DELARANEWS

Ham Radio News

…because we don’t live in a vacuum

ARRL Urges Members to Join in

Strongly Opposing FCC's

Application Fees Proposal

ARRL will file comments in firm opposition to an FCC proposal to impose a $50 fee on amateur radio license and application fees. With the November 16 comment deadline fast approaching, ARRL urges members to add their voices to ARRL's by filing opposition comments of their own. The FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) MD Docket 20-270 appeared in the October 15 edition of The Federal Register and sets deadlines of November 16 to comment and November 30 to post reply comments, which are comments on comments already filed. ARRL has prepared a Guide to Filing Comments with the FCC which includes tips for preparing comments and step-by-step filing instructions. File comments on MD Docket 20-270 using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). "We encourage all members to use the ARRL Guide to file comments opposing the imposition of the proposed $50 application fee," ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, said. "Let's highlight amateur radio's long history of public service." Under the proposal, amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio application for new licenses, license renewals, upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. The FCC has also proposed a $50 fee to obtain a printed copy of a license. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees. Amateur Service licensees have been exempt from application fees for several years. The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the "Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act" of 2018 -- the so-called "Ray Baum's Act." The Act requires that the FCC switch from a congressionally-mandated fee structure to a cost-based system of assessment. The FCC NPRM proposes application fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC's Universal Licensing System (ULS), including the Amateur Radio Service. The 2018 statute excludes the Amateur Service from annual regulatory fees, but not from application fees. The proposal affects all FCC services and does not single out amateur radio. As the FCC explained in its NPRM, Congress, through the Ray Baum's Act, is compelling regulatory agencies such as the FCC to recover from applicants the costs involved in filing and handling applications. -ARRL Letter

Serial Port Nirvana

Tired of port contention? Interested in multiple users being able to access multiple devices? Joe, K8MP, refers us to this: The Serial Port Server!

ON4UN SK

A giant in the field of low-band DXing and contesting, John Devoldere, ON4UN/AA4OI, of Merelbeke, Belgium, died on November 9. An ARRL Life member, he was 79 and had been in failing health. In addition to his enthusiasm for operating, Devoldere may be best known as the author of the popular book ON4UN’s Low-Band DXing, published by ARRL, as well as other books, including Ethics and Operating Procedures for the Radio Amateur, which he co-authored with Mark Demeuleneere, ON4WW. The book is hosted on the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 website. The Royal Union of Belgian Radio Amateurs (UBA) President Claude van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, ON7TK, said Devoldere was “a radio amateur in heart and soul” who will always be remembered. “We are grateful for his contribution to [amateur radio] and for his efforts within the UBA,” he said. He was a member of the HF Committee from 1983 to 2016. In 1994, he became Provincial President of East Flanders. Two years later, he joined the national board of the UBA, and from 1998 to 2007 he became chairman and was at the basis of many reforms within the UBA. Devoldere retired in 2016. According to his QRZ.com profile, he became interested in radio at the age of 11 and built his first single-tube transmitter the following year. His uncle, ON4GV, got him interested in amateur radio. Devoldere was licensed in 1961, at the age of 20. He built much of his station gear and got into contesting, winning the UBA CW Contest in 1962. At about the same time, he got interested in low-band operating. He worked 364 DXCC entities on 80 meters, lacking only North Korea. Belgium didn’t gain access to160 meters until 1987, and a few years later erected a full-size quarter-wave vertical for top band (160 meters). By 2018, he had 325 DXCC entities on 160 meters. He authored the 80-Meter DX Handbook for Ham Radio magazine. ARRL approached him about writing a book on low-band operating, and the first edition of Low-Band DXing came out in 1987, and updated editions followed. -ARRL Letter
DELARANews

Ham Radio News

…because we don’t live in a vacuum

ARRL Urges Members to Join in

Strongly Opposing FCC's

Application Fees Proposal

ARRL will file comments in firm opposition to an FCC proposal to impose a $50 fee on amateur radio license and application fees. With the November 16 comment deadline fast approaching, ARRL urges members to add their voices to ARRL's by filing opposition comments of their own. The FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) MD Docket 20-270 appeared in the October 15 edition of The Federal Register and sets deadlines of November 16 to comment and November 30 to post reply comments, which are comments on comments already filed. ARRL has prepared a Guide to Filing Comments with the FCC which includes tips for preparing comments and step-by-step filing instructions. File comments on MD Docket 20-270 using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). "We encourage all members to use the ARRL Guide to file comments opposing the imposition of the proposed $50 application fee," ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, said. "Let's highlight amateur radio's long history of public service." Under the proposal, amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio application for new licenses, license renewals, upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. The FCC has also proposed a $50 fee to obtain a printed copy of a license. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees. Amateur Service licensees have been exempt from application fees for several years. The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the "Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act" of 2018 -- the so-called "Ray Baum's Act." The Act requires that the FCC switch from a congressionally-mandated fee structure to a cost-based system of assessment. The FCC NPRM proposes application fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC's Universal Licensing System (ULS), including the Amateur Radio Service. The 2018 statute excludes the Amateur Service from annual regulatory fees, but not from application fees. The proposal affects all FCC services and does not single out amateur radio. As the FCC explained in its NPRM, Congress, through the Ray Baum's Act, is compelling regulatory agencies such as the FCC to recover from applicants the costs involved in filing and handling applications. -ARRL Letter