| May, 2007 |  |
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Know Your Privileges!
Misconceptions Abound Regarding Tech HF Privileges
Some Technician licensees who gained new privileges February 23 remain unaware or uninformed as to what they may and may not do on the HF bands, says ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND. In addition to all Amateur Radio operating privileges above 50 MHz, Technicians who never passed a Morse code test now have CW privileges on certain segments of 80, 40 and 15 meters plus new CW, RTTY, data and SSB privileges on certain segments of 10 meters. And that’s it. “Know your privileges,” Henderson advises all Amateur Radio licenses. He says some Technicians apparently believe their new HF phone privileges go far beyond what they really have.
FCC Holds Firm on CC&Rs
The FCC has again refused to consider extending the limited protections for amateur antennas that it has imposed on
local and state governments to private homeowners’ associations. In rejecting a petition from a group known as Hams
for Action (HFA) for the Commission to override covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) that prevent amateurs
from installing antennas, the FCC repeated its stand from a 2001 decision that state and local laws are different from
CC&Rs in that the latter are agreed to voluntarily. “We conclude that HFA has not presented grounds for the Commission
to revisit this policy,” said a letter from Scot Stone, Deputy Chief of the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau’s Mobility
Division. The letter also reiterated the FCC’s stand that if hams are able to persuade Congress to mandate the inclusion
of CC&Rs under the limited pre-emption policy commonly known as PRB-1, then the Commission would “expeditiously act to
fulfill its obligation thereunder.”
Attention All Amateurs...
ARRL Aiding Effort to Mitigate Repeater Interference
to Military Radars
The ARRL has been working with the US Department of Defense to develop a plan to mitigate alleged interference from 70
cm ham radio repeaters to military radar systems on both coasts. Amateur Radio is secondary to government users from 420
to 450 MHz and must not interfere with primary users. Citing an increasing number of interferencecomplaints, the US Air
Force has asked the FCC to order dozens of repeater systems to either mitigate interference to the “PAVE PAWS” radars or
shut down. The Commission has not yet responded. The situation affects 15 repeaters within less than 100 miles of Otis
Air Force Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and more than 100 repeaters within some 140 miles of Beale Air Force Base
near Sacramento, California. ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, stresses that the Defense
Department acknowledges Amateur Radio’s value in disasters and emergencies and is being extremely cooperative — and
a wholesale shutdown of US 70 cm Amateur Radio activity is not in the offing.
DXCC Desk approves operations for DXCC credit
The ARRL DXCC Desk has approved these operations for DXCC credit: DX0JP (Spratly Islands, 2007 operation), 9M4SDX
(Spratly Islands, 2007 operation), 9U9Z(Burundi, 2007 operation), YW0DX (Aves Island, 2007 operation) and 1A4A
(Sovereign Military Order Of Malta, 2007 operation). For more information, visit the DXCC Web page. “DXCC Frequently
Asked Questions” can answer most questions about the DXCC program. ARRL DX bulletins are available on the W1AW DX
Bulletins page.
| May, 2007 | |
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