Volume 17, Number 15 (April 10, 1998)

The ARRL Letter Index
ARRL Audio News

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NOTE: Because ARRL HQ is closed on Friday, April 10, The ARRL Letter and ARRL Audio News are being posted one day early. The solar/propagation bulletin will be transmitted Friday by W1AW and also will be available on the ARRLWeb page. We wish you all a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.--Rick Lindquist, N1RL

IN THIS EDITION:

+ Available on ARRL Audio News

ARRL ASKS FCC TO SUPPORT VOLUNTARY BAND PLANS

Following up on action taken at the January ARRL Board of Directors' meeting, the League has formally asked the FCC to equate observance of voluntary band plans with "good amateur practice." In a request for a declaratory ruling filed April 3, the League asks the FCC to affirm that amateur operation that conflicts with established voluntary band plans and causes interference or adversely affects those operating in accordance with applicable band plans would violate FCC rules.

Specifically, the League wants the Commission to confirm that hams should be familiar with--and should abide by--voluntary band plans applicable to the bands they operate and to state that those who don't operate in harmony with those plans are not operating "in accord with good amateur practice." The League's filing builds on a 1983 declaration by the Chief of the FCC's Private Radio Bureau that simplex operation on a recognized repeater frequency was contrary to good amateur practice.

The League argues that a declaratory ruling that provides clear support for accepted voluntary band plans would highlight the importance of band plans in the amateur community and set "a standard of cooperative behavior which is expected of licensees." It also would make it easier to resolve interference complaints without having to resort to FCC action, the petition said.

The League requests the Commission "at an early date" declare that good amateur practice "anticipates compliance with the accepted voluntary international, national, and regional band plans adopted by cooperation and coordination" within the Amateur Radio Service. A complete copy of the League's petition may be found on the ARRLWeb at http://www.arrl.org/announce/declreq.pdf. (38,902 bytes, requires Adobe Acrobat viewer.)

LEAGUE INAUGURATES ARBITRATION SERVICE

The League has inaugurated an arbitration service for hams, ham organizations, citizens and other groups having disputes relating to Amateur Radio. The ARRL Arbitration Service offers a substitute for litigation by providing binding arbitration to settle disputes. Arbitration will be arranged through the office of Chris Imlay, W3KD, the League's General Counsel. Arbitrators will include ARRL volunteer counsel. Potential cases could involve neighborhood interference situations, disputes within local radio clubs, disagreements between a hamfest committee and an attendee or exhibitor, or even the use of a frequency (typically, but not necessarily, involving one or more repeaters).

Creation of the Arbitration Service is the first step toward a complete Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system, as envisioned by the ARRL Board at its January 1997 meeting. The ADR system ultimately could include mediation and non-binding arbitration.

In arbitration, the evidence and arguments are received and adjudicated by a neutral arbitrator--either an attorney registered with the ARRL Arbitration Service or a Volunteer Counsel. (Panels of three arbitrators will be appointed in cases involving more than $10,000.) Arbitrators are sworn to remain impartial toward the parties--whether they are amateurs, amateur clubs, non-amateur neighbors, or neighborhood or municipal organizations. In disputes involving frequency coordination, the ARRL has reserved sole authority to designate the appropriate responsible coordinating organization.

During the informal process, the parties represent themselves (although parties also may hire attorneys if they wish). Unlike litigation, however, the arbitrator's judgment is final and not subject to appeal. Each party will get a chance to present material and relevant evidence, and exhibits may be received in evidence, similar to a court trial. Witnesses shall be sworn and subject to questions and cross examination. The arbitrator will issue a written award within 20 days from the close of the hearing or final submission of documents. The parties may determine as part of their arbitration agreement how the costs of arbitration will be allocated, but all costs will be paid by the parties involved.

Cases may be instituted under the ARRL Arbitration Service by filing a signed Arbitration Agreement--together with the $50-per-party filing fee--with the ARRL General Counsel. For complete details on this service, contact ARRL General Counsel Christopher D. Imlay, Booth Freret, Imlay & Tepper, PC, 5101 Wisconsin Ave NW, Suite 307, Washington, DC 20016-4120; tel 202-686-9600; fax 202-686-7797.

MINNESOTA HAMS CONTINUE TORNADO RELIEF

In the wake of tornadoes that devastated two Minnesota communities late last month, Amateur Radio continues to be a vital part of disaster relief efforts there. Minnesota SM Randy "Max" Wendel, N0FKU, reports that Southwest Minnesota/Brown County ARES and hams from the New Ulm Radio Club are supporting the Salvation Army's disaster response efforts in Comfrey. The small farming community of about 500 people was virtually flattened when the tornadoes hit March 29. Wendel says communication sites have been set up in one of the three or four buildings still standing in Comfrey.

Brown County OES Dan Becker, N0VQA, reports the group has been using a beam and high power to hit a 2-meter repeater in LeSueur--nearly 60 miles away--to maintain contact between Comfrey and the Salvation Army's Minneapolis warehouse operation. Hams in the New Ulm area also are said to be using the New Ulm 2-meter repeater to help coordinate supplies, water and food. Disaster-related ham radio activity in the Comfrey area was expected to continue through the Easter holiday weekend.

In the larger community of St Peter--some 60 miles southwest of Minneapolis--hams have been shadowing Salvation Army officials as part of a huge mobile canteen operation there that's feeding thousands of tornado victims, volunteers, and disaster officials.

Former ARRL Dakota Division Vice Director Hans Brakob, K0HB, spent two days working with the Salvation Army in St Peter and another two days in Comfrey. "The hams have received universal praise for rising to the occasion and help has come from all over," he observed.

FCC TO ALLOW ELECTRONIC FILINGS IN RULEMAKING PROCEEDINGS

The FCC has amended its rules to allow the public to file comments and other pleadings electronically via the Internet in many rulemaking proceedings. Starting later this spring, the FCC will permit electronic filing in most notice and comment rulemaking proceedings, most proceedings involving petitions for rulemaking, Notice of Inquiry proceedings, and petitions for reconsideration. The FCC initially had proposed electronic comment filing only for rulemaking proceedings, but--in response to public comments--expanded it to include the other filings.

The Commission says it's "committed to taking advantage of new information technologies to serve the public" and says its new Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) "will make it much easier for members of the public to participate in the Commission rulemaking process and will increase the efficiency of the Commission's operations." Electronic filing now is available only in proceedings specifically designated by the Commission. It will become generally available in early June.

The ECFS will allow members of the public to file, review and print documents on-line through the Internet, rather than having to rely on paper copies accessible through the FCC reference room or copy contractor. The ECFS will accept electronically filed comments in rulemaking proceedings, scan-in paper documents, and locate, retrieve, download and print any documents in the system.

For now, the Commission will not accept electronic comments in broadcast allotment proceedings because of its concern that electronic filings in those restricted proceedings might not be properly served on the parties, and to give the Commission more experience in electronic filing before including the large number of broadcast allotment proceedings.

The FCC acted on the matter April 2 (Report and Order FCC 98-56). Commissioner Gloria Tristani took issue with a provision to permit a midnight deadline for electronic comments while the deadline for paper filers continues to be 5:30 PM.

The complete announcement is at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OGC/News_Releases/1998/nrgc8002.html. --FCC

ANDY THOMAS SUGGESTS WE'RE NOT ALONE

US astronaut Andy Thomas, KD5CHF/VK5MIR, thinks we may not be alone. Speaking from the Russian Mir space station via Amateur Radio April 8 with high school students in Roswell, New Mexico--the self-proclaimed UFO capital of the world--Thomas said in response to a student's question that he believes there is extraterrestrial intelligent life. "Yes, I think there probably is, when you consider the scale of the universe," he said during a scheduled Mir-school contact with students at Goddard High School and Roswell High School.

Thomas described life is "a very tenacious thing," that could exist beyond the bounds of Earth. But he said he very much doubts that space beings ever visited Roswell, as some assert happened in the late 1940s. Tourist attractions in Roswell have since capitalized on the UFO talk.

The high schoolers asked 11 questions during the approximately 10-minute chat with Thomas, which took place via a telebridge with VK5AGR in Thomas' native Australia. Some 120 people, including fellow students, parents, teachers and the news media, were on hand for the occasion.

Mir-school contacts resumed earlier this year after a one-year hiatus. They are being arranged through the SAREX program, a joint effort of NASA, the ARRL, and AMSAT, in cooperation with the Russian space program. Other contacts are set for this month with schools in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

1.2 GHZ THREAT

The ARRL has learned that the second civilian frequency for the global positioning system (GPS) could wind up within Amateur Radio's secondary allocation at 1.2 GHz. A decision on whether the new, second frequency will be 1205 or 1250 MHz is expected to be made in August. An allocation at 1250 MHz could mean the end of Amateur Radio in the band 1240 to 1260 MHz. The Amateur Radio 23-cm band runs from 1240 to 1300 MHz.

In February 1997, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Defense (DOD) announced an agreement assuring civilian GPS users of a second frequency--referred to as L5 and considered essential for critical civilian GPS uses. According to a DOD news release, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, chaired by Vice President Al Gore, "called for the establishment of a second civil frequency as part of a broader program to maintain US leadership in aviation and satellite technology."

For more information, see http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb1997/b022797_bt095-97.html.

SUBMARINES TO TAKE TO THE AIRWAVES

Several submarines and other Naval vessels will take to the air the weekend of April 25 and 26 for Submarine Memorial Radio Reactivation Day, sponsored by the Submarine Veterans Amateur Radio Association. In the wake of a successful event last spring, the shipboard ham radio activity has become an annual event on the last weekend of April. The association hopes to reactivate the radio rooms of as many of the 23 memorial submarines as possible. This year's event has taken on an international scope with the participation of several Italian submarines plus the possible participation of hams from a memorial submarine in Vladivostok, Russia (possibly using RS56M).

Jim Flanders, W0OOG, in Plano, Texas, reports the USS Torsk in Baltimore and the USS Growler in New York City will join this year's roster. Flanders says other "definites" for the event are the USS Requin in Pittsburgh, the USS Drum in Mobile, Alabama, the USS Batfish in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the USS Pompanito in San Francisco, the USS Bluegill in Washington, the USS Croaker in Buffalo, New York, the USS Aluminaut in Norfolk, Virginia, and the USS Grayling memorial in Denver. He's hoping for confirmation from others.

"Last year was the first year we did this, and I manned the Batfish in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and my dad, K4RQQ (SK), manned the Drum in Mobile Bay," Flanders reports. (A memorial service for Murray Flanders, K4RQQ, was held aboard the vessel last November.) Other ships active last year included the USS Pompanito in San Francisco and the USS Requin in Pittsburgh. Norm Drechsel, WA3KEY--who plans to operate from aboard the USS Growler, is helping to coordinate the event. Last year, just four ships were active, but Flanders is hoping to get up to 20 on the air this year. A certificate is available. Flanders says hams can participate in two ways: Work as many of the subs as possible or help to operate from one of the memorial ships.

Operations will run from 1500 to 2200 UTC each day. Anticipated operating frequencies will be 3.943, 7.243, 14.243, 21.343, and 28.343 MHz, plus or minus 10 kHz. Flanders says some ships will not be on the air Sunday for a lack of operators. Also, he reports, some old timers "can't last two full days on a cold boat."

For more information, contact Jim Flanders, W0OOG, tel 972-517-8481; e-mail jaf@sprintmail.com; http://www.flash.net/~jflandrs.

FCC SEQUENTIAL CALL SIGN UPDATE

The following is a list of FCC sequentially assigned call signs issued as of April 1, 1998. For more information about the sequential call sign system, see Fact Sheet PR5000 #206S (dated August 1996).

DistrictGroup A
Extra		Group B
Advanced		Group C
Tech/Gen		Group D
Novice
0AB0HJKI0MI++KC0DDQ
1AA1TMKE1JJ++KB1CPX
2AB2FDKG2NZ++KC2DIB
3AA3QXKF3BJ++KB3CIY
4AF4JAKU4QO++KF4WSW
5AC5PKKM5PU++KD5DUP
6AD6EUKQ6VD++KF6QGU
7AB7XQKK7MR++KD7BEJ
8AB8CGKI8FK++KC8JSY
9AA9VVKG9MX++KB9SLZ
N. Mariana IslandNH0EAH0AYKH0GWWH0ABI
Guam++AH2DGKH2TIWH2ANV
HawaiiNH7GAH6PHKH7JDWH6DEN
American SamoaAH8PAH8AHKH8DLWH8ABF
AlaskaAL0JAL7RCKL0OAWL7CUS
Virgin Islands++KP2CNNP2KAWP2AIJ
Puerto RicoNP3VKP3BFNP3VGWP4NNQ

++ All call signs in this group have been issued in this district.

STANLY E. HARTER, KH6GBX, SK

Stan Harter, KH6GBX, of Sacramento, California, died unexpectedly April 2, 1998. He was 68. He had served as assistant chief of telecommunications with the California Office of Emergency Services. He served from 1965 until 1982 as chief of communications for the State of Hawaii, and later served as communications coordinator for Bakersfield, California, and as California RACES officer. He'd also worked as a professional broadcaster and broadcast engineer. Ron Kruml, KB7JCP, EComm News community disaster educator editor, said that Harter "truly wrote the book on emergency communication and public warning systems. "His wit and humor along with his endless enthusiasm made him a one-of-a-kind resource to those of us working to integrate volunteer communicators into governmental emergency management organizations," he said. Harter was an ARRL member and a life member of APCO. Survivors include his wife, a son, and a daughter. Arrangements are incomplete.

MILO P. HNILICKA, AJ1S, SK

Renowned inventor and researcher Milo P. Hnilicka, AJ1S, of Harvard, Massachusetts, died February 22, 1998, following a brief illness. He was 85. A native of Czechoslovakia, Hnilicka was credited with inventing freeze-dried coffee and space blankets. During his active career, Hnilicka was chief scientist at the National Research Corporation in Cambridge and held 28 US patents in the area of cryogenics and vacuums. Other achievements include the development of simulators used for training astronauts. He also holds two patents associated with motion picture sound recording. Hnilicka has been listed in Who's Who in American Men in Science. He retired in the mid-1970s. Survivors include his wife, Lili, KA1CDP, and two daughters.--Donald Strang, N1PPS

LARRY GASCH, W3SFY, SK

Noted amateur Lawrence L. "Larry" Gasch, W3SFY, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, died February 25, 1998, after suffering a stroke. He was 70. Gasch had been licensed for almost 50 years and remained active until his death. After a tour with the US Navy, he spent 25 years at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, where he designed antennas. Gasch was a member of ARRL, a past president of the Old Buzzards Radio Club, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Montgomery Amateur Radio Club, where he taught Morse code classes. Gasch also was an ARRL Volunteer Examiner and was proud of the fact that eight members of his family also had become hams. Survivors include his fiancée, Peggy Kelly, N3PPG, and his three children.--Peggy Kelly, N3PPG; Kay Craigie, WT3P

In Brief:

  • Comment deadlines set: May 7 is the deadline for comments on the FCC's proposal to facilitate the Universal Licensing System (ULS), Docket WT 98-20. Reply comments in that proceeding are due May 22. April 22 is the deadline for comments on the FCC's FY 1998 schedule of fees, MD Docket 98-36, which includes a reduction in the vanity call sign application fee from $50 to $12.90. Reply comments are due May 4.
  • Palm to present: ARRL Field Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE, is a presenter at the annual National Hurricane Conference this week in Virginia. He will discuss Amateur Radio's and Headquarters support roles in hurricane situations. Virginia and North Carolina ARRL officials also are expected to be on hand for the conference.
  • Central States VHF Society confab set: The 32nd annual Central States VHF Society Conference will be held July 23-26 in Kansas City Missouri at the Adam's Mark Hotel. Those interested in making a presentation at the conference should contact Tom Bishop, K0TLM, 4936 N Kansas Ave, Kansas City, MO 64119; tel 816-452-6953; e-mail k0tlm@juno.com. Conference proceedings will be published by the ARRL and will be available at the conference. The deadline to submit papers is May 15, 1998. Among other events, the conference will include antenna gain measurement and noise figure measurement sessions on Friday, along with a flea market. For more information, see the CSVHFS home page, http://www.csvhfs.org. --Denise Hagedorn, AJ0E
  • WTC beacon on 10 GHz: A 10-GHz beacon has been placed into operation from the top of the World Trade Center in New York City. The beacon, run by Larry Lipitz, NY2US, is at 10368.210 MHz and reportedly runs 80 mW to a six-slot antenna. The location is some 2200 feet above average terrain. Reports to NY2US.--Del Schier, KD1DU, via the VHF Reflector
  • N9NB named IEEE fellow: Virginia Tech professor Ted Rappaport, N9NB, has been named a fellow of the IEEE. The Tech Communications Society sponsored his nomination "for research contributions and educational leadership in the field of wireless communications." Rappaport, 37, is a founder and director of the Mobile & Portable Radio Research Group at Virginia Tech.--MPRG Propagator
  • New WIA president chosen: Peter Naish, VK2BPN, is the new president of the Wireless Institute of Australia. Naish defeated incumbent Neil Penfold, VK6NE, at a tumultuous annual meeting of the WIA March 28 and 29 in Melbourne. The meeting got off to a rocky start when a major portion of the business agenda was declared out of order. When the agenda finally was taken up, a proposal to introduce voting rights for divisions at federal meetings proportional to the number of members a division holds failed for the second time in two years. The agenda could not be completed within the two days set aside, and the meeting will be reconvened later.--Graham Kemp, QNews