Subj : Other Ham Radio News
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Mon Apr 01 2019 04:46 pm
Additional Amateur Radio-Related Petitions Now Open for Comment
04/01/2019
The FCC has placed three Amateur Radio-related Petitions for Rule Making
(PRMs) on public notice and has invited comments.
Jerry Oxendine, K4KWH, of Gastonia, North Carolina, wants the FCC to
clarify that state and localities should have no authority to regulate
Amateur Radio with respect to enacting "distracted driving" statutes.
In his Petition for Rule Making, now designated as RM-11833, Oxendine
contends that such statutes violate FCC rules on scope and operation of
equipment by licensees; violate the intent of the FCC and Congress with
respect to Amateur Radio's role in disasters, and hinders emergency
operations using mobile equipment.
"There is no evidence that the operation of two-way radio has but an
insignificant impact on �distracted driving," Oxendine stated.
Such distracted driving statutes usurp the authority of the FCC to
regulate Amateur Radio, as well as Citizens Band and Part 90 Land
Mobile Service users, Oxendine said in his Petition.
Edward C. Borghi, KB2E, of Farmington, New York, has submitted a Petition,
now designated as RM-11834, that would prohibit applicants from
requesting a vanity call sign outside their call sign district.
Exceptions would be made for call signs applied for under rules
governing call signs previously held by family members.
"In some more populous areas, there are few of the most desirable vanity
calls signs available - the 2 and 6 regions for example," Borghi said.
"I see no reason for a licensee to have to compete with out-of-area people
for the few 1 x 2 or 2 x 1 or catchy 2 x 3 call signs available in their
area of residence," Borghi told the FCC.
Jeffrey Bail, NT1K, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, has submitted a
very similar Petition, now designated as RM-11835, asking that the FCC
give residential preference in competing applications to applicants whose
listed FCC address is within the same district/region as the applied call
sign. He cites limited availability and increased demand for 1 x 2 and
2 x 1 call signs.
"There are many times a call sign has been awarded to an individual/club
who resides outside of the call sign district when there are other people
who applied for the same call sign that reside within the district," he
said in his brief petition.
***
On a personal note, it makes me glad I got WX4QZ for my birthday this
year. I definitely will be keeping this one, for all the changes I've
had to make for it. Plus, it's shorter, and reflects my main emphasis
now as "railroad crossing safety", with the alternate phonetics as
"Whistled Crossings For Quiet Zones". This is appropriate for the D-Star
Trains And Railroads Net that I do each Friday on Reflector 26A, at 8pm
US Eastern Time. After doing weather related traffic on ham radio for
over 28 years, I got burned out...and felt it was time for a change.
As noted in an earlier post, Federal Law requires the sounding of the
train horn at least 1/2 mile before a railroad crossing, or to warn
people or vehicles on the track of the trains approach. Some rail lines
use W for Whistle, and others use X for Crossing. In communities that
have Quiet Zones, the trains do NOT sound their horns, unless when
meeting a train on a parallel track, or in the event of an emergency.
Alternatively, for the D-Star Food Net that I do each Monday on
Reflector 26A, at 8:30pm US Eastern Time, another set of alternate
phonetics is "Wild eXciting For QuiZines". Now, that may not be the
proper way to spell "cuisine"...but, in Louisiana, they spell FIDO
(for a dog) as "Phideaux". Plus, H.A.M. Stands For "Have Another
Meal", and you don't call us "Late For Dinner" (hi hi).
