[BCVHFA] ARLB012 FCC Okays Changes to Amateur Radio Exam Credit, Test Administration, Emission Type Rules

[Carl Morgan]

ARLB012 FCC Okays Changes to Amateur Radio Exam Credit, Test 
Administration, Emission Type Rules

ZCZC AG12
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 12  ARLB012
 From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  June 11, 2014
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB012
ARLB012 FCC Okays Changes to Amateur Radio Exam Credit, Test 
Administration, Emission Type Rules

In a wide-ranging Report and Order (R&O) released June 9 that takes 
various proceedings into consideration, the FCC has revised the 
Amateur Service Part 97 rules to grant credit for written examination 
elements 3 (General) and 4 (Amateur Extra) to holders of "expired 
licenses that required passage of those elements." The FCC will 
require former licensees - those falling outside the 2-year grace 
period - to pass Element 2 (Technician) in order to be relicensed, 
however. The Commission declined to give examination credit to the 
holder of an expired Certificate of Successful Completion of 
Examination (CSCE) or to extend its validity to the holder's lifetime.

The Report and Order may be found on the web in PDF format at,
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0609/FCC-14-74A1.pdf
.

"Our decision to grant credit for written examination Elements 3 and4 
for expired licenses that required passage [of those elements] will 
provide some relief for former General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra 
class licensees," the FCC said, "and is consistent with how we treat 
expired pre-1987 Technician class licensees who want to reenter the 
Amateur Service." Pre-1987 Techs can get Element 3 credit, since the 
Technician and General class written examinations in that era were 
identical. The Commission said current rules and procedures that 
apply to expired pre-1987 Technician licenses "are sufficient to 
verify that an individual is a former licensee under our new rules."

The Commission said that requiring applicants holding expired 
licenses to pass Element 2 in order to  relicense "will address 
commenters' concerns about lost proficiency and knowledge, because a 
former licensee will have to demonstrate that he or she has retained 
knowledge of technical and regulatory matters." The FCC said the 
Element 2 requirement also would deter any attempts by someone with 
the same name as a former licensee to obtain a ham ticket without examination.

In 1997 the FCC, in the face of opposition, dropped a proposal that 
would have generally allowed examination element credit for expired 
amateur operator licenses. In the past, the FCC has maintained that 
its procedures "provide ample notification and opportunity for 
license renewal" and that retesting did not impose an  unreasonable 
burden. The issue arose again in 2011, with a request from the 
Anchorage Volunteer Examiner Coordinator.

The FCC pulled back from its own proposal to reduce from three to two 
the minimum number of volunteer examiners required to proctor an 
Amateur Radio examination session. The ARRL, the W5YI-VEC and "a 
clear majority of commenters" opposed the change, the FCC said. The 
FCC said it found commenters' arguments persuasive that that the use 
of three VEs "results in higher accuracy and lower fraud that would 
be the case with two VEs." In a related matter, though, the 
Commission embraced the use of remote testing methods.

"Allowing VEs and VECs the option of administering examinations at 
locations remote from the VEs is warranted," the FCC said. The 
National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) in 
2002 endorsed experimental use of videoconferencing technology to 
conduct Amateur Radio testing in remote areas of Alaska. The 
Anchorage VEC has long pushed for the change, citing the expense to 
provide Amateur Radio test sessions to Alaska residents living in remote areas.

The FCC declined to address "the mechanics" of remote testing, which, 
it said, "will vary from location to location and session to 
session." The Commission said specific rules spelling out how to 
administer exam sessions remotely "could limit the flexibility of VEs 
and VECs." The FCC stressed the obligation on the part of VECs and 
VEs "to administer examinations responsibly" applies "in full" to 
remote testing.

The FCC amended the rules to provide that VEs administering 
examinations remotely be required to grade such examinations "at the 
earliest practical opportunity," rather than "immediately," as the 
rule for conventional exam sessions requires.

Finally, the FCC has adopted an ARRL proposal to authorize certain 
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) emissions in the Amateur 
Service. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau in 2013 granted an 
ARRL request for a temporary blanket waiver to permit radio amateurs 
to transmit emissions with designators FXD, FXE, and F7E, pending 
resolution of the rulemaking petition.

"Commenters strongly support amendment of the rules to permit these 
additional emission types," the FCC noted. "The commenters assert 
that the proposed rule change 'is consistent with the basis and 
purpose of the Amateur Service,'" and will allow repurposing surplus 
mobile relay equipment from other radio services in the Amateur 
Service, the Commission added.

The FCC said it also will make "certain minor, non-substantive 
amendments to the Amateur Service rules." It is amending Part 97 "to 
reflect that the Commission amended its rules to eliminate the 
requirement that certain Amateur Radio Service licensees pass a Morse 
code examination," the FCC said in the R&O. It also said it was 
correcting "certain typographical or other errors" in Part 97.

The new rules become effective 30 days after their publication in The 
Federal Register, which is expected to happen this week.
NNNN
/EX