Comments must be filed by July 15th, 2010. reply comments must be filed by July 30th, 2010.

The 60 meter band is from 5060-5450khz. There are 5 channels allocated on a secondary basis to ham radio

5332 kHz, 5348 kHz, 5368 kHz, 5373 kHz and 5405 kHz.

The NPRM is seeking comment on adding an allocation at 5358.5 and dropping the allocation at 5368khz.

Also the FCC is proposing to add 3 new emissions  (CW)150HA1A, (PSK31) 60H0J2B, and (PACTOR-III) 2K80J2D and increase power output limits to 100 watts instead of the current 50 watts.

For more information read the NPRM here

The FCC unveiled this plan to Congress, 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”

According to the FCC report, 100 million Americans lack broadband access at home and 14 million Americans do not have access to broadband.

The ARRL’s interpretation of the report is that BPL plays a small role in the report.

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. “There is no mention of BPL as a means of implementing the Plan‘s goals for broadband deployment. In short, the FCC sees no role for BPL in providing broadband Internet connections to more consumers.”

The highlights of the Plan call for:

• 100MB service to 100 million households
• 1GB service to anchor instiutions such as universities, hospital, and military installations.

The FCC has released a spectrum dashboard to allow the public user friendly access to ata regarding licenses and spectrum bands.

The Plan was mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and produced by an FCC task force.

So take some time, download the plan and take a look, our national interests and future depends on it……

73, Jack K4SAC

Credit: FCC, ARRL

Senators Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine have introduced a bill in the Senate that mandate an inventory of radio spectrum between 300 Mhz and 3.5 Ghz.

The Radio Spectrum Inventory Act requires both the FCC and the NTIA to inventory the spectrum no later than 180 days after the law goes into effect and then every 2 years thereafter.

A report will be generated listing the user, the total spectrum allocation, and the number of radiators. The bill also mandates that this information be published on a web site.

The bill in its current form does not exempt Radio Amateurs and there currently is not corresponding legislation in the House.

This may be a good time to write your Senators and educate them on the public service and other things that Ham Radio provides to your state.

73, Jack K4SAC

The FCC  doesn’t need a warrant to come in and “inspect” your ham equipment, although if they intend on seizing equipment, they need to work with the U.S. Attorney’s office.

One FCC official is taking that power one step furthur.

FCC spokesman David Fiske says that if you have a wireless router, a cordless phone, remote car-door opener, baby monitor or cellphone in your house, the FCC claims the right to enter your home without a warrant at any time of the day or night in order to inspect it.

The FCC’s power to inspect comes from Section 303(n) of the Communications Act of 1934, although it has never undergone a serious court test.

The FCC actually has a inspection document (click to read) which explicitly lays out it authority to inspect.

You might say ok, they can only inspect, they cannot use anything they see as evidence against me for anything else….well you would be wrong.

In  the 1987 Supreme Court Case New York v. Burger,  if inspectors should notice evidence of unrelated criminal behavior — say, a marijuana plant or an unregistered gun — a Supreme Court decision suggests the search can be used against the resident.

“Anything using RF energy — we have the right to inspect it to make sure it is not causing interference,” says FCC spokesman David Fiske. That includes devices like Wi-Fi routers that use unlicensed spectrum, Fiske says.

So make sure that if you hear that knock on the door and it is the FCC asking to inspect your equipment, you have to let them in to inspect it.

credit (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/fcc-raid/)

73, Jack K4SAC

You can download the PDF here

Specifically, Petitioners request that the FCC undertake the
following actions:
· Amend the Commission’s regulations that implement NEPA, “consistent with Council on
Environmental Quality regulations and guidance,” to “cure deficiencies” and to ensure that only
Commission actions that have no significant environmental effects individually or cumulatively
are categorically excluded;
· Prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement addressing the environmental
consequences of its Antenna Structure Registration (“ASR”) program on migratory birds, their
habitats, and the environment;

Promulgate rules to clarify the roles, responsibilities and obligations of the Commission,
applicants, and non-federal representatives in complying with the ESA;
· Consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the ASR program regarding all effects of
towers and antenna structures on endangered and threatened species; and
· Complete the proposed rulemaking in the Migratory Birds Proceeding to adopt measures to
reduce migratory bird deaths in compliance with the MBTA.

Read the full PDF and if you want to comment, comment by the dates below:

Comment Date: May 29, 2009
Reply Comment Date: June 15, 2009

The matter at hand is the Amendment of Parts 2 and 95 of the Commission’s Rules to Provide Additional
Spectrum for the Medical Device Radiocommunication Service in the 413-457 MHz band (which covers the ham radio 420-450 band)

The purpose of the NPRM is for the Commission seeks comment on the feasibility of allowing up to 24 megahertz of spectrum in the 413-457 MHz band to be used on a secondary basis under the Medical Device Radiocommunication Service (MedRadio Service) in Part 95 of the Commission’s rules.

This action was in response to a petition for rulemaking filed by Alfred Mann Foundation (Alfred Mann or AMF) in implantable
neuromuscular microstimulation devices using wireless technologies.

This is not the first time the FCC has licensed spectrum for the use of wireless medical communications technologies.

In 1973, for example, the Commission authorized the use of 18 frequencies in the 460-470 MHz band on a license-by-rule basis under Part 90.

Later the Commission designated 14 megahertz of spectrum in the 608-614 MHz, 1395-1400 MHz, and 1429-1432 MHz bands
for the Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (WMTS) under Part 95 of its Rules.

On October 3, 2007, the Commission released a public notice seeking comment on this petition.

According to the FCC the record supports their consideration of additional spectrum in the 413-457 MHz band for the MedRadio Service under Part 95 of their rules to accommodate the bandwidth intensive wireless MMNs described by Alfred Mann or other similar
bandwidth intensive medical implant networks.

They are interested in comments about the suitability of four segments of the 413-457 MHz band requested by Alfred Mann—i.e., 413-419 MHz, 426-432 MHz, 438-444 MHz, and 451-457 MHz—for use by medical micro-power networks or other similar bandwidth intensive medical implant networks that require a high degree of operational reliability.

Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by
accessing the ECFS: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/ or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Filers should follow the instructions provided on the website for submitting comments.

Please consider filing in NPFM 09-36. The FCC’s announcement, with the deadline to file, is below
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi…CC-09-20A1.pdf

73, Jack K4SAC

This act which was sponsered by John Kerry of Mass. and Olympia Snowe of Maine, would require  all frequencies between 300Mhz and 3.5Ghz to be inventoried by the NTIA and the FCC .

The law will require that 180 days after the bill takes effect, that an initial survey will be conducted and reviewed every two years. After the inventory is completed, the report would then be sent to the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and to the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The legislation has not been taken up by the House as of yet.

This is a great opportunity for Ham operators to remind our elected officials of the services that ham operators provide, as this legislation could possibly affect ham radio operators in the future.

73, Jack K4SAC

Recently on a contest listserv there has been some disagreement about the beacon project and if the beacon project “owns” the frequencies involved. According to my limited research, naturally no operator “owns” any frequency.

However, there was a band plan approved by the XIII General Assembly of Delegates of
IARU Region II held at Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela from September 28 to October 2, 1998.

This in itself does not mean that it is law, however the FCC in the form of Riley Hollingsworth has repeatly stated; “Although band plans are not mandatory, they exist to enhance the required cooperation and sharing of frequencies in the Amateur Service,”  Hollingsworth said in an enforcement inquiry. “Band plans minimize the necessity for Commission intervention in Amateur operations and the use of Commission resources to resolve amateur interference problems,” Hollingsworth wrote in expressing the FCC’s position on band plans. “When such plans are not followed and harmful interference results, we expect very substantial justification to be provided, and we expect that justification to be consistent with Section 97.101.”

As someone on the listserv pointed out;

“Propagation beacons are one of the more useful tools in a DX’er’s and contester’s arsenal, as they can give you a passive indication of propagation on a particular band to a particular part of the world.”

“For the beacons to be useful, they need to be found. Which means that a given beacon is voluntarily coordinated to avoid interference with other beacons in the same band in other parts of the world.”

“Yes, strictly speaking, a beacon operator doesn’t “own” a frequency, any more than a repeater owner “owns” a repeater pair. But it is in our own best interests, for ourselves as contesters and for other amateurs pursuing other types of activities as part of the Amateur Radio Service, to recognize the purpose of the beacons, why they are placed where they are, and to try and avoid interfering with them if at all possible.”

So does the beacon system own the frequencies that they occupy? I think it is safe to say they don’t. Does good amateur radio practice condone QRM’ing them? I think not. Even though Hollingsworth is no longer the enforcement guru, the FCC had repeatedly said that band plans are expected to be adhered to by radio amateurs.

Does the beacon system provide a valuable service? I think that is also without question. How else is one to know if a band is open to JA-land if one does not know if a JA is on 10 meters? The beacons provide a consistent methodical way to tell about band openings during contests as well as dx’ing or just general operating.

What do you think? leave a comment and let me know…

73, Jack K4SAC

On April 25th, 2008 the Court ruled on the matter.

According to the ruling found here (Adobe acrobat reader required) the ARRL met the burden of proof that the ” FCC failed to satisfy the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative
Procedure Act (“APA”) by redacting studies on which it relied in promulgating the rule and failed to provide a reasoned explanation for its choice of the extrapolation factor for measuring Access BPL emissions.”

At issue here was the long standing tradition by the FCC that unlicensed operators must not cause harmful interference to licensed operations (Part 15 operations) , i.e. that a unlicensed device must not cause harmful interference, and if found to cause interference, that unlicensed operator must cease operation.

The second point at issue here was that the FCC relied on a study, which was redacted when released to the public, to remove possibly contrary evidence to the conclusion that the FCC wanted to reach.

The FCC stated that it relied on it study to reach its conclusions and when the ARRL filed a FOIA request to see the data, the FCC denied that request. The ARRL filed a second FOIA request, then at that point the FCC released the redacted studies.

The ARRL then petitioned the Court to review on 4 points
1) That the FCC went against 70 years of precedent by using Section 302 to rule that unlicensed stations could cause harmful interference to licensed stations within limits
2) The studies that the FCC relied on were not released to the public in unredacted for, thus violating the APA (Administrative Procedure Act)
3) That the FCC’s 40 db per decade decay assumption was flawed in citing what was “harmful interference’
4) That the FCC failed to consider locating BPL devices between 30-50MHZ to mitigate harmful interference.

Basically the Court in favor of the league on (2) and (3), remanding the rule back to the FCC.

Credit: US Appeals Court and ARRL

I was 13 years old when I got my first ticket in 1974, I had to drive about a 4 hour drive to Indianapolis, IN to take my exam in front of an FCC examiner. The question pool was secret, you had to have the knowledge, not memorize a bunch of questions. You had to take your morse code test, sending and recieving, they had a machine that had a bunch of head phones attached to it and you listened to the code through the headphones.

You had to get 1 minute of solid copy on your paper.

My Novice ticket if I remember right(it has been a few yrs) was only good for 2 years (originally it was 1 yr) and 75 Watts.

I was limited to xtal control, so I had crystals for a few different frequencies in the 80 and 40 meter band. I would call CQ on one of my xtal frequencies and had to tune my rcvr up and down the band to listen for a reply. Talk about inefficent use of bandspace!

Finally transmitters such as the Heathkit DX60 came out and you could hook a VFO to it and QSY up and down the band. That was so neat, you could actually get calls on the same frequency you transmitted on.

W1AW was my friend as I would listen faithfully to the code practice to get my speed up so I could get my General ticket within the 1 yr timeframe. W4OYI would get on the air and help me also by qsoing me and pushing me on my cw speed.

Finally, I made the trip to Indianapolis and sat for my General and passed it. 13 wpm code…By that time I was copying 20 wpm, but I was so nervous taking the test I barely copied the 13wpm.

Another year went by and I went to take my Advanced exam. That was the hardest written exam I think I have ever taken. It was even harder then my 2nd class Radiotelegraph Commercial ticket I eventually got. I know it was harder than my extra exam. There were tube schematics on it, one of them I remember was a tube type colpitts osciallator!

Then finally I got my Extra ticket. This one I ended up driving to Atlanta Ga and taking it. At that time, at Indianapolis, they would only give the exams like 4 times a year and they weren’t giving the Extra in Indianapolis before college started and the only way to get it before I went to college was to drive to Atlanta and take it. By this time I was copying 25 wpm or better, but again in front of that FCC examiner, that 20 wpm sounded a lot faster.

But in those days of FCC examiners, they did have a license you could get sort of like the tests you take now. There was a ham license called the Conditional license. It granted basically the same priviledges as a General license, except you took the exam in front of another ham.

It was originally intended to be for people that had disabilities that prevented them from traveling to take the test in front of an FCC examiner.

This was the precusor to todays VE exams.

Like anything not monitored properly, there were abuses of the Conditional license process which led the FCC to re-examine some Conditional Licensees in front of an FCC examiner and eventually the FCC abolished the Conditional license.

Today the licensing process is totally different.

You no longer have to drive hours away to sit in front of an FCC examiner to get your ham license. The Novice license no longer exists and although some Advanced licensees are still alive once those licensees die out, there will no longer be any Advanced licenses.

Today you can get the Technician, General and Extra. You no longer have to know the code to get a ham license.

Today the license pools are published with the exact questions and answers to the test questions.

Today there are VEC’s which accredit examiners and it takes 3 VE’s to give tests. The FCC learned from the days of the Conditional that one tester is subject to impropieties, but if you have 3 you are less likely to have abuses of the system.(Although that is not a given as there have been some VE test sessions that have been discredited.)

Even though I have been licensed for 34 years and I am a CW operator, I am not going to sit here and preach that the old way was better. Times have changed and society itself has changed and most of all the focus on ham radio from the FCC’s point of view has changed.

What hasnt changed over the years is the fact that the Amateur Radio Service has been a self-policing service and internally we try to correct the abuses we see or hear about. It is up to us as licensees and us Old Timers to not denegrate the new licensees but to teach the proper ways of operation and for us OTers to set the example for the newer licensees to emulate.

But self-policing hasn’t been enough and over the years the FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Riley Hollingsworth has been enforcing the Ham Radio rules and you can read the list of enforcement actions that the FCC has taken http://www.fcc.gov/eb/AmateurActions/Welcome.html

We need to continue to be active on the HF bands and especially our VHF and UHF bands, as spectrum allocation is getting very competative and there are certainly many services that would love to take away our frequency allocations. There is big money to be made by the government in frequency allocations and if we as a Amateur service do not make good use of our frequency allocations, then we could possibly look at losing frequencies in the future.

Yes, Ham radio has changed a lot over the years since 1894 when Marconi first sent a wireless radio signal across the English Channel. The Ham radio landscape has changed numerous times and probably will change again.

I can honestly say that Ham radio has given me one of the greatest pleasures in the past 34 years and that I hope it continues to give me pleasure, but also that it continues to flourish.

73, Jack K4SAC