January 2017 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:26082] Parity Act
by Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF 13 Jan '17

13 Jan '17

To the Board: We have had in the past day and a half several events that have created an opportunity for ARRL in our legislative effort that we did not anticipate. This opportunity called for an immediate action that we have taken that you need to know about right now. In acting on these events, we have protected the Board's prerogative in all respects, as explained below. On Tuesday evening, Frank McCarthy at the Keelen Group received a call from the Chief of Staff of Senator Nelson's office. She told Frank that Nelson was receiving large amounts of critical mail from Florida amateur radio operators chastising Nelson for holding up the Parity Act last Fall. Frank replied diplomatically that ARRL had not asked for any such mail to be sent, but we did report to our membership factually in December that the only obstacle to passage of the Bill was Senator Nelson's hold. Frank said that we were looking forward to working with Senator Nelson to address his concerns going forward. Nelson's Chief of Staff told Frank that the Senator had as a "high priority" the passage of the Parity Act "early in this new Congress" and that they would work with ARRL on it right away. This opportunity was created as the result of our grasssroots campaign conducted in the last term of Congress. Today, without any action on the part of anyone associated with ARRL, Dan Henderson received (at ARRL's "reginfo" e-mail address) from Representative Courtney's office an e-mail saying that Courtney had received from Representative Kinzinger's office a draft Bill, identical to the compromise Bill that we advocated last year in Congress. Courtney's office said that they were looking to drop the Bill immediately in order to get on the markup calendar in the House on January 23. They wanted to know if the Bill was OK with us. After conferring with President Roderick, I instructed Chris Imlay to respond to Courtney's office and confirm that the Bill was identical to that supported by ARRL last term. He has done that. We are aware that the Board wishes at its upcoming meeting to discuss the Bill and possibly some modifications to it. Another issue is the cost of duplicating the legislative advocacy effort of the past two years. None of these discussions is at all prejudiced by the immediate reintroduction of the Parity Act in the House by Kinzinger and Courtney. Once the Bill is dropped, we are not under any obligation to lift a finger or spend a dime to advocate for it. Nor are the language or provisions of the Bill carved in stone. If there are any changes called for by the Board at the upcoming meeting or otherwise, we can (1) advocate an amendment to it; (2) suggest some report language to clarify any of its terms or provisions; and/or (3) take any clarifications or minor modifications to the FCC after the Bill passes. The FCC will have to do a full notice and comment rulemaking after passage of the Bill. Most importantly, the fortunate combination of Nelson's softened position and the potential early markup of this Bill in the House portends a possible fast re-passage of the Bill in the House in a matter of weeks, and a smooth and early passage by unanimous consent in the Senate, at a tiny fraction of the cost of the last two years' advocacy. Let me know if you have any questions. 73, Tom Tom Gallagher - NY2RF Chief Executive Officer ARRL Headquarters ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio(tm) 860 594 0404 cell 704 907 7158 tgallagher(a)arrl.org<mailto:tgallagher@arrl.org>

4 3

[arrl-odv:26081] Filing of Petition for Rule Making to Implement Domestically the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz Band
by Christopher Imlay 13 Jan '17

13 Jan '17

Greetings. Today, having heard approvals from all but one member of the Executive Committee, and having received helpful edits from President Roderick, Vice President Widin and from Jon Siverling, I filed just now the attached Petition for Rule Making. This asks for the implementation of the new 5 MHz band allocation. As I noted in my Board report, this is a difficult "sell". We do NOT have the support of NTIA for this allocation and the United States did not support this allocation at WRC-15. However, it is only 15 kilohertz wide. The largest problem, other that the fact that the Final Acts of WRC-15 have not yet been ratified by Congress, is that the international allocation is for only 15 watts e.i.r.p. which is completely insufficient for the purpose for which this band has been allocated. We are asking that domestically, radio Amateurs be permitted 100 watts ERP, which is what the rules permit now for the five discrete channels. We are also asking to keep the four channels that are outside the allocated band, and that the service rules for the band be the same as for the channels: General and up access; limited emission types; and other provisions necessary for compatible sharing. This is being filed early in terms of the WRC-15 implementation because we wanted to direct the conversation in terms of the 100-watt limit rather than wait for FCC to propose implementing the 15 watts e.i.r.p offered unhelpfully by the ITU. I will populate this within OET where it will be adjudicated and give a heads-up to Scot Stone at WTB as well. This is an important filing and it will garner support within the Amateur Community of course. FCC and NTIA will be the obstacles here and Jon Siverling and I will have to attempt to "sell" this to NTIA in due course. 73, Chris W3KD -- 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

2 1

[arrl-odv:26080] Entry Level License Committee report
by Tom Frenaye 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

I've attached the report from the Entry Level License Committee. Looking forward to some good discussions on this topic next week. Have a safe trip to Connecticut. -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki(a)arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444

1 0

[arrl-odv:26079] Drone Video Transmitter FCC Complaint
by Christopher Imlay 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Greetings. With the oversight of the EMC Committee and instructions from CEO Gallagher I filed the attached complaint yesterday with FCC. It urges enforcement action against a series of video downlink transmitters that operate at 1000 MHz and 1280 MHz. Thanks especially to Mike Gruber for the fine technical exhibit and to Kermit Carlson for shepherding this along and for his helpful edits to this document. As you can see from reading this, these devices are marketed as Amateur Radio equipment but they operate principally on non-amateur frequencies used for GLONASS GPS and FAA radars. They are not functional as bona fide Amateur Radio equipment. They are a serious hazard to air navigation and air safety and ARRL is doing a public service by filing this. Kudos to the ARRL lab. There is also a regulatory strategy being pursued here. According to Laura Smith, OET at FCC will not permit enforcement actions against deployed Part 15 devices. The theory at OET is that as soon as FCC takes an enforcement action against one Part 15 device, they will be drowned in enforcement requests with respect to others. To take no action against deployed drone video transmitters that will interfere with FAA radars and GPS however, is simply not on. So we are trying to pursue the most compelling case possible to push OET into a more responsible posture. This may be it. 73, Chris W3KD -- 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

1 0

[arrl-odv:26078] Confidential, Attorney-Client Privileged Communication; Ames v. ARRL
by Christopher Imlay 10 Jan '17

10 Jan '17

It appears that Mr. Ames has chosen to note an appeal of the decision of Federal Judge C. Darnell Jones, the trial judge in the Ames case. Ames' named attorney has filed a notice of appeal of the decision in the Third Circuit United States Court of Appeals. Copy of the Notice of Appeal is attached, which includes a copy of Judge Jones' well-reasoned decision. More when we have spoken with the Cozen, O'Connor attorneys representing ARRL. -- 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

1 0

[arrl-odv:26076] ARRL.com
by Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF 10 Jan '17

10 Jan '17

Ladies & Gentlemen: We have been experiencing momentary, intermittent interruptions of service on our website. We've been working on the problem all day. Asking you to be patient and to stand by. Will advise. Tom Tom Gallagher - NY2RF Chief Executive Officer ARRL Headquarters ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio(tm) 860 594 0404 cell 704 907 7158 tgallagher(a)arrl.org<mailto:tgallagher@arrl.org>

1 1

[arrl-odv:26074] ARRL EMC Committee Report, Document #17
by Kermit Carlson 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Hello, Please find attached the ARRL EMC Committee ReportDocument #17 for the January 2017 Annual Board Meeting.If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contactme for clarifications or corrections. See you at HQ in just over a week, safe travels ! 73, Kermit Carlson W9XA Director, Central Division

1 1

[arrl-odv:26073] CORRECTED Document #9 Report of the General Counsel to the Board of Directors
by Christopher Imlay 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Here is the corrected Document #9. I am re-attaching as well Appendices B.1., B.2. and C, although there were no changes in that document. The major correction is with respect to the last item in the report pertaining to the California mobile cellular statute. My apologies to Vice Director Woll for the reference to him in the earlier version of this report as "former" Vice Director. Marty is the current Vice Director per Bylaw 11 and will remain such until his successor is qualified and elected. Apologies for the resubmission. -- 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

1 0

[arrl-odv:26063] Document #9, Report of the General Counsel to the Board of Directors
by Christopher Imlay 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Greetings. Attached are Word and PDF copies of my report to the Board. Please consider this as a confidential, attorney-client privileged communication that is not to be shared with anyone other than current Officers, current Directors, current vice-directors and key staff. Also attached separately are Appendices B.1, B.2 and C which are explained in the text of the Report. Appendix A is incorporated in the Report already. I will be pleased to respond to any questions about this report, either prior to or at the upcoming Board meeting. 73, Chris W3KD -- 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

1 1

[arrl-odv:26071] Document #2 - President's Report to the Board
by k5ur＠aol.com 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Hi all: Please find attached the President's Report to the Board. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing everyone soon. 73 Rick - K5UR ...

1 0