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The FCC has clarified most of the questions and confusion raised by its recent Amateur Radio rules "streamlining" proposal, WT Docket 98-143. The Commission this week issued some corrections and clarifications in a 13-page Errata to the original NPRM, released in early August. The FCC said the corrections were issued "to conform the proposed rules to the proposals discussed in the text of the Notice."
A major change from the original rulemaking proposal was to effectively reinstate language providing for a physician's certification that an applicant is unable to pass a 13 or 20 WPM Morse code test. In the NPRM text, the FCC invited comment on this issue and on an earlier ARRL proposal, RM-9196. The ARRL had asked the FCC to require anyone applying for an exemption pursuant to a doctor's certification to first attempt the higher-speed test before getting exam credit.
The Commission also clarified its intention to retain the current 365-day time limit for a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) to remain valid.
The FCC also added the words "Element 1(A), 1(B) or 1(C)" to proposed Section 97.301(e), referring to the 5, 13, and 20 WPM code examination elements, respectively. While this clarified the need to at least have credit for the 5 WPM Morse code examination to gain Novice/Tech Plus HF privileges, neither the original NPRM nor the Errata list Element 1(A)--the 5 WPM code test--as a specific requirement for any license class. The FCC appears to be proposing to provide that a Technician licensee could gain HF privileges by passing a 5 WPM code test. Just how this would happen in the real world remains unclear.
The FCC describes elsewhere in its proposed rules how applicants may claim credit for Element 1(A), however. A proposed change at Section 97.507(d) that would have substituted the words "no less than 5 WPM" has been dropped. The current wording says "no less than the prescribed speed."
The FCC also addressed apparently inadvertent rules changes in the NPRM. Gone is language that would have eliminated Extra class phone and image privileges in the 20 and 15-meter Extra class phone subbands and data privileges in the 20 and 15-meter Extra class CW subbands. Also gone is wording that would have dropped data privileges from Novices and phone privileges for current Tech Plus operators on 10 meters. The FCC also eliminated wording that seemingly would have limited Novice CW operation to "only messages sent by hand."
The FCC's Errata also indicate that the Commission intended to retain the current 200 W PEP power limit on the current Novice/Tech Plus HF bands. The NPRM had proposed imposing the 200 W PEP power restriction on HF only when the control operator is a Novice.
The FCC also made it clear that someone holding a Technician class license granted before February 14, 1991, could get examination credit for written Element 3(A). The Errata also add Element 1(B), the 13 WPM code test, to the elements that may be prepared by an Advanced class Volunteer Examiner.
The Errata also correct several apparent typographical errors and make other relatively minor changes to the original NPRM.
The Errata fail to address another discrepancy in the NPRM that was noted earlier by the ARRL. The NPRM gives an applicant who held a Technician license (expired or otherwise) granted before March 21, 1987, examination credit for written Element 3(B). But the proposed rules do not extend similar credit to an applicant who had held a General or higher class license, once the grace period is past.The FCC Errata is on the ARRLWeb at http://www.arrl.org/news/restructuring/98-143/errata.html
Hams in Northern Florida responded this week as Hurricane Earl paid a visit to the Florida Panhandle. Northern Florida District Emergency Coordinator Nils Millergren, WA4NDA, reports that hams served as weather spotters and provided communication support at shelters and emergency operation centers in several counties. As the storm approached, the Northern Florida Emergency Net on 3.950 MHz was activated.
Hurricane Earl was downgraded to a tropical storm September 3 after lashing the Florida Panhandle with high winds and torrential rains. The storm dumped nearly two feet of rain. Two fishermen were reported missing in Florida. Trees were downed, some street and residential flooding has occurred, and some areas were reported without electricity.
In Florida's Capital District, a VHF emergency net was active, and weather spotters were posted along coastal Highway 98. EOCs and shelters in Jackson, Walton, and Washington counties also had Amateur Radio support, and a VHF net was active in Jackson County. In Bay County, the Sheriff's Office and a medical center also used Amateur Radio Support after the telephone system became overloaded.
An official of the American Automobile Association says the Land Mobile Communications Council is backing away from its request that the FCC reallocate 420 to 430 MHz and 440 to 450 MHz from the federal government to the Private Mobile Radio Service (PMRS). And the AAA's Gary Ruark says he doubts the FCC will ever agree to the request in the face of strong support for continued Amateur Radio presence on the band. Amateur Radio has a secondary allocation on the band. The AAA is an LMCC member.
In an August 31 letter to San Diego SEC David Doan, KC6YSO, Ruark, said that strong support for ham radio from the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO) and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration caused the LMCC to back off its demand to reallocate the 70 cm subbands it had requested last spring. Because of that, Ruark said, "it is doubtful that the FCC would ever agree to that portion of the LMCC petition addressing sharing with amateur radio operators."
In June, AAA asked the LMCC to file supplemental comments with the FCC to withdraw the request to share the 70 cm band with Amateur Radio. The LMCC declined. "The decision was based on the perception that to change the language now could undermine the rest of the petition," Ruark explained. Ruark, the AAA's emergency road service technical communications specialist, said the AAA would be unable to get the LMCC to reverse its position "because there is not enough support to win a vote on the matter."
But Ruark said it was his understanding that the LMCC "would not continue to actively seek access to the amateur radio spectrum, and would forfeit that language during FCC negotiations in exchange for more important spectrum allocations."
A copy of Ruark's letter to Doan is available on the ARRLWeb page, http://www.arrl.org/news/bandthreat/RM-9267/aaa0831.html.
Citing "almost certain and imminent restructuring of licensing," the Question Pool Committee--the group that formulates the questions that show up on Amateur Radio examinations--has put further changes to the question pool on hold until restructuring issues are settled.
ARRL/VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, says the decision includes postponing the Advanced class question pool update, scheduled for revision and release this year for implementation next July 1.
The Committee says restructuring could cause anything from making a few rules questions unusable to "total deletion of one or more question pools or even combination of two or more of the present question pools into a differently configured question pool."
The decision to put further revisions to the question pool on hold had majority support of the National Conference of VECs. The QPC will postpone its current question pool review schedule "until the direction of such restructuring is more certain," QPC Chairman Ray Adams, W4CPA, said in a statement.
Adams said the QPC would announce when it's decided to resume alterations to the question pools. "The action required by that decision could range from a simple resumption of rewriting of the question pools much in the same manner as we have in the past to issuing any necessary supplements containing the changes to each of the question pools in use to combining certain pools in whatever manner may be dictated by the Commission," he said.
The FP/N9PD operation from Miquelon Island--the first DXpedition to provide near-real-time logs via the Internet--wrapped up operation this week. "We are shutting down," Rick Royston, KF9ZZ, announced September 2 at 0200 UTC on the group's Web site, http://www.prairiedx.com. The FP/N9PD operation logged slightly more than 10,000 contacts, about 80% of them on SSB. The group logged contacts with 128 DXCC entities.
The seven-man team from the Chicago-based Prairie DX Group battled Murphy in its efforts to keep up the QSO count from the remote French island off the coast of Newfoundland. First plagued by practically nonexistent HF propagation due to solar flares, the FP/N9PD operation later lost one of its amps. Hurricane Bonnie also blasted by producing 60 MPH winds at one point, but no antennas fell.
Ultimately, it appeared that the team might have problems getting home. Air Canada and Northwest pilots went on strike as the FP/N9PD team planned to depart St Pierre et Miquelon by air for Halifax, Nova Scotia. However, team member (and ARRL RF Safety Committee Chairman) Greg Lapin, N9GL, reports everyone got home safely--even if a day or so later than planned. On September 2, Royston said the complete FP/N9PD logs would be posted on the group's Web site as soon as possible. The DXpedition team had posted near real-time logs on the Internet during its weeklong operation from Miquelon Island. Lapin said the group's software still had a few bugs, and the Internet logging connection had trouble keeping up with the QSO rate. This meant some stations could not find themselves on the Web log.
QSLs for the FP/N9PD operation go to N9PD, Prairie DX Group, 1206 Somerset Ave, Deerfield, IL 60015 (SASE, IRC or $1 encouraged) or via the QSL bureau. For more information, contact Fred Levinson, KF9YL, e-mail efl@interaccess.com.
Propagation prognosticator Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: We just experienced a new high in solar flux for the current cycle. On Monday, the last day of August, the flux was 178.5, which is the highest solar flux since it was 179.6 on February 10, 1993 during the downside of the last solar cycle.
Now that August has passed, it is time to look at the average solar flux for the month and compare it with previous months. Average solar flux for August was 136--a nice increase over May through July, which were 106.7, 108.5 and 114.1. The average solar flux for the past week was 157.6, so the trend continues. Average flux during the same week last year was just 92.7, so the increase is almost 65 points! The average solar flux for the previous 90 days increased from 117 to 121 this week, and the solar flux was above these values on every day. All of these observations point to a strong upward trend in solar activity.
Solar flares produced some tremendous geomagnetic disturbances, with the planetary A index hitting 112 on August 27 and the K index rising as high as 8.
Here is the forecast for the next few days and beyond. Solar flux for September 4-6 is predicted at 160, 160 and 155. For the same period the predicted planetary A index is 12, 12 and 10. Solar flux is expected to go below 150 after September 8, below 140 two days later, then bottom out around 125 from September 12 through 14. It is expected to rise again above 140 after September 17, to 150 two days later, 160 by September 24, and above 170 after September 26. Geomagnetic conditions could be unsettled around September 5, and stormy around September 18 and 19. All of this is based on activity during the previous solar rotation.
VE3BSJ asked about the significance of the A and K indices. He wanted to know if HF operators should hope for high or low A and K numbers. My answer is: Unless you're looking for VHF auroral propagation, low geomagnetic indices are good. The K index is updated every three hours and can be heard on WWV at 18 minutes after each hour. A one-point change in the K index is quite significant. In general, conditions are better if the K is below3 and are worse if it is higher. When the K index hit 8 last week, that was extremely high.
The A index represents the K indices for the previous 24 hours, and a few points on the A index scale are not very significant. If the you had 24 hours of K at 1, the A would be 4. Likewise, K of 2 corresponds to A of 7, K of 3 corresponds to A of 15, K of 4 means A of 27, K of 5 means A of 48, K of 6 means A of 80, K of 7 means A of 132, K of 8 means A of 207, and K of 9 means A of 400. Of course the K index rarely stays the same for 24 hours, so the resulting A index is somewhere in between these values. For example, on September 2, the planetary K index was 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, and 3, and the resulting A index for the day was 8. Last Friday the Boulder K index was 5, 4, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3 and 3, and the Boulder A index was 26.
KH6BZF reminds us that as we head toward the fall equinox in a little more than two weeks, good openings toward Europe before noon local time should be common, as well as to the southern hemisphere later in the day, with South America first, and the Pacific later. The 10 and 12-meter bands should be getting better as the days get shorter and the solar flux rises.
WM7D has a nice graph on the web showing the increase in solar activity at http://www.wm7d.net/hamradio/flux.html.
Sunspot numbers for August 27 through September 2 were 153, 167, 128, 136, 133, 129, and 116, with a mean of 137.4. The 10.7-cm flux was 135, 139.2, 146.5, 163.3, 178.5, 177, and 163.4, with a mean of 157.6. The estimated planetary A indices were 112, 25, 18, 15, 22, 18, and 8, with a mean of 31.1.
Contact Tad Cook, K7VVV at tad@ssc.com.
The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.
The ARRL Letter offers a weekly summary of essential news of interest to active amateurs that's available in advance of publication in QST, our official journal. The ARRL Letter strives to be timely, accurate, concise, and readable. The ARRLWeb Extra at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/extra offers ARRL members access to late-breaking news and informative features, updated regularly.
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