The ARRL Letter
Vol. 13, No. 21
November 12, 1994

FCC sets date for 2400-MHz comments

     The FCC has set December 19, 1994, as the comment date for
a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to convert a block of spectrum
from federal government to commercial use, including parts of the
2400-MHz band shared by Amateur Radio on a secondary basis with
the government.
     In its voluminous NPRM, the FCC went to great length to
cite the strenuous arguments submitted earlier by the ARRL against
the proposal.
     The League will be commenting further on this NPRM.
     The proposal would allocate 2390 to 2400, 2402 to 2417
(both shared by amateurs), and 4660 to 4685 MHz, to the Fixed and
Mobile Services. The FCC is required by the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 to adopt rules for such reallocations
by February 10, 1995.
     The FCC said that "While we believe that [our] plan for
allocation to Fixed and Mobile services would ensure that the
spectrum is used for services that are most highly valued by the
public, we also recognize that such an approach may be difficult
to implement given certain factors that are unique to these bands.
For example, there are incumbent amateur users in the 2390-2400
MHz and 2402-2417 MHz bands."
     The FCC said that it believes several suggestions for use
of the 2390-2400 MHz band are already adequately accommodated in
other bands, and that parties supporting alternative proposals
"should address the compatibility of the proposed service with the
Amateur and other services."
     In both the text of the NPRM and in footnotes the FCC
acknowledged arguments from the Amateur Radio community, including
the requirement of the Reconciliation Act to avoid excessive
disruption of the amateur service and to determine the extent to
which, in general, commercial users could share the frequency with
Amateur Radio licensees.
     The FCC asked for comments on several options, including:
     * Maintaining a secondary allocation for the amateur
service in all or part of this spectrum.
     * Making the amateur service the primary user in a portion
of this spectrum while either maintaining a secondary allocation
in the remaining portions of the bands or eliminating the other
portions from the amateur service.      
     "We also solicit information," the FCC said,  "on the
degree of disruption to the Amateur service that would result if
all or part of this spectrum was removed from the amateur service.
We request comment on these options, including the ability of
various radio services to share spectrum with the amateur
service."
     The FCC noted the League's argument that were amateurs to
lose the spectrum in question, along with 2300 to 2310 MHz, which
is also threatened, the remaining 35 MHz would be insufficient for
amateur satellite operations, would prevent full duplex point-to-
point operations in the 13 cm band, would eliminate weak signal
operations carried out in that band, and would crowd Amateur
Service operations in the 13 cm band into the least desirable
spectrum near the center of the ISM band at 2450 MHz.
     The FCC also noted comments about the difficulty of
sharing between commercial licensees and the Amateur Radio
Service, and that "the Commission has used the continued
availability to Amateurs of the 13 cm band to justify reallocating
Amateur spectrum in lower bands to commercial services [ie 220 to
222 MHz] and that it would therefore be unjust for the Commission
to now allocate this spectrum for commercial uses."
     The full text of the NPRM, released by the FCC on November
8,  is available from ARRL Headquarters on the HQ BBS, at 203-666-
0578, and also from the ARRL Internet Infoserver, info@arrl.org
(see October 1994 QST, page 43).  The file name is FCC94272.txt.
     The reply comment date on the NPRM is January 3, 1995.

FCC TELLS ZONING BOARD BASIS FOR DECISION WRONG
     The chief of the FCC's Private Radio Bureau, Ralph Haller,
has told the Hempstead, New York Board of Zoning Appeals that the
town is wrong in trying to regulate an amateur's antenna system
based on interference caused to nearby consumer electronic
equipment. The amateur, Mark Nadel, NK2T, continues a running
battle with the town (see The ARRL Letter, October 13, and
December QST).
     Nadel in early October contacted his Congressman, Peter T.
King, who contacted the FCC. Haller responded with a letter to
King, explaining the FCC's PRB-1 decision, then wrote to the town
 -- an unusual move for the Commission. Here is what Haller told
the board of zoning appeals:
     "It has come to our attention that the Town of Hempstead's
Board of Zoning Appeals (Board) has denied Mr Hayden M. Nadel's
application for a variance permitting him to maintain his amateur
radio station's antenna at a height of fifty-five feet (versus the
thirty feet permitted by the zoning ordinance). According (to) the
text of the Board's decision ... it based its determination
largely on its finding that the 'proposed and existing antenna
height of fifty-five feet' was resulting in interference to the
home electronic equipment of Mr Nadel's neighbors."
     Haller then cites PRB-1 and what local authorities may do
under its provisions. But "They may not," Haller told the Board,
"base their regulation of amateur service antenna structures on
the causation of interference to home electronic equipment -- an
area regulated exclusively by the Commission."
     Haller cited the FCC's exclusive jurisdiction over
interference matters and told the Board "there is no reasonable
connection between requiring Mr Nadel to reduce the height of his
antenna and reducing the amount of interference to his neighbors'
home electronic equipment. On the contrary, antenna height is
inversely related to the strength ... of the radio signal that
serves as a catalyst for interference....
     "It is a matter of technical fact," Haller said, "that the
higher an amateur antenna, the less likely it is that the radio
frequency interference will appear in home electronic equipment."

HPM 125 CELEBRATION TO RISE AGAIN IN '95
     The ARRL Membership Services Committee will recommend that
the wildly successful Hiram Percy Maxim 125 Birthday Celebration
of last September be reprised, same time in 1995 (from Labor Day
weekend through the following weekend, nine days' worth).
     Details will be worked out over the next few months but
there is strong support for more people to be eligible, namely,
everyone eligible for an "ARRL Badge," which adds ARRL-VEC
volunteer examiners, assistant emergency coordinators, HF and VHF
awards managers, and more.
     An article in January QST about the 1994 event solicits
input from everyone on how the 1995 running should be structured.

ARRL URGES FCC TO ACT ON DIGITAL PLAN
     The ARRL has filed reply comments on FCC PR Docket 94-59,
that proposes to allow automatic control of digital stations on
the HF bands under certain specific conditions.
     The League said that it shared the concerns of some
amateurs about the possibility of interference to amateurs using
other modes, and urged the FCC to adopt its original proposal for
specific subbands and other restrictions.
     The ARRL made essentially the same recommendation in its
comments on the FCC proposal in early October.  By that time, the
FCC had received comments from 15 parties, eight opposed to
automatic HF control, five supporting the League's proposal for
specific subbands, and two supporting the ARRL plan but with
additional provisions for avoiding interference.
     The League said in its reply comments on November 1 that
since some parties suggest no restrictions, while others advocate
no changes at all at this time, the middle course advocated by the
ARRL offered the best balance.
     The League said it agreed with those amateurs who were
concerned about the potential for interference to other modes from
automatically controlled stations in the HF amateur bands. But "as
long as appropriate operating practices are employed, a locally
controlled station can initiate a contact with an automatically
controlled station in a way that will be equally effective in
avoiding prolonged interference to the 'hidden station,'"
the ARRL said. "The value of automatic control of some HF data
stations should be encouraged to the extent possible without
impinging on the operators of locally controlled stations."
     The League's proposal, to permit automatically controlled
HF data communications in specific subbands, and to permit such
stations to communicate with locally controlled stations outside
those subbands where data communication is permitted, appears a
reasonable middle ground in the proceeding, the ARRL said.
     More information was in August, 1994 QST, page 71.

BRIEFS
     * The ARRL Foundation has agreed to match individual and
club donations to the Archie Comic fund drive up to $10,000. About
$19,000 is needed for another reprint of the comics. Tax-
deductible checks may be sent to the ARRL Educational Activities
Department at HQ.
     * The ARRL's joint resolution supporting Amateur Radio was
signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 22, 1994 --
it's now Public Law 103-408. More information was in November and
December QST.
     * Effective January 1, 1995, the FCC's maximum allowable
reimbursement fee for an amateur operator license will be $5.92,
up from the current $5.75. The ARRL VEC will charge $5.90 to each
applicant (other than applicants taking only Elements 1A or 2).
     * Bruce Draper, AA5B, will become editor of the National
Contest Journal in January, succeeding Trey Garlough, WN4KKN.
Bruce, 40, lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
     * A visitor to HQ in late October was Goli Farrell, a
consultant with the United Nations Department of Humanitarian
Affairs.  Ms Farrell was gathering information on disaster
communications for the department, and left with a number of QST
accounts of hams in action.
     * The  FCC has named 44-year-old James A. Bridgewater,
AA8JD, engineer-in-charge of its Detroit Field Office.
Bridgewater, an Extra Class licensee, holds BSEE and BSE degrees
from Purdue University, and began his FCC career in 1977.
     * Job opening: in the ARRL Educational Activities
Department, for a licensed amateur with excellent writing and
verbal skills as well as experience in teaching, customer service
and word-processing. Starting pay is $20,200 per year.  Send
resumes to Rosalie White, WA1STO.
     * A reminder to DXers that again this year the DXCC Annual
List appears not in QST but rather in the ARRL DXCC Yearbook, due
out in February. If you have made a DXCC submission in the last
year you will automatically receive a copy of the Yearbook.
     * Hams in the Omaha, Nebraska, area, helped the local
office of the FCC in chasing down some pesky electromagnetic
interference. Owners of Sears garage door openers were able to
close their doors but not to open them. The FCC said that several
local amateurs who had heard about the problem assisted Commission
staff in locating a new air-to-ground communication system at
Offut Air Force Base, operating on a frequency too close to the
door openers' frequency. The Air Force contractor agreed to find
another frequency.
     * Word from several sources is that the Voice of America
relay station at Bethany, Ohio, would cease operations on Sunday,
November 13, 1994.  This was an "engineering" decision based on
the belief that transmitter sites closer to target areas would
better serve the purpose of the VOA. A QST story about the VOA's
50th anniversary appeared in February 1992.
     * More volunteer examiners are needed, says ARRL-VEC
Manager Bart Jahnke, KB9NM. Through June 1994, 5985 amateur exam
sessions had been held, compared with 5501 for the year before,
and Jahnke says he expects the increased activity to continue. You
can get information about becoming an ARRL-VEC accredited VE by
calling the VE hotline at 800-927-7583 or by e-mail to
vec@arrl.org (or by US mail, of course).
     * An educational group in England hopes to hold a
conference there in July 1995 to discuss Amateur Radio-teaching
techniques. The group, Science and Technology through Educational
Links with Amateur Radio (STELAR), was founded by Richard Horton,
G3XWH, in 1993, is affiliated with the Radio Society of Great
Britain (RSGB), and claims more than 120 schools are affiliated
with STELAR (presumably in the UK). For more information contact
Hilary Claytonsmith, G4JKS, 115 Marshalswick Lane, St Albans,
Herts, AL1 4UU, England.
     * The recent thawing of relations between Israel and
Jordan was notable by the appearance of Jordan's King Hussein,
JY1, on an Amman, Jordan repeater, according to the Israeli
newsletter HaGAL. When Jonathan, 4Z9FHB, called CQ there, JY1
answered, and proceeded to work the young amateur.
     HaGAL  also reports that discussions have taken place
between the two countries' amateur societies, on "technical
cooperation" and "plans for a very special DXpedition, yet to be
announced."

10 years ago in The ARRL Letter
     The FCC grants an ARRL request for an extension of comment
time on PRB-1, the League's request for a declaratory ruling
preempting local zoning bodies from enacting overly restrictive
antenna ordinances. FCC staffers agree that comments had begun to
come in from interested parties only after the matter was first
aired in the major amateur press, which was very close to the
original comment deadline.
     The National League of Cities comments, saying the FCC
shouldn't have the authority to meddle in local zoning issues. The
League urges amateurs to counter this with personal accounts of
confrontations with "tyrannical" local authorities.
     IARU President Dick Baldwin, W1RU, returns from two weeks
in China; Rajiv Gandhi, VU2RG, is named Indian Prime Minister
following the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi (a few
years later Rajiv also is murdered); and amateurs lose 2310 to
2390 MHz to aeronautical flight test telemetry operations.
     The ARRL Board of Directors meets and gives staff the go-
ahead to develop a program to increase the number of US amateurs
by 50,000 per year for the next five years. The board also
approves AX.25 amateur packet protocol; addresses uncoordinated
repeaters by giving them special designations in future editions
of the Repeater Directory; and the Management and Finance
Committee is assigned to study moving the Headquarters to "an
alternative site." (We're still here!).
     And, finally, the Letter says that NASA has scheduled late
in 1985 or early 1986 for the first civilian -- a teacher -- to
ride aboard the Space Shuttle and asks "Will you be teaching ham
radio from space?" The teacher turned out to be a New Hampshire
woman, Christa McAuliffe, who would die in the explosion of the
Challenger in early 1986.


*EOF

