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CQ Newsroom

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License Fees Likely on Hold Until 2022

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 03:10 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/license-fees-likely-on-hold-until-2022.html



The $35 fee for new and upgraded amateur radio license applications that
the FCC announced earlier this year likely will not take effect until early next year. According to the ARRL, FCC staff recently told a meeting of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs) that work still needs to be done to prepare the Universal Licensing System to process fee collection from hams,
and that it probably will not be ready to go live until early 2022.

The $35 fee will apply to all applications for new or modified licenses
(such as upgrades or changes in non-vanity calls), as well as renewals and vanity call applications. This will apply to both individual and club
licenses. There will be no fee charged for administrative updates, which include changes of name, mailing address or e-mail address, or
cancellation. Once the system is functional, the League says, the new fees
will not be collected by Volunteer Examiner (VE) teams, although they will still collect current exam fees. Once a license application subject to the
fees reaches the FCC, the Commission will email the licensee/candidate a
link through which the fee may be paid via the FCC Pay Fees system. The applicant will then have ten days in which to make the payment. Once the payment is received and the application is processed, the FCC will e-mail
the applicant a second link which will provide access for 30 days to view, download or print their official license. After the 30-day period, hams
will be able to access their license documents (as they can now) by logging into their FCC ULS account.

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ARRL to Cover License Fees for Young Hams

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 03:07 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/arrl-to-cover-license-fees-for-young.html



License applicants under age 18 who take their exams with a VE team
associated with the ARRL VEC will have their $35 FCC application fee
covered (once) by the ARRL, under a new program approved by the League's
board of directors.

The ARRL Letter reports that the "Youth Licensing Grant Program" will cover
the FCC fee for anyone under 18 who passes one or more license exams at a single test session. Young applicants will also pay a reduced exam session
fee of $5. This would apply only to candidates whose exams are coordinated
by ARRL-VEC, which will pay the license fees directly to the FCC. The
League anticipates initially covering up to 1000 young applicants.

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KT5KMF, KD3Z, Win Accolades

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:52 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/kt5kmf-kd3z-win-accolades.html

Two young amateurs have been honored for their accomplishments by two
different organizations. Katherine Forson, KT5KMF, of Plano, Texas is this year's ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Award winner. This award is given to a young
ARRL member "whose contributions to both amateur radio and her local
community embody the ideals of the Amateur Radio Service," according to the ARRL Letter. Forson, a high school senior, has been licensed since age 9
and currently holds an Extra Class license. She is the ARRL's North Texas Section Youth Coordinator as well as a trained Skywarn spotter and RACES member. Forson told Newsline that her interest in ham radio has helped her decide on a career path in meteorology. She hopes to enroll in Texas A&M University's geosciences program after finishing high school. Faith Hannah
Lea, KD3Z
(CQ archive photo)

In addition, 2021 Newsline Young Ham of the Year Faith Hannah Lea, KD3Z,
has won first place in the Intrepid DX Group's first annual "Youth Dream
Rig" essay contest. Her essay was selected from more than 60 submissions
from all over the world, according to the group. Second place winner was Charlie Meadows, N4VTI, and third place went to Patrick Gawthrop, W9GGG.
All three will be presented with various station components as well as gift cards to ham radio dealers. To learn more about Faith Hannah, see our News Bytes column on page 7 of the September issue of CQ.

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Staff Shakeup at ARRL

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:48 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/staff-shakeup-at-arrl.html


A major staff shakeup is apparently under way at ARRL headquarters. The September 2 issue of the ARRL Letter included what was essentially a help-wanted notice, seeking candidates for several high-level positions, including Membership Manager, Public Relations and Outreach Manager,
Director of Emergency Management and Director of Information Technology.

In addition, the League has openings for an Acquisitions Editor, Assistant Marketing Manager, Lab Engineer-EMC/RFI Specialist and Social Media
Strategist. No explanation was given for the large number of departures
from the ARRL staff.
Anyone interested in applying for one of these positions may look at the
job descriptions at <http://www.arrl.org/employment-opportunities> or
contact the League's human resources department at <hr@arrl.org>.

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FCC Grants 60-Day Waiver to HF Data Rate Rules for Hurricane Relief
Traffic

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:45 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/fcc-grants-60-day-waiver-to-hf-data.html



Amateurs participating in hurricane relief communications between August 30
and October 29 may use HF digital modes at speeds faster than normally
allowed under FCC rules.

The ARRL Letter reports that the FCC has granted a 60-day waiver to the
usual data rate limits of 300 baud for frequencies below 28 MHz (except 60 meters) and 1200 baud on the 10-meter band in order to permit more
efficient transmission of hurricane-related traffic. The waiver applies
only to those amateurs in FCC-regulated areas who are directly involved in hurricane relief communications.

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Hams Help Coordinate Animal Rescues in California

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:41 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/hams-help-coordinate-animal-rescues-in.html



California's huge Caldor fire resulted in thousands of evacuations from
dozens of rural communities but many people were unable to take large
animals and livestock with them. Two animal welfare groups in the area have been conducting animal rescues and welfare checks, and the ARRL Letter
reports that members of the El Dorado County Amateur Radio Club have been providing the groups with communication support, especially in areas with little or no cellphone service.

Establishing a net control station in the group's Mobile ARES Communication Center, hams were dispatched with each animal rescue team in impacted
areas. The groups are providing food, water and care to animals until their human families can return.

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W2NAF Receives NASA Research Grant

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:39 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/w2naf-receives-nasa-research-grant.html


Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF
(CQ archive photo)
NASA has awarded a grant of nearly a half million dollars to Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, to study methods of predicting traveling ionospheric disturbances, or TIDs, using data from HF amateur signals collected by the Reverse Beacon Network, WSPR and PSKReporter.
According to the ARRL Letter, Frissell, a professor at the University of Scranton, the founder of HamSCI - (Ham Radio Science Citizen
Investigation) and a former Dayton Amateur of the Year, will be the
principal investigator on the two-year project and will collaborate with
Phil Erickson, W1PJE, of the Haystack Observatory at MIT, and the
University of Alabama's Bill Engelke, AB4EJ.
Frissell says the grant includes funding for undergraduates at Scranton to
help the faculty researchers create algorithms for developing empirical TID models. This grant complements a five-year National Science Foundation
grant Frissell received last year to study the source of TIDs.

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Solar Storms Could Threaten Global Internet Infrastructure

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:19 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/solar-storms-could-threaten-global.html



Could a coronal mass ejection like this one disrupt
internet infrastructurse here on Earth? One
researcher in California says yes.
(NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory photo)
A researcher in California is warning of a possible 21st-century repeat of
the 1859 "Carrington Event," in which a huge solar storm disrupted
telegraph communications around the world.
Newsline reports that Professor Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi of the University of California at Irvine presented a paper in August at a meeting of the Association for Computer Machinery in which she suggests that severe solar storms could compromise the internet's version of repeaters in undersea
cables that link networks on different continents. She warns that it is possible that some countries' internet systems could be cut off from the
rest of the world for weeks at a time if such an event would occur … and
she reported that astrophysicists predict the chances of that happening
within the next decade are as high as 12%.

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Several Ham Satellites Lost in Launch Failure

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:15 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/several-ham-satellites-lost-in-launch.html


Liftoff of the Firefly Alpha rocket on its first
test flight, which ended seconds later when an
anomaly occurred at the point of maximum
aerodynamic pressure. (Firefly Aerospace photo)
Several satellites carrying amateur radio payloads were lost just after
launch when controllers destroyed a Firefly-Alpha rocket after it
experienced "an anomaly" as it reached the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure following liftoff.
Most notable among the lost satellites, according to the ARRL Letter, were
two built by the Spanish amateur satellite organization, AMSAT-EA. The GENESIS-L and GENESIS-N satellites were the first built entirely by
AMSAT-EA. They had been intended to conduct a series of experiments,
including measurement of Doppler variations to help in tracking future satellites as they reached orbit. This was the first test launch for the
Alpha rocket, built by Firefly Aerospace, a private launch company headquartered in Austin, Texas, that is focused on providing economically-priced transport of small and medium-sized satellites to low
Earth and Sun-synchronous orbits.

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A Mix of In-Person and Virtual Events

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:10 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-mix-of-in-person-and-virtual-events.html


The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact amateur radio gatherings.
The Huntsville Hamfest in August was the first major hamfest to be held in-person since early 2020. Organizers report that attendance was down 20% compared with 2019 and that several vendors pulled out at the last minute
due to the spread of the Delta variant, but said they were pleased with the overall results.

Meanwhile, both the TAPR/ARRL Digital Communications Conference (September 17-18) and the AMSAT 2021 Symposium and Annual Meeting (October 29-31) were shifted from in-person to virtual events due to ongoing concerns about
travel and group gatherings.


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Hikin' and Hammin'

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 02:06 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/hikin-and-hammin.html


The route of the Appalachian Trail
(from atontheair.com)

If you're an "OTA" fan, mark your calendar for the Appalachian Trail On The
Air event on Saturday, October 2, from 1200-2100 UTC. Hams with portable stations will be activating various points along the 2,190-mile trail,
which stretches from Georgia to Maine, according to a report on Newsline.
Since the trail generally follows the ridgeline of the Appalachian
Mountains and many of its segments are in national or state parks, many of
the activations will also count toward Summits on the Air (SOTA) and/or
Parks on the Air (POTA) award programs. For more information or to register
to be an activator, visit <https://atontheair.com/> or e-mail <ATontheair@gmail.com>.

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Is MEM in Ham Radio's Future?

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 01:59 PM PDT http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2021/09/is-mem-in-ham-radios-future.html


Artist's conception of the NASA Gateway station
in lunar orbit (NASA image)

That would be Moon-Earth-Moon. If you're old enough to remember the film version of "2001: A Space Odyssey," you'll probably remember that the movie opened in a transfer station orbiting the moon. Well, that is exactly what
NASA and other space agencies are planning with the Gateway Project, a lunar-orbiting jumping off point for trips to the moon and to deep space.
And, according to Newsline, a group of hams is working to make sure that amateur radio is aboard as well.
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, Chairman of ARISS International (which coordinates
amateur radio activity on the International Space Station), is also
co-leader of a separate group called AREx, or the Amateur Radio Exploration Team. AREx is working with NASA to secure a place for amateur radio aboard
the Gateway station, whose initial modules are scheduled for launch next
year. Those first modules will carry equipment that is essential to life in lunar orbit, but it is hoped that a ham station can be included on future modules that have a good Earth view and a good supply of solar energy for power. The goal is to make a ham station available for communication
between Gateway and hams back on Earth.

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