FCC Frequency Allocations in Text Form

FCC frequency allocations in text form:

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/allocate.html

FCC Eliminates Morse Code Requirements

From Ted Fukushima:

Hello Folks,

Here is a little surprise from the FCC today.

It might be a Happy New Year for some hams!
Element 1 has been removed by the FCC for all license classes (5 WPM Morse Code).

Remember: all No-Code Techs will need to wait until late January before touching the microphone in the Technician Plus 10 Meters area. Usually, the new rules will go in effect 30 days after the release of the FCC order. The FCC could also make an order go into effect on release of the order. (At this time, only a press release has been issued. The official order is expected to be release soon. Therefore; the dates for the new rules are not clear.)

Below is a copy of the press release (found at http://www.fcc.gov)



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

December 15, 2006 Chelsea Fallon: (202) 418-7991

FCC MODIFIES AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE RULES,ELIMINATING MORSE CODE EXAM REQUIREMENTS AND ADDRESSING ARRL PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration (Order) that modifies the rules for the Amateur Radio Service by revising the examination requirements for obtaining a General Class or Amateur Extra Class amateur radio operator license and revising the operating privileges for Technician Class licensees. In addition, the Order resolves a petition filed by the American Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL) for partial reconsideration of an FCC Order on amateur service rules released on October 10, 2006.

The current amateur service operator license structure contains three classes of amateur radio operator licenses: Technician Class, General Class, and Amateur Extra Class. General Class and Amateur Extra Class licensees are permitted to operate in Amateur bands below 30 MHz, while the introductory Technician Class licensees are only permitted to operate in bands above 30 MHz. Prior to today’s action, the FCC, in accordance with international radio regulations, required applicants for General Class and Amateur Extra Class operator licenses to pass a five words-per-minute Morse code examination. Today’s Order eliminates that requirement for General and Amateur Extra licensees. This change reflects revisions to international radio regulations made at the International Telecommunication Union’s 2003 World Radio Conference (WRC-03), which authorized each country to determine whether to require that individuals demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an amateur radio license with transmitting privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz. This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current amateur radio operators from advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of amateur radio.

Today’s Order also revises the operating privileges for Technician Class licensees by eliminating a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician Class and Technician Plus Class licensees. Technician Class licensees are authorized operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30 MHz. The Technician Plus Class license, which is an operator license class that existed prior the FCC’s simplification of the amateur license structure in 1999 and was grandfathered after that time, authorized operating privileges on all amateur frequencies above 30 MHz, as well as frequency segments in four HF bands (below 30 MHz) after the successful completion of a Morse code examination. With today’s elimination of the Morse code exam requirements, the FCC concluded that the disparity between the operating privileges of Technician Class licensees and Technician Plus Class licensees should not be retained. Therefore, the FCC, in today’s action, afforded Technician and Technician Plus licensees identical operating privileges.

Finally, today’s Order resolved a petition filed by the ARRL for partial reconsideration of an FCC Order released on October 10, 2006 (FCC 06-149). In this Order, the FCC authorized amateur stations to transmit voice communications on additional frequencies in certain amateur service bands, including the 75 meter (m) band, which is authorized only for certain wideband voice and image communications. The ARRL argued that the 75 m band should not have been expanded below 3635 kHz, in order to protect automatically controlled digital stations operating in the 3620-3635 kHz portion of the 80 m band. The FCC concluded that these stations can be protected by providing alternate spectrum in the 3585-3600 kHz frequency segment.

Action by the Commission on December 15, 2006, by Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration. Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, Tate, and McDowell.

For additional information, contact William Cross at (202) 418-0691 or William.Cross@fcc.gov.

WT Docket Nos. 04-140 and 05-235.

– FCC –

*REVISED* Notes from Battalion 4 CERT Meeting

William Selby gave a talk on Earquakes at the Battaion 4 CERT Community meeting last November. The following are from Battalion Coordinator Jim Stebinger.

NOTE: These revised notes contain four revisions suggested by Professor Selby. The revisions are asterisked.


*Revised Notes from Prof. William Selby's talk 11/16/06

Southern California is the junction of two large tectonic plates. “Our” plate is moving less than two inches a year.* The movement is not smooth and consistent, instead it is an average over time.

He presented a map that clearly shows the San Andreas fault and explained how scientists know we are overdue for a quake. A graduate student is credited with studying the fault and determining how it can be measured. Breaks, or shifts, leave telltale marks. The student figured out how to actually examine the fault and measure the signs of movement. His work was expanded and now it is clear that there is a major quake about every 150 years with a wide range of recurrence intervals ranging around 130-180 years.*. The last “Big One” was the Fort Tejon quake of 1857.

Therefore, we can expect a quake anytime that should be about 8.0 (plus or minus) on the seismic scales. Northridge was a 6.7. Therefore, this quake will be many times as powerful.

An 8.0 appears to be about the theoretical limit because we are not located at a subduction zone (where one plate goes under another). That is why the 1964 quake in Alaska was a 9.4, as it occurred at a subduction zone.

We are not close to meaningful prediction of quakes, although there is lots of study going on in that field.

The 8.0 will last about one minute. He is confident in our building codes and other legislation and feels that will save many lives. He estimates an 8.0 would kill around 300,000 people in less developed countries*. Here, he feels, the worst case scenario is up to 10,000 dead.

The death figures are highly variable. A quake when people are on the freeways, on the roads and at work will probably be more devastating than one that happens during off peak hours. He agrees that it is far more dangerous to be outside than inside. Fatalities will be directly connected to the number of people outside and below taller buildings, especially those who run outside of those taller buildings.*

How much damage will occur along faults other than the San Andreas is hard to predict. Epicenter, magnitude, time of day are the key factors. How much damage we will have in our immediate area is complicated by the numerous faults in our vicinity and how much they move, if at all.

Epicenter, magnitude, time of day are key.

Sadly, he feels the General public is completely unprepared. In his classes two or three per semester may have some kind of kit. He does not think the emergency preparedness effort has been well served by media. He is confident in our emergency services but very worried about what will happen to the general public.

He urged us to be prepared and constantly remind others. Most of the fatalities will be people outside of buildings, although some will die in collapses and other unusual circumstances.

He also discussed tsunamis and said he is “not losing sleep over a tsumami.” We should have plenty of warning from one across the Pacific and since it moves at the speed of an airliner we should have ample time to move to higher ground and the ground needn’t be too high. The Santa Monica bluffs, etc should be high enough. The more dangerous risk is one created by land movement off the coast (perhaps Catalina) which would eliminate the warning time. He was concerned that the recent quake in the Pacific did generate a six foot surge which evidently did not trigger a tsunami warning. He is hopeful that glitch will be fixed.

Finally, he discussed global warming and suggested that it will likely be a cause of weather related emergencies. He gave an overview of climate change. For a variety of reasons, some better understood than others, the global average temperature is warming and there are increasing numbers of “anomalous” weather events. Some parts of the issue are well-settled scientifically, such as the increase in temperature and the role of carbon dioxide, but still remain political footballs. Other parts of the questions are still subject to scientific debate.

In emergency preparedness terms, he said it would be prudent to expect extremes – higher high temperatures, lower lows, heavier rains and more powerful winds. Each of these events could trigger the need for CERT involvement. He said that extremely unusual weather patterns such as tornadoes (one or two small ones have hit our coast in recent times) and hurricanes* in Southern California are not impossible depending on how the global warming patterns play out.

Jim