[SFDXA] ARLB019 Pending Amateur Service Rule Changes Are Not on Back Burner, FCC Assures VECs

[Bill Marx]

> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB019
> ARLB019 Pending Amateur Service Rule Changes Are Not on Back Burner,
> FCC Assures VECs
> 
> ZCZC AG19
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 19  ARLB019
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  August 22, 2013
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB019
> ARLB019 Pending Amateur Service Rule Changes Are Not on Back Burner,
> FCC Assures VECs
> 
> Speaking in late July at the 28th annual National Conference of
> Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) meeting, Bill Cross, W3TN,
> of the FCC's Mobility Division within the Wireless
> Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), assured attendees that pending
> proposals to modify the Amateur Service Part 97 rules are not on the
> back burner but still under review. FCC personnel addressing the
> teleconference were unable, however, to predict when the Commission
> would take action on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order
> (NPRM) in WT Docket 12-283. The NPRM can be found on the web in PDF
> format at,
> http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-12-121A1.pdf.
> 
> Among the FCC proposals: Granting exam credit for expired and
> beyond-the grace-period licenses; shortening the grace period during
> which an expired ham ticket may be renewed; correspondingly revising
> the time a call sign remains unavailable to vanity applicants; and
> reducing the number of volunteer examiners needed to administer
> examinations. The docket also seeks comment on amending the rules to
> permit remote test administration and proposes allowing Amateur
> Radio stations to transmit certain emission types.
> 
> FCC Program Analyst Rebecca Williams of the FCC's Gettysburg Office
> told meeting participants that the FCC will not remove or conceal a
> licensee's name or address from its public database. She said she's
> received numerous complaints from licensees about their information
> being public. According to §97.23, licensees must provide a valid
> mailing address, but as Williams pointed out, that can be any US
> address where the licensee can receive mail, such as a work address
> or a post office box. Licensees can protect their privacy and remain
> within the rules, she said.
> 
> She also reminded her audience that since February 14, 2011, a radio
> amateur can serve as a trustee for only a single club and may not
> also be a club license trustee for another club. The rules further
> prohibit clubs from having more than one vanity call sign. Amateurs
> who served as trustees for more than one club, and clubs holding
> more than one vanity call sign before the change may continue to do
> so, she said.
> 
> NCVEC Chair Larry Pollock, NB5X, presided over the teleconference.
> ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, Assistant Manager Perry Green,
> WY1O, and Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND,
> represented the ARRL VEC for the session. Representatives from 12 of
> the nation's 14 VECs took part in the meeting.
> 
> NCVEC Question Pool Committee (QPC) Chair Roland Anders, K3RA, told
> the gathering that the QPC has been working to update the Technician
> question pool. The new Tech question pool will go into effect next
> July 1. Anders said the QPC has been reviewing the entire question
> pool with a goal of fixing and removing outdated or poorly worded
> questions and to develop questions as new technology is introduced.
> He said the most difficult part of the job is coming up with
> distractors - incorrect answers - for the multiple-choice exams that
> are reasonable but also absolutely incorrect.
> 
> The gathering re-elected by acclamation the current leadership
> slate, including Pollock, who will serve a fifth term as chair.
> Other officers are Vice Chair Mark Erbaugh, N8ME; Treasurer Willard
> Sitton, W4HZD; Assistant to the Treasurer Ray Adams, W4CPA;
> Secretary and Custodian of Records Michele Cimbala, WK3X, and
> Assistant to the Custodian of Records Gene Wright, WA6ZRT. The rules
> reporter position remains vacant.
> NNNN
> /EX