[Packet] OT: Ham rules
Rolly (W7DGX) & Sandra Goodspeed
[email protected]
Sat, 19 Apr 2003 15:00:02 -0700
To:
[email protected] (Ministry of Science, Technology and Development)
[email protected] (Ministry of Telecommunications)
[email protected] (Agency for Informatics development)
[email protected] (the Government of Serbia)
[email protected] Miroslav Skoric YT7MPB
Dear Sirs:
Regarding your request for information on licensing rules and regulations.
===================================
RULES
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is one of the government agencies
responsible for the radio rules and regulations in the United States. The
amateur radio rules are defined in sub part 97. Those rules and regulations are
available on the web from several sources:
The FCC through Part 97 defines the minimum technical and legal technical and
operating requirements for the amateur license. However, a volunteer organization
actually builds the question pools that are the basis for the exams.
The government itself has sites making the rules available on the web.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_00/47cfr97_00.html
http://www.access.gpo.gov.us/nara/cfr/waisidx_00/47cfr97_00.html
and
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Documents/cfr/1998/47cfr97.pdf
http://www.fcc.gov.us/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Documents/cfr/1998/47cfr97.pdf
The first site is the Government Publications Office. This site has the Part 97
rules available by section in both text and .PDF file formats. The second site is
the FCC and has the rules available as one large .PDF file 0f 260K.
The ARRL also has the Part 97 rules available at:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/news/part97/
http://www.arrl.org.us/FandES/field/regulations/news/part97/
The question pools used to test prospective amateur radio operators are available
from the ARRL at
http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/pools.html
http://www.arrl.org.us/arrlvec/pools.html
Note: Provided two web site addresses, one for those within the US and one for
those outside the US.
===================================
EXAMINATIONS
The persons administering the exam are known as Volunteer Examiners (VE�s). These
persons belong to a Volunteer-Examiner Coordinator (VEC) organization. The VEC
organization must be formed for the advancement of amateur. Each VEC organization
must enter into an agreement with the FCC to provide all levels of amateur radio
exams. Many VEC�s are part of local radio clubs or other organizations that just
desire to help.
Most radio clubs (whether affiliated with the ARRL or not) have member who act as
Volunteer Examiners and give the exams periodically (to any person whether a
member of the club or not). Many times these exams are at the local club meeting
place, but may be anywhere, including hamfests or a person�s private home.
The VE�s giving the exam must put together a question group based on the national
question pool. Each exam must have so many questions from each section of the
question pool.
===================================
FEES
The FCC has a fee of around $12 for both the initial and renewal of the license.
The license is good for 10 years. The VE�s are allowed to charge a fee for
expenses also. I believe that fee is around $10.00 also.
Renewal of your license does not require another VE fee.
===================================
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
The qualification requirements are being able to pass the exam, be a United
States citizen, or a qualified foreign national. NO MEMBERSHIP IN ANY
ORGANIZATION IS REQUIRED.
Proof of citizenship for the most part is assumed. However go get into the
system, a U.S. Social Security number and a valid mailing address are required.
You may be asked for your driver�s license (especially if you pay the fees by
check or credit card), which has a picture of you, thus providing photographic
identification and mailing address verification.
Your main station is usually at the supplied mailing address. However, portable
and mobile operations can be performed anywhere in the U.S.
No other papers are required.
===================================
Actual License Testing and Application
The VE�s administering the exam will have copies of the proper FCC form (I
believe it is form # 605 now and is available on the web).
The VE�s will pass out the form prior to the exam to all persons attempting to
take the exam. You fill the form out prior to the exam.
The VE�s will collect the form and usually as a courtesy help those who may have
problems understanding the form.
You take the exam (no specified time limit, however, most VE�s will close the
session within an hour or so).
The VE�s collect the exam, and grade the exam immediately.
The person taking the exam is notified of his pass or fail status.
If the person passed the exam, the VE�s mails the exam answer sheet, and the
license application form to the FCC.
===================================
TIMING
The time to actually get your license is usually less than one month. My last
test took about 12 days. That includes mailing time from the State of Washington
to the State of Maryland and back. The FCC issues you the license, and some sort
of code so you can make personal data changes to your license data in the FCC
data base automatically. The code is for security reasons.
Actually the FCC makes two mailings. The first mailing contains the license, and
a notification that your private code will be sent in another mailing for
security reasons. The second mailing is the licensee�s private code.
===================================
EQUIPMENT
You may build any receiver or transmitter for personal use without any agency
approval. There are plenty of articles available here (especially in the ARRL
archives and publications) on how to build transmitters that meet good
requirements.
Commercially built equipment must have FCC type approval. That is not just
limited to transmitters, but to any device that might radiate radio frequency
signals.
Any radio frequency signal not up to standards may result in complaints by fellow
amateurs and / or citations by the FCC. Usually the fellow hams will let you know
of problems and in many cases provide advice and other help to fix the problem.
The FCC is lenient toward one-time infractions of rules and equipment
malfunctions, providing they were not deliberate and did not interfere with
emergency communications. Major monetary fines and imprisonment can occur for
repeated and / or malicious infractions.
The FCC has other rules pertaining to electronic equipment in general. I don�t
know the precise wording of the rules, but in essence manufactures must prove or
certify their design does not radiate a radio frequency signal above a certain
level. I don�t know the level, but it is designed to assure no interference
reception of any licensed (amateur, commercial, public safety, military) radio
transmissions.
===================================
PERSONAL OPINIONS
Generally I approve of the rules and methods.
However, I believe the present form of multiple-choice questions is not entirely
adequate to verify the technical competence of the applicant. I believe a tougher
method of examination is would be beneficial.
I will admit the present form of multiple-choice questions does remove the
possibility of examiner bias in grading answers. Also it is difficult to decide
how many exam points to penalize for every mistake. For instance, drawing a
circuit diagram, how much to deduct an incorrect resistor value, as opposed to
not having the resistor drawn at all.
The present rules are not very restrictive, and are sensible for the most part.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OTHER NOTES
I wish you good luck in your endeavors to provide a fair adequate amateur radio
rules.
I might point out that many national governments support and encourage amateur
radio. The some of the reasons are stated in the first section of the FCC Part 97
rules.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The rules and regulations in this Part are designed to provide an amateur radio
service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:
(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public
as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to
providing emergency communications.
(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to
the advancement of the radio art.
(c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which
provide for advancing skills in both the communications and technical phases of
the art.
(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of
trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to enhance
international goodwill.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You might inquire directly for help and advise from the International Amateur
Radio Union (IARU) in Switzerland and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in
Newington, Connecticut. Both organizations will probably offer help and advice.
I hope I answered your questions, and provided some reference material sources.
Rolly
Miroslav Skoric wrote:
> Hello gentle folks,
>
> Well, recently I posted a message via the packet network:
>
> ===========================================================================
> Hello all,
>
> Well, here in Serbia, we are going to make the new telecom law. Amateur radio
> activities are also about to be regulated with the law. Our government, i.e.
> governmental agencies for telecomminications and science needs as many
> information related to foreign experiences in ham regulatory as available. I
> am already involved in that topic with several suggestions and papers given
> in some domestic ICT conferences. But ...
>
> What I would like to see is some contribution that come directly from amateur
> community. You are invited to send your local/national regulatory principles
> that govern the ham radio activities. In particular you are asked to answer
> to some important questions:
>
> - Is it needed in your country to be a member of ARRL in order to get amateur
> licence (of course in USA, but also goes for other national ham unions)? At
> the moment, in Serbia, here a person has to me a member of the national ham
> union, as a legal requirement to apply for a licence.
>
> - Is it needed to be a member of any local ham club, the same reason?
>
> - How do you obtain your ham licences (from the FCC /or other national
> authority/, or from the ham union)? Here we make the paperwork via the ham
> union who then sends the application to the governmental agency. That
> procedure is very slow and inefficient, so many ham get no answer at all, or
> they wait for a 1-2 years before they get their papers. The bureaucracy in
> the union only wants to get the membership money and various taxes, but they
> make the whole procedure very slow and almost impossible.
>
> - What papers (if any) do you have to submit when you apply for a ham
> permission? Do you have to submit, for example, a citizenship receipt or a
> receipt from the county where you were born, or anything like that (as we do
> here)?
>
> - What is the procedure to get the licence? Do you make it directly with the
> FCC or you use some other agencies (like the national postal authority or
> like)?
>
> - How much do you pay for a new licence or to renew the old one, per a year?
>
> - Do you have to take your radios to a special service to be officialy
> checked to see if your radios meet some (unknown) national standards, or to
> check if the service's instruments "are better" than the Japanese radios (for
> example)? Here we have to check our radios, even the factory brand new ones,
> before the rest of licensing procedure. Our every particular radio has its
> own separate permission, but not only that. Our permissions are issued for a
> period of 5 years. When the papers void, another one "service check" must be
> done again and again. I suppose that an official check may be suitable for
> home-made radios built from scratch, but what about modern transceivers?
>
> - Some other suggestions and details you think might be useful ...
>
> You should use the following email addresses:
>
> [email protected] (Ministry of Science, Technology and Development)
> [email protected] (Ministry of Telecommunications)
> [email protected] (Agency for Informatics development)
> [email protected] (the Government of Serbia)
>
> Please use all of them because they are all involved in the new laws.
>
> Of course, you are also invited to send a CC of your email to my email
> address and that is: [email protected]
>
> Keep me informed. Any constructive help is appreciated. I hope you can help
> us to make modern and better rules and regulations.
>
> Regards,
>
> Misko YT7MPB
> [email protected]
> ===========================================================================
>
> Case you think you may help, please do so. The law will be handled
> next week.
>
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Misko YT7MPB mailto:[email protected]
>
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