March 2010 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:18743] WRC-12 Advisory Committee; FCC Docket 04-286, As-filed comments.
by Chris Imlay 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

Greetings. Following Executive Committee review, I have filed just now the attached comments drafted initially by Brennan Price and edited by International Affairs Vice President Jay Bellows and myself. These comments address an ongoing battle that is being waged by Brennan on our behalf with NTIA over the LF allocation around 500 kHz. The strident tone in these comments is unfortunately appropriate in this context. 73, Chris W3KD Christopher D. Imlay Booth, Freret, Imlay & Tepper. P.C. 14356 Cape May Road Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 (301) 384-5525 telephone (301) 384-6384 facsimile W3KD(a)ARRL.ORG

1 0

RE: [arrl-odv:18738] RE: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC)
by John Bellows 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

I little background on Ed Addy and NACEC from Minnesota. Ed Addy popped up at the time of Gulf War I and formed an organization called Desert Voices. The group built a station, including several very nice rhombic antennas with the sole purpose of providing health and welfare traffic and phones patches for the benefit of military personnel stationed in the Middle East and their families. The station was located in Rosemount, MN. For the most part Desert Voices use amateur frequencies and relied upon local amateurs as volunteer operators. Addy was quite successful in obtaining donations of equipment for the venture. The operation was well received and successful. To the best of my knowledge when the Desert voices operation closed the equipment was all returned or donated as directed by the original donors. Ed Addy is a Type A person and not shy about asking for help, equipment or volunteers. At least at that point in time his aggressive approach in recruiting volunteers wasnt universally applauded in the local amateur community though I am not aware of any problems with the operation. There was a brief resurrection of the Desert Voices activity for Gulf II but by that time Addy had moved to Aurora, MN where he had purchased a large tract of land for the purpose of establishing the North American Center for Emergency Communications (NACEC). Since that time I havent heard much of or from Ed Addy until yesterday. There was a minor flurry of local email s from Addy about his interest in rising once again. Just as I was leaving the office yesterday I received a call from Mr. Addy. He said he had sent out a mass emailing looking for volunteers. It wasnt clear what he planned, but it didnt seem likely that there would be a lot of interest on the part of volunteers to trek to Northern Minnesota so I just listened. Addy said he was concerned because in response to his emails he had received some replies that the recipient had checked with ARRL (I dont know who) and was told they never heard of Ed Addy and NACEC. Addy wanted to know who to speak with at ARRL. I did tell him that the multi-section and regional Emergency Communications activities of ARRL had expended considerably since Katrina and ARRL has an Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager and associated structure so that the resurrection of NACEC could likely be duplication. I did give him Alan Pitts name as the current contact point at ARRL. Addy said he already had that information. For what it is worth. If past experience is an indication Addy is likely to draw volunteers from those who are currently affiliated with another emcom organization. Aurora, MN is a 4 to 5 hour drive from Minneapolis/St. Paul so you can do the math as to how many folks would be interested in traveling to operate at the NACEC location. If there is some further concern I would be happy to try and get more information from Mr. Addy. 73, Jay, KØQB -----Original Message----- From: Grant Hopper [mailto:ghopper@eskimo.com] Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 12:12 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:18738] RE: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) Funny thing. Jim Fenstermaker and I were JUST talking about this group. They have been aggressively contacting groups in my area and one local ham, knowing I'm a volunteer council as well as a radio officer forwarded the email to me. I did some digging and am a bit concerned by what I found, especially given that they seem to be targeting hams. If there is interest, either on or off this forum, I'll be glad to share what found, but I do think some more investigation (at a more local level) is certainly called for before any action is taken. 73, Grant Grant Hopper, KB7WSD ARRL Northwest Division, Vice Director -----Original Message----- From: Bob Vallio [mailto:rbvallio@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 9:56 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) I don't know if anyone has any knowledge of this organization, but this fellow is soliciting members of my Division to sign up to work for his group to provide emergency radio communications all over the world. Is there some action we should take to disabuse this fellow of continuing this tactic? In addition to reinventing the wheel, he appears to want to do it with our members. 73, Bob -- W6RGG Edward Addy KEØEG, Executive Director North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) P.O. Box 174 Aurora, MN 55705 Ph: 218-305-4100 Web: www.nacec.org <http://www.nacec.org/>

1 0

[arrl-odv:18741] Vanity and Club Call Signs, FCC Docket 09-209; As-filed comments
by Chris Imlay 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

Greetings. After review and editing by the Executive Committee, with special thanks to Kay Craigie, Dave Sumner and Tom Frenaye for helpful edits and corrections, I have filed this morning electronically the attached comments in the FCC's docket proceeding pertaining to vanity and club call sign rules and procedures. These comments are in two parts. The first addresses the FCC's NPRM proposals. The second addresses ARRL's additional proposals for vanity, club and special event call sign modifications. The Board in January tasked the Executive Committee with developing a firm ARRL position on this matter, and these comments advocate that position, determined after extensive discussion at the EC meeting in Denver a few weeks ago. For a quick summary of the positions advocated, go to the end and read the conclusions section first. 73, Chris W3KD Christopher D. Imlay Booth, Freret, Imlay & Tepper. P.C. 14356 Cape May Road Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 (301) 384-5525 telephone (301) 384-6384 facsimile W3KD(a)ARRL.ORG

1 0

[arrl-odv:18740] WEB TRANSITION --PLEASE STANDBY
by Kramer, Harold, WJ1B 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

We are swapping Web servers. The Web site will be done for about an hour or so. PLEASE STANDBY Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio(tm) 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Telephone: 860 594 0220 email: hkramer(a)arrl.org <mailto:hkramer@arrl.org> web: www.arrl.org/ <http://www.arrl.org/>

1 0

[arrl-odv:18739] Re: North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC)
by G.P. Widin 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

Bob, Apparently this guy has actually been around for a while. He has a web site www.nacec.org which looks reasonable. He does not say why his organization is needed when there are many others (including ARRL) which perform the same function, and presumably are better funded and more experienced in doing it. He has been in communication with our esteemed International Vice President (!), K0QB, and Jay and I will be at a hamfest tomorrow, so I intend to find out what's up. Perhaps Jay may post some details on his conversation(s) with this guy. On the basis of his one e-mail to me, the guy sounds like an average ham with a bee in his bonnet who decides that his new cause ought to be everyone else's, too. Here's a line from his message to me (sent yesterday) I do not know if you will remember the "Desert Voices Project" back in 1990-91 that provided phone patch and message traffic between US forces serving in the middle east and their families back home by working as part of the Army MARS program. If you do I am the individual that put that project together. That little piece says essentially what the web site says. So, that's all I know so far. If he only erupts every 20 years or so, I guess we can deal with it. Anyone else with further information, please contribute. Otherwise, I will inform this list about anything I discover. -- 73, Greg, KØGW Director, Dakota Division ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Vallio" <rbvallio(a)gmail.com> To: "arrl-odv" <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 11:55:44 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) I don't know if anyone has any knowledge of this organization, but this fellow is soliciting members of my Division to sign up to work for his group to provide emergency radio communications all over the world. Is there some action we should take to disabuse this fellow of continuing this tactic? In addition to reinventing the wheel, he appears to want to do it with our members. 73, Bob -- W6RGG Edward Addy KEØEG, Executive Director North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) P.O. Box 174 Aurora, MN 55705 Ph: 218-305-4100 Web: www.nacec.org

1 0

[arrl-odv:18738] RE: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC)
by Grant Hopper 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

Funny thing. Jim Fenstermaker and I were JUST talking about this group. They have been aggressively contacting groups in my area and one local ham, knowing I'm a volunteer council as well as a radio officer forwarded the email to me. I did some digging and am a bit concerned by what I found, especially given that they seem to be targeting hams. If there is interest, either on or off this forum, I'll be glad to share what found, but I do think some more investigation (at a more local level) is certainly called for before any action is taken. 73, Grant Grant Hopper, KB7WSD ARRL Northwest Division, Vice Director -----Original Message----- From: Bob Vallio [mailto:rbvallio@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 9:56 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) I don't know if anyone has any knowledge of this organization, but this fellow is soliciting members of my Division to sign up to work for his group to provide emergency radio communications all over the world. Is there some action we should take to disabuse this fellow of continuing this tactic? In addition to reinventing the wheel, he appears to want to do it with our members. 73, Bob -- W6RGG Edward Addy KEØEG, Executive Director North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) P.O. Box 174 Aurora, MN 55705 Ph: 218-305-4100 Web: www.nacec.org

1 0

RE: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC)
by K8JE 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

Having nothing better to do at 1 AM I Googled them. Got to hits. Supposedly founded in 1992. You may want to check them out. 73, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org, Tel.: 513-459-1661 ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio(TM)

1 0

RE: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC)
by K8JE 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

Bob, a new one on me. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org, Tel.: 513-459-1661 ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio(TM) _____ From: Bob Vallio [mailto:rbvallio@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 12:56 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) I don't know if anyone has any knowledge of this organization, but this fellow is soliciting members of my Division to sign up to work for his group to provide emergency radio communications all over the world. Is there some action we should take to disabuse this fellow of continuing this tactic? In addition to reinventing the wheel, he appears to want to do it with our members. 73, Bob -- W6RGG Edward Addy KEØEG, Executive Director North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) P.O. Box 174 Aurora, MN 55705 Ph: 218-305-4100 Web: www.nacec.org <http://www.nacec.org/>

1 0

[arrl-odv:18735] North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC)
by Bob Vallio 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

I don't know if anyone has any knowledge of this organization, but this fellow is soliciting members of my Division to sign up to work for his group to provide emergency radio communications all over the world. Is there some action we should take to disabuse this fellow of continuing this tactic? In addition to reinventing the wheel, he appears to want to do it with our members. 73, Bob -- W6RGG Edward Addy KEØEG, Executive Director North American Center For Emergency Communications, (NACEC) P.O. Box 174 Aurora, MN 55705 Ph: 218-305-4100 Web: www.nacec.org

1 0

[arrl-odv:18734] Re:RE: Returning CW Nets and Digital Modes to 3600 - 3750 kHz
by Grant Hopper 25 Mar '10

25 Mar '10

This approach makes a lot of sense to me. This is why: In the 6 weeks that I've been a vice director (is that all it has been?) I've been inundated with comments about "the ARRL should do this..." and "why doesn't the ARRL..." and close to half the time, my answer is "they do" What that tells me is that we're having trouble getting the word out to those last layers of amateur radio about what we are doing, what we'd like input on, and where we need help. I'm sure every one of you has had a similar experience, and I would hope, similar thoughts from that. While this messaging issue is a discussion for another day, I do think that we need to take a lesson from it. Mickey is right about the need to have strong support before we go to the FCC. I've never approached a city council without having at least 2/3 of the neighborhood leaders supporting the position. It makes them feel safe in moving in the direction we're asking them to. The changes need to be proceeded by clear, simple messaging on why the proposed change is good, has no 'bad stuff' associated with it, and would not change the way 'the recipient (of the message)' would go about enjoying amateur radio (except those that would benefit from the change by new access.) A poll could be a great tool for getting that message out (among other channels.) The key is getting the word out all the way out to those last layers. A poll would cause those that would be inclined to comment to the FCC to comment to us first and not only could we see how opinion is running, but they would (by default) come to our messaging on the topic. The messages would have to be simple and more or less undeniable in their logic. This is one tool, but I see it as something we can use for lots of different issues. 73, Grant Grant Hopper, KB7WSD ARRL Northwest Division, Vice Director -----Original Message----- From: Mickey Cox [mailto:mcoxk5mc@bellsouth.net] Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 7:09 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:18732] Re: Returning CW Nets and Digital Modes to 3600 - 3750 kHz ODV, For the past several weeks I've been thinking along a similar line as Dick suggests below, although my idea is that we might need to stop at 3700 kHz rather than go up to 3750. Last week I emailed Jackie Cornell at HQ to see if I could use Zoomerang to survey the Delta Division members on this idea and perhaps other issues as well. (Jackie has not replied to my email yet.) I think we need to try very hard to win over as many members as possible before we approach the FCC on opening up this slice of 80 meters to all modes and licensees. Perhaps we should conduct a national poll rather than just some divisional polls. If we don't conduct a national poll, however, I would like to work with the other directors who are planning to survey their members in the near future (i.e., before the July Board meeting). The ham community is not ready to make wholesale changes in our regulations regarding modes/subbands, etc., but we might be successful in convincing enough folks to support opening up 100 or 150 kHz on 80, perhaps at least on a trial basis of two or three years. 73, Mickey K5MC ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard J. Norton" <richardjnorton(a)gmail.com> To: "arrl-odv" <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 5:32 PM Subject: [arrl-odv:18731] Returning CW Nets and Digital Modes to 3600 - 3750 kHz > In response to requests from CW traffic net operators, I suggest that > the ARRL petition the FCC to open up the 3600 to 3750 kHz segment to > all license classes for CW and digital modes. There have also been > rumblings from digital-mode operators requesting that they also be > allowed to use those frequencies again. Most of the time, those > frequencies are fairly empty. > > I believe the CW traffic people should be able to use them as they did > previously, but also the Extra Class phone operators who were given > the frequencies a few years by the FCC. I noticed no benefit to > Amateur Radio as a whole obtained by pushing the CW nets out of those > frequencies, or restricting their operation to Extra Class licensees > which produces the same end result. > > I believe we amateurs can manage our presence on that portion of the > band quite adequately as we now do on 160 meters, and as essentially > the rest of the world does on all bands. > > I suggest introducing this to Bill Cross in a way structured to gain > his support. That is to say, expansion of the 75-meter phone band has > proven to have been useful. However, there are times when the lower > segment of the band is very lightly used and the CW nets and > digital-mode users would like to now share the frequencies they > formerly exclusively used. > > I've discussed this with a few of you by telephone and the idea has > received support. I'll use this E-mail as a means of reaching the rest > of you rapidly, and soliciting any comments you may have. > > Thanks. > > 73, > > Dick Norton, N6AA > >

1 0