Category Archives: FCC

FCC Moving Ahead with EmComm Changes

fcc-1The FCC has released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) concerning use of amateur radio by employees of governmental and other agencies. I had previously posted my thoughts on this topic back in October 2009.  A read of the NPRM on the FCC web site reveals that the FCC clearly sees this as an issue that needs to be addressed.

The tone of the NPRM is “what is the best way to address the problem” rather than “should we address this issue”?  In fact, the FCC went ahead and proposed this specific rule change for Part 97.113:

§ 97.113 Prohibited transmissions.
(a) ***
(3) Communications in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer, with the following exceptions:
(i) A control station operator may participate on behalf of an employer in a government-sponsored emergency preparedness or disaster readiness test or drill, limited to the duration and scope of such test or drill, and operational testing immediately prior to such test or drill.
(ii) An amateur operator may notify other amateur operators of the availability for sale or trade of apparatus normally used in an amateur station, provided that such activity is not conducted on a regular basis.

The ARRL article concerning this development provides a good summary of the proposal. N5FDL has a brief discussion of the NPRM on his blog. Comments can be filed electronically on this NPRM on the FCC Electronic Filing Comment System.

I think this is moving in the right direction.

- 73, Bob K0NR

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This Spewed Out of the Internet #13

0511-0701-3118-0930Things have gotten a little busy for me, so sorry about going dark on blog postings. I had several weeks of business travel, followed by a wonderful trip to the Caribbean. Unfortunately, no ham radio action on any of these trips.

As usual, K3NG has posted some interesting stuff on his blog. First, he commented on Amateur Radio Liberation Day, then he had a good post on The Problem of Closed Source and Proprietary Algorithm Modes.

The Fi-Ni report explained the mysterious reappearance of the 15 Meter band.

After pestering hams with announcements that the new ARRL web site is about to be turned on (drum roll please….), the League had to back off and announce that it just wasn’t quite ready yet. It would be a lot more effective to launch the web site, then promote it. That way, when people go to check it out, it is actually there.

The FCC decided that it would be a good idea to allow a remotely-controlled robot to use 430-448 MHz as a radio control link. These robots are intended to be used by law enforcement agencies to enter hazardous areas without endangering personnel. I guessed they missed the fact that the 70 cm ham band is home for thousands of FM repeaters in the U.S. This is yet another lame spectrum management decision by the commission. (See K3NG’s post on this topic.)

- 73, Bob K0NR

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Time to Change Part 97?

when-all-else-fails-logoPart 97.113 has been the topic of much discussion lately, ever since the FCC communicated a rather narrow interpretation of the rules. See my previous post on this topic for more background information. From the ARRL web site, we find that the ARRL Board of Directors has chimed in:

The Board instructed the ARRL staff to seek a change in Section 97.113(a)(3) of the FCC rules to permit amateurs, on behalf of an employer, to participate in emergency preparedness and disaster drills that include Amateur operations.

This is not really a surprise and despite the usual criticism coming from some quarters, I am encouraged that the board sees this as an issue that requires action.

N5FLD lists the specific wording that the ARRL Board has approved, expressing some concern about the particular text chosen. I think we are clearly headed towards the standard FCC rule making process that will give everyone their say and, hopefully, we’ll arrive at a reasonable decision.

The February issue of CQ Magazine, arrived in the mail today, with a W2VU editorial taking on this topic. Rich points out that if you really want to get picky about it, ham radio publications are at risk due to a narrow interpretation of Part 97.113. For example, if an author is getting paid to review a new ham transceiver for publication in CQ, can he actually put it on the air without getting the foul flag thrown for “pecuniary interest”? So CQ wants to broaden the discussion, and has their own proposal for Part 97.113.

My read: stay tuned as we hash through this. There is enough support (based on good reasoning, I think) that this issue will get addressed. But it will take some time.

73, Bob K0NR


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Amateur Radio: Not an Emergency Radio Service

arrlnewlogo-transWell, that’s what the FCC says: the Amateur Radio Service is not an emergency radio service. K1ZZ’s QST editorial quotes the FCC and points out that the mission of the Amateur Radio Service is indeed broader than emergency communications. (The FCC does recognize the role that amateur plays in emergencies — see this web page.)

Lately, I’ve noticed a number of blog postings and other statements from hams that define amateur radio way too narrowly. The common thread is taking the part of ham radio that is most important to them and arguing that Real Ham Radio is focused on that segment of the hobby/radio service.

For some folks, amateur radio is emergency communications (only). Others argue that only technical pursuits are true ham radio and those appliance operators are just holding us back. For others, ham radio is defined by getting on the air and operating (might be QRP, might be contesting, might be something else).

I think K1ZZ got it right….the purpose is broader than that. Just go read Part 97.1 of the FCC rules:

The rules and regulations in this Part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:

(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.

(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.

(c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communications and technical phases of the art.

(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.

(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s unique ability to enhance international goodwill.

Let’s reject the narrow view and think a bit broader.

73, Bob K0NR

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This Spewed Out of the Internet #9

0511-0701-3118-0930I have been traveling quite a bit lately for work, so here’s a catch up on a number of things spewing forth from the interwebnet.

I’ve recently re-discovered High Frequency Electronics Magazine, edited by Gary Breed, K9AY. This is a top quality trade pub that targets RF design engineers. In Gary’s September editorial, he highlighted the environment that the college class of 2013 grew up in….such as “text has always been hyper.”

I came across this summary of Top Ham Radio Blogs. They clearly have excellent judgment, since my blog is listed.  :-)

Computer World published this article,  Want to bone up on wireless tech? Try ham radio, a good read on the experimentation side of amateur radio written by John Edwards, W6JE.

Google’s Eric Schmidt talks about the future of the web…some interesting thoughts.  I hope his prediction of 100MB broadband comes true…but I am not expecting it to come down my road any time soon.

KB9MWR posted an interesting article about the radio range of D-STAR.

Ham radio saves the world (again)…. hams assist rescue on Catalina Island. This reminds me of when  I was out climbing Uncompahgre Peak and radio’d in a fallen hiker report.

Last weekend was the CQ Worldwide DX Contest (SSB version), so I did get on the air for a few hours. Mostly, I got clobbered on 20 Meters with my 100-Watts-to-a-dipole station being overrun by the Big Gun Stations. I did manage to work some DX on both 15M and 20M.

The FCC actions concerning EmComm and Part 97.113 have exposed different views on the role of amateur radio in emergency communications. See the comments on my blog posting, this article by Steve K9ZW and N5FDL’s blog. There seems to be some pent up frustration with ham radio EmComm folks coming from some corners of the ham community.

I encourage everyone to go back and read Part 97.1, the Basis and Purpose of the Amateur Radio Service. It lists five different items as the purpose of amateur radio, all of which are relevant and important. I’d also suggest that everyone lighten up just a bit (and be sure to stay on your meds).

73, Bob K0NR

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