San Antonio Hams

http://radioaficion.com/news/new-fcc-rules-that-impact-ham-radio/

I couldn’t copy an excerpt from this article, so I made a quick screenshot instead. Click the above link for the full article.

Some of the changes may impact certain popular models of the Baofeng HT radios. These radios can operate outside the Ham Radio bands and might not be type accepted for GMRS / FRS, etc..

It restricts the sale of combined FRS/GMRS radios. It drops the cost of a GMRS license from $85 to $65 / family and increases the license period from 5 years to 10 years.

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It was brought to my attention that a couple of local hams have been making up lies about a third ham, claiming that this 3rd ham operator was in trouble with the FCC over his operating procedures and sloppy repeater operations (repeaters not in compliance).

They even tried to get the American Red Cross and other repeater locations to ban Greg from those sites, and almost persuaded another repeater trustee to back out of a linked repeater (Yaseau Fusion) project.

So I reached out to the ham being accused of these behaviors or actions and asked for his side of the issue.

Greg Lewis, N5XO, has supplied me with copies of  two letters from the FCC disputing the claims of these other operators, plus three MP3 recordings from over the air, showing proof that these two hams have indeed been bad mouthing him and making unsubstantiated accusations over the air.

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05/22/2015 from ARRL

The FCC is eliminating the regulatory fee to apply for an Amateur Radio vanity call sign. The change will not go into effect, however, until required congressional notice has been given. This will take at least 90 days. As the Commission explained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Report and Order, and Order (MD Docket 14-92 and others), released May 21, it’s a matter of simple economics.

“The Commission spends more resources on processing the regulatory fees and issuing refunds than the amount of the regulatory fee payment,” the FCC said. “As our costs now exceed the regulatory fee, we are eliminating this regulatory fee category.” The current vanity call sign regulatory fee is $21.40, the highest in several years. The FCC reported there were 11,500 “payment units” in FY 2014 and estimated that it would collect nearly $246,100.

In its 2014 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding the assessment and collection of regulatory fees for FY 2014, the FCC had sought comment on eliminating several smaller regulatory fee categories, such as those for vanity call signs and GMRS. It concluded in the subsequent Report and Order (R&O) last summer, however, that it did not have “adequate support to determine whether the cost of recovery and burden on small entities outweighed the collected revenue or whether eliminating the fee would adversely affect the licensing process.

See full article at….

http://www.arrl.org/news/view/fcc-eliminates-amateur-radio-vanity-call-sign-regulatory-fee

Thomas O Caldwell
April 17th 2015
Amateur License: WD5GXH
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
San Antonio, Texas 78280

Mr. Caldwell,

Please consider this official notice that effective on this 17th Day of April 2015, you are hereby directed that you are not authorized for any purpose beyond an Actual Life or Death Emergency to use any of the Repeaters Owned or Operated by N5XO.

This includes but is not limited to the following Repeaters: 927.0750 / 443.025 / 147.120 / 145.350 and any future repeaters that I should bring on the air. Failure to heed to this notification will result in immediate notification to the F.C.C Enforcement Bureau.

You are in receipt of this notification due to your consistent behavior that is contrary to the Spirit of Amateur Radio, the direct personal abuse aimed at myself personally, as well as the members of our local Radio Group. I also personally believe that you are responsible for the placing of the Jamming transmitter in the creek bed behind my home, as well as guided John Watkins in his actions against me and my family. All actions are contrary to the good Amateur Practices and civilized behavior.

With this, it is my belief that permitting you to use my equipment would not be of benefit to the myself, the local Amateur Community or our Amateur Radio Group.

Gregory Lewis
Amateur License: N5XO

CC
Laura Smith of the F.C.C
Mark Stennant of the Texas VHF Society
Kim Molder, Converse P.D

Note: This letter was sent via registered USPS mail to the ham’s mailing address.  Address was marked out in the above letter.

Gary R Sheets
April 17th 2015
Amateur License: WD5FWP
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
San Antonio, Texas 78218

Mr. Sheets,

Please consider this official notice that effective on this 17th day of April 2015, you are hereby directed that you are not authorized for any purpose beyond an Actual Life or Death Emergency to use any of the Repeaters Owned or Operated by N5XO.

This includes, but is not limited to, the following Repeaters: 927.0750 / 443.025 / 147.120 / 145.350 and any future repeaters that I should bring on the air. Failure to heed to this notification will result in immediate notification to the F.C.C Enforcement Bureau.

You are in receipt of this notification due to your consistent behavior that is contrary to the Spirit of Amateur Radio, the direct personal abuse aimed at myself personally as well as the members of our local Radio Group. I also personally believe that you were involved in the placing of the Jamming  transmitter in the creek bed behind my home, as well as guided John Watkins in his actions against me and my family. All actions are contrary to the good Amateur Practices and civilized behavior.

With this, it is my belief that permitting you to use my equipment would not be of benefit to the myself, the local Amateur Community or our Amateur Radio Group.

Gregory Lewis
Amateur License: N5XO

CC
Laura Smith of the F.C.C
Mark Stennant of the Texas VHF Society
Kim Molder, Converse P.D

Note: This letter was sent via registered USPS mail to the ham’s mailing address.  Address was marked out in the above letter.

The FCC is requesting to raise the Amateur Service vanity call sign regulatory fee from its current $16.10 to $21.60 for the 10-year license term. The $5.50 increase would be the largest vanity fee hike in many years. The proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), “Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2014; Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2013; and Procedures for Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees,” which appeared in The Federal Register on July 3.

The FCC reported there were 11,500 “payment units” in FY 2014. The Commission said the vanity program generated $230,000 in FY 2013 revenue, and it estimated that it would collect nearly $248,000 in FY 2014.

Interested parties have 30 days to comment on the NPRM. Changes in the vanity call sign fee typically take effect in late August or early September

The rule proposal is RM-11708

Time is running out for comments on the ARRL proposal to modernize the FCC’s digital regulations.  The current rules date from the 1980’s before modern modulation schemes were available.  The end result is that we are limited in how fast we can send data by these rules.  Right now, the rest of the world (advanced technology societies such as Mexico, Haiti, and others) can use the latest digital techniques while we can’t.  The result is actually more bandwidth utilization due to slower speeds.

(http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/view?id=6017477458) and comments can be filed until December 21.  The proposal would not increase the frequencies used for digital communications and would not result in any degradation to existing operations.  It would increase the efficiency of spectrum utilization by allowing digital messages to be sent roughly twice as fast so they would be on the air half as long.  It would also allow continued development of newer techniques that could be even more efficient.  Without the rule change, US amateurs will be shackled with an obsolete regulation while the rest of the world moves ahead.

I encourage you to fill your own comments with the FCC.  You can do so on their web site with an express filing which only takes a few minutes.

Jim Russell, NQ5L
ARRL STX SEC

May 20, 2010 11:31:48 AM,
FCC-ConsumerNews@fcc.gov wrote:

Under a new FCC rule, anyone who uses a wireless microphone. or similar device, that operates in the 700 MHz Band will have to stop operating their wireless microphone, or similar device, no later than June 12, 2010.

To see if this law affects your wireless microphone, check our Manufacturers Equipment list at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/wirelessmicrophones/manufacturers.html.

 All users of 700 MHz Band wireless microphones and similar devices – including theaters, churches, schools, conference centers, theme parks, sports leagues, and musicians – will need to retune or replace, if necessary, their equipment no later than June 12, 2010. Wireless microphones that operate outside of the 700 MHz Band are not affected.

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The FCC Proposes to Allocate 20 MHz of Spectrum in 413-456 MHz Band For Implanted Neuromuscular Devices.

The FCC has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM – ET Docket 09-36) seeking comment on a proposal to allocate 20 MHz of spectrum in the 413-457 MHz band for use by wireless medical devices that could be implanted into the human body and used to restore sensation and mobility to paralyzed limbs and organs. The devices would act as a wireless medical micro-power network (MMN) within the patient. Among the conditions that could be treatable using MMNs include polio, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injuries.

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