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N9PMO > LETTER 20.05.19 22:44z 538 Lines 25240 Bytes #999 (0) @ ARRL
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ARRL Invites Applications for Volunteer Monitor Positions
FCC is Not Reinstating a Vanity Call Sign Fee
Radio Amateurs to Demonstrate Emergency Messaging Capabilities for Red
Cross, FEMA
FCC Chairman Proposes Call Blocking By Default to Combat Robocalls
So Now What? Podcast
The K7RA Solar Update
Just Ahead in Radiosport
Arizona Homeowners Association and Hams Agree on Outdoor Antenna Guidelines
First Ham Satellite -- OSCAR 1 -- will Join AMSAT's 50th Anniversary
Celebration at Dayton
ITU Working Party 5A1 Completes Draft New Report on WRC-19 Agenda Item 1.1
Dayton Hamvention and ARISS Working Together Again this Year
In Brief...
Getting It Right!
Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
ARRL Invites Applications for Volunteer Monitor Positions
ARRL is now accepting applications from individuals interested in becoming
part of the new Volunteer Monitor program, a joint undertaking of the FCC
and ARRL. The program seeks volunteers who -- working under the direction of
ARRL -- will monitor and survey the Amateur Radio bands both to detect
improper activity and to recognize exemplary on-the-air behavior.
Prospective Volunteer Monitors must be ARRL members. They will undergo a
training and certification program administered by ARRL, and will be vetted
by ARRL through at least one oral interview and a preliminary evaluation by
ARRL staff. Such requirements will continue for Volunteer Monitors once they
are selected.
Volunteer Monitors will serve 3-year terms at the pleasure of ARRL, and ARRL
will reserve the right to terminate the participation of any Volunteer
Monitor for any reason.
Volunteer Monitors must be able to utilize state-of-the-art receiving
equipment and to access no-cost remote receive sites, if requested.
Applicants must possess strong writing and communication skills and an
understanding of the importance of thorough documentation. They must have
basic word processing and data entry skills and be able to send such
information, including recordings, to ARRL electronically.
Applicants must have no history of warning letters or other
enforcement-related action from the FCC, must hold a Technician or higher
class license, and must have been licensed for at least 3 years.
Applicants should send applications to volunteer-monitor@arrl.org for
processing.
In February, Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, was named to oversee the
development and implementation phases of the Volunteer Monitor program,
which will replace the Official Observer (OO) program. Hollingsworth once
handled Amateur Radio enforcement for the FCC.
+++
FCC is Not Reinstating a Vanity Call Sign Fee
An erroneous report this week suggested that the FCC planned to again impose
an Amateur Radio vanity call sign application (regulatory) fee of $70 for
the 10-year term. This incorrect conclusion resulted from an incomplete
reading of the May 7 FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the matter
of the assessment and collection of regulatory fees for fiscal year 2019.
Although the Schedule of Regulatory Fees does show a $7 annual fee for
Amateur Radio vanity call signs, a boldface heading in that section of the
NPRM states, "REGULATORY FEES. This section is no longer in effect as it has
been amended by RAY BAUM'S Act of 2018..." Section 9(e)(2) of RAY BAUM'S Act
gives the Commission discretion to exempt a party from paying regulatory
fees when the FCC determines that the cost of collection exceeds the amount
collected. A new section 9(e)(1) incorporated the Amateur Radio vanity fee
exemption from FCC rules into the statute.
The NPRM makes clear in several other places that regulatory fees no longer
apply to Amateur Radio licenses. The FCC eliminated the regulatory fee for
Amateur Radio vanity call signs in 2015.
+++
Radio Amateurs to Demonstrate Emergency Messaging Capabilities for Red
Cross, FEMA
Just days ahead of the 2019 hurricane season, dozens of hams along the US
East Coast will demonstrate Amateur Radio's ability to deliver messages
without commercial power, infrastructure, or permanently established
stations for officials of the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). The Thursday, May 23, event will take place in
coordination with ARRL, during a joint meeting with Red Cross and FEMA
officials in Baltimore. The demonstration will be a mock response to a
simulated disaster scenario -- a major hurricane with mass casualties
striking the east coast. Amateur Radio operators at portable stations from
New England to the Carolinas will deliver messages to W1AW, which will then
coordinate and deliver the information to officials attending the joint
FEMA-Red Cross meeting in Baltimore.
Messaging will be handled using digital modes, which can allow for the
transmission of images as well as text, as a showcase for the full range of
modern Amateur Radio technology. The American Red Cross will also have a
NexGen Emergency Response Vehicle parked at W1AW in Connecticut as part of
the training exercise, which will take place from 1330 to 1530 UTC.
ARRL and its members have a long history of working with emergency response
agencies, such as the American Red Cross and FEMA, to provide or support
communication in times of disaster for served agencies and partners. A
principal served agency, the Red Cross shelters, feeds, and provides
emotional support to victims of disasters.
+++
FCC Chairman Proposes Call Blocking By Default to Combat Robocalls
FCC Chair Ajit Pai is proposing action to help consumers block unwanted
robocalls. He has circulated a declaratory ruling that, if adopted, would
allow phone companies to block unwanted calls to their customers by default.
In addition, companies could allow consumers to block calls not on their own
contacts lists. A draft Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would propose
a safe harbor for providers that implement network-wide blocking of calls
that fail caller authentication under the SHAKEN/STIR framework, once it is
implemented.
FCC Chair Ajit Pai.
"Allowing call blocking by default could be a big benefit for consumers who
are sick and tired of robocalls," Pai said. "By making it clear that such
call blocking is allowed, the FCC will give voice service providers the
legal certainty they need to block unwanted calls from the outset." Pai
encouraged carriers to start providing these services free of charge and by
default to current and future customers.
According to an FCC news release, many voice providers have held off
developing and deploying call-blocking tools by default because of
uncertainty about whether these tools are legal. "Allowing default call
blocking by voice providers could significantly increase development and
consumer adoption of such tools," the FCC said. "This blocking could be
based on analytics and consumer 'white lists.' Similar analytics are
currently used by third-party developers in call-blocking apps." The FCC
said consumer white lists could be based on a customer's own contacts list.
Pai also proposed seeking public comment on how caller ID authentication
standards, known as SHAKEN/STIR, can inform call blocking. He has demanded
that carriers adopt these standards to combat malicious spoofing. This
system of signing calls as legitimate as they pass through the phone
networks may be useful for call-blocking tools, the FCC said.
The May 15 action would mark the first by the FCC to directly combat
robocalls that spoof legitimate, in-service numbers. This follows adoption
of new rules in 2017, which allowed blocking of calls before they reach
consumers when they are highly likely to be illegitimate. "These calls might
appear to come from nonexistent area codes or from numbers on the Do Not
Originate list that do not make outbound calls -- like the FCC's own
consumer help line, which was added to the list following scam calls that
spoofed the agency's 888-CALL-FCC number," the Commission said.
The FCC will consider these measures at its June 6 open meeting.
So Now What? Podcast
Due to the ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention® beginning on
Thursday, May 16, there will be no new episode this week of the So Now What?
podcast for Amateur Radio newcomers. At Hamvention, the podcast team will
doing some special guest interviews for an upcoming episode of the podcast.
In addition, keep an eye on ARRL's social media feeds -- Facebook,
Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter -- for photos and video from Hamvention.
If you're a newly licensed Amateur Radio operator, chances are you have lots
of questions. The biweekly So Now What? podcast has answers, offering
insights from those who've been just where you are now. New episodes will be
posted every other Thursday, alternating new-episode weeks with the ARRL The
Doctor is In podcast.
So Now What? is sponsored by LDG Electronics, a family owned and operated
business with laboratories in southern Maryland that offers a wide array of
antenna tuners and other Amateur Radio products.
ARRL Communications Content Producer Michelle Patnode, W3MVP, and ARRL
Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, co-host the podcast. Presented as a lively
conversation, with Patnode representing newer hams and Carcia the veteran
operators, the podcast will explore questions that newer hams may have and
the issues that keep participants from staying active in the hobby. Some
episodes will feature guests to answer questions on specific topic areas.
Listeners can find So Now What? on Apple iTunes, Blubrry, Stitcher (free
registration required, or browse the site as a guest) and through the free
Stitcher app for iOS, Kindle, or Android devices. Episodes will be archived
on the ARRL website.
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Sunspot activity continues, and this
reporting week, the average daily sunspot number rose from 16.1 to 22.7,
while average daily solar flux went from 73.5 to 75.7. The two sunspot
groups that appeared on May 3 and May 6 are fading fast and rotating off the
visible solar disc. Two geomagnetically active days occurred on May 11 and
14, when the planetary A index reached 25 and 36.
Predicted solar flux is 72 on May 16 - 18; 70 on May 19; 68 on May 20 - 22;
67 on May 23 - 29; 70, 72, 74, and 76 on May 30 - June 2; 77 on June 3 - 11;
75 on June 12; 72 on June 13 - 14; 70 on June 15; 69 on June 16 - 17; 68 on
June 18; 67 on June 19 - 25, and 70, 72, 74, and 76 on June 26 - 29.
Predicted planetary A index is 28, 20, and 8 on May 16 - 18; 5 on May 19 -
27; 10, 12, 8, and 10 on May 28 - 31; 5 on June 1 - 15; 8 on June 16; 5 on
June 17 - 23; 10, 12, 8, and 10 on June 24 - 27, and 5 on June 28 - 29.
On May 10, Jeff, N8II, in West Virginia reported a sporadic-E opening on 10
meters. Also on May 10, Jon, N0JK, reported 6-meter sporadic-E openings from
Kansas.
Sunspot numbers for May 9 - 15 were 25, 24, 26, 24, 23, 24, and 13, with a
mean of 22.7. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 76.2, 76.3, 78, 76, 74.7, 74.4,
and 74, with a mean of 75.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 7, 7, 25, 4,
6, 36, and 6, with a mean of 13. Middle latitude A index was 8, 7, 19, 5, 5,
23, and 8, with a mean of 10.7.
A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted Fridays on the ARRL website. For
more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service web page, read "What the Numbers Mean...," and check out
K9LA's Propagation Page.
A propagation bulletin archive is available. Monthly charts offer
propagation projections between the US and a dozen DX locations.
Share your reports and observations.
Just Ahead in Radiosport
May 17 - 19 -- Portuguese Navy Day Contest (CW, phone, digital)
May 18 -- Feld Hell Sprint
May 18 -- UN DX Contest (DX, phone)
May 18 - 19 -- NZART Sangster Shield Contest (CW)
May 18 - 19 -- His Majesty the King of Spain Contest, CW
May 18 - 19 -- EU PSK DX Contest
May 18 - 19 -- Aegean RTTY Contest
May 18 - 19 -- Baltic Contest (CW, phone)
May 20 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
May 22 -- SKCC Sprint (CW)
May 22 -- RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (Digital)
See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth reporting
on Amateur Radio contesting, subscribe to The ARRL Contest Update via your
ARRL member profile email preferences.
Arizona Homeowners Association and Hams Agree on Outdoor Antenna Guidelines
The Board of Directors of an antenna-restricted community in Arizona voted
overwhelmingly in April to allow radio amateurs to erect certain outdoor
antennas on their properties. Some 75 hams live in the 10,000-home Sun City
Grand, a self-contained residential community for older adults in Surprise,
Arizona. An article in the Grand Ham Newsletter by Gordon Bousman, NW7D,
called it "a big win" and said the Sun City Grand community homeowners
association (HOA) is believed to be the largest in the US to permit Amateur
Radio antennas. The HOA board includes one radio amateur. The new antenna
guidelines went into effect on May 9.
"The road to success took nearly a year of meetings, negotiations, and
occasional setbacks driven by a team of dedicated amateurs who were
persistent in reaching our goals," Bousman said in his article. "While our
initial discussion points focused on the possibility of passage of the
[Amateur Radio] Parity Act, we later shifted our focus to the value that
Amateur Radio operators can bring to the community in the event of an
emergency or crisis."
Bousman told ARRL the group "somewhat" modeled its antenna proposal after
that of the Sun City Texas Ham Radio group in Georgetown, Texas, which
permitted outdoor antennas several years ago.
Gordon Bousman, NW7D.
The types of antennas permitted are modest. The list includes flagpole
antennas that do not exceed 16 feet, verticals that do not rise more than 5
feet above the peak of a home, and wire antennas no higher than 5 feet above
the roof peak. No traps in wire antennas are allowed and towers of any type
remain prohibited.
"[These] antennas should provide amateurs very adequate capabilities to work
long distances on the HF bands and to be able to adequately communicate
across our community on the VHF/UHF bands -- as well as being able to reach
most repeaters in the Phoenix area valley, including several emergency
repeaters," the newsletter article stated.
Radio amateurs will need to apply to the HOA's Architectural Review
Committee Standards Office to obtain approval and may only erect two outdoor
antennas.
Bousman said more than a dozen antenna applications were submitted in the
first week and other hams are working on designs. Read more.
First Ham Satellite -- OSCAR 1 -- will Join AMSAT's 50th Anniversary
Celebration at Dayton
A working prototype of OSCAR 1, Amateur Radio's first satellite, will be on
display at AMSAT's Dayton Hamvention® booth. AMSAT's exhibit will be in
Building 1 (Maxim Hall) at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in
Xenia, Ohio. OSCAR 1 (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) was
launched into orbit in 1961, at the dawn of the Space Age. Built by a group
of California-based radio amateurs for about $60, OSCAR 1 was the first
nongovernmental satellite. It transmitted a simple "HI" in CW for nearly 20
days and was heard in 28 different countries. W1AW Station Manager Joe
Carcia, NJ1Q, recently had to troubleshoot a problem with ARRL's OSCAR 1 in
preparation for its Dayton appearance in a special "OSCAR Park" display
commemorating AMSAT's 50th anniversary. He said it was a "rather humbling"
experience.
"Apparently, OSCAR 1 was not transmitting properly," Carcia said. "So, I
took it back into the shop, changed the power cable, and checked the
transmitter. I had to tweak it just a bit." Carcia said the satellite now
functions.
Only three OSCAR 1 satellites were made. One was launched into orbit, of
course, while the Smithsonian Institution houses the other. "Assuming it
doesn't get bounced around too much en route, it will be transmitting a
chirpy 'HI' on 145.224 MHz," Carcia said. "The load is a 50 W resistor, so
you can copy it about 50 feet or so away from the source."
AMSAT will present Amateur Radio satellite operation demonstrations outside
the main entrance of Maxim Hall, 8 AM - 4:30 PM, on all three days of
Hamvention. "AMSAT will be demonstrating actual contacts with the
operational amateur satellites," AMSAT said in its weekly AMSAT News Service
newsletter. "We especially want to invite youth to make a contact via an
amateur satellite. All are invited to observe, participate, and ask
questions."
AMSAT will hold its forum in Room 2 on Saturday, May 18, starting at 12:10
PM EDT. AMSAT Vice President of User Services Robert Bankston, KE4AL, will
moderate the session.
ITU Working Party 5A1 Completes Draft New Report on WRC-19 Agenda Item 1.1
Working Group 1 of ITU-R Working Party 5A completed work on the sharing and
compatibility studies required for World Radiocommunication Conference 2019
(WRC-19) Agenda Item 1.1 during the meeting of WP 5A that concluded on May
9. The report, which began as a nine-page document in 2016, grew to 158
pages developed from 60 input contributions over a 3-year period. Working
Group 5A1, responsible for amateur matters, is chaired by Dale Hughes,
VK1DSH.
Agenda item 1.1 calls on the ITU to study Amateur Service spectrum needs in
Region 1 in the 50 - 54 MHz band, taking into account the results of sharing
studies between the Amateur Service and other services using the band to
ensure protection of these services.
The report describes work undertaken to prepare for Agenda Item 1.1 of
WRC-19 and the associated Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM), which
addressed the technical background for WRC. National administrations will
use the Draft New Report and the CPM Report to prepare proposals for WRC-19
later this year. Region 1 Regional Telecommunications Organizations (RTOs)
will hold preparatory meetings this summer to develop common multi-country
proposals. WRC-19 will only consider proposals actually offered by
administrations or RTOs.
No impact on Amateur Radio allocations in Regions 2 and 3 is anticipated.
WRC-19 takes place October 28 - November 22 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Dayton Hamvention and ARISS Working Together Again this Year
Dayton Hamvention® will support the Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS) program this year by including the first-ever ARISS
Forum, on Friday, May 17, from 1:15 - 2:15 PM in Room 3. Speakers will
present current and future lifelong learning activities for hams and
students via ARISS SSTV, APRS, voice repeaters, radio experiments, and
robots.
Attendees will also learn about the next-gen on-orbit hardware systems,
updates on school activities, the ARISS initiative to fly ham radio on the
human spaceflight lunar Gateway, how to maximize hams' opportunities to make
ARISS connections and listen to the ISS crew in home stations, and meet
special guests.
Hamvention will boost ARISS by once again featuring a special ticket-drawing
right before the Sunday bonus prize drawing. The winner will receive an
ARISS Challenge Coin display. A challenge coin is the premium received by
donors who give $100 or more to ARISS. The ARISS exhibit in Building 1 will
display equipment that will replace and upgrade the ham station gear now on
board. Hamvention visitors donating $10 will receive a new ARISS lapel pin
and a chance to win an ARISS Challenge Coin, with the winning ticket to be
drawn at the ARISS booth on Sunday morning. Online donations are also
invited.
In Brief...
An Amateur Radio weather warning alerted residents of an Ohio town to a
possible tornado. A handful of Ohio SKYWARN weather spotters on April 14
forwarded reports to National Weather Service (NWS) Cleveland of a possible
tornado near Shelby. As a result, NWS Cleveland was able to issue a tornado
warning before the storm struck the town. No lives were lost, but six were
injured. The tornado was rated as an EF-2 storm, but it was on the ground
for 17 miles and covered a swath of 1/2 mile. Immediately after receiving
word of the strike, coordinating through the county emergency management
agency (EMA), District Emergency Coordinator Danny Baily, W8DLB, and others
headed immediately to Shelby, where they met with law enforcement. Because
all of District 6 was activated, it was decided to activate two counties to
the north and three counties to the south of Richland. DMR Ohio Talk Group
3139 was used to coordinate resources. While no telecommunications were
knocked out of service, hams were assigned to walk the perimeter to keep an
eye open for any problems. -- Thanks to Ohio Section Emergency Coordinator
Stan Broadway, N8BHL, in DELARA News
+++
The ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) has reissued a call
for papers for its 2019 event. Technical papers are invited for presentation
at the Conference, set for September 20 - 22 at the Marriott Detroit Metro
Airport Hotel. Papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings.
Authors do not need to attend the conference to have their papers included
in the Proceedings. The submission deadline is August 5. Submit papers via
email or mail to Maty Weinberg, KB1EIB, ARRL, 225 Main St., Newington, CT
06111. Papers will be published exactly as submitted, and authors will
retain all rights.
+++
The 2019 GNU Radio Conference (GRCon19), September 16 - 20 in Huntsville,
Alabama, is seeking papers and presentations. Submissions are due by July 1.
The GNU Radio Conference highlights the substantial and remarkable progress
of the world's premier open-source digital signal processing framework for
software-defined radios. In addition to presenting GNU Radio's theoretical
and practical presence in academia, industry, the military, and among radio
amateurs and hobbyists, GNU Radio Conference 2019 will have a special focus
on the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 mission, which landed the first
humans on the moon -- hence, the selection of "The Rocket City," home to
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, as the venue. Papers for inclusion in
the Technical Proceedings are welcome, but submitters do not need to submit
papers to the Proceedings in order to present at GRCon19. For more
information, visit the GRCon19 website.
+++
Amateur Radio Roundtable will Livestream 50 Hours of Dayton Hamvention®.
Amateur Radio Roundtable and host Tom Medlin, W5KUB, will be back at Dayton
Hamvention to livestream the activity and action before, during, and after
the May 17 - 19 event. Amateur Radio Roundtable's show coverage will go live
on Thursday, May 16, and continue through the weekend. "This is a big event
and we have viewers in about 150 countries," Medlin said. "Astronaut Doug
Wheelock, KF5BOC, will join us again for the 7th year as cohost. Join in the
live chat room." More information is on the W5KUB Facebook group.
+++
Selected Sessions of the 2019 Contest University (CTU) will be Livestreamed,
Compliments of Icom America. Streaming on the CTU website will begin on May
16 at 1200 UTC. Topics include Radiosport Contesting with Integrity; 2BSIQ &
SO3R: Riding the Edge of Human Capabilities, and No-Compromise Remote
Contesting.
Getting It Right!
In "High-Altitude Celebration at SAQ," which appeared in the May 9 edition
of The ARRL Letter, we identified the wrong "B" composer. Ludwig van
Beethoven composed "Ode to Joy."
Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
May 17 - 19 -- Dayton Hamvention -- ARRL National Convention, Xenia, Ohio
May 31 - June 1 -- Arizona State Convention, Prescott, Arizona
May 31 - June 2 -- Northwestern Division Convention, Seaside, Oregon
June 1 -- Georgia Section Convention, Marietta, Georgia
June 1 - 2 -- Western Pennsylvania Section Convention, Prospect,
Pennsylvania
June 7 - 8 -- West Gulf Division Convention (Ham-Com), Plano, Texas
June 15 -- W8DXCC DX Convention, Owensville, Ohio
July 19 - 21 -- Nevada State Convention, Reno, Nevada
July 25 - 27 -- Central States VHF Conference, Lincoln, Nebraska
July 26 - 27 -- Ham Holiday, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
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