March 2006 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

RE: [arrl-odv:13918] Good intentions
by Joel Harrison 21 Mar '06

21 Mar '06

QSL Kay...tnx. Joel -----Original Message----- From: Kay Craigie [mailto:n3kn@comcast.net] Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 7:22 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:13918] Good intentions There are a lot of people in the Field Organization and on the various em comm reflectors who assume that because the committee's report deadline is January '07, nothing whatsoever will be done until that report is received by the Board. That is an incorrect assumption on their part though I understand how they came to make it. I want to make sure the Board can respond effectively to members' questions and assure members that appropriate action will be taken on recommendations as soon as the committee makes them. Management is proceeding to do what needs to be done in-house at ARRL HQ, and the NERPC committee is not butting into that. 73 - Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:13924] FW: John Hennessee SK, de Roger K6LMN
by Joel Harrison 21 Mar '06

21 Mar '06

I want to share this email with you. 73 Joel W5ZN -----Original Message----- From: RogerAWagner(a)aol.com [mailto:RogerAWagner@aol.com] Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 5:50 PM To: w5zn(a)arrl.org Cc: w3zz(a)arrl.org Subject: John Hennessee SK, de Roger K6LMN 20 March 2006 Dear Joel Harrison W5ZN, ARRL President Last Thursday night on our local club repeater the "Newsline" report related the passing of John Hennessee, N1KB. My deepest sympathy to the Hennessee family and to the ARRL staff. On the two occasions that I visited ARRL headquarters I talked to John in person. I was impressed with his knowledge of the FCC & foreign rules and regulations. Since 1989 I used his expertise in helping me obtain reciprocal licenses and permits to operated in foreign countries.. (K6LMN/M/P has operated in 42 entities.) Just recently I suggested to a ham friend that he should contact John before going to Spain with his ham radio equipment. Early last year, while working with the United Kingdom Six Metre Group (UKSMG) to consolidate & resolve the regulations for foreigners operating 6 meters in the USA, the e-mails and phone calls flew 3000 miles back & forth from L.A. to Newington. I frequently consult his "FCC Rule Book", 13th edition. You have some big shoes to fill. Sorry for the loss of such a fine gentleman. 73s de Roger K6LMN celebrating 50+ wonder-full years of ham radio, Los Angeles cc: Gene Zimmerman W3ZZ

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RE: [arrl-odv:13918] Good intentions
by JIM WEAVER, K8JE 21 Mar '06

21 Mar '06

Kay, First off, we will never please everyone with what we do or don't do. You are more aware of this "fact" than I am as regards ARRL and Amateur Radio. On the other hand, I believe in communicating with the members on a pretty full basis. My thought would be to tell people just what you said in your memo -- i.e. 1. it was never intended to sit tight for a year before making any changes; therefore, 2. changes will be implemented whenever the situation clearly warrants. In addition, 3. we do not want to revamp the entire process before first obtaining considerable input from the folks in the trenches because we do not believe either us on the Board or the folks in HQ necessarily have an amount of knowledge that exceed that held by our members. This approach makes sense to me because it clearly says where we are and why we are there. It will impress many people quite favorably so that we will have developed a much greater group of members sympathetic to our intent than if we just kept our mouths/pens closed. An informed membership is generally smarter than an uninformed one. FWIW, if anything. Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division ARRL; http://www.arrl.org/ Chairman, ARRL ad hoc Legislative Action Committee 5065 Bethany Rd., Mason, OH 45040 Tel.: 513-459-0142; E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is! MEMBERS: The reason ARRL Is! -----Original Message----- From: Kay Craigie [mailto:n3kn@comcast.net] Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 2:51 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:13918] Good intentions The Board motion authorizing the ad hoc emergency communications committee says the final report is due at the annual meeting in 2007. That's how Board committee things usually work so none of us thought much about it. However, there has been some bucking and snorting in the field about how we can justify doing nothing to improve the status quo until after next year's January meeting. If the Board and Staff had taken an authoritarian or dictatorial stance on this subject, we could make a lot of changes real fast. Then many of the members who are upset now because they think we are going to take too long would be angry because we acted too hastily and without consulting the expertise that exists in the field. Shoved things down people's throats, etc., etc. If it were the intention to do nothing until after the January '07 meeting, then I would agree that it is not justifiable and smacks of fiddling while Rome burns. But in fact we do not mean to let the clock tick while we talk. We know hurricane season is just around the corner and other kinds of major disasters are so unmannerly that they do not have predictable "seasons." Harold Kramer and the staff are working on incorporating lessons-learned from the Headquarters operation end of things, and I am sure Harold will brief the Board about that when he decides the time is right. Regarding the ad hoc committee that I am chairing, when we arrive at a time-sensitive recommendation which Staff is able to implement administratively, I'm sure Staff will act on it. If we arrive at a time-sensitive recommendation which has policy implications, it will be brought to the EC or to the Board in July, as the case may be. The PSC will be in the consultative loop, either way. Recommendations that are not time-sensitive can be held for the final report to you next January. If any Board member thinks it is a bad idea for the League to proceed before January '07 with making changes based on lessons-learned since 9/11 and the last two hurricane seasons, I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with him or her privately on the phone. As the committee chairman, I am sensitive to members' feelings of urgency about the League becoming better prepared for major disasters, but the committee is not going to run wild out of control and fail to respect the procedures that govern our membership organization. 73 - Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:13922] BPL IN New York State
by Frank Fallon 21 Mar '06

21 Mar '06

Last week ARRL filed in a BPL hearing in New York State pointing out a number of problems (reliability) that BPL faces. The article Ed cites has a link to the state site where you can read the reports from the various utilities and BPL providers. We were apparently the only non utility/BPL provider group that filed comments. Thanks Chris. The industry newsletter Ed cites has an interesting take on utility thinking in this state. Frank...N2FF..... This is worth reading. The utilities were not exactly enthusiastic about BPL in their filings: http://www.bpltoday.com/sample/bp060320.pdf Ed Hare, W1RFI ARRL Laboratory Manager

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RE: [arrl-odv:13918] Good intentions
by Kay Craigie 21 Mar '06

21 Mar '06

There are a lot of people in the Field Organization and on the various em comm reflectors who assume that because the committee's report deadline is January '07, nothing whatsoever will be done until that report is received by the Board. That is an incorrect assumption on their part though I understand how they came to make it. I want to make sure the Board can respond effectively to members' questions and assure members that appropriate action will be taken on recommendations as soon as the committee makes them. Management is proceeding to do what needs to be done in-house at ARRL HQ, and the NERPC committee is not butting into that. 73 - Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:13920] Utility thinking in New York on BPL
by Frank Fallon 21 Mar '06

21 Mar '06

Last week ARRL filed in a BPL hearing in New York State pointing out a number of problems (reliability) that BPL faces. The article Ed cites has a link to the state site where you can read the reports from the various utilities and BPL providers. We were apparently the only non utility/BPL provider group that filed comments. Thanks Chris. The industry newsletter Ed cites has an interesting take on utility thinking in this state. Ed's post went to only some of us involved here so it bears repeating to all. Frank...N2FF..... This is worth reading. The utilities were not exactly enthusiastic about BPL in their filings: http://www.bpltoday.com/sample/bp060320.pdf Ed Hare, W1RFI ARRL Laboratory Manager

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RE: [arrl-odv:13918] Good intentions
by Joel Harrison 20 Mar '06

20 Mar '06

Kay, I'm a little confused about what we have here and who's getting chapped about our approach. Why would the NERPC hold up any non-policy related items staff wants to implement now? I never saw the two as being related in that sense. Staff should move forward with implementing their lesson's learned action items in the non-policy areas. If there are areas where policy matters need to be addressed ASAP then we certainly have the mechanism to address them way before January 2007. The committee's charge, as we all know, is to create a comprehensive recommendation for ARRL responses to National/Regional/International disasters. I don't see how that instructs us to hold off on any non-policy matters until the committee is finished. If someone out in the field is getting festered up thinking we're not going to do anything at all until the committee finishes their work I believe they need to take a step back and look at what has already been done in that regard and what staff has been working on. If I'm missing something, let me know, but I don't think anyone on the board understood differently. 73 Joel W5ZN -----Original Message----- From: Kay Craigie [mailto:n3kn@comcast.net] Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 1:51 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:13918] Good intentions The Board motion authorizing the ad hoc emergency communications committee says the final report is due at the annual meeting in 2007. That's how Board committee things usually work so none of us thought much about it. However, there has been some bucking and snorting in the field about how we can justify doing nothing to improve the status quo until after next year's January meeting. If the Board and Staff had taken an authoritarian or dictatorial stance on this subject, we could make a lot of changes real fast. Then many of the members who are upset now because they think we are going to take too long would be angry because we acted too hastily and without consulting the expertise that exists in the field. Shoved things down people's throats, etc., etc. If it were the intention to do nothing until after the January '07 meeting, then I would agree that it is not justifiable and smacks of fiddling while Rome burns. But in fact we do not mean to let the clock tick while we talk. We know hurricane season is just around the corner and other kinds of major disasters are so unmannerly that they do not have predictable "seasons." Harold Kramer and the staff are working on incorporating lessons-learned from the Headquarters operation end of things, and I am sure Harold will brief the Board about that when he decides the time is right. Regarding the ad hoc committee that I am chairing, when we arrive at a time-sensitive recommendation which Staff is able to implement administratively, I'm sure Staff will act on it. If we arrive at a time-sensitive recommendation which has policy implications, it will be brought to the EC or to the Board in July, as the case may be. The PSC will be in the consultative loop, either way. Recommendations that are not time-sensitive can be held for the final report to you next January. If any Board member thinks it is a bad idea for the League to proceed before January '07 with making changes based on lessons-learned since 9/11 and the last two hurricane seasons, I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with him or her privately on the phone. As the committee chairman, I am sensitive to members' feelings of urgency about the League becoming better prepared for major disasters, but the committee is not going to run wild out of control and fail to respect the procedures that govern our membership organization. 73 - Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:13918] Good intentions
by Kay Craigie 20 Mar '06

20 Mar '06

The Board motion authorizing the ad hoc emergency communications committee says the final report is due at the annual meeting in 2007. That's how Board committee things usually work so none of us thought much about it. However, there has been some bucking and snorting in the field about how we can justify doing nothing to improve the status quo until after next year's January meeting. If the Board and Staff had taken an authoritarian or dictatorial stance on this subject, we could make a lot of changes real fast. Then many of the members who are upset now because they think we are going to take too long would be angry because we acted too hastily and without consulting the expertise that exists in the field. Shoved things down people's throats, etc., etc. If it were the intention to do nothing until after the January '07 meeting, then I would agree that it is not justifiable and smacks of fiddling while Rome burns. But in fact we do not mean to let the clock tick while we talk. We know hurricane season is just around the corner and other kinds of major disasters are so unmannerly that they do not have predictable "seasons." Harold Kramer and the staff are working on incorporating lessons-learned from the Headquarters operation end of things, and I am sure Harold will brief the Board about that when he decides the time is right. Regarding the ad hoc committee that I am chairing, when we arrive at a time-sensitive recommendation which Staff is able to implement administratively, I'm sure Staff will act on it. If we arrive at a time-sensitive recommendation which has policy implications, it will be brought to the EC or to the Board in July, as the case may be. The PSC will be in the consultative loop, either way. Recommendations that are not time-sensitive can be held for the final report to you next January. If any Board member thinks it is a bad idea for the League to proceed before January '07 with making changes based on lessons-learned since 9/11 and the last two hurricane seasons, I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with him or her privately on the phone. As the committee chairman, I am sensitive to members' feelings of urgency about the League becoming better prepared for major disasters, but the committee is not going to run wild out of control and fail to respect the procedures that govern our membership organization. 73 - Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:13917] Happy Vernal Equinox!
by dick＠pobox.com 20 Mar '06

20 Mar '06

20 MAR 2006 - 1050 CST In about 1.5 hours, we will reach the 2006 vernal equinox; spring will have sprung in the northern hemisphere. While many young persons thoughts generally turn to things carnal in one form or another, older persons like me engage in more intellectual pursuits. If you have the time to burn, investigate the URL below and learn how you can make a fortune by becoming a professional spammer. :> http://www.j-walk.com/other/spamu/index.htm Happy Vernal Equinox! - Dick, W9GIG

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[arrl-odv:13916] Re: Wireless Bureau Restructuring and Creation of Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau at FCC
by Henry R. Leggette 20 Mar '06

20 Mar '06

It appears the FCC and others are making a move after the FCC Independent Panel Reviewing ihe Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks in Jackson, MS on March 6 and 7, 2006. Several vendors testified and it appeared they wanted to go to 700 MHz. After being a Civil Service employee for many years, that appears to be soon for the U.S. Government. I will say the agencies dealing with emergencies did move fast, fast. I am referring to some quick moves the FAA would make in emergencies. As Greg Sarratt, W4OZK testified about amateur and ARRL indicating how we operate on the same frequencies and update our old equipment and interface it with the new. Good to know information! Henry R. Leggette, WD4Q ----- Original Message ----- From: w3kd(a)aol.com To: arrl-odv Cc: n1rl(a)arrl.org Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 11:03 AM Subject: [arrl-odv:13907] Wireless Bureau Restructuring and Creation of Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau at FCC In an effort to appear responsive to Congress' perception of the failures of communications during the aftermath of 9/11 and the last Hurricane season, the FCC has created, as it long ago told Congress it would, a "Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau". The Executive Committee discussed this at length at its meeting last weekend. We were not sure where Amateur Radio would land in the process. There was some sentiment that, if the entire Critical Infrastructure Division of the Wireless Bureau went to this new PS/HS Bureau, we might be better off. I firmly believed that. This morning, the FCC at its open meeting, adopted the order to create the new Bureau. It was not clear from the Office of Managing Director at the open meeting what was going to be taken from the WTB and moved over to PS/HS. However, the very last question that was asked at the press briefing of Acting Managing Director Anthony Dale after the meeting was about that subject. According to Dale, the Amateur Service will stay with the Wireless Bureau. He was asked what would happen to the Critical Infrastructure and Private Wireless part of the "Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division" which is Mike Wilhelm's Division. It is apparently being broken up, and the private wireless part (i.e. power companies, taxicabs, personal radio, aviation and marine, and Amateur Radio) is staying in WTB and the Public Safety part is moving to the new PS/HS bureau. There was discussion about 800 MHz, for example, being moved over to PS/HS because most of 800 MHz is now Public Safety. So, this is a bit of a mishmash, and the spectrum protection benefits of being in a "Homeland Security" Bureau appears, for us, to be an opportunity lost, at least for now. More when we know it. 73, Chris W3KD

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