The ARRL Letter
Vol. 13, No. 23
December 13, 1994

FCC inaugurates Wireless Telecomm Bureau; its chief comes from
"enthusiastic ham family"

     The Federal Communications Commission on December 1
established a new Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, as part of
its continuing reorganization begun last summer.
     The Commission said the new bureau will handle all FCC
domestic wireless telecommunication programs and policies, except
those involving satellite communication. Its functions include all
activities of wireless telecommunication providers and licensees.
     The new bureau also will serve as the Commission's
principal policy and administrative resource with regard to
spectrum auctions.
     Regina M. Keeney was named chief of the Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau; Ralph Haller, formerly chief of the
Private Radio Bureau, and Gerald P. Vaughn, are deputy bureau
chiefs.
     Keeney, a Harvard Law School graduate, spent nine years as
Senior Republican Counsel for Communications to the Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Both of
Keeney's parents are licensed Amateur Radio operators. Her father,
John Markey, W2AAW, said "Gina grew up with Amateur Radio in the
house. We are an enthusiastic ham family. I often show her QST,
and especially the 'Happenings' column, when she visits."
     Keeney said the goals of the new bureau are to promote
economic growth, foster competition, and enhance accessibility of
emerging technologies to consumers, as well as to "foster
efficiency and innovation in the allocation and licensing of the
electromagnetic spectrum."
     The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau will have seven
divisions; the new Private Radio Division, along with the
Licensing Division, will handle Amateur Radio matters at the FCC.
The FCC said that the Private Radio Division would "project demand
for existing and possible new communications requirements and
services."
     The Commercial Radio Division will deal with cellular
services, personal communication services, paging, and specialized
mobile radio and air-ground services.
     The Enforcement Division will propose and develop rules
and policies for wireless services; the Auctions Division will
conduct spectrum auctions; the Licensing Division will handle
paperwork for all services; and the Customer Services Division
will be responsible for providing technical assistance related to
applications and licensing.
     The Private Radio division will handle, in addition to
Amateur Radio, the following: mobile radio services such as public
safety and aviation, personal radio services, point-to-point
microwave, antenna tower clearances, and the radio operator
examination program.

Spanish amateurs convene, welcome HQ staffer
     When 200 members of Spain's national Amateur Radio
society, the Union de Radioaficionados Espanoles (URE), met for
their national HF convention in Manises on December 5 and 6, they
were joined by ARRL's Membership Services Manager Chuck
Hutchinson, K8CH.  Chuck is well-versed in all the topics of
interest to this subset of hams: DXCC, awards, operating, and so
on. And he speaks fluent, "no accent" Spanish (honed during his
days with HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, where he operated as HC1CW).
     Hutchinson describes URE as a "strong organization," where
national, regional, and local organizations are woven together to
form URE, Spain's member organization in the International Amateur
Radio Union (IARU). He said he was one of the Old Timers at the
gathering, with most of the Spanish amateurs there 10 to 20 years
younger than what "you would expect in a similar group here in the
States."
     About 200 showed up, including a few from outside Spain.
Hutchinson, with expert help from Juan Rosales, EA9IE, and
Francisco "Paco" Carrasco, EA5WV (in organizing paperwork,
collecting money, and so on), looked at DXCC applications, 78 of
them making the trip home to Newington with Chuck, representing
some 11,000 QSL cards.
     Interestingly, the Spanish amateurs did better, on
average, than US hams do in correctly recording QSL data  on the
forms. But the language barrier on the forms is troublesome.
     Chuck (naturally) spoke about the DXCC program, and the
Spanish DXers were especially interested in the democratic nature
of the ARRL's volunteer advisory committees, in how they function
and how members are selected to serve on each.
     "When I was asked," Chuck said, "'Why don't they appoint
DX Advisory Committee members from Europe and Japan?'  I
responded, 'No se.'  (I don't know.)  That brought a laugh from
the crowd. Angel Padin, EA1QF, who sat beside me, picked up the
microphone and said, 'Good question and good answer.' Another
laugh."   Hutchinson also learned that ARRL news bulletins are
widely distributed in Spain, being picked up from W1AW and
circulated on an extensive packet network.

"VANITY" CALL SIGNS NOW IN FCC'S COURT
     The FCC Authorization Act that would have converted an
annual regulatory fee for Amateur Radio "vanity" call signs to a
one-time application fee failed to pass in the last session of
Congress. The bill, H.R. 4522, passed the House but failed in the
Senate despite a concerted last-ditch effort by ARRL to have the
bill considered during the lame duck session December 1.
Broadcasting and Cable magazine attributed the bill's defeat to
opposition (to unrelated provisions) by the National Association
of Broadcasters. The FCC now is expected to introduce a "vanity"
call sign program with a $70 fee renewable every 10 years.
     More information on this and other Washington matters will
appear in January QST.

AMATEURS SET RECORDS ON 5.7 GHz AND 144 Mhz BANDS
     A new overland distance record has been reported on the
5760-MHz amateur band. On November 12, Al Ward, WB5LUA, in Allen,
Texas, and Ron Stefanskie, W9ZIH, in Malta, Illinois, worked over
a 738-mile path.  The previous overland record was 614 miles, set
by N6CA and XE2/N6XQ.
     Writing in the North Texas Microwave Society Feed Point,
Ward reports working W9ZIH on the evening of November 11, with S9
signals, on 432 MHz.  They then tried unsuccessfully to work on
5760 MHz, having previously worked each other on the bands in
between.  They tried that night and the following morning, without
success.
     In cooperation with Greg McIntire, AA5C, and W9ZIH, the
first record-breaking contact took place, between WB5LUA and Roger
Schneider, WB9OJR, of Green Valley, Illinois, who had joined the
effort.  The distance was 633 miles.  AA5C and WB9OJR also
connected, at 630 miles.
     Continuing the effort, about three hours later, at 1652
UTC, WB5LUA and W9ZIH made the 738-mile contact, and AA5C worked
W9ZIH, at 733 miles.  All contacts were on two-way CW.
     Al Ward said "It is really nice to know there are people
active on the microwave bands who are ready to go when the bands
open, and also to know that our equipment, which has only worked
out to 250 miles under normal conditions, can actually work when
the band opens up."
     Down on 2 meters (practically "dc" by comparison!), a new
tropospheric ducting, continental distance record has been
reported. On November 5, Rene Shaw, WB4MJE, of Big Pine Key,
Florida, and Serge Szpilfogel, VE1KG, of Halifax, Nova Scotia,
worked over a 1687-mile path.
     The previous record of 1468 miles was set by K5WXZ and
K1RJH, and had stood since October, 1968.
     WB4MJE is crucially located for this work, at the southern
tip of the Florida Keys.
     Information on these two accomplishments came from Al
Ward, WB5LUA, who maintains VHF and UHF North American distance
record information for QST's "World Above 50 MHz" column.  Records
on bands from 144 MHz to 678 THz are published in April QST each
year.
     And don't forget: you can report news of this or any other
kind directly to Headquarters by phone, fax, or e-mail
(<jcain@arrl.org>). Important news goes out immediately from HQ on
W1AW, packet, and the Internet, from which interested amateurs can
pick it up for their own use.

NEW YORK STATEHOUSE TO WELCOME FORMER HAM
     New York Governor-elect George S. Pataki is a former
licensed amateur. He was K2ZCZ from 1959 to 1970. He's busy, but
we sent him a QST and spoke with his brother, Lou Pataki, who is
K2PRB (and an ARRL life member).
     "George, who is four years my junior, and I had two
cousins who were hams," Lou Pataki said. "One of them, Fred Senk,
K2UYQ, was our 'Elmer.' He's dead now." (Another cousin, Bob Senk,
is K2YAZ, and lives in Glen Arbor, Michigan).
     Lou was licensed first, then the governor-elect got
interested, as a high school freshman. Their station was at the
family home in Peekskill, New York, where Lou still has a station.
"I was mainly interested in VHF and experimenting," Lou said, "but
George was a communicator. He liked the 'dc bands,' and DXing. In
high school George was active in sports and other activities;
outside of school, ham radio was definitely his principal
activity."
     The Pataki brothers reunited at Yale, where Lou was in
graduate school (radio astronomy and, later, law) and George was
an undergraduate. Both were active in the radio club, then W1YU.
     George Pataki entered politics and became active,
whereupon his license lapsed.
     Lou Pataki said he thought his brother would enjoy seeing
a copy of QST, so we got his home address. "He'll get it no
problem unless one of the state troopers is a ham," Lou said.
     Sure enough, the next day a New York State Police
detective called Headquarters, to enquire about the contents of an
overnight envelope from Newington.

DX ADVISORY COMMITTEE REJECTS THREE PROPOSALS
     The ARRL DX Advisory Committee (DXAC) has voted 14-to-2
against a petition to add the Austral Islands and the Marquesas
Islands to the DXCC Countries List. Those voting against shared
the feeling that French Polynesia is not a Point 1 DXCC country,
and for that reason these two island groups do not qualify as DXCC
countries separate from French Polynesia under the current DXCC
rules.
     The DXAC also voted 13-to-1 against adding the Balleny
Islands to the DXCC Countries List. Most of those voting against
this proposal felt that the Balleny Islands are a part of
Antarctica.
     Finally, the DXAC voted 14-to-2 against recommending
establishment of a DXCC award for contacts made while operating
mobile. Many comments pointed out the impossibility of verifying
that contacts were indeed made while operating mobile.  It also
was noted that all DXCC awards today are based on either mode or
band.

BRIEFS
     * The "Big Dish" at VE3ONT produced 299 Earth-Moon-Earth
contacts on 2 meters with the 130-foot-diameter antenna at the
Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science's radio observatory in
Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario (about 100 miles north of
Tononto), during the second weekend of the ARRL EME Contest the
last weekend of November.
     "We were very happy to work a ton of stations not in any
EME database, suggesting that they were first-timers," said VE3ONT
team member Michael Owen, W9IP, who also said conditions were the
worst he had heard in more than nine years of moonbounce work,
because of an ionospheric disturbance that weekend.
     * In the recent series of QST articles about the League's
on-line services, the ARRL America OnLine address was listed as
HQARRL. That has been changed to HQARRL1.
     * The FCC's accounting records are an "inauditable" mess,
says a report from the US inspector general, quoted in
Broadcasting and Cable magazine. The November report found more
than $40 million in account discrepancies in fiscal 1993. Incoming
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Senator Larry Pressler said
that he would "like to reduce the size of the FCC," the magazine
said.
     * This story via the long path -- from the Thunder Bay
(Ontario) Chronicle to the Lakehead Amateur Radio Club to the
Radio Amateurs of Canada News Bulletin via the Internet (whew).
According to the Canadian Press (a news service), electromagnetic
interference from the North Pole knocked out voice transmissions
by both radio and satellite telephone from both the Canadian Coast
Guard icebreaker Louis St Laurent and the US Coast Guard
icebreaker Polar Sea, both of which had reached the Pole.
     So what, you say? "For most of Monday," the report said,
"the only communications with the two ships was by Morse code ...
A Canadian Press reporter managed to receive a barely decipherable
voice transmission ... but could not make himself heard."
     * Now's the time to let members of the ARRL Membership
Services Committee know how you would like next year's Hiram Percy
Maxim Birthday Celebration to be structured. There's a story on
page 26 of January QST.
     * The electronic version of Part 97 of the FCC Rules,
available on the ARRL BBS, the ARRL info server, and on-line
services, has been updated to reflect revisions that went into
effect December 20, 1994. These "nonsubstantive" changes created a
separate Technician Plus license class, permit VECs to file new
and upgrade applications electronically, and streamline license
renewals (and were described on page 87 of December QST).
     * An amateur in Lyme, Connecticut, has won a federal court
go-ahead to install a 78-foot tower after a battle of some three
years. F. Parker Heinemann, W1YG, was denied a special exception
permit by the town planning and zoning commission. He then filed a
civil suit against the town. In late October, US District Judge
Gerard L. Goettel said that the town had acted in good faith based
on the information it had at the time of the application, in March
1991, but ordered the tower approved because, the judge said, "I
think federal law is on the side of ham radio operators in this
case."
     PRB-1 wins another one.
     * The ARRL has benefited from a bequest from a member who
died in late 1993. The Ohio amateur split his six-figure estate
equally between two causes: the National Arthritis Foundation and
the League. Something for all of us to think about now, while
there's still time.
     * Two more astronauts have qualified for Amateur Radio
licenses -- Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence, KC5KII, and Payload
Specialist Sam Durrance, N3TQA. Both are scheduled to fly on STS-
67 in late February or early March.
     * Youthnet NEWS (December QST, p 90) continues to survey
young amateurs. You can contact their packet BBS at
N9KYJ@W9ZMR.IL.USA.NOAM, or via e-mail to AlexN9KYJ@aol.com or
aln9kyj@mcs.com. Youthnet NEWS also appears on the Internet Usenet
newsgroups under rec.radio.info and rec.radio.amateur.misc.
     * 1994 ARRL National Exam Days have been set for May 13
and September 30. Details will be in "Exam Info" in February QST,
but you can start planning now by perusing February 1994 QST, page
103.
     * "Say HI to TACO! If you worked WU1F during the CQ
Worldwide CW Contest or on CW in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest you
worked TACO (Totally Automated Computer Operation)," says Joel
Magid, WU1F. Joel, er, TACO, made 100 contacts on each of those
weekends using  computer control to both send to and receive, and
to find stations. This has been done before, by Larry Tyree, N6TR,
among others, but still is a rare occurrence.
     "While I am not a contester, it was fun to scan the band
and have TACO tell me who was there, Joel said. "No packet radio
(ie, PacketCluster) was used; TACO managed to search by command
and find by command the stations I looked for or wanted to work."
10 years ago in The ARRL Letter
     Then-US Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA (R-AZ), wrote to
FCC Chairman Mark Fowler, exhorting the Commission to "keep hands
off 220." Goldwater said he was hearing increasing rumors that the
FCC had eyes for part of the amateur allocation at 220 MHz and,
unfortunately, he ultimately was right; the League took the FCC to
court over the matter but 220 to 222 MHz was reallocated to the
land mobile service in August 1991.
     The ARRL DX Advisory Committee recommended separate DXCC
country status for British military base areas on Cyprus, and also
pondered a directive from the ARRL Board of Directors to
reconsider DXCC status for the Vienna International Center
(4U1VIC). The bases made it to the DXCC list; 4U1VIC has not, to
this day.
     The American Red Cross filed a petition with the FCC
supporting PRB-1; the ARRL VEC charged $4.00 for exams (10 years
later it's only $5.90); and the old ARRL CD Parties continued down
the road to oblivion, the Letter listing scores from the new but
to be short-lived October "ARRL QSO Party."
{cutlines}
ARRL Membership Services Manager Chuck Hutchinson, K8CH, center,
with Jose Horrach, EA6DO, left, president of the Palma-area radio
club, and Bernardo Ramis, EA6HI.

*eof

