I do not see how this letter pertains to the Inappropriate Use of
Amateur Radio ad-hoc committee study either, other than his view of the
Should we consider this letter from this FCC employee, official FCC
statements or a stint from another ARRL member? He talks from his FCC
position and signs his FCC title to the letter.
We should officially ask
the FCC's Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau about them, embarking
on a new trail to help facilitate the resolution of ARS EmComm issues that involve
served agencies. Is this the FCC ARS EmComm Summit N3GQ speaks about?
Chris, have you or the ARRL seen an invitation to the upcoming
FCC ARS EmComm Summit?
73,
Greg
Sarratt, W4OZK
From: Chris Imlay
[mailto:w3kd@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 10:38
AM
To: arrl-odv
Subject: [arrl-odv:17985] Re: Fw:
ARRL & EmComm
It is worth noting that
Curt Bartholomew is a staff person in the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland
Security Bureau, and not in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. He does not
have any official involvement in rules interpretations governing the
Amateur Service, which is the job of the Mobility Division of the Wireless
Bureau, and Bartholomew is therefore expressing his own opinions and not
those of the Commission.
I believe that his remarks, though candid and doubtless sincere, are not prudent,
frankly, given his position.
73, Chris W3KD
Christopher D. Imlay
Booth, Freret, Imlay & Tepper. P.C.
(301) 384-5525 telephone
(301) 384-6384 facsimile
W3KD@ARRL.ORG
-----Original Message-----
From: Mickey Cox <mcoxk5mc@bellsouth.net>
To: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org>
Sent: Mon, Jul 27, 2009 12:57 am
Subject: [arrl-odv:17984] Fw: ARRL & EmComm
ODV,
FYI. Steve Waterman (K4CJX) has assured me that Curt Bartholomew (N3GQ) at the
FCC wanted the entire Board to read his comments below. As you can also read
below, I have already forwarded N3GQ's comments to the ad-hoc committee
recently authorized by the Board and appointed by W5ZN.
BTW, I do not personally know N3GQ, but it is my understanding that K4CJX and
N3GQ know each other fairly well. I was included on these emails because K4CJX
is an Assistant Director for the Delta Division and Steve knows that I am
trying to raise the Board's attention to EmComm related issues.
73, K5MC
----- Original Message ----- From: "K4CJX" <k4cjx@comcast.net>
To: "'Mickey Cox'" <mcoxk5mc@bellsouth.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 8:24 PM
Subject: RE: ARRL & EmComm
> Mickey,
>
> That is why it was re-written rather than having the more direct and
> "personal" view distributed.
>
>
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mickey Cox [mailto:mcoxk5mc@bellsouth.net]
> Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 8:08 PM
> To: K4CJX
> Subject: Re: ARRL & EmComm
>
> Steve,
>
> If you are sure that Bart wants me to do that, I will forward his
message
> below to the entire Board via the ODV reflector.
>
> 73, K5MC
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "K4CJX" <k4cjx@comcast.net>
> To: "'Mickey Cox'" <mcoxk5mc@bellsouth.net>
> Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 7:24 PM
> Subject: RE: ARRL & EmComm
>
>
>> Purdy, please,
>>
>> Put it on the ODV Reflector?
>>
>> Steve
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mickey Cox [mailto:mcoxk5mc@bellsouth.net]
>> Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 7:20 PM
>> To: Curt Bartholomew; K4CJX
>> Cc: garystratton@cmaaccess.com;
n3kn@arrl.org; Chris Imlay; >> k1zz@arrl.org;
>> David Woolweaver; k5uz@arrl.org; w5zn@arrl.org
>> Subject: Re: ARRL & EmComm
>>
>> Bart N3GQ,
>>
>> Thanks very much for your message below.
>>
>> ARRL President Joel Harrison W5ZN has just appointed an ad-hoc
committee
>> to
>> prepare guidelines for use by the amateur community and others to
>> identify
>> inappropriate use of amateur radio. This committee will present
its
>> findings to the ARRL Executive Committee within the next 30 days. I
am
>> taking the liberty to forward your message below to each member of
the
>> ad-hoc committee as well as to President Harrison. For your
information,
>> the ad-hoc committee members are as follows:
>>
>> First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN - Chair West Gulf Division
>> Director
>> David Woolweaver, K5RAV Delta Division Vice Director David Norris,
K5UZ
>> Executive Vice President Dave Sumner, K1ZZ General Counsel Chris
Imlay,
>> W3KD
>>
>> Thanks again and 73,
>>
>> Mickey Cox, K5MC
>> Delta Division Director
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Curt Bartholomew" <Curt.Bartholomew@fcc.gov>
>> To: "K4CJX" <k4cjx@comcast.net>;
"MICKEY COX" <mcoxk5mc@bellsouth.net>
>> Cc: <garystratton@cmaaccess.com>;
"Curt Bartholomew"
>> <Curt.Bartholomew@fcc.gov>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 6:49 PM
>> Subject: RE: ARRL & EmComm
>>
>>
>> Greetings, Gentlemen.
>>
>> It is indeed great to see the passion you display in support of
providing
>> the American people with volunteer emergency communications during
their
>> greatest time of need.
>>
>> While it is a concern that there is the recent appearance that the
ARRL
>> BOD
>> has relegated EmComm to a low priority, I am not discouraged and
you
>> should
>> not be either. Since 9/11/01, the ARRL has made significant strides
in
>> improving ARS EmComm with its courses, books, CDs, equipment
caches,
>> hiring
>> an emergency manager, and other actions. The current situation may
only
>> be
>> a temporary misunderstanding or lack of knowledge of today's
increasingly
>> tense spectrum situation.
>>
>> Both the FCC and NTIA are continually being pressured for more
spectrum
>> from
>>
>> commercial interests. The continued explosion of cell phone and
other
>> wireless device usage has companies scrambling for what spectrum they
can
>> get. Most people do not get to see this situation first hand -- we see
>> it
>> often at the FCC. No service regulated by the FCC or NTIA is immune
from
>> being raided; so every service has to be on its guard and be able
to
>> justify
>>
>> its frequency allocations.
>>
>> We at the FCC's Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau are
embarking on
>> a
>> new trail to help facilitate the resolution of ARS EmComm issues that
>> involve served agencies. However, we only want to be involved where
the
>> need is apparent and asked for. We have to be respectful of
States'
>> rights,
>>
>> contributions of individuals and organizations, and the ability
of
>> volunteers to provide the services needed in emergencies and
disasters.
>> This
>>
>> outreach has not been done before in anyone's memory who still
works
>> there.
>>
>> The more the ARS is viewed by the American public as a source of
>> emergency
>> communications and public service, the more likely it is that the ARS
>> will
>> be able to keep its frequency allocations, especially in the VHF and
>> above
>> bands. Although since 1970 I have enjoyed the other "hobby"
aspects of
>> ham
>> radio, such as DXing, contesting, rag chewing, equipment building,
fox
>> hunting, and experimenting with the new digital modes, none of them
have
>> captured the American public's attention as something they need more
than
>> their plethora of wireless devices -- except public service and
emergency
>> communications.
>>
>> We should appreciate that the ARRL spends a lot of time dealing with
ARES
>> personnel issues, which may by association make EmComm not their
favorite
>> topic to deal with. When I was preparing my ECAP program
(Emergency
>> Communications Accreditation Program) at FEMA HQ in 2002 and 2003, I
>> spoke
>> with then ARRL president Jim Haynie at length about it. He mentioned
>> that
>> he and the ARRL staff have had to spend an incredible amount of
time
>> dealing
>>
>> with personality issues and other related issues that took time away
from
>> their other duties. He suggested that we dissolve both the ARES and
RACES
>> services and start up a joint service. Those of us who have served
as
>> ECs,
>> DECs, ASMs, and in other EmComm positions can readily understand
that
>> particular frustration. However, as a volunteer service, it is not
>> unlike
>> the other volunteer services; in that there are clashes in
personalities
>> that are destructive to the mission. It comes with the territory.
We
>> have
>> to learn to get along better for the good of the service.
>>
>> Regarding paid employee status, there are clearly some
misunderstandings
>> circulating, and it should be a non-issue. For example, at the
>> Hamvention, a question answered by Bill Cross of the FCC's
Wireless
>> Telecommunications Bureau regarding paid duty status was
answered
>> officially
>>
>> a few years ago, and I believe he may have misunderstood the question
>> because the acoustics were not great in that room. Here is the answer
to
>> that question, that is still in effect, as I understood it:
>>
>> In its Report and Order in WT Docket 04-140, the FCC stated,
"Section
>> 97.113
>>
>> does not prohibit amateur radio operators who are emergency
personnel
>> engaged in disaster relief from using the amateur service bands while
in >> a
>> paid duty status. These individuals are not receiving compensation
for
>> transmitting amateur service communications; rather, they are
receiving
>> compensation for services related to their disaster relief duties and
in
>> their capacities as emergency personnel."
>>
>> You should also know that questions relating to emergency
communications,
>> public safety, and homeland security in general are now being answered
by
>> the (almost 3-year-old) FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security
Bureau,
>> in
>>
>> coordination with the other FCC bureaus.
>>
>> The number of EmComm issues in need of addressing may be significant,
but
>> we
>>
>> won't know until we get an inventory from all concerned. We know that
we
>> will not resolve them overnight, and they do not all lend themselves
to
>> needing assistance from the federal government. However, it is
>> imperative
>> that the dialogue to address them with all served agencies and
concerned
>> parties be conducted in an orderly, open, and inclusive manner for
the
>> benefit of the served agencies, the citizens they serve, and of course
>> the
>> EmComm operators themselves. It is my hope that our upcoming FCC
ARS
>> EmComm
>>
>>
>> Together we can all make this happen. It's worth the effort.
>>
>> "Keep your family safe, your batteries charged, and your Go-Kit
ready."
>>
>> -Bart
>>
>> Curt R. Bartholomew, N3GQ
>>
>> FCC/PSHSB Senior Emergency Manager