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AE5ME > ARL 17.06.16 18:33l 41 Lines 5857 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : W4ELSTN3JPN1
Read: GUEST
Subj: ARRL Letter June 16 Part 1 of 4
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ<AE5ME
Sent: 160617/1543Z 39757@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.65
?ARRL Now Offering New "Radio and Wireless Technology" Patch Program for Girl Scouts
?FCC Turns Away Petition to Permit Experimental Operation on Amateur Bands
?Polish DXer 3Z9DX Reported Ready to Return to North Korea on a Moment's Notice
?Three Radio Amateurs on the ISS Head Home on June 18
?National Parks on the Air Update
?The Doctor Will See You Now!
?Gear Up for ARRL Field Day with Official Merchandise
?Kids Day is Saturday, June 18
?"The Magic Band" Lives Up to its Name in ARRL June VHF Contest
?White House Honors Limor Fried, AC2SN, Among "Champions of Change for Making"
?Well-Known DXer, DXpeditioner Milt Jensen, N5IA, Dies in Fall from Tower
?Nepal Radio Amateur Describes Earthquake Response Effort at West Coast Gathering
?Europe's "Dayton" -- Ham Radio 2016 (Friedrichshafen) -- Takes Place June 24-26
?The K7RA Solar Update
?This Week in Radiosport
?Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
ARRL Now Offering New "Radio and Wireless Technology" Patch Program for Girl Scouts
The ARRL has begun offering a new Girl Scouts "Radio and Wireless Technology" patch program that offers opportunities for participants to learn about wireless technology, including Amateur Radio. Scout leaders and Amateur Radio volunteers associated with the Greater Atlanta Girl Scout Council and Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains developed the program to incorporate information and exploratory activities that provide a backdrop for understanding radio communication. The program will encourage Girl Scouts to take on activities to gain knowledge and skills, as well as kindle an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects and careers.
"The initiative for the program came about through my conversations with hams who wanted to work with Girl Scouts as well as Boy Scouts and wanted a patch program that would introduce ham radio, as the 'Radio' merit badge does in the Boy Scouts," said ARRL Education Services Manager Debra Johnson, K1DMJ. "I was introduced to a group of leaders with the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta who wanted to work in developing a new, fun patch program for radio that would fit with the Girl Scout Leadership Experience structure. This group was joined by Jill Galus, KB1SWV, of the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains in New Hampshire. We collaborated on this over the course of several years." Galus's father, "Skip" Youngberg, K1NKR, and a team from the Nashoba Valley Radio Club helped test-drive the new patch program with Girl Scouts in New Hampshire, during "Thinking Day on the Air" this past February.
The program defines the requirements for Girl Scouts to earn the patch at the Brownie, Junior, Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador levels. Girl Scouts can learn the fundamentals of radio communication and wireless technology, from broadcasting to smartphones, and apply what they learn to connect people, enhance safety, and explore related careers. In addition to acquiring the fundamentals, participants can explore radio science through hands-on learning with Amateur Radio, and use radio to talk around the world and for public service. They also can learn about the role of wireless technology in everyday life and in careers. Read more.
FCC Turns Away Petition to Permit Experimental Operation on Amateur Bands
The FCC has denied the 2015 petition of a Missouri radio amateur seeking to have the Commission authorize low-power experimental activity on Amateur Radio frequencies. James Edwin Whedbee, N0ECN, of Gladstone, sought to amend FCC Part 97 Amateur Service rules to let radio amateurs conduct experiments on all Amateur Radio bands, subject to certain limits on duration, power, and bandwidth. The FCC declined to put his petition on public notice and invite comments.
"[T]he Commission's rules contain numerous provisions for experimentation and development of new radio equipment and techniques," the FCC said in a June 9 letter to Whedbee. "The Experimental Radio Service (ERS) rules contained in Part 5 permit a broad range of experiments, including in the Amateur Service, and prescribe the manner in which the radio spectrum may be made available to experiment with new radio technologies, equipment designs, characteristics of radio wave propagation, or service concepts related to the use of the radio spectrum."
The letter pointed out that the FCC "recently revised and streamlined" its Part 5 rules "to provide additional flexibility to innovators" and noted that Whedbee did not discuss in his petition whether those rule changes might address his concerns.
In the same stroke of the pen, the FCC denied a 2016 petition from Whedbee seeking to delegate to the chiefs of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) the authority to dispose of certain requests for exemptions, waivers, and rulemaking regarding new technologies or new application of existing technologies.
"The Commission has already delegated to WTB and OET authority to act on applications, waiver requests, petitions, and even some rulemaking matters, so long as they do not raise novel questions of law or policy which cannot be resolved under outstanding Commission precedents and guidelines," the FCC told Whedbee.
"[W]e conclude that [both] petitions present no evidence of an existing problem or other evidence meriting a rule change, and we dismiss the petitions," the FCC concluded.
Whedbee is no stranger to the FCC petition process. Earlier this year he petitioned the FCC to designate Morse (radiotelegraphy) Amateur Radio band segments as "symbol communication" subbands, and the FCC invited public comment on that request (RM-11769). In 2012, the FCC turned down Whedbee's request that the FCC declare homeowners associations' covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) unenforceable.
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