From ARRL:

H.R. 555 was passed with universal support. Now goes on to the US Senate.

SB QST ARL ARLB005
ARLB005 New “Amateur Radio Parity Act” Bill Introduced in US House
of Representatives

H.R. 555 – a new “Amateur Radio Parity Act” bill – has been
introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill’s language
is identical to that of the 2015 measure, H.R. 1301, which passed in
the House late last summer but failed in the waning days of the US
Senate to gain the necessary support. As with H.R. 1301, the new
measure introduced on January 13 in the 115th Congress was sponsored
by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), with initial co-sponsorship by Rep.
Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Rep. Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR). Walden now
chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, to which the new
bill has been referred. H.R. 555 will get an initial airing in the
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. When H.R. 1301 came
up in committee, Walden spoke forcefully in favor of the measure,
which ultimately attracted 126 House cosponsors.

Information on H.R. 555 can be found on the web at, https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/555?r=27 .

“Rep. Kinzinger has again stepped forward to introduce this
important legislation,” said ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF.
“Kinzinger’s commitment stems from exposure to what the Amateur
Radio community brings to the service of all communities. The ARRL
and radio amateurs nationwide owe Rep. Kinzinger a resounding ‘Thank
You!’ for his efforts on their behalf.”

H.R. 555 calls on the FCC to establish rules prohibiting the
application of deed restrictions that preclude Amateur Radio
communications on their face or as applied. Deed restrictions would
have to impose the minimum practicable restriction on Amateur Radio
communications to accomplish the lawful purposes of homeowners
association seeking to enforce the restriction.

The ARRL Board of Directors is expected to discuss the pending
legislation when it meets January 20-21.

SEE UPDATE:

From ARRL:

SB QST ARL ARLB004
ARLB004 ARRL Asks FCC to Allocate New 5 MHz Band, Retain Channels
and Current Power Limit

ARRL has asked the FCC to allocate a new, secondary contiguous band
at 5 MHz to the Amateur Service, while also retaining four of the
current five 60-meter channels and current operating rules,
including the 100 W PEP effective radiated power (ERP) limit. The
federal government is the primary user of the 5 MHz spectrum. The
proposed action would implement a portion of the Final Acts of World
Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) that provided for a
secondary international allocation of 5,351.5 to 5,366.5 kHz to the
Amateur Service; that band includes 5,358.5 KHz, one of the existing
5 MHz channels in the US.

“Such implementation will allow radio amateurs engaged in emergency
and disaster relief communications, and especially those between the
United States and the Caribbean basin, to more reliably, more
flexibly and more capably conduct those communications [and
preparedness exercises], before the next hurricane season in the
summer of 2017,” ARRL said in a January 12 Petition for Rule Making.
The FCC has not yet acted to implement other portions of the WRC-15
Final Acts.

The Petition for Rule Making can be found on the web in PDF format
at, http://www.arrl.org/attachments/view/News/87580 .

The League said that 14 years of Amateur Radio experience using the
five discrete 5-MHz channels have shown that hams can get along well
with primary users at 5 MHz, while complying with the regulations
established for their use. “Neither ARRL, nor, apparently, NTIA is
aware of a single reported instance of interference to a federal
user by a radio amateur operating at 5 MHz to date,” ARRL said in
its petition. NTIA – the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, which regulates federal spectrum – initially
proposed the five channels for Amateur Radio use. In recent years,
Amateur Radio has cooperated with federal users such as FEMA in
conducting communication interoperability exercises.

“While the Amateur Radio community is grateful to the Commission and
to NTIA for the accommodation over the past 14 years of some access
to the 5-MHz band, the five channels are, simply stated, completely
inadequate to accommodate the emergency preparedness needs of the
Amateur Service in this HF frequency range,” ARRL said, adding that
the five 2.8-kHz wide channels “have not provided sufficient
capacity to enable competent emergency preparedness and disaster
relief capability.”

Access even to the tiny 15-kHz wide band adopted at WRC-15 would
“radically improve the current, very limited capacity of the Amateur
Service in the United States to address emergencies and disaster
relief,” ARRL said. “This is most notably true in the Caribbean
Basin, but the same effect will be realized elsewhere as well, at
all times of the day and night, and at all times of the sunspot
cycle.”

In its Petition, ARRL also called upon the FCC to retain the same
service rules now governing the five channels for the new band. The
WRC-15 Final Acts stipulated a power limit of 15 W effective
isotropic radiated power (EIRP), which the League said “completely
defeats the entire premise for the allocation in the first place.”

“For precisely the same reasons that the Commission consented to a
power increase on the five channels as recently as 2011 [from 50 W
PEP ERP to 100 W PEP ERP], the Commission should permit a power
level of 100 W PEP ERP, assuming use of a 0 dBd gain antenna, in the
contiguous 60-meter band,” ARRL said. “To impose the power limit
adopted at WRC-15 for the contiguous band would render the band
unsuitable for emergency and public service communications.”

ARRL pointed out that the ITU Radio Regulations permit assignments
that are at variance with the International Table of Allocations,
provided a non-interference condition is attached, limiting the use
of such an assignment relative to stations operating in accordance
with the Table.

The League asked that General class or higher licensees be permitted
to use the band. The FCC will not invite comments on the League’s
Petition until it puts it on public notice and assigns a Rule Making
(RM) number.

From ARRL:

ZCZC AG03
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 3  ARLB003
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  January 12, 2017
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB003
ARLB003 Illegal Drone Transmitters Could Interfere with Air Traffic
Control, ARRL Complaint Asserts

In what it calls an “extremely urgent complaint” to the FCC, ARRL
has targeted the interference potential of a series of audio/video
transmitters used on unmanned aircraft and marketed as Amateur Radio
equipment. In a January 10 letter to the FCC Spectrum Enforcement
Division, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, said the
transmitters use frequencies intended for navigational aids, air
traffic control radar, air route surveillance radars, and global
positioning systems.

“This is, in ARRL’s view, a potentially very serious interference
problem, and it is respectfully requested that the products
referenced…be investigated and removed from the marketplace
immediately and that the importers be subjected to normal
sanctions,” ARRL’s letter said. Some of the transmitters operate on
frequencies between 1010 and 1280 MHz. “These video transmitters are
being marketed ostensibly as Amateur Radio equipment,” the League
said, “but of the listed frequencies on which the devices operate,
only one, 1280 MHz, would be within the Amateur Radio allocation at
1240-1300 MHz.” Even then, ARRL said, operation there would conflict
with a channel used for radio location.

ARRL said the use of 1040 and 1080 MHz, which would directly
conflict with air traffic control transponder frequencies,
represented the greatest threat to the safety of flight. The use of
1010 MHz, employed for aeronautical guidance, could also be
problematic.

ARRL cited the Lawmate transmitter and companion 6 W amplifier as
examples of problematic devices being marketed in the US. Each costs
less than $100 via the Internet. The device carries no FCC
identification number.

“[T]he target market for these devices is the drone hobbyist, not
licensed radio amateurs. The device, due to the channel
configuration, has no valid Amateur Radio application,” ARRL told
the FCC. “While these transmitters are marked as appropriate for
amateur use, they cannot be used legally for Amateur Radio
communications.” In the hands of unlicensed individuals, the
transmitters could also cause interference to Amateur Radio
communication in the 1.2 GHz band, ARRL contended.

The League said it’s obvious that the devices at issue lack proper
FCC equipment authorization under FCC Part 15 rules, which require
such low-power intentional radiators to be certified.

“Of most concern is the capability of the devices to cripple the
operation of the [air traffic control] secondary target/transponder
systems,” ARRL said. “These illegal transmitters represent a
significant hazard to public safety in general and the safety of
flight specifically.”

The surge in sales of drones has been dramatic. The FAA has
predicted that combined commercial and hobby sales will increase
from 2.5 million in 2016 to 7 million by 2020.

In Exhibit A of the January 10 letter, “Illegal Drones Threaten
Public Safety,” the League noted that some of the drones and
associated equipment it has come across “are blatantly illegal at
multiple levels,” with some drone TV transmitters described as
“particularly alarming.”

“Rated at 6 times over the legal power limit, and on critical air
navigation transponder frequencies, these devices represent a real
and dangerous threat to the safety of flight, especially when
operated from a drone platform that can be hundreds of feet in the
air,” the exhibit narrative asserted.

From ARRL:
SB QST ARL ARLB002
ARLB002 FCC Dismisses Two Petitions from Radio Amateurs

The FCC has turned down two petitions filed in 2016, each seeking
similar changes in the Part 97 Amateur Service rules. James Edwin
Whedbee, N0ECN, of Gladstone, Missouri, had asked the Commission to
amend the rules to reduce the number of Amateur Radio operator
classes to Technician, General, and Amateur Extra by merging
remaining Novice class licensees into the Technician class and all
Advanced class licensees into the Amateur Extra class. In a somewhat
related petition, Jeffrey H. Siegell, WB2YRL, of Burke, Virginia,
had requested that the FCC grant Advanced class license holders
Morse code operating privileges equivalent to those enjoyed by
Amateur Extra class licensees.

“Thus, Mr. Siegell’s proposed rule change is subsumed within the
changes Mr. Whedbee requests, so our analysis is the same for both
proposals,” the FCC said in dismissing the two petitions on January
5.

The FCC streamlined the Amateur Radio licensing system into three
classes – Technician, General, and Amateur Extra – in 1999. While it
no longer issues new Novice or Advanced class licenses, existing
licenses can be renewed, and Novice and Advanced licensees retained
their operating privileges.

“The Commission concluded that the three-class structure would
streamline the licensing process, while still providing an incentive
for licensees to advance their communication and technical skills,”
the FCC recounted in its dismissal letter to Whedbee and Siegell. It
specifically rejected suggestions that Novice and Advanced class
licensees be automatically upgraded to a higher class, concluding
that it would be inappropriate for these licensees to “receive
additional privileges without passing the required examination
elements.” The FCC cited the same reason in 2005, when it denied
requests to automatically upgrade Technician licensees to General
class and Advanced licensees to Amateur Extra class, as part of a
wide-ranging proceeding.

The FCC said the two petitions “do not demonstrate, or even suggest,
that any relevant circumstances have changed that would merit
reconsideration of those decisions.”

Whedbee had argued that automatically upgrading current Novice and
Advanced classes would simplify the rules and reduce the
Commission’s costs and administrative burden, but the FCC said
Whedbee provided no evidence that an administrative problem exists.
“Moreover, such benefits would not outweigh the public interest in
ensuring that amateur operators have the requisite incentive to
advance their skill and technical knowledge in order to contribute
to the advancement of the radio art and improvement of the Amateur
Radio Service,” the FCC said.

“The Commission has already concluded that it will not automatically
grant additional privileges to the discontinued license classes,”
the FCC said. “Consequently, we conclude that the above-referenced
petitions for rulemaking do not warrant further consideration at
this time.”

From ARRL:

SB QST ARL ARLB045
ARLB045 FCC Denies Expert Linears’ Request for Waiver of 15 dB Rule,
Petition Pending

The FCC has denied a request by Expert Linears America LLC to waive
Part 97.317(a)(2) of the Amateur Service rules limiting amplifier
gain. Expert, of Magnolia, Texas, distributes linears manufactured
by SPE in Italy. Its waiver request, filed in June, would have
allowed Expert to import an amplifier capable of exceeding the
current 15 dB gain limitation as it awaits FCC action on its April
petition (RM-11767) to revise the same Amateur Service rules. That
petition remains pending. Expert has asserted that there should be
no gain limitation on amplifiers sold or used in the Amateur
Service. Most commenters supported Expert’s waiver request, but a
couple of commenters – including FlexRadio – demurred.

“In light of the conflicting comments regarding the desirability of
eliminating the 15 dB limitation, we conclude that waiving the
limitation at this stage of the rulemaking proceeding would
prejudice the rulemaking proceeding and prematurely dispose of
commenters’ concerns,” the FCC said in denying the waiver.
“Moreover, we agree with FlexRadio that granting Expert’s waiver
request while the rulemaking petition remains pending would provide
an unfair market advantage for one equipment model over other
manufacturers’ RF power amplifiers that would still be limited by
[the existing rules].”

The FCC said it would rather give full consideration to “the pending
issues” and apply the result of the rulemaking proceeding to all
Amateur Radio Service equipment. The Commission said rule waivers
“generally” are not warranted “merely to accommodate technical
parameters that are based solely on harmonization with the
manufacturer’s products available abroad.”

The FCC said a minority of those commenting on the waiver request
expressed concern that eliminating the 15 dB limitation would lead
to an overall increase in power levels, “including transmissions
that intentionally or unintentionally exceed the maximum power
limit.”

In its April rulemaking petition, Expert maintained that the 15 dB
gain limitation is an unneeded holdover from the days when
amplifiers were less efficient and the FCC was attempting to rein in
the use of Amateur Service amplifiers by Citizens Band operators.

Although the FCC had proposed in 2004 to delete the requirement that
amplifiers be designed to use a minimum of 50 W of drive power – and
subsequently did so – it did not further discuss the 15 dB limit in
the subsequent Report and Order in that proceeding.

Expert has pointed to its Model 1.3K FA amplifier as an example of a
linear “inherently capable of considerably more than 15 dB of
amplification,” which would make it a suitable match for low-power
transceivers now on the market.

The full Report and Order can be found on the web in PDF format at,
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-149A1.pdf .