The ARRL Letter
February 27, 2020
* ARRL Seeks a New Chief Executive Officer
* ARRL Comments in Opposition to FCC Plan to Delete the 3.4 GHz Band
* AMSAT Cites Need for equate Spectrum in Opposing Deletion of 3.4
GHz Band
* ARRL Podcasts Schedule
* ARRL Announces Interruptions to Online Services
* FCC Turns Down Amateur Licensee's Appeal
* The K7RA Solar Update
* Just Ahead in Radiosport
* Auxiliary Communications Training to Be Held in Conjunction with
Dayton Hamvention^(R)
* It's Never Too Late to Upgrade
* In Brief...
* Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
ARRL Seeks a New Chief Executive Officer
ARRL is seeking an experienced radio amateur to be Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) at its headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. The CEO is
the top compensated employee in ARRL's management structure and
oversees all operations in collaboration with the President and the
Board of Directors, in accordance with ARRL's Articles of Association,
Bylaws, and Board policies. The successful candidate will ensure
day-to-day management of ARRL, including fiscal operations and will
oversee and make certain that its fund-raising, marketing, human
resources, technology, advocacy, and governance strategies are
effectively implemented.
Essential CEO Functions Include:
* Leading the headquarters staff and field volunteers, in response to
Board policy, in the development and implementation of effective
programs for the promotion and growth of amateur radio and the
provision of services to members.
* Planning, developing, organizing, implementing, directing, and
evaluating ARRL's operational and fiscal performance.
* Providing leadership, directing headquarters staff, and maintaining
performance standards in headquarters operations.
* Participating, in collaboration with officers, Directors, and
staff, in developing ARRL's plans and programs.
The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker with a record of
significant amateur radio experience and a broad understanding of its
operational, technical, regulatory, and social facets. The CEO will be
responsible for effective financial and operational management and
oversight.
CEO candidates should possess a bachelor's degree or equivalent
(master's degree preferred), be an active radio amateur who has
initiated or led a significant amateur radio activity within the past
10 years, and have 10 years of management and supervisory experience.
Candidates should be able to demonstrate ability in providing effective
leadership and management of business operations.
The position is located at ARRL Headquarters, and the successful
candidate will be required to establish a residence in the Hartford,
Connecticut, area.
For More Information
The CEO Position Announcement includes details. Interested candidates
should submit a cover letter and resume via e-mail to ARRL Human
Resources Assistant Monique Levesque.
ARRL Comments in Opposition to FCC Plan to Delete the 3.4 GHz Band
ARRL has filed comments opposing an FCC proposal to delete the 3.3 -
3.5 GHz secondary amateur allocation. The comments, filed on February
21, are in response to an FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in
WT Docket 19-348 in which the FCC put forward a plan to remove
"existing non-federal secondary radiolocation and amateur allocations"
in the 3.3 - 3.55 GHz band and relocate incumbent non-federal
operations. The FCC's proposal was in response to the MOBILE NOW
[Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive
and Needless Obstacles to Wireless] Act, enacted in 2018 to make new
spectrum available for mobile and fixed wireless broadband use. ARRL
noted that amateur radio has a long history of successful coexistence
with primary users of the band.
"There is no reason suggested by the Commission, or known to us, why
the secondary status for amateur radio operations should not be
continued for the indefinite future," ARRL said in its comments. "We
understand that secondary commercial users are less flexible than
amateur radio users and may desire to relocate to protect continued
provision of services and service quality. Radio amateurs, by contrast,
benefit from having technical knowledge and no customer demands for
continuous service quality, more flexibility to make adjustments, and
often have the technical abilities necessary to design and implement
the means to coexist compatibly with the signals of primary users."
ARRL pointed to amateur radio's "decades-long experience observing and
experimenting with radiowave propagation" in the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz band
that includes mesh networks, amateur television networks, weak signal
long-distance communication, Earth-Moon-Earth (moonbounce)
communication, beacons used for propagation study, and amateur
satellite communications. In its comments, ARRL argued that it would be
"premature" to remove the current secondary amateur radio allocation.
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Radio amateurs have established extensive infrastructure for the
current band and are engaged in construction and experimentation that
includes innovative "mesh networks" and amateur television networks
that can be deployed to support public service activities.
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"This spectrum should not be removed from the amateur radio secondary
allocation and left unused," ARRL told the FCC. "Only at a later time
may an informed assessment of sharing opportunities be made in the
specific spectrum slated for re-allocation.... This depends upon the
Congressionally mandated NTIA studies of sharing or relocation options
that have yet to be completed and, if all or part of this spectrum is
re-allocated, the nature and location of buildout by the non-federal
users." The National Telecommunications and Information ministration
(NTIA) oversees spectrum allocated to federal government users. ARRL
noted that radio amateurs have established extensive infrastructure for
the current band and are engaged in construction and experimentation
that includes innovative "mesh networks" and amateur television
networks that can be deployed to support public service activities.
With the NTIA report addressing the 3.1 - 3.55 GHz spectrum not
expected until late March, ARRL said, "we do not yet know how much
spectrum below and above the amateur secondary allocation may be
reallocated to non-federal users and what opportunities may exist or be
developed to share [that] spectrum" with new primary users and systems.
"Even if suitable new spectrum could be found for the existing amateur
uses -- which is difficult before the spectrum musical chairs activity
is concluded -- the costs to radio amateurs would be significant and be
borne with no countervailing public benefit," ARRL told the FCC.
"If the advent of new primary licensees forecloses some types of
secondary operations, the amateur community will reevaluate the
situation when some certainty exists," ARRL concluded.
AMSAT Cites Need for equate Spectrum in Opposing Deletion of 3.4 GHz
Band
AMSAT has commented on the FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in
WT Docket 19-348 that proposes to delete the 3.3 - 3.5 GHz (9
centimeter) amateur band and relocate incumbent non-federal operations.
The band includes the 3.40 - 3.41 GHz Amateur Satellite Service
allocation. In its remarks, AMSAT said it opposes deletion of the
allocation and stressed the necessity of having adequate microwave
spectrum available for future amateur satellite projects, including
AMSAT's GOLF program and the Lunar Gateway. AMSAT acknowledged that the
3.4 GHz Amateur Satellite Service allocation is not currently used by
any amateur satellites and that it is unsuitable for worldwide
communication because it is not available in ITU Region 1. AMSAT said a
number of potential future uses for the band remain, however, as
worldwide usage of other available allocations increases.
"These potential uses include a future amateur satellite in
geostationary orbit above the Americas," AMSAT said, explaining that
the segment could support uplink or downlink frequencies for such a
spacecraft without potential interference to worldwide activities
involving space stations in high-Earth or lunar orbit. The
most-desirable allocations for use as uplinks are between 2.4 GHz and
5.67 GHz -- 80 MHz in all, AMSAT told the FCC. "As many of the proposed
uses include amateur television and high-speed data transmission with
satellites in high-Earth orbit or lunar orbit, these allocations may
quickly become inadequate," AMSAT said.
AMSAT told the FCC the 3.40 - 3.41 GHz allocation could be utilized as
a command channel or secondary data downlink for AMSAT ground stations
in ITU Region 2 without interfering with the primary communications on
the other allocations or other satellites utilizing those segments.
AMSAT said several non-amateur satellites use the broader 3.3 - 3.5 GHz
amateur allocation, which also sees wide use for amateur radio mesh
networking, EME communications, and contesting.
"The Amateur Satellite Service continues to provide immense value to
the growing field of small satellites," AMSAT concluded. "Experiments
conducted by amateur satellites...continue to inform the development of
the commercial small satellite industry. ditionally, student
participation in amateur satellite projects provides both inspiration
for young men and women to pursue careers in the commercial satellite
industry and practical experience for those careers.
"A strong and robust Amateur Satellite Service will continue to benefit
the public interest and inspire future developments in satellite
technology," AMSAT said. "Continued progress in achieving these goals
requires adequate spectrum, especially in suitable microwave bands." --
Thanks to AMSAT News Service via AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul
Stoetzer, N8HM
ARRL Podcasts Schedule
The February 13 episode of the On the Air podcast focuses on building
the hands-free soldering tool from the article, "Extend Your Handheld's
Range with a Simple Ground-Plane Antenna," seen in the January/February
2020 issue of On the Air magazine; a discussion of open-wire feed
lines, and an interview with a public service volunteer. New On the Air
podcast episodes are available monthly.
The new episode of Eclectic Tech podcast goes live February 27. Episode
2 touches on these topics: Most expensive home PC ever; Alexa and
amateur radio; solar activity's influence on whales, and a HamSCI
update from Ward Silver, N0AX.
Both podcasts are available on iTunes (iOS) and Stitcher (Android) as
well as on Blubrry -- On the Air | Eclectic Tech.
ARRL Announces Interruptions to Online Services
The ARRL website and other online services will be offline on Friday,
February 28, for up to 8 hours in order to conduct necessary
maintenance. The outage will begin at 0500 UTC and should end by 1300
UTC. It will affect the main ARRL website, the ARRL Store, and the ARRL
contesting-related pages, including the log submission page. Logbook of
The World (LoTW), email, and all ARRL Headquarters systems will not be
affected.
As part of ARRL Headquarters' transition to new internet service
providers, an interruption of internet access at ARRL Headquarters is
set for Wednesday, March 4, starting at 2300 UTC. The interruption will
last no longer than 4 hours. During the work period, these services
will be unavailable: Logbook of The World (LoTW), Online DXCC,
International Grid Chase Archive, National Parks on the Air Archive,
Centennial QSO Party Archive, W1AW Echolink Conference Server, and VPN
access to Headquarters. Email to Headquarters will remain online, and
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* Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
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