ARRL Action Request: Commercial Interests Petition FCC for High Power Allocation on Shortwave SpectrumARRL Action Request:

by | Jul 19, 2023 | Amateur Radio hobby, FCC, HF

[Updated 7/18/2023]

7/11/2023

The ad hoc group “Shortwave Modernization Coalition” petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow data communications on multiple bands within the HF 2 – 25 MHz range with up to 20 KW, including in bands immediately adjacent to spectrum allocated to the Amateur Radio Service. This group appears to represent high-speed stock trading interests. 

ARRL  The National Association for Amateur Radio® is treating the petition as a subject of concern for its members and the greater Amateur Radio Service. ARRL Laboratory staff are studying the matter from a technical standpoint, including analysis of transmitted signals potentially interfering with Amateur Radio communications on Amateur Radio spectrum. The results from this expert review are being finalized and will inform ARRL’s filed comments on the matter.

The FCC has assigned the petition RM-11953. Comments are due by July 31, 2023, and reply comments by August 15. While the petitioners exclude the amateur bands, high power operations on immediately adjacent bands are proposed.

A copy of the petition is at: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1042840187330/1 (PDF).

ARRL Helps Radio Amateurs Comply with New RF Exposure Evaluation Rules

by | May 6, 2023 | Amateur Radio hobby, Antenna, Education, FCC

From ARRL.org – 

ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® provides free, comprehensive resources to help radio amateurs ensure they are compliant with the new RF exposure rules.

On May 3, 2021, new FCC rules governing RF exposure evaluations went into effect. While the exposure limits were not changed, the requirement to conduct an evaluation was made more broadly applicable to amateur licensees. A 2-year transition period was implemented to allow existing amateur licensees to conduct evaluations and make any changes necessary to ensure that their station complies with the exposure rules. On May 3, 2023, the transition period ended. All licensees must now conduct evaluations of their current station and reassess compliance when making changes to their stations that would affect exposure going forward.

As detailed in a May 2023 QST article by Greg Lapin, N9GL, the rules now require amateur radio operators to perform station evaluations. The Amateur Radio Service is no longer categorically excluded from certain aspects of the RF exposure rules, and licensees can no longer avoid performing an exposure assessment simply because they are transmitting below a given power level.

The ARRL website features an RF Exposure landing page with resources, such as an RF exposure calculator, the entire RF Safety section from the 100th Edition of the ARRL The Handbook, a video explaining the topic, FAQs about the subject, and more. These tools and resources are available to the public without an ARRL membership or website account.

For further assistance with technical matters, ARRL members enjoy the additional resources of the ARRL Technical Information Service, and access to the experts within the ARRL Lab.

Action Request – ARRL Advocates for Radio Amateurs as FCC Proposes Changes to 60-Meter Band

by | Apr 27, 2023 | Amateur Radio hobby, FCC, FCC Band Allocation, HF, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)

Cross-post from ARRL.org

 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking comments about changing the secondary allocation available to radio amateurs on 60 meters. The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on April 21, 2023, that deals with the band. In a prior petition, ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® urged protecting the existing use of the band by amateurs when adding a new allocation adopted internationally.

Currently, radio amateurs in the US have access to five discrete channels on a secondary basis: 5332 kHz, 5348 kHz, 5358.5 kHz, 5373 kHz, and 5405 kHz. Users of these channels are limited to an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 W PEP.

The FCC proposes to allocate 15 kHz of contiguous bandwidth between 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power of 15 W EIRP (equivalent to 9.15 W ERP). This allocation was adopted at the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15).

The federal government is the primary user of the 5 MHz spectrum. The government’s manager of spectrum use, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has expressed support for implementing the allocation as adopted at WRC-15. Doing so would result in amateurs losing access to four of the five discrete channels, and power limits would be reduced from 100 W ERP to 9.15 W ERP. However, it would provide access to a new contiguous 15 kHz band that includes one of the current five channels.

In 2017, ARRL petitioned the FCC to keep the four 60-meter channels that fall outside the new band, as well as the current operating rules, including the 100 W PEP ERP limit.

The ARRL petition stated, “Such implementation will allow radio amateurs engaged in emergency and disaster relief communications, and especially those between the United States and the Caribbean basin, to more reliably, more flexibly, and more capably conduct those communications.”

ARRL said that years of amateur radio experience using the five discrete channels have shown that amateurs can coexist with primary users at 5 MHz while complying with the regulations established for their use. The petition also stated, “Neither ARRL, nor, apparently, NTIA, is aware of a single reported instance of interference to a federal user by a radio amateur operating at 5 MHz to date.”

In the NPRM, the FCC recognizes that Canada has already adopted 60-meter allocations and related rules that align with those proposed by ARRL. The Commission wrote, “Finally, we note that Canada has essentially implemented the same rules as ARRL has requested.”

The FCC proposed to allocate the 15 kHz bandwidth, but stopped short of making a proposal on whether the existing channels should remain allocated to amateur radio and what the power limitations should be. They requested comments on their proposal and the related channel and power issues.

 

Comments will be due 60 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register, which is expected within the next two weeks.

New General Question Pool Released, Effective July 1, 2023

by | Feb 16, 2023 | Amateur Radio hobby, FCC, VE Sessions

From ARRL-VEC

 

The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC<http://www.ncvec.org/>) Question Pool Committee (QPC<http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=333>) has released the 2023 – 2027 General Class FCC Element 3 Question Pool & Syllabus<http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=369> into the public domain. It’s available as a Word document or PDF. The graphic required for the new General question pool is available within the documents, or separately as PDF or JPG files.

The new pool incorporates some significant changes compared to the 2019 – 2023 pool. Its 432 questions were modified slightly to improve wording or to replace distractors; 51 new questions were generated, and 73 questions were eliminated. This resulted in a reduction of 22 questions, bringing the total number of questions in the pool from 454 to 432. The difficulty level of the questions is now more balanced, and the techniques and practices addressed have been updated.

The new 2023 – 2027 question pool is effective July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2027, and must be used for General-class license exams administered on or after July 1, 2023. – Information provided by the NCVEC Question Pool Committee. Committee members: Chairman, Roland Anders, K3RA, of Anchorage VEC and members Maria Somma, AB1FM of ARRL VEC and Larry Pollock, NB5X, of W5YI-VEC.

New General Examinations will take effect for exam sessions on July 1, 2023

The newly revised general pool must be used starting July 1, 2023. VECs and VEs will have new test designs available starting on that date. Previously supplied versions of ARRL VEC General-class exam booklets (2019 series) and computer-generated General-class exams from the 2019 question pool are valid until midnight on June 30, 2023. The ARRL VEC will supply its officially appointed, field-stocked VE teams with new General exam booklet designs around mid-June.

FCC DEBUTS MAP, DATABASE OF PIRACY ENFORCEMENT
ACTIONS

by | Feb 5, 2023 | FCC

From Amateur Radio Newsline:

 In the United States, the Federal
Communications Commission has finally put a piracy
enforcement resource online that the agency says
is late because of delays in funding. 

A database and map displaying pirate radio
enforcement actions taken by the FCC has gone live
as part of an overall response to the Pirate Act
passed by Congress.

The database shows the agency’s actions over the
past three years following the act’s passage and
includes consent decrees, landlord notice letters
and the $10,000 forfeiture associated with pirate
operations. The FCC said that it was delayed until
now in implementing the Pirate Act because of
funding delays and challeges posed by the
pandemic. The funding covers the cost of other
actions, including enforcement sweeps and
in-person investigations. To comply with that
mandate, the agency needs to hire additional field
agents and buy a half-dozen mobile
direction-finding vehicles . Although the FCC has
already posted openings for five agents and a
field counsel, its purchase of six
mobile-direction-finding vehicles has been
delayed, because much of the funding remains
delayed.

Implementation of the Pirate Act was expected to
cost $11-million, according to the Congressional
Budget Office. Funds were not provided until last
March and only $5-million was available to the FCC
at the time. The Pirate Act mandates enforcement
sweeps in the top five markets. The act also
strengthened the agency’s enforcement abillity,
permitting it to take action against those
landlords and managers who permit pirate
operations on their properties.

FCC Map Database: https://opendata.fcc.gov/stories/s/wgq8-eb5c

FCC $35 Amateur Application Fee Effective Date will be April 19

by | Mar 31, 2022 | Amateur Radio hobby, FCC, News

 

The FCC released a Public Notice<https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-22-307A1.pdf> on March 23, 2022, stating that the amateur radio application fees, including those associated with Form 605 application filings, would become effective on April 19, 2022. The Federal Communications Commission’s authority to impose and collect fees is mandated by Congress.

The $35 application fee, when it becomes effective on April 19, will apply to new, modification (upgrade and sequential call sign change), renewal, and vanity call sign applications. The fee will be per application.

Administrative updates, such as a change of name, mailing or email address, will be exempt from fees.

VECs and Volunteer Examiner (VE) teams will not have to collect the $35 fee at exam sessions.
Once the FCC application fee takes effect, new and upgrade applicants will pay the $15 exam session fee to the ARRL VE team as usual and pay the $35 application fee directly to the FCC by using the CORES FRN Registration system (CORES – Login<https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do>). VEC and VE team licensing procedures will not change.

When the FCC receives the examination information from the VEC, it will email a link with payment instructions to each successful candidate. The candidate will have 10 calendar days, from the date of the application file number being issued, to pay. After the fee is paid, and the FCC has processed an application, examinees will receive a second email from the FCC with a link to their official license. The link will be good for 30 days.

Per usual procedures, examinees that pass multiple exams at one session, will have one application transmitted to the FCC reflecting the highest level license class earned. Again, our procedures will not change. The candidates will have an extra step before the license is issued. VE teams can point candidates to our FCC Application Fee webpage www.arrl.org/fcc-application-fee<http://www.arrl.org/fcc-application-fee>. Our new ARRL VEC CSCEs also include information about the application fee and points candidates to the webpage.

For VE teams holding exam sessions the weekend before April 19, the FCC stated if these applications are not submitted to the FCC before April 19, they will be subjected to the fee if received on or after April 19.

 

Additionally, the FCC stated that applications processed and dismissed will not be entitled to a refund. This includes vanity requests where the applicant does not receive the requested call sign. However, returned applications that are missing information will not require an additional fee, if the missing information is given to the FCC within the proper amount of time.

Youth Licensing Grant Program
Anticipating the implementation of the fee in 2022, the ARRL Board of Directors, at its July 2021 meeting, approved the “ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program<https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-board-establishes-program-to-cover-initial-fcc-license-fee-for-young-applicants>.” Under the program, ARRL will cover a one-time $35 application fee for license candidates younger than 18 years old for tests administered under the auspices of the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC). Qualified candidates also would pay a reduced exam session fee of $5 to the ARRL VEC. ARRL is finalizing details for administering the program.

Further news and instructions will follow as the FCC releases them. Details for the ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program will be similarly posted, when available.

ARRL VEC Application Fees webpage: http://www.arrl.org/fcc-application-fee (ARRL website is getting a new look and will be unavailable from Friday March 25, 2022 until Tuesday March 29, 2022)

ARRL News Story: http://www.arrl.org/news/new-amateur-radio-license-applications-fee-to-become-effective-april-19-2022 (ARRL website is getting a new look and will be unavailable from Friday March 25, 2022 until Tuesday March 29, 2022)

FCC CORES Video Tutorials: https://www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fcc-registration-system-cores/commission-registration-system-video-tutorials

FCC Registration Help: https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/publicHome.do?help=true