November 2015 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:24793] Good going!
by Kay Craigie 11 Nov '15

11 Nov '15

Thanks to all who have thus far responded to the call for action. I've also contacted Honorary VP Frahm and past Director Ahrens asking them to contact their Senators. If you think of some past ARRL officials in the relevant states, please reach out to them personally. Brian has pointed out that today's a federal holiday and some Senatorial offices may not be answering their phones. E-mail is still working, though, and the phones will no doubt be staffed tomorrow. I'm almost to the end of the list of Section Managers in the affected states, asking them to contact their Senators and sound the alert to members. We will have a news story out shortly. 73, Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:24791] WRC-15 update
by Price, Brennan, N4QX 11 Nov '15

11 Nov '15

After my weekend report to the Board, we were able to achieve a reversal of United States position from no change to a 15 kHz secondary allocation to the amateur service between 5 351.5 - 5 366.5 kHz. On Monday, we actually gained some ground on the floor, with France agreeing at one point to abandon expression of power as e.i.r.p. and to permit 100 W PEP. Unfortunately, the shift off of e.i.r.p. was met with a swift and immediate no from several countries, including at least one that supported an allocation. Tuesday morning, it became clear that the regional support we had built, which was quite broad, was only so deep on the power issue. CEPT, ATU, and Arab Spectrum Management Group countries seemed to agree to 15 W e.i.r.p. in order to get a deal done, and CITEL was not able to resist beyond getting authorization for 20 or 25 W e.i.r.p. in certain countries on the opposite side of the globe from Russia. The United States and Canada sought to be included the 25 W e.i.r.p. group, encountered fierce opposition from Russia, and went to 15 when the direction of the room was clear. Sub Working Group 4B1--the first of five hurdles the 5 MHz item has to clear--has concluded with an affirmative proposal that is a big win for world amateurs, but an admittedly mixed bag domestically: * A secondary allocation of 15 kHz to the amateur service from 5 351.5 - 5366.5 kHz * Amateur operation in this band restricted to 15 W e.i.r.p. (20 W in Mexico, 25 W in several, but not all, South American and Caribbean countries, but 15 for all of the US) It is probable that this will eventually be implemented in the United States, certainly in lieu of the 60 meter channel it presently overlaps, and probably in lieu of the other four, although FEMA has expressed some interest in keeping some channelized operation for interoperability purposes. How and when we ask for elements of this package is up to the board. An allocation at 5 MHz has been a longtime objective of organized Amateur Radio. We are one step closer to having one. The power cut is an unfortunate but, at this time, necessary cost to achieving this goal and gaining the flexibility of operation that is so noticeably lacking domestically on 60 meters today. Further, the various domestic allocations around 5.3 MHz are unstable in the long term--a no change result here would likely jeopardize them in several countries. I should add in all caps: THIS COULD STILL BLOW UP. This proposal is being elevated from the sub-working group on a non-consensus basis. The former Soviet bloc and Japan are still on no change, but Russia et al. have signaled they will agree tomorrow, and Japan can't blow this up alone. But as documents rise through the layers of a WRC, they are subjected to a greater audience, who may be inclined to wonder why all the fuss over 15 kHz of a secondary allocation. Further, at least one country on our side (Uruguay) is sufficiently upset with how this turned out that it may engage in discussions at higher levels. In other words: until four more steps are done, it's not done. That said, this has matured enough where we must report the news to our membership, and prepare to discuss the good and the bad aspects of this from the American amateur's standpoint. I am providing this report to Rick Lindquist for development of a news story, which Kay and I will vet in anticipation that it will post today (Dave is in the air on the way back from Geneva, where his two days of guidance and counsel were invaluable. An allocation is always a win, and we have a good chance of a win, even if it doesn't completely feel like one. Onward we go. 73 de Brennan HB9/N4QX Brennan T. Price, N4QX Chief Technology Officer American Radio Relay League PO Box 3470 Oakton VA 22124-9470 Tel +1 860 594-0247

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[arrl-odv:24796] FW: Committee list
by Kay Craigie 11 Nov '15

11 Nov '15

Senators' Washington office numbers, tnx Dan Henderson. Please note that I typo'd Senator Blunt's name in my original list. This was corrected before I e-mailed the Section Manager. The news story is on the web site and will be out on social media shortly if it isn't already. AK Sullivan 202-224-3004 CO Gardner 202-224-5941 CT Blumenthal 202-224-2823 FL Rubio 202-224-3041 FL Nelson 202-224-5274 HI Schatz 202-224-3934 KS Moran 202-224-6521 MA Markey 202-224-2742 MI Peters 202-224-6221 MN Klobuchar 202-224-3244 MO Blunt 202-224-5721 MO McCaskill 202-224-6154 MS Wicker 202-224-6253 MT Daines 202-224-2651 NE Fischer 202-224-6551 NH Ayotte 202-224-3324 NJ Booker 202-224-3224 NM Udall 202-224-6621 NV Heller 202-224-6244 SD Thune 202-224-2321 TX Cruz 202-224-5922 WA Cantwell 202-224-3441 WI Johnson 202-224-5323 WV Manchin 202-224-3954 73, Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:24795] Copy of email sent to Hudson Division NNJ re: S-1685
by Mike Lisenco N2YBB 11 Nov '15

11 Nov '15

Subject: Senate Commerce Committee Set to Mark-Up S-1685 Next Week Hello- I am writing to our members in New Jersey with a very important request. The Senate version of our PRB-1 bill, S. 1685, will be coming up for a vote in the Commerce Committee next Wednesday, November 18th. We MUST get the bill through committee before it can be considered for a vote by the full Senate. The thousands of letters that we have sent to Congress have had an immensely positive effect on the bill. Now we need to keep the pressure on. I need you to send the following email to Senator Booker as he sits on the Commerce Committee and his vote will help determine the future of the bill. Go to this link: https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=contact Fill out the form, and email him. Feel free to use this suggested email: "I'm a constituent and an amateur radio operator. I am writing to urge Senator Booker to support S.1685, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, by voting for it when it is marked-up in committee on November 18th. Thank you." Please be sure to sign the email with your name AND callsign! Once you've done that, you could also call his Washington D.C. office at (202) 224-3224 and use the same template (change "writing" to "calling.") That's it! Please do it right away! As a constituent, your voice is immensely powerful. Please use that voice right away. Tnx es 73 de Mike N2YBB -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Hudson Division Director: Mike Lisenco, N2YBB n2ybb(a)arrl.org

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[arrl-odv:24787] S 1685 call to action
by Kay Craigie 11 Nov '15

11 Nov '15

We have good reason to think that S. 1685 may be scheduled for mark-up in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation as early as next week. Mark-up is an extremely important step in the bill's progress through the Senate. TKG is taking action on the Hill to support Senator Wicker's efforts on behalf of the bill. Every committee member's office has been contacted and has been sent the link to our video debunking opponents' misrepresentations. TKG will meet with the committee staff this week. Any letters to members of the committee that are now at TKG will be delivered in advance of the mark-up. We learned this morning that CAI has asked their members to contact Senators on the committee to communicate what can only be called bald-faced lies about the legislation. They are the same lies addressed in our video. However, we will not rest on what has already been done. The attached spreadsheet shows the members of the committee and the states they represent. We need a blast of support for the bill to these Senators now. Several people on the ODV live in states represented on the list. If you are one of them, please contact your Senator(s) today by telephone or e-mail with the following simple message: "I'm a constituent and an amateur radio operator. I am calling to urge Senator [BLANK] to support S. 1685, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, when it comes up for a vote in committee on November 18th. Thank you." Your state's Senators' Washington, DC, phone numbers are posted at http://www.arrl.org/contacting-your-congressional-representatives. The committee's web page at http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/committeemembers has a link to each committee member's own web site. There you will see a link that may be titled "Contact" or "Connect" which leads to local office phone numbers and an e-mail template. Senator Nelson is shown on the spreadsheet as "ranking member." That means he is the leader of the minority party on the committee and thus a person of influence among his fellow Democrats. After your own phone call or e-mail is done, please reach out to your Division's members in the states on the list. Feel free to cut & paste from this e-mail. Please use all the media at your disposal: web pages, e-mail, Facebook, your Division legislative action volunteers, whatever works in your Division. As a heads-up, I'm going to reach out to Section Managers in the relevant states. They should phone and e-mail, too, and ask their Section staff people to do likewise. Let's do this. Now. 73, Kay N3KN

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[arrl-odv:24786] S.1685 Scheduled for Markup on Wednesday November 18 at 11:00 AM.
by Christopher Imlay 11 Nov '15

11 Nov '15

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has scheduled a markup of several Bills next Wednesday, November 18 starting at 11:00 AM. S. 1685 is the fifth bill listed on the agenda: http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=1815356E-C… According to the Press Release: A live video of the markup and additional information will be available at www.commerce.senate.gov. -- Christopher D. Imlay Booth, Freret & Imlay, LLC 14356 Cape May Road Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 (301) 384-5525 telephone (301) 384-6384 facsimile W3KD(a)ARRL.ORG

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[arrl-odv:24785] arrl.org join/renew function not working
by Bob Vallio 09 Nov '15

09 Nov '15

Clicking on the join/renew tab on the arrl.org home page produces this result, and has been since yesterday. Any fix in sight? Thanks. Bob W6RGG Proxy Error The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server. The proxy server could not handle the request *GET /join-arrl-renew-membership <https://www.arrl.org/join-arrl-renew-membership>*. Reason: *Error reading from remote server*

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[arrl-odv:24784] WRC-15 update
by Price, Brennan, N4QX 07 Nov '15

07 Nov '15

The first week of WRC-15 has been challenging for the radio amateurs present on the IARU team and the countries that have supported us. Our work continues on Monday, as delegates from nearly all countries agreed that formal consultations with their regional telecommunication organizations were necessary to further progress. These consultations take time, and the procedure for CITEL in particular is onerous. That said, the state of play has advanced somewhat, and dramatically so yesterday, to the benefit of amateurs around the world, but decidedly not, unfortunately, to the benefit of the amateurs in the United States. This is inherently uncertain work, but my best estimate is that the likely result of our 5 MHz effort will be a worldwide secondary allocation of a contiguous 15 kHz, but with a power limitation that will be no more than 100 watts e.r.p. and will likely be substantially less (anywhere from 3-11 dB less). For United States hams, that would be a gain of 1 kHz and transition to VFO operation at the obvious cost a substantial power cut. I suspect the power cut would be the aspect of the outcome most noticed and least appreciated by our members. There's still room to fight on the power, and that's part of our outside-the-meeting advocacy and retrenchment, with a deadline imposed by conference management to finish work at the sub working group level on Tuesday afternoon. (This deadline is not unreasonable given the difficulty of other issues at the WRC, in my view). There is no similar room to fight on the bandwidth to be allocated. There were simply too many countries supporting an allocation of 15 kHz (mainly China and several East and South African countries, and some members of the Arab Spectrum Management Group) who would not move, and the only other proponent of a minimal allocation (Cuba at 27 kHz) has been present at only one meeting. The 15 kHz quantity gained substantial traction yesterday when some countries with no change positions, including France, Germany, our own United States, and even member states of the RCC (the former Soviet bloc), said they could support an allocation at that level (the United States Spokesperson, ARRL life member Brian Patten, WV4Q, in his capacity as an NTIA employee, was under direction to support China to gain leverage on other issues). The fate was sealed at last night's meeting, when Canada acquiesced to 15 kHz. When we've lost Canada, we've lost. The state of play on the power issue is not encouraging. First, because China's input on the issue was most definitive, it was used as the model, using units of e.i.r.p., which has a 2.15 dB difference from the 100 W e.r.p. that served as the basis for studies in preparation for this item. There is substantial resistance in the room to any number above 100 because no higher number appeared in the studies. We've not yet effectively communicated that 100 W e.r.p. is actually 164 W e.i.r.p., and that we should either adjust the number, adjust the unit, or, most ideally, scrap the footnote. To make matters worse, France and RCC have come up with a 15 W e.i.r.p. number. France is selling it as a win-win scenario. RCC is selling it as a take-it-or-leave-it deal. The glimmer of good news is that the United States has shifted position, freeing Jon and me to overtly advocate for an outcome on the power issue that would leave us with a useful worldwide allocation. Brian Patten and our ambassador realize that a useful allocation is important to us, and have promised to help us on the power issue now that the position has shifted. They are persuasive and effective, and we need them if we're going to get anything approaching a win. We've barely started talking about band edges. That's another variable that has to be solved eventually. In other WRC items of interest, yesterday's plenary suppressed a WRC-12 Resolution calling for studies on the regulatory aspects of small satellites, as since studies are complete and no change has been deemed necessary. The suppression was an objective of the IARU, and limits the potential for inadvertent damage to the amateur-satellite service. It's the tiniest of wins, but it's a win. I must say we're collectively pretty glum this morning, and would rather be operating Sweepstakes. As for me, I'm more angry than glum, even after a night's sleep. It's time to effectively channel that anger into the power issue. So onward we go. 73 de Brennan HB9/N4QX Brennan T. Price, N4QX Chief Technology Officer American Radio Relay League PO Box 3470 Oakton VA 22124-9470 Tel +1 860 594-0247

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[arrl-odv:24783] arrl.org website is down
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 06 Nov '15

06 Nov '15

IT is aware of the problem and is working on a solution. Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:24782] Senator Franken
by Kay Craigie 06 Nov '15

06 Nov '15

We were informed via e-mail by the Minnesota Senator's office some days ago that he would cosponsor. Greg informed the Dakota Division members on the basis of the office's e-mail, but we embargoed any national publicity until the Senator's name appeared on Congress.gov. It's there now. 73, Kay N3KN Sent from my iPhone

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