The ARRL Letter
Vol. 13, No. 8
April 26, 1994

New message-forwarding rules begin June 1

     The FCC on April 13 released its Report and Order in PR 
Docket 93-85, regarding messages relayed by amateur high 
speed networks. The new rules, effective June 1, 1994, will 
establish what the FCC calls "a compliance policy for 
amateur stations participating in automatic message-
forwarding systems." 
     The new rules relieve most station operators in such 
networks of responsibility for the content of the messages 
relayed by their stations. Under current rules, all 
licensees in a chain of forwarding stations are responsible 
for message content.
     Originators of messages continue to be responsible for 
their content, and the first forwarding stations are 
responsible either for the content of the message or for 
verifying the identity of the originator.  
     The new rules also will relieve repeater control 
operators of responsibility for inadvertent retransmission 
of communications that violate the rules. All operators 
remain responsible for discontinuing communications that 
violate the rules as soon as they become aware of their 
presence.
     Here are the exact wording changes in FCC Rules Part 
97:

97.3 Definitions.

     (7) Auxiliary stations. An amateur station, other than 
in a message forwarding system, that is transmitting 
communications point-to-point within a system of cooperating 
amateur stations.
     (28) Message forwarding system. A group of amateur 
stations participating in a voluntary, cooperative, 
interactive arrangement where communications are sent from 
the control operator of an originating station to the 
control operator of one or more destination stations by one 
or more forwarding stations.
     (36) Repeater. An amateur station that simultaneously 
retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a 
different channel or channels.

97.109 Station control.

     (e) No station may be automatically controlled while 
transmitting third party communications, except a station 
participating as a forwarding station in a message 
forwarding system.

97.205 Repeater station.

     (g) The control operator of a repeater that retransmits 
inadvertently communications that violate the rules in this 
Part is not accountable for the violative communications.

97.219 Message forwarding system. 

     [Section 97.216 is redesignated Section 97.217]

     (a) Any amateur station may participate in a message 
forwarding system, subject to the privileges of the class of 
operator license held.
     (b) For stations participating in a message forwarding 
system, the control operator of the station originating a 
message is primarily accountable for any violation of the 
rules in this Part contained in the message.
     (c) Except as noted in paragraph (d) of this section, 
for stations participating in a message forwarding system, 
the control operators of forwarding stations that retransmit 
inadvertently communications that violate the rules in this 
Part are not accountable for the violative communications. 
They are, however, responsible for discontinuing such 
communications once they become aware of their presence.
     (d) For stations participating in a message forwarding 
system, the control operator of the first forwarding station 
must:
     (1) Authenticate the identity of the station from which 
it accepts communications on behalf of the system; or
     (2) Accept accountability for any violation of the 
rules in this Part contained in messages it retransmits to 
the system.

League seeks tighter club license standards

     The ARRL has petitioned the FCC to increase the minimum 
number of members necessary for granting a club station 
license from two to four.  The FCC has designated the 
petition RM-8462.
     The League said that the FCC's 1993 notice of proposed 
rule making to reinstitute club licensing makes this an 
issue whose time has come. 
     In 1990, the League, as part of a petition for rule 
making seeking miscellaneous changes in the Amateur Service 
Rules, proposed the same change. At that time, no club 
station licenses were being issued, but the League said that 
if that program was resumed, the two-person criteria would 
invite applications from parties that are not clubs, such as 
two or three licensees simply wanting an alternative call 
sign.
     The FCC at that time declined to change the criteria, 
since new club licenses were not being issued.
     The League said that the two-person criterion is 
insufficient to distinguish bona fide clubs -- which should 
be encouraged and provided the identity of a separate 
license and call sign -- from two or three individuals who 
do not function as a normal Amateur Radio club.
     The League said, by way of example, that of 1,957 
Amateur Radio clubs that are ARRL-affiliated, only 10 have 
fewer than four members.
     Until 1976, the FCC required an application for a club 
station license to file copies of the club's constitution 
and bylaws, which helped ensure that the club was bona fide.  
     The FCC has not issued club station licenses since 
1979.

LEAGUE'S CALL SIGN COMMENTS MIRROR PANEL'S RECOMMENDATIONS

     The ARRL has filed comments on the FCC's proposal, in 
PR Docket 93-305, to establish a "vanity" call sign program 
for amateurs, consistent with the recommendations of its ad 
hoc committee on the subject, as reported in the April 13 
The ARRL Letter.
     The League emphasized that an orderly assignment system 
is vital to ensuring as much fairness as possible in the 
issuing of such call signs, and to that end proposed a 
series of four steps, or "gates" (as described in the 
previous issue), under which applications would be accepted. 
Once each gate opens, it would never close.
     The ARRL said that a one-time application fee for a 
vanity call sign was preferred to an annual fee, since the 
processing takes place only once, and that an "up-front" fee 
would discourage frivolous, frequent requests for new call 
signs.
     The League's comments also asked that those seeking a 
call sign formerly held, or the call sign of a deceased 
family member, not be bound by another recommendation -- 
that call signs be issued only in the call area where the 
licensee lives.
     The League also recommended that call signs of "well-
known and highly regarded" amateurs in general not be 
"retired," since there was no fair way to determine where to 
draw the line, and any list of retired call signs was bound 
to become unreasonably large. Two possible ways in which a 
call sign might in essence be "retired" would be its 
issuance, upon application, to a club or to a direct family 
member.
     Details will appear in June QST.

W6KG-ARRL FUND AIMED TO FOSTER GOOD WILL

     When Lloyd Colvin, W6KG, died last December, the League 
became the beneficiary of the proceeds of a life insurance 
policy on Mr. Colvin. The proceeds, more than $150,000, will 
now fund an endowment, the income from which will be used to 
further the strengthening of international friendship 
through DXing.
     ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, said 
"During his lifetime, W6KG made great personal contributions 
to international friendship through Amateur Radio in his 
visits to more than 150 countries with his wife Iris Colvin, 
W6QL. Through the Colvin Award, the League will proudly 
continue those contributions."
     Announcement of the Colvin Fund was made at the 
International DX Convention in Visalia, California, on April 
16. Details of the administration of the endowment have not 
yet been worked out.

HAMVENTION FORUM TO FEATURE HAM-ASTRONAUTS W0ORE, N5RAW

     A space forum at the Dayton HamVention will feature two 
NASA shuttle astronaut-hams, Tony England, W0ORE, and Steve 
Nagel, N5RAW. The forum will commemorate 10 years of Amateur 
Radio aboard the shuttles, which began with the flight of 
Owen Garriott, W5LFL, in November 1983.
     Tony England flew on the second ham radio mission, in 
1985, while Steve Nagel, a veteran of several shuttle 
flights, most recently commanded shuttle flight STS-55, in 
1993. The two will describe their Amateur Radio experiences 
from space and answer questions.
     Also at the forum will be members of the ARRL SAREX 
Working Group, including ARRL Educational Activities Manager 
Rosalie White, WA1STO, and Roy Neal, K6DUE, a principal 
coordinator of the shuttle Amateur Radio project.
     The forum is scheduled for 1 PM on Saturday, April 30, 
in Forum Room 5 at Hara Arena.

NEW COMMUNICATIONS PACT LINKS ARRL VOLUNTEERS, 
AMERICAN RED CROSS 

     On April 1, 1994, the ARRL and the American National 
Red Cross signed a new Statement of Understanding, to lay 
out how Amateur Radio volunteers -- including members of the 
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the ARRL National 
Traffic System (NTS) -- can assist the Red Cross in disaster 
communication.
     The League and the Red Cross have had such agreements 
since 1940; the new agreement replaces one in effect since 
1974, and defines "disasters," acknowledges the Red Cross's 
recognition of the volunteer ARRL field organization for its 
"emergency communications readiness." acknowledges the 
ARRL's recognition of the Red Cross, and specifies the ways 
in which the two organizations will cooperate.
     According to ARRL Field Services Manager Rick Palm, 
K1CE, the new agreement differs from earlier agreements in 
two major ways. It promotes closer working relationships 
between ARRL ARES and NTS volunteers and the Red Cross on 
the local level, and it calls for the development of 
specific guidelines for the handling of health-and-welfare 
traffic and inquiries during and after disasters.
     The agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., by ARRL 
President George S. Wilson III, W4OYI, and American Red 
Cross Senior Vice President William H. Reno.

FCC VIEWS ARRL-VEC FIGURES
   
     The ARRL has responded to an FCC request for 
information about the ARRL-VEC's reimbursement fees. The FCC 
made the request of several VECs late last year and the 
League provided the information when an independent 
accounting firm had completed its yearly audit of the 
League's finances in March.
     As reported to the FCC, the ARRL-VEC finished 1993 with 
expenses of $184,821 above and beyond those offset by 
examination fees collected. This amount is far greater than 
the amount of revenue the ARRL-VEC does not receive as the 
result of its policy not to charge for Examination Elements 
1(A) or 2 (the two portions of the Novice examination, Morse 
code and written).

TWO COUNTRIES NEAR DELETION; PRATIS BACK ON DXAC AGENDA

     The ARRL DX Advisory Committee has unanimously 
recommended that two DXCC countries be deleted: Walvis Bay, 
ZS9, and Penguin Islands, ZS0 and ZS1. The DXAC concluded 
that following their turnover to Namibia by South Africa, 
these island groups no longer met the DXCC criteria for 
country status. The recommendation has been sent to the ARRL 
Awards Committee, with a suggested effective date of March 
1, 1994.
     The DXAC voted down (13 to 2, with one abstention) a 
proposal to add additional single band awards to the DXCC 
program, and also, by 15 to 1 rejected a proposal to add a 
10-Meter DXCC Honor Roll.
     Finally, on the matter of Pratas Island, correspondence 
with Dr. Bolon Lin, BV5AF, of the Chinese Taipei Amateur 
Radio League, continues, but a vote on DXCC country status 
for Pratas has not yet been scheduled. 
     
US, RUSSIAN SPACE AMATEURS LINK ON 2-METER BAND

     On April 13, Amateur Radio linked the Russian space 
station Mir with the orbiting US space shuttle Endeavour.
     By two meters, Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, 
U3MIR, contacted Rita Iaquinto, VK3CFI, in Melbourne, 
Australia, while Astronaut Jay Apt, N5QWL, hooked up with 
Graham Ratcliff, VK5AGR, in Adelaide. 
     The Australians then used a telephone link to connect 
the two spacecraft as both passed over Australia, at 5:36 PM 
Australia time.
     The shuttle-Mir contact was arranged by the Shuttle 
Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX). The SAREX payload has 
flown on 12 previous shuttle flights, providing school 
children, ham operators and astronaut families with the 
unique opportunity to speak with shuttle astronauts by ham 
radio.  
     Polyakov ended his communication by wishing Apt, and 
the entire crew aboard Endeavour, a safe return home. The 
shuttle landed safely on Wednesday, April 20, in California, 
two days late because of bad weather.

ARRL meets teachers at two science conventions Events expose 
thousands to Amateur Radio

     Again this year, the ARRL Educational Activities 
Department hosted a booth at the International Technology 
Education Association Conference, held March 22 and 23 in 
Kansas City, Missouri. 2,600 attended and had the 
opportunity to be exposed to the possible uses of Amateur 
Radio in the classroom. More than 400 educators asked for 
more information on becoming licensed and on how to 
integrate ham radio -- including the Shuttle Amateur Radio 
Experiment (SAREX) -- into their curricula.
     The ARRL was represented by Midwest Division Director 
Lew Gordon, K4VX, his wife Terry Gordon, NS0Z (a retired 
school teacher), and EAD staffer Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R.
     A special visitor to the ARRL booth was astronaut Story 
Musgrave, a veteran of five spaceflights, including the 
recent Hubble Telescope repair mission. His special interest 
in technology education drew him to this year's event, 
Inderbitzen said.
     Amateur Radio educator Gil Huggins, KD4HDW, of Seneca, 
South Carolina, spoke about the NASA NEWMAST program, a two-
week summer workshop for middle and high school math, 
science and technology teachers. Huggins is himself a 
NEWMAST alumnus, and his school was recently chosen to 
participate in SAREX activities for an upcoming shuttle 
flight in July.
     Inderbitzen's next stop was at the National Science 
Teachers Association (NSTA) National Convention held March 
30 to April 2 in Anaheim, California.
     Called the world's largest gathering of science 
educators, this year's NSTA convention drew 15,199 people; 
NSTA has 47,784 members. Each year, NASA invites ARRL to 
exhibit with their Aerospace Education Services specialists 
at the convention. ARRL's booth was nestled near exhibits of 
the Hubble Space Telescope, Mission to Mars, and other NASA 
education programs.  
     Other amateurs attending, in addition to Inderbitzen, 
included Bob Maurais, KC1IV (1992 ARRL Professional Teacher 
of the Year), and EAD staffer Tracy Bedlack, N1QDO.
     Among those visiting the ARRL booth were Frank 
Forrester, KI6YG, and NASA Teacher-in-Space designee Barbara 
Morgan; both are educators from schools that have 
participated in SAREX.  
     Among those helping ARRL staff at the booth were 
Southwest Division Vice Director Art Goddard, W6XD, and 
Southwest Division Director Fried Heyn, WA6WZO, and his wife 
Sandi, WA6WZN (Orange Section Affiliated Club Coordinator).                          

UKRAINE JOINS IARU

     The Ukrainian Amateur Radio League is the newest member 
society of the International Amateur Radio Union.  President 
of the UARL and its IARU liaison is Nickolai Gostry, UT5UT; 
secretary is George A. Chlijanc, UY5XE.
     The Union of Radio Amateurs of Russia (SRR) has applied 
for IARU membership.
     The address for the UARL QSL bureau is PO Box 56, Kiev 
252001 Ukraine. 
     The IARU now has 140 societies.

10 years ago in The ARRL Letter

     The big news continues to be the fledgling volunteer 
examiner program, with the ARRL pressing the FCC to allow 
reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses by both volunteer 
examiners and volunteer examiner coordinators. The League 
says that the rules changes it proposed simply reflect 
Congressional mandates of the FCC Authorization Act of 1983, 
and that reimbursement is crucial to the long-term health of 
any volunteer program. 
     The ARRL continues to hold back its own application to 
be a volunteer examiner coordinator, until the matter is 
settled.
     Top Band is the subject of petitions to the FCC; they 
seek CW-only subbands in addition to removal of power 
restrictions (which already had been done). The FCC 
dismisses the petitions.
     Hams are active in the wake of tornadoes in 
Mississippi, assisting Civil Defense and the National 
Weather Service, three San Diego amateurs are ordered to 
show cause why their licenses should not be revoked in 
connection with interference to local repeaters, the CBS 
Evening News shows a man listening to a cordless telephone 
conversation on an amateur HF transceiver, and ARRL 
President Larry Price, W4RA, and International Affairs Vice 
President Dick Baldwin, W1RU, return from a "very worthwhile 
trip" to an IARU Region 1 conference in Sicily.

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