Subj : Other Ham Radio News
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Wed Mar 13 2019 09:28 pm

FCC Invites Comments on ARRL Technician Enhancement Proposal 03/13/2019
AND "Tyro" License Proposal Now Open for Public Comment 03/13/2019

The FCC has invited public comments on ARRL's 2018 Petition for Rule
Making, now designated as RM-11828, which asks the FCC to expand HF
privileges for Technician licensees; to include limited phone privileges
on 75, 40, and 15 meters, plus RTTY and digital mode privileges on 80,
40, 15, and 10 meters. Interested parties have 30 days to comment.

The Technician enhancement proposals stemmed from the recommendations of
the ARRL Board of Directors' Entry-Level License Committee, which explored
various initiatives and gauged member opinions in 2016 and 2017.

"This action will enhance the available license operating privileges in
what has become the principal entry-level license class in the Amateur
Service," ARRL said in its Petition. "It will attract more newcomers to
Amateur Radio, it will result in increased retention of licensees who
hold Technician Class licenses, and it will provide an improved incentive
for entry-level licensees to increase technical self-training and pursue
higher license class achievement and development of communications skills."

Specifically, ARRL proposes to provide Technician licensees - both present
and future - with:

Phone privileges at 3.900 to 4.000 MHz, 7.225 to 7.300 MHz, and 21.350 to
21.450 MHz

RTTY and digital privileges in current Technician allocations on 80, 40,
15, and 10 meters.

The ARRL petition points out the explosion in popularity of various digital
modes over the past 2 decades. Under the ARRL plan, the maximum HF power
level for Technician operators would remain at 200 W PEP. The few remaining
Novice licensees would gain no new privileges under ARRL's proposal.

ARRL's petition points to the need for compelling incentives not only to
become a radio amateur in the first place, but then to upgrade and further
develop skills. Demographic and technological changes call for a "periodic
rebalancing" between those two objectives, ARRL maintained in his proposal.
The FCC has not assessed entry-level operating privileges since 2005.

The Entry-Level License Committee offered very specific data- and
survey-supported findings about growth in Amateur Radio and its place in
the advanced technological demographic, which includes individuals younger
than 30. It received significant input from ARRL members via more than
8,000 survey responses. "The Committee's analysis noted that today,
Amateur Radio exists among many more modes of communication than it did
half a century ago, or even 20 years ago," ARRL said in its petition.

Now numbering some 384,500, Technician licensees comprise more than half
of the US Amateur Radio population. ARRL stressed in its petition the
urgency of making the license more attractive to newcomers, in part to
improve upon science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
education, "that inescapably accompanies a healthy, growing Amateur
Radio Service."

ARRL said its proposal is critical to develop improved operating skills,
increasing emergency preparedness participation, improving technical
self-training, and boosting overall growth in the Amateur Service, which
has remained nearly inert at about 1% per year.

The Entry-Level License Committee determined that the current Technician
class question pool already covers far more material than necessary for
an entry-level exam to validate expanded privileges. ARRL told the FCC
that it would continue to refine examination preparation and training
materials aimed at STEM topics, increase outreach and recruitment, work
with Amateur Radio clubs, and encourage educational institutions to
utilize Amateur Radio in STEM and other experiential learning programs.

***

The same day that the FCC put ARRL's Technician Enhancement petition on
public notice, it also invited comments on another proposal, designated
RM-11829, asking the FCC to create a "Tyro" license class that would
require a minimal online examination, as well as mentoring by an Amateur
Radio licensee of Technician class or higher. A "tyro" is a novice or a
beginner. The petition was filed in August of 2017 by Gary A. Hampton,
AD0WU, of Longmont, Colorado.

Tyro licensees would earn operating privileges 99 channels in a
70-centimeter "TyroSubBand." Applicants would have to be at least 11
years old. Hampton said in his petition that one goal would be "reliable,
nationwide 70-centimeter interoperability" in the exclusive 430 - 440 MHz
segment of the band.

"The Tyro license is exceptionally important to FEMA's CERT program,"
Hampton's petition asserts. "It allows ARES to solve CERT's communication
problems. The TyroSubBand technical specifications easily double the
capacity of typical 70-centiimeter repeaters".

Hampton maintained in his petition that Amateur Radio also "should be
used to further scientific research that is published and quickly placed
in the public domain."

Hampton expressed the belief that institution of the Tyro license would
spawn growth within Amateur Radio, making entry into the hobby nearly as
simple as obtaining a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) license.

The window for comments on the Tyro license petition will be open for 30
days.
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
* Origin: RadioWxNet: The Thunderbolt BBS  tbolt.synchro.net (801:1/2)
� Synchronet � Temple of Doom BBS - tod.eothnet.com