.C. 553(d).
APPENDIX
Part 97 of the Commission's Rules and Regulations, 47 CFR
Part 97, is amended as follows:
1. In Section 97.13, paragraphs (c) and (d) are
revised to read as follows:
~ 97.13 Renewal or modification of operator license.
(c) Application for renewal and/or modification of an
amateur operator license shall be submitted on FCC Form 610
and shall be accompanied by the applicant's license or a
photocopy thereof. Application for renewal of unexpired
licenses must be made during the license term and should be
filed within 90 days, but not later than 30 days, prior to
the end of the license term. In any case in which the
licensee has, in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter, made timely and sufficient application for renewal
of an unexpired license, no license with reference to any
activity of a continuing nature shall expire until such
application shall have been finally determined.
(d) If a license is allowed to expire, application for
renewal may be made during a period of grace of five years
after the expiration date. During this five-year period of
grace, an expired license is not valid. A license renewed
during the grace period will be dated currently and will not
be backdated to the date of its expiration. Application for
renewal shall be submitted on FCC Form 610 and shall be
accompanied by the applicant license or a photocopy thereof.
2. In Section 97.32, paragraph (f) is deleted in its
entirety.
3. In Section 97.61, the parenthetical phrase in
paragraph (e) is revised to read as follows:
(when type F1 or A2J emissions are employed in these bands,
the radio or audio frequency shift, as appropriate, shall
not exceed 1000 Hz)
4. In Section 97.69, paragraph (a)(3) is deleted in
its entirety and paragraphs (a)(2) and (b)(3) are revised to
read as follows:
~ 97.69 Digital communications.
(a) * * *
(2) When type A2, F1 or F2 emissions are used on frequencies
below 50 MHz, the radio or audio frequency shift (the dif-
ference between the frequency for the "mark" signal and that
for the "space" signal), as appropriate, shall not exceed
1000 Hz. When these emissions are used on frequencies above
50 MHz, the frequency shift, in hertz, shall not exceed the
sending speed, in baud, of the transmission, or 1000 Hz,
whichever is greater.
(b) * * *
(3) The International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR)
Recommendations 476-2 and 476-3 (commonly known as AMTOR);
provided that the code, baud rate and emission timing shall
conform to the specifications of CCIR 476-2 (1978) or CCIR
476-3 (1982), Mode A or Mode B.
5. Section 97.81 is revised to read as follows:
~ 97.81 Authorized apparatus.
(a) An amateur station license authorizes the use, under
control of the licensee, of all transmitting apparatus at
the fixed location specified in the station license which is
operated on any frequency or frequencies allocated to the
Amateur Radio Service, and, in addition, authorizes the use,
under control of the licensee, of portable and mobile trans-
mitting apparatus operated at other locations.
(b) The apparatus authorized for use by paragraph (a) of
this section shall be available for inspection upon request
by an authorized Commission representative.
6. In Section 97.84, paragraph (g) is revised to read
as follows:
~ 97.84 Station identification.
(g) The identification required by this section shall be
given on each frequency being utilized for transmission and
shall be made in one of the following manners:
(1) By telegraphy using the international Morse code (if
this identification is made by an automatic device used only
for identification, the code speed shall not exceed 20 words
per minute);
(2) By telephony using the English language (the Commis-
sion encourages the use of a nationally or internationally
recognized standard phonetic alphabet as an aid for correct
telephone identification);
(3) By telegraphy using any code authorized by ~
97.69(b), when the particular code is used for transmission
of all or part of the communication or when the communica-
tion is transmitted in any digital code on frequencies above
50 MHz; or
(4) By video using readily legible characters when A5
emissions are used, the monochrome portions of which con-
form, at a minimum, to the monochrome transmission standards
of ~ 73.682(a)(6) through ~ 73.682(a)(13), inclusive (with
the exception of ~ 73.682(a)(9)(iii) and ~ 73.682
(a)(9)(iv)).
7. In Section 97.99, the introductory paragraph is
revised to read as follows:
~ 97.99 Stations used only for radio control of remote model
crafts and vehicles.
An amateur radio station in radio control operation with
a mean output power not exceeding one watt may, when used
for the control of a remote model craft or vehicle, be
operated under the special provisions of this section, pro-
vided that a writing indicating the station call sign and
the licensee's name and address is affixed to the trans-
mitter.
8. In Section 97.173, paragraph (d) is revised to read
as follows:
~ 97.173 Application for RACES station license.
(d) If the application is for a RACES station to be in
any special manner covered by ~ 97.42, those showings speci-
fied for non-RACES stations shall also be submitted.