The ARRL Letter, Volume 8, No. 18, September 8, 1989 Published by: The American Radio Relay League, Inc. 225 Main St. Newington, CT 06111 Editor: Tom Hogerty, KC1J Material from The ARRL Letter may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, including photoreproduction and electronic databanks, provided that credit is given to The ARRL Letter and to the American Radio Relay League, Inc. ARRL PETITIONS FCC FOR CODELESS CLASS OF AMATEUR LICENSE On August 31, 1989, the ARRL petitioned the FCC for a new "Communicator" class of Amateur Radio license which does not require a demonstration of proficiency in Morse code. This new class of license, if adopted by the FCC would grant privileges on amateur frequencies above 220 MHz. According to the League's proposal, transmitter peak envelope power (PEP) would be limited to 250 watts. Another provision of the League's proposal would be that a Communicator licensee could not be the control operator of a repeater or auxiliary station. Examinations would be administered through the Volunteer Examining Coordinator (VEC) system. According to ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, "It was a very difficult issue for the Board to deal with because there were strongly held views at opposite ends of the spectrum. There were a number of proposals for different things. We started out with the committee report and proceeded from there to discuss various amendments to it. There had been many other options considered informally during the preliminaries. People should be reassured that the Board gave this subject very, very deep and careful consideration." Under the League's proposal, Communicators may upgrade to Technicians simply by passing a 5 word-per-minute code test given under the VEC system. Code examinations will continue to be required for all other classes of Amateur Radio licenses, and Morse code will continue to be an important part of ham radio. FOREST SERVICE FINALIZES FEE PROPOSALS FOR COMMUNICATIONS SITES Over the past two years, QST has reported on the proposed rental fee schedules for the various radio and television services, including amateur, which rent US Forest Service land for communications sites in 6 Forest Service Regions. Originally, the Forest Service proposed fees ranging from $300-$1200 for amateur repeaters. ARRL and individual amateurs submitted comments urging little or no fees. Later proposals suggested a $75 nonwaivable yearly fee for amateur repeaters. According to the August 23, 1989 Federal Register, the Forest Service has now finalized its fee schedule for communications uses. The fee for amateur repeater sites has been set at $75 in the 6 Forest Service Regions. According to the notice, the $75 fee represents the cost to the Forest Service for administration of the authorization and fees will not be reduced below that rate. The Forest Service Regions are: Intermountain (Nevada, Utah and parts of California, Idaho and Wyoming), Northern (Montana, North Dakota, and parts of South Dakota, and Idaho), Rocky Mountain (Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming), Pacific Southwest (California), Southern (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Puerto Rico), and Southwest Region (Arizona and New Mexico.) The effective date of the notice is September 22, 1989. MICROSAT TESTING SCHEDULED The Martin-Marietta Astronautics Group (MMAG) of Denver, CO informed AMSAT NA officials that it will donate its facilities for the testing of the four Microsat satellites scheduled to begin September 9 and finishing on September 22. AMSAT NA will have the use of a 5 foot diameter by 10 foot long thermal vacuum test chamber for five days in order to "space qualify" the Microsats. All four of the Microsats will be mounted inside the chamber and tested in a simulated space environment, that is, in a "vacuum" and between temperatures from -20 degrees C to +55 degrees C. During the five day test, the chamber temperature will be cycled from hot to cold with 12 hour "dwells" at each of the temperature extremes. When the thermal-vacuum testing is completed the Microsats will be taken back to the lab in Boulder for further testing and flight cable installation. They will then be returned to MMAG plant where they will undergo three-axis vibration tests. The thermal-vacuum and vibration tests are required by Arianespace before the Microsats will be allowed to fly with the SPOT 2 satellite aboard the ARIANE IV rocket in November. This is the second time Martin-Marietta has offered the use of its test facilities to AMSAT. During the spring of '86 they provided the very same thermal-vacuum test chamber so that all the subsystems on Phase 3C could be tested. NTIA TO STUDY USE OF RF SPECTRUM The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) says that "Commencing this fall..[they]..will undertake a comprehensive policy review of the use and management of radio spectrum in the United States." This marks the beginning of the first fundamental reexamination of spectrum policy objectives and issues since NTIA's organization in 1978. NTIA indicates that the review is timely in light of ever increasing demands for spectrum. These demands will cause changes requiring the development and fostering of policies that will encourage the most effective, efficient and fair use of spectrum. In the near future, NTIA intends to issue a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to request public comment on specific economic, technical, and regulatory issues to be studies concerning US spectrum policy. The NTIA is the Executive Branch agency principally responsible for the development and presentation of domestic and international telecommunications policy. NTIA acts as principal adviser to the President on telecommunication policy, and is directed to develop a long-range US spectrum management plan. The agency also has statutory authority to license government radio frequency use. TENNESSEE BALLOON LAUNCH A SUCCESS Carl Lyster (WA4ADG) and David Fields (N4HB0) report that their first balloon experiment, launched from the Knoxville, TN area on August 5 was successful. Their first flight attempt 2 weeks earlier was scrubbed because of a faulty 5-volt regulator in the telemetry system. This balloon carried a 2-meter beacon with a voice synthesizer reproducing Astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous words as he stepped upon the lunar surface. There was also a 10-meter beacon which sent out ASCII telemetry. It it estimated that the balloon carried its payload to an altitude of 90,000 feet. Stations as far way as 450 miles reported hearing the beacons. After one and one-half hours of flight, the balloon burst. It took almost 30 minutes for it to parachute to Earth. A Civil Air Patrol (CAP) plane tracked its descent and kept the package in sight until the ground crew reached the 70-foot tree on which it landed. With the success of this balloon flight, WA4ADG and N4HBO are now planning their next experiment; a 10-m to 2-m translator which they hope to launch later this year. WB2PTI INDICTED FOR US MAIL FRAUD According to United States Postal Inspector Martin T. Biegelman of Hicksville, NY, a Federal Grand Jury in the Eastern District of New York, indicted Michael D. Harrison, WB2PTI, of Oceanside, NY charging 50 counts of mail fraud. According to the indictment, Harrison, also known as "John McNamara," and "Mike Hanson," "did knowingly and willfully devise and intend to devise a scheme...to defraud and to obtain money by means of fraudulent pretenses...and for the purpose...did use the mails." It is stated that Harrison took out advertisements in several amateur magazines under the name of Atlas Radio, Inc and offered for sale Uniden products. The money for the orders was received, but the merchandise was never shipped, according to the indictment. ARRL OPPOSES BROADCASTERS IN PART 97 RECONSIDERATION PETITION On July 20, a Petition for Reconsideration in PR Docket 88- 139 (the new Part 97 rewrite) was jointly filed by the Radio Television News Directors Association (RTNDA); the National Association of Broadcasters; American Society of Newspaper Editors; CBS, Inc.; Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.; National Broadcasting Company, Inc.; National Public Radio; Post Newsweek Stations, Inc.; and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. In their petition, the broadcasters assert that the Commission's newly stated rule (97.113[c]) concerning instances in which Amateur Radio operators may convey information to broadcasters for dissemination to the public is confusing and overly restrictive. Their expectation, based on FCC's Report and Order regarding the revised Part 97, was that the category of circumstances in which Amateur Radio operators may furnish information to broadcasters was to be broadened. In its Opposition filing on August 21, ARRL states that the "RTNDA [et al] misunderstands what the Commission's regulatory policy is with respect to news gathering using amateur radio facilities.." News gathering was and still is prohibited absolutely. Amateurs' ability to convey information to broadcasters..."is a narrow exception to the rules...It applies only in the most limited of circumstances [and] cannot be broadened beyond the concept of emergency communications..lest the noncommercial nature of the Amateur Radio Service be subject to compromise, and the Service exploited." ATTENTION REPEATER OWNERS/TRUSTEES It is now time to submit your repeater changes and updates to your frequency coordinator in order for them to be included in the 1990-91 issue of the ARRL Repeater Directory. Mark your changes on the forms provided in the back of the Repeater Directory. The frequency coordinator listing begins on page 56 of the 1989-90 edition of the Directory. Repeater updates should be submitted directly to the coordinator for your area, however, packet and beacon changes may be sent directly to HQ. NEW ARRL PUBLICATION AVAILABLE ARRL HQ announces the availability of a new publication, Proceedings of the 23rd Conference of the Central States VHF Society. A collection of technical papers presented at the 23rd Central States VHF Conference, this book contains many papers covering topics of interest to amateurs operating at 50 MHz and above. Selected titles include: "Performance Measurements For EME Systems" by William A. Tynan, W3XO; "To Build or Not to Build a Dish" by Ed Gray, W0SD and Marc Thorson, WB0TEM "Engineering Notes on the 23 cm Transverter" by Richard L. Campbell, KK7B "Amplifier Simulation Program" by Charles H. Reichert, KD9JQ "200 MHz SSB Activity Directory 1989" by Peter Beedlow, NN9K, and Lowell DePoy, K0LOZ These papers are must reading for every "VHF and up" enthusiast. All papers contained in this publication are unedited and are solely the responsibility of the authors. The 167-page proceedings are available from ARRL, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111, USA, for $12.00 plus $2.50 shipping and handling ($3.50 UPS). ARRL CONTEST ENTRIES MAY BE SUBMITTED ON DISKETTE The ARRL Contest Branch can now accept entries for the ARRL November Sweepstakes and other ARRL sponsored contests on IBM compatible MS DOS formatted diskettes, either 5 1/4 or 3 1/2 inch. Log information must be in a true ASCII file. The summary sheet may also be in an ASCII file, but paper summary sheets are preferred. The log file should take on the layout of the official forms containing band, date, time on off, time in UTC, number received, call of station worked, check received, section received, multipliers, report sent and points. For additional information write or call Billy Lunt, KR1R Contest Manager, at ARRL HQ. ARRL LETTER RATES REDUCED FOR LEAGUE APPOINTEES The ARRL Letter published by ARRL HQ, is available to many field leadership officials at a reduced subscription rate of $10. The following is a list of leadership appointees who are currently eligible for this discount: Section Manager (free), Section Traffic Manager, Official Observer Coordinator, Section Emergency Coordinator, Affiliated Club Coordinator, Public Information Officer, Technical Coordinator, State Government Liaison, Bulletin Manager and ARRL affiliated club newsletter editors. The ARRL Letter is available to all ARRL members at a rate of $19.50 per year (in the US, Canada and Mexico). Overseas air mail subscriptions are available for $31. Contact Kathy Fay, KA1UGB, in the Circulation Department at ARRL HQ for details and a subscription form. DON'T FORGET SEPTEMBER 16 This is a reminder that the first annual Amateur Radio Public Awareness Day will be held Saturday, September 16. Clubs and individuals will set up and operate public displays across the nation in schools, libraries, town halls, parks, fairs and anywhere else an imaginative club can think of. The event is intended to make the general public more aware of the existence, purposes and benefits of Amateur Radio. Why not join in?