WEBVTT 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:13.820 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:13.820 --> 00:00:31.739 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:34.500 tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:49.060 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:52.700 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:58.560 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:04.400 pl -259 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:09.640 logged it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:13.480 amateur for more information about ICOM radios. 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:50.439 Good evening, everyone. It's time to escape the 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:55.480 debate. It's Amtok Live, episode number 233, 00:01:55.620 --> 00:02:00.540 news and views on FCC moves with CQ Magazine's 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:05.540 editor, Rich Mosison, W2VU, recorded live on 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:09.560 Thursday, October 22nd, 2020. I'm your host, 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:14.729 Neil Rapp. WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning in to another 00:02:14.729 --> 00:02:17.370 episode of HamTalk Live. Tonight we're joined 00:02:17.370 --> 00:02:21.710 by Rich Mosison at W2VU and we'll take your calls 00:02:21.710 --> 00:02:25.449 live a little later in the show. Last week here 00:02:25.449 --> 00:02:29.210 on HamTalk Live, Bruce Horn, WA7B &M was here. 00:02:29.550 --> 00:02:32.449 To talk about the contest calendar, if you missed 00:02:32.449 --> 00:02:36.729 that show, just head on over to hamtalklive .com 00:02:36.729 --> 00:02:41.469 or your favorite podcast app or on YouTube. and 00:02:41.469 --> 00:02:43.870 you can listen to that and you can always catch 00:02:43.870 --> 00:02:49.650 the rebroadcast of HamTalk Live over on WTWW, 00:02:49.969 --> 00:02:57.129 that's 5085 AM 5 .085, Saturday afternoons at 00:02:57.129 --> 00:03:01.889 about 3 .30 PM Eastern Time. So get your questions 00:03:01.889 --> 00:03:04.469 ready to go for Rich. If you're listening to 00:03:04.469 --> 00:03:08.210 us live on Thursday night, you can give us a 00:03:08.210 --> 00:03:15.750 call after the interview at 859 -982 -7373. I'll 00:03:15.750 --> 00:03:17.909 give you the phone number again here in just 00:03:17.909 --> 00:03:21.020 a minute. You can also send us a question by 00:03:21.020 --> 00:03:24.240 Twitter. We're at HamTalk Live on Twitter. We'll 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.900 be checking that throughout the evening. If you're 00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:30.099 on Spreaker, you can also type in the comments. 00:03:30.340 --> 00:03:34.139 If you're logged in to Spreaker, you can do that. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:43.770 And again, the telephone number is 859. 9827373 00:03:43.770 --> 00:03:48.069 and we'll Take your questions and comments for 00:03:48.069 --> 00:03:52.129 rich We also have a new feature on the show tonight 00:03:52.129 --> 00:03:54.330 that we'll have a little bit later. So we're 00:03:54.330 --> 00:03:59.219 excited for that We'll take a listen to Rick 00:03:59.219 --> 00:04:03.520 Garrett in 9GSU, he's got a weekly segment starting 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.639 this week, so we'll take a listen to that a little 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:09.680 later on in the show, but I'll be back with Rich 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:13.080 right after this word from ICOM America right 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:19.300 here on HamTalk Live. Get out and be active with 00:04:19.300 --> 00:04:24.439 ICOM's new IC705 and its optional multi -function 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:29.850 backpack. Now shipping! 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Welcome back to HamTalk Live. Check out 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:17.180 all the latest gear from ICOM at icomamerica 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:23.920 .com slash amateur. HamTalk Live is on the air 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:28.819 every Thursday night, 9 p .m. Eastern Time. hamtalklive 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:32.639 .com. Thanks to ICOM for sponsoring the show 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:38.290 and with us tonight. is Rich Mosison, W2VU, the 00:06:38.290 --> 00:06:41.769 editor of CQ Magazine and editorial director 00:06:41.769 --> 00:06:46.129 of CQ Communications, Inc. He's been a ham since 00:06:46.129 --> 00:06:50.490 1970. He served eight years as the section manager 00:06:50.490 --> 00:06:54.129 for... the Northern New Jersey section of the 00:06:54.129 --> 00:06:57.629 ARRL and former member and past chairman of the 00:06:57.629 --> 00:07:01.029 ARRL Public Relations Committee. He's been a 00:07:01.029 --> 00:07:05.310 CQ staffer since 1992. He was the founding editor 00:07:05.310 --> 00:07:09.930 of CQVHF magazine, wrote and produced the seven 00:07:09.930 --> 00:07:12.629 introductory ham radio programs in the CQ video 00:07:12.629 --> 00:07:16.769 library and was CQ magazine's 50th anniversary 00:07:16.769 --> 00:07:21.879 coordinator back in 1995. Rich, thanks for coming 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:25.060 back on the show tonight. Oh, it's great to be 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:28.600 here. I never thought I'd be alternative programming 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:36.000 to a presidential debate. We're competing with 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:43.420 the big boys tonight. I'm hoping there will be 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:47.259 less fireworks here Yes, there will be less fireworks 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:49.939 here. I can guarantee that I have I have the 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:54.240 kill switch so So I could guarantee that one 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.600 I can't kill the other mics, but I can kill this 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:03.040 one. So We can definitely do that and if we if 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.000 we show up in the Nielsen ratings we're doing 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:14.740 well, so Yeah, we'll see Well, there's We're 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:17.819 trying not to not to get into the politics too 00:08:17.819 --> 00:08:20.360 much, but we are talking about government a lot 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:23.560 tonight There's been a lot of headlines coming 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:28.819 out of the FCC lately. And so Thought okay. Let's 00:08:28.819 --> 00:08:33.379 do a show about all the stuff going on with the 00:08:33.379 --> 00:08:38.259 FCC. And of course, the biggie is this proposal 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:44.960 for a $50 fee for all amateur radio license applications, 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.980 renewals, new tests, upgrades, the whole bit. 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:54.000 $50 each time. The FCC says, well, it's an automated 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.259 process, but it costs money for the servers, 00:08:57.340 --> 00:09:01.700 you know. Uh, so a nominal fee like, you know, 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:07.580 $50 for every application is, is reasonable and 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:10.240 they've kind of been charged with doing this. 00:09:10.740 --> 00:09:13.220 So, so tell us a little more about the, you know, 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:17.779 the details of that and, um, we may get into 00:09:17.779 --> 00:09:20.559 even what some of your readers are having to 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:23.539 say about it and, and what, uh, all kinds of 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:30.909 people are having to say about it. The proposal 00:09:30.909 --> 00:09:33.450 is much broader than amateur radio, of course. 00:09:34.409 --> 00:09:36.809 It covers every service licensed by the FCC. 00:09:37.690 --> 00:09:41.250 And the changes are coming about because of a 00:09:41.250 --> 00:09:43.350 law that was passed by Congress a few years ago 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:50.950 called the Ray Baum Act. But the purpose of the 00:09:50.950 --> 00:09:54.600 changes is to make the fees more... reflective 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:58.179 of the costs of processing the applications. 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:04.659 And the commission has said itself in the NPRM 00:10:04.659 --> 00:10:08.840 that there's very little cost involved in processing 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:12.220 most amateur applications. It's, you know, on 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:15.539 a new license application or an upgrade, all 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:19.480 the work is done by the VECs. They file it electronically. 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.700 with the FCC in Gettysburg and unless there's 00:10:22.700 --> 00:10:25.799 a red flag that pops up, that just automatically 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:30.320 processes the license, either an issuance or 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:35.539 an upgrade or renewal. There's virtually no cost 00:10:35.539 --> 00:10:37.980 involved. They're not even mailing out printed 00:10:37.980 --> 00:10:42.940 licenses anymore. So it makes, you know, if this 00:10:42.940 --> 00:10:46.220 was a business, 50 bucks wouldn't be a big deal 00:10:46.220 --> 00:10:48.399 and I think that's the perspective they're looking 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.600 at it from because most of the other services 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:55.600 that they license are businesses so you know 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:01.440 even a small station or two -way shop or something 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:05.799 like that that has um like a gmrs license or 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:10.299 something like that okay 50 is not usually a 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:14.580 big deal for business and they can write it off 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:20.700 their taxes and From a business perspective, 00:11:20.899 --> 00:11:24.360 it's it's not a big deal and Even from our own 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:26.500 perspective. Hey, they're gonna say hey, it's 00:11:26.500 --> 00:11:31.480 only five dollars a year Which isn't shouldn't 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:35.120 be a big deal, but of course you have to pay 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:40.120 it all at once for ten years worth and 50 bucks 00:11:40.429 --> 00:11:43.330 Can be an obstacle. I mean right now you look 00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:46.830 at it right where we are right now we we are 00:11:46.830 --> 00:11:52.110 in the middle of a deep economic recession lots 00:11:52.110 --> 00:12:00.169 and lots of people are not working And every 00:12:00.169 --> 00:12:03.509 penny and every dollar is very important for 00:12:03.509 --> 00:12:08.860 basics We're trying to get more and more young 00:12:08.860 --> 00:12:12.240 people interested and involved in ham radio and 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:16.100 50 bucks for a teenager is big deal a lot of 00:12:16.100 --> 00:12:20.840 our more active hams are senior citizens who 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:24.580 may be on a Fixed income and 50 bucks is a big 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:27.840 deal for them and and you have to you know Look 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:31.409 besides the the money angle of it particularly 00:12:31.409 --> 00:12:34.429 talking about senior citizens in this pandemic. 00:12:34.850 --> 00:12:38.669 I mean, ham radio has been a lifeline for lots 00:12:38.669 --> 00:12:40.889 and lots of people all over the country who have 00:12:40.889 --> 00:12:44.669 been isolated in their homes. You know, if they 00:12:44.669 --> 00:12:47.210 particularly if they're older, if they live alone, 00:12:47.610 --> 00:12:52.330 so many clubs around the country have either 00:12:52.330 --> 00:12:57.470 started or expanded nets to basically operate 00:12:57.470 --> 00:13:01.570 on a daily basis to check in. on some of their 00:13:01.570 --> 00:13:05.029 members who may not be able to get out at all 00:13:05.029 --> 00:13:10.909 and make sure everything's okay. And having that 00:13:10.909 --> 00:13:13.970 license and keeping that license is a very, very 00:13:13.970 --> 00:13:16.909 important thing for lots and lots of people. 00:13:17.289 --> 00:13:22.509 And it just seems like the totally wrong time 00:13:22.509 --> 00:13:27.649 to be imposing a fee like this. You know, some 00:13:27.649 --> 00:13:31.700 people will say, well, There used to be a $70 00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:36.000 fee for a vanity call and that's absolutely correct 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:40.899 But a vanity call was an option if you didn't 00:13:40.899 --> 00:13:44.299 want to pay 70 bucks for the call you keep your 00:13:44.299 --> 00:13:48.019 FCC issued random call and you still have your 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:52.320 license you're still on the air and You just 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.720 grumble about not being able to pick your own 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:59.090 call sign But this is applies to everything except 00:13:59.090 --> 00:14:01.570 like an address change or something like that. 00:14:01.929 --> 00:14:08.490 New license application, renewals, upgrades, 00:14:09.970 --> 00:14:12.590 anything but the most minor administrative update. 00:14:13.129 --> 00:14:16.210 And if you look at it cost -wise, the most minor 00:14:16.210 --> 00:14:20.370 administrative update is going to incur the same 00:14:20.370 --> 00:14:25.269 amount of expense in terms of server usage as 00:14:25.269 --> 00:14:29.659 doing an upgrade doing a renewal. So it makes 00:14:29.659 --> 00:14:34.220 no sense. If they have to charge something, maybe 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:38.320 they could, you know, do a dollar a year. And 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.799 then you got a $10 fee. And that I think most 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:45.059 people can probably handle once every 10 years. 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:50.259 That's my personal thought. Obviously, the preference 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:53.399 would be to continue to have no fees involved 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:56.039 with our licenses. And you know, in other countries, 00:14:56.250 --> 00:14:58.750 That's a fact of life. You know, you go to Europe 00:14:58.750 --> 00:15:02.750 and you have to pay a rather significant fee 00:15:02.750 --> 00:15:07.590 every year to have a ham license. But that has 00:15:07.590 --> 00:15:11.950 not been the tradition here. And the timing is 00:15:11.950 --> 00:15:15.830 just all wrong. You asked about reader comment. 00:15:16.009 --> 00:15:21.289 I've had just one I got today in the mail from 00:15:21.289 --> 00:15:25.690 a gentleman in Texas. And he's addressing this 00:15:25.690 --> 00:15:29.830 situation. He says, with 770 ,000 hams in the 00:15:29.830 --> 00:15:35.250 USA, the FCC stands to make $38 ,500 ,000 in 00:15:35.250 --> 00:15:41.019 installments of $43 ,800 a year. Says, you know 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:43.500 hams buy their own radio gear pay the sales tax. 00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:46.000 They provide free emergency communications and 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:48.440 disasters They provide their own transportation 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:51.159 to and from disaster areas They provide their 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:54.320 own food and disasters some hams rent motel rooms 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:56.879 near disaster sites or sleep in an emergency 00:15:56.879 --> 00:15:59.740 shelter or bring their own RV and use it as command 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:07.379 center And his guesstimate is that this is going 00:16:07.379 --> 00:16:14.139 to probably have an impact on about 10 % of the 00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:16.600 currently licensed hams, which he says, you know, 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:19.720 if this goes into effect, in my estimation, 77 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:23.600 ,000 would be hams, just lost interest in ham 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:27.860 radio. 77 ,000 renewals won't happen. 77 ,000 00:16:27.860 --> 00:16:31.220 upgrades won't happen. 77 ,000 vanity call signs 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:34.679 won't be applied for. 77 ,000 printed licenses 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:37.980 won't be requested. 77 ,000 school -aged kids 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:42.860 won't get their license and goes on. And he's 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:47.080 absolutely right. I don't know if the numbers 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:51.240 are correct, but the impact is definitely, he's 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:54.419 on the mark. It's gonna have a significant impact 00:16:54.419 --> 00:17:00.799 on our ability to keep growing. We've been doing 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:04.559 a great job of growing steadily over the past 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:08.799 several years, and we need to keep up that momentum. 00:17:09.660 --> 00:17:14.220 And this is going to be a big roadblock in that 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:18.119 way for all segments of our community, the young 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:21.599 people, people who are having economic problems, 00:17:22.259 --> 00:17:25.299 people who are on a fixed income. It's going 00:17:25.299 --> 00:17:27.519 to be a really big deal to have to come up with 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:32.690 50 bucks. And it's not even necessarily just 00:17:32.690 --> 00:17:34.809 once every 10 years, because you're talking about 00:17:34.809 --> 00:17:39.750 upgrades and renewals. So you know, a vanity 00:17:39.750 --> 00:17:43.190 license call. So if you get your license now 00:17:43.190 --> 00:17:46.630 and pay 50 bucks for it, and then six months 00:17:46.630 --> 00:17:48.529 down the road, you want to upgrade to general, 00:17:48.750 --> 00:17:51.049 that's another 50 bucks. And a year down the 00:17:51.049 --> 00:17:52.750 road, you want to get your extra, that's another 00:17:52.750 --> 00:17:55.390 50 bucks. And then you decide you want a vanity 00:17:55.390 --> 00:17:58.660 call. And that's another 50 bucks. So over the 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:02.519 course of two years, it may cost you $200 in 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:06.819 license fees. And that's really completely outrageous. 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:10.579 There's so many things coming into my mind right 00:18:10.579 --> 00:18:14.900 now. First of all, the with my school background, 00:18:14.900 --> 00:18:18.000 you know, and getting young people into ham radio. 00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:21.430 One of the things that I did a few years ago 00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:25.890 was I switched VECs over to the Laurel VEC program 00:18:25.890 --> 00:18:29.750 because we were able to give the tests for free 00:18:29.750 --> 00:18:34.849 because a lot of times, you know, the $14, it 00:18:34.849 --> 00:18:39.109 usually wasn't a problem for them to get it. 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:42.490 It was a problem for them to remember to bring 00:18:42.490 --> 00:18:51.130 it. And so, I admit that a few times I switched 00:18:51.130 --> 00:18:56.910 hats and Mr. Rapp decided to pay the fee because 00:18:56.910 --> 00:19:01.190 they weren't, you know, they could get it but 00:19:01.190 --> 00:19:04.309 they just weren't going to bring it and they 00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:06.430 had to remember it and I'd just rather do it 00:19:06.430 --> 00:19:09.630 than have to, you know, remind them all the time, 00:19:09.750 --> 00:19:13.859 don't forget to bring your money. So, you know, 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:19.720 if they didn't, it got paid out of Mr. Rapp's 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:24.220 wallet, but you know, I know one of the things 00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:27.400 that people have talked about is, you know, maybe 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:32.339 saying under the age of 26, you know, exempt 00:19:32.339 --> 00:19:43.650 those from the fee. I agree, $50 for a teenager 00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:50.430 is a lot, let alone an elementary kid or a middle 00:19:50.430 --> 00:19:57.269 school kid that doesn't have a real income. It 00:19:57.269 --> 00:20:01.519 does put some limitations there. I also think 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:04.359 about, you know, the what you said with the vanity 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:06.880 calls and I couldn't agree more that, you know, 00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:09.660 you can still operate without a vanity call. 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:12.799 And so if you want a vanity call, sure, pay the 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.299 fee. But then, then I remember why they got rid 00:20:15.299 --> 00:20:17.940 of the vanity fee in the first place. They said 00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:23.559 it costs too much to process the $70 fee by the 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:28.230 time they processed all the fees. It was. They 00:20:28.230 --> 00:20:30.690 weren't making any money off of it. So now they're 00:20:30.690 --> 00:20:38.210 going to make money off of a $50 fee. Yes. Government 00:20:38.210 --> 00:20:46.049 logic for you. You know, the most fearsome words 00:20:46.049 --> 00:20:48.029 in the English language. I'm from the government. 00:20:48.190 --> 00:20:55.470 I'm here to help. I will note that the comment 00:20:55.470 --> 00:21:01.549 period is open. on this proceeding. It's MD docket 00:21:01.549 --> 00:21:06.789 20 -270, I believe is the designator for it. 00:21:06.930 --> 00:21:11.589 Comment period is open. I would encourage all 00:21:11.589 --> 00:21:18.029 of your listeners to make reasonable, respectful 00:21:18.029 --> 00:21:22.309 comments, but explain why this would be a burden 00:21:22.309 --> 00:21:30.289 for you or for people you know. And the commission 00:21:30.289 --> 00:21:34.430 does listen to comments. They read them, the 00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:37.190 staff at least reads every comment that comes 00:21:37.190 --> 00:21:43.150 in and they do make a difference. And we are 00:21:43.150 --> 00:21:46.390 well known in the commission for being among 00:21:46.390 --> 00:21:51.309 the most vocal licensees that they deal with. 00:21:51.529 --> 00:21:55.769 uh... so we need to maintain our reputation the 00:21:55.769 --> 00:22:00.369 vocal file lots of comments uh... and but but 00:22:00.369 --> 00:22:04.009 explain to them the reasonably and rationally 00:22:04.009 --> 00:22:08.829 why this is a bad idea and why the fee if it 00:22:08.829 --> 00:22:13.470 if it can't be eliminated should be reduced to 00:22:13.470 --> 00:22:19.180 the absolute minimum possible uh... And there's 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:22.359 different directions this this is gone in in 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:25.680 the preliminary comment So some people are saying 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:28.359 heck. Yeah, I'll pay it if you'll actually do 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:32.309 some enforcement and, you know, and let's, let's, 00:22:32.309 --> 00:22:35.049 you know, exempt the young people and let's exempt 00:22:35.049 --> 00:22:39.009 anybody, you know, over a certain age and, and 00:22:39.009 --> 00:22:41.809 let's, let's, you know, let's just do the vanity 00:22:41.809 --> 00:22:45.109 calls. And there's like 50 bazillion different 00:22:45.109 --> 00:22:48.930 directions that all of these things are going. 00:22:52.630 --> 00:22:56.950 Oh, it's the marketplace of ideas. Yeah. But, 00:22:57.910 --> 00:23:03.490 uh, you know, but if, If in the comments, there's 00:23:03.490 --> 00:23:09.069 a clear consensus that develops for an alternative 00:23:09.069 --> 00:23:12.970 approach that will be noted by the staff and 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:16.910 they will note it to the commissioners as they 00:23:16.910 --> 00:23:21.750 put together their final decision on it. So, 00:23:21.849 --> 00:23:25.490 you know, the process does work. You may not 00:23:25.490 --> 00:23:27.650 always get what you want. You may not get all 00:23:27.650 --> 00:23:32.640 of what you want, but They do read them. They 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:35.119 do listen. They may not decide the way you want 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:40.019 to but sometimes they do and particularly, you 00:23:40.019 --> 00:23:44.859 know with amateur regulations the We are kind 00:23:44.859 --> 00:23:47.039 of a community unto ourselves. It's not like 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:51.839 broadcasters who are serving the general public 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:57.890 Our regulations affect us and except for those 00:23:57.890 --> 00:24:01.029 that are intended to keep us from causing interference 00:24:01.029 --> 00:24:04.250 to other services. But as far as the regulations 00:24:04.250 --> 00:24:08.809 internal to ham radio, we're the only people 00:24:08.809 --> 00:24:13.809 affected by it. So the commission really wants 00:24:13.809 --> 00:24:18.450 amateurs to provide guidance and leadership to 00:24:18.450 --> 00:24:23.450 them on the direction that we want the regulations 00:24:23.450 --> 00:24:27.920 to go. And I've heard this from people at the 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:31.619 commission in the past and You know, they said 00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:34.119 we don't want to be sitting up here in Washington 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:36.400 and just telling you what to do because we think 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.980 it's the best thing to do we want to hear how 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:43.839 you want the service structured how you want 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:48.259 the requirements to be and Then it's our job 00:24:48.259 --> 00:24:51.079 to figure out how to make them fit in with the 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:57.849 broader picture of licensing and regulation So 00:24:57.849 --> 00:25:01.950 I would encourage everyone to submit comments. 00:25:01.950 --> 00:25:04.769 You can do it electronically through the electronic 00:25:04.769 --> 00:25:07.730 comment filing system. It's really pretty easy. 00:25:08.869 --> 00:25:15.650 And let the commission know how you feel. And 00:25:15.650 --> 00:25:19.170 if you think that there's a reasonable alternative 00:25:19.170 --> 00:25:22.130 that they should consider, offer it up as a suggestion. 00:25:22.690 --> 00:25:25.650 You never know when they might say, hey, you 00:25:25.650 --> 00:25:33.579 know. This could work Well, yeah, that's all 00:25:34.360 --> 00:25:38.259 All good things and there's some strategy going 00:25:38.259 --> 00:25:40.720 on too. We may talk about that a little bit later, 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:45.160 but we're still on quite on topic number one. 00:25:45.180 --> 00:25:47.700 We haven't hit two, three or four yet. So we 00:25:47.700 --> 00:25:51.119 better move along here. We've got this other 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:54.319 big thing from the FCC, not quite as big as this 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:57.420 one, but it's still pretty big about losing spectrum. 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:02.890 They're going to sunset the secondary use. of 00:26:02.890 --> 00:26:07.930 3 .3 to 3 .5 gigahertz to open up space for some 00:26:07.930 --> 00:26:13.490 new 5G, the fifth generation cell phone data 00:26:13.490 --> 00:26:20.210 band here. Who is this going to impact and when 00:26:20.210 --> 00:26:23.190 is this going to take place and what are you 00:26:23.190 --> 00:26:28.650 hearing about the loss of spectrum? Well, it's 00:26:28.650 --> 00:26:30.750 not going to impact enough of us and that's part 00:26:30.750 --> 00:26:37.339 of the problem. because we're not making the 00:26:37.339 --> 00:26:40.619 use that we really need to be of our microwave 00:26:40.619 --> 00:26:43.880 bands. And I wrote an editorial about it several 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:48.940 months ago called the microwave or the gigahertz 00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:58.880 imperative. And we really need to do more on 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:04.079 the microwave bands. We can't say we're afraid 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:07.140 to use microwaves. I mean, I'm talking to you 00:27:07.140 --> 00:27:11.259 right now on a five gigahertz radio It's called 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:17.680 my cell phone and I'm using microwave Communications 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:23.940 to talk to the phone. I'm wearing wireless Earbuds 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:28.339 and They're using Bluetooth which operates in 00:27:28.339 --> 00:27:31.839 the microwave. So I'm I'm sitting here and talking 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:34.960 to you and Using two different sets of microwave 00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:40.319 frequencies and then saying oh well Microwave 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:43.039 radiation. Well, that's that's dangerous stuff. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:47.940 We can't be using microwaves Excuse me, but I'll 00:27:47.940 --> 00:27:55.059 bet you are every day You've got a microwave 00:27:55.059 --> 00:27:59.380 transmitter that's on virtually all the time 00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:08.059 in your pocket So it can't be not being afraid 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:11.500 of microwaves. It's keeping us off the bands 00:28:11.500 --> 00:28:16.400 there. The antennas are not big. They're small. 00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:22.119 They're microwaves. You're using a lot of dish 00:28:22.119 --> 00:28:24.700 antennas. Getting out and operating portable 00:28:24.700 --> 00:28:27.920 is getting to be very, very popular. Look at 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:31.680 summits on the air, parks on the air, and islands 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:35.970 on the air. all these older programs. We should 00:28:35.970 --> 00:28:38.470 probably have a motor program, microwaves in 00:28:38.470 --> 00:28:41.569 the air. Get people out in the same places with 00:28:41.569 --> 00:28:48.470 a dish and get on these microwave bands. Okay, 00:28:48.630 --> 00:28:51.450 you're not going to work worldwide DX direct 00:28:51.450 --> 00:28:56.650 on the gigahertz bands, but... We have satellites 00:28:56.650 --> 00:28:59.470 that operate on the gigahertz bands We have a 00:28:59.470 --> 00:29:01.789 thing called the moon that you can bounce signals 00:29:01.789 --> 00:29:04.609 off of on the microwave bands. So you can work 00:29:04.609 --> 00:29:09.589 DX and microwaves There's a satellite segment 00:29:09.589 --> 00:29:14.329 in the 9 centimeter band the 3 .3 to 3 .5 gigahertz 00:29:14.329 --> 00:29:16.849 band that we're talking about here, but as the 00:29:16.849 --> 00:29:20.410 FCC pointed out There are no active satellites 00:29:20.410 --> 00:29:26.460 in Band at the moment There's lots of stuff you 00:29:26.460 --> 00:29:29.740 can do on the microwave bands that we need to 00:29:29.740 --> 00:29:34.180 start doing We are supposed to be leaders in 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:38.259 technology and A lot of us are in our professional 00:29:38.259 --> 00:29:41.140 lives But we have to do that in ham radio too, 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:43.779 and we have to make much better use of these 00:29:43.779 --> 00:29:46.400 microwave bands broadly So we've already lost 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:51.480 76 gigahertz for a vehicular radar 10 gigahertz 00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:55.700 which is among the most active of the microwave 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:59.900 ham bands is up for review at the next World 00:29:59.900 --> 00:30:06.160 Radio Communication Conference. And 3 .3 gigahertz 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:10.160 here, we're in the process of losing it. Right 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:13.039 now, the services that we've got there, there's 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:16.720 several mesh networks that are up and running 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:19.460 on there. And out in California, they're providing 00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:25.369 significant backup communication service to people 00:30:25.369 --> 00:30:28.589 fighting the wildfires their ad hoc networks 00:30:28.589 --> 00:30:34.490 and There's a lot of digital amateur television 00:30:34.490 --> 00:30:38.289 that's going on there. So there is it is among 00:30:38.289 --> 00:30:42.390 the more active Microwave bands, I would say 00:30:42.390 --> 00:30:47.690 probably the third most active you've got You 00:30:47.690 --> 00:30:51.809 know 2 .4 is easy But we still need to be making 00:30:51.809 --> 00:30:55.940 more use of it because is shared with Wi -Fi. 00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:58.380 So you have all these Wi -Fi modems out there 00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:01.119 that can be tweaked onto the ham frequencies 00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:08.480 and do mesh networks and things like that. And 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:11.640 then you've got 10 gigahertz band or X band, 00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:16.619 which is growing in popularity. And you get to 00:31:16.619 --> 00:31:19.819 discover all sorts of very cool propagation on 00:31:19.819 --> 00:31:22.619 these bands too. I think one of the coolest things 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:27.579 on 10 gigahertz is something called knife edge 00:31:27.579 --> 00:31:32.539 refraction. And you want to talk to somebody 00:31:32.539 --> 00:31:36.819 when you have a mountain in between you. Signals 00:31:36.819 --> 00:31:40.819 at 10 gigahertz can go over the top of a mountain 00:31:40.819 --> 00:31:43.880 and down. Knife edge diffraction it's called. 00:31:44.339 --> 00:31:50.140 That's right. And these are things that you don't. 00:31:51.259 --> 00:31:55.960 see on HF or even VHF, UHF, you can do rain scatter 00:31:55.960 --> 00:32:01.900 on 10 gigahertz. Your average raindrop is just 00:32:01.900 --> 00:32:05.880 the right size to absorb and reradiate radio 00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:09.920 signals. So you can bounce signals off a thunderstorm. 00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:14.220 There's just so many cool things you can do up 00:32:14.220 --> 00:32:16.579 on the microwave bands that we need to do more 00:32:16.579 --> 00:32:19.460 of and have more fun and learn more about them. 00:32:20.360 --> 00:32:24.599 Unfortunately, we're not gonna be able to do 00:32:24.599 --> 00:32:27.259 this for much longer on the nine centimeter band. 00:32:28.740 --> 00:32:33.500 The FCC broke it down into two portions in the 00:32:33.500 --> 00:32:37.720 proceeding, mostly because the Defense Department 00:32:37.720 --> 00:32:41.559 is the primary user of the band and there are 00:32:41.559 --> 00:32:46.900 certain uses that... The Defense Department is 00:32:46.900 --> 00:32:49.680 not ready to give up yet and they're still working 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:56.579 out plans We've got I'm just looking at our news 00:32:56.579 --> 00:33:01.880 bites column in our November issues is Focused 00:33:01.880 --> 00:33:05.180 on the sunset of this band. I'm just looking 00:33:05.180 --> 00:33:15.980 for details on there And So I'm just reading 00:33:15.980 --> 00:33:17.920 that the process of making the nine centimeter 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:20.539 band available for 5G use will take several years, 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:23.039 and the FCC has yet to reach an agreement with 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:25.680 the Department of Defense on relocating its operations 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:29.819 from half the band. So the proceeding has essentially 00:33:29.819 --> 00:33:34.119 been split into two parts. Sorry. And while a 00:33:34.119 --> 00:33:36.180 formal removal of the amateur allocation from 00:33:36.180 --> 00:33:40.220 the band will happen 30 days after the report 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:42.759 in order is published in the Federal Register, 00:33:42.779 --> 00:33:45.549 which I believe it already has been, Current 00:33:45.549 --> 00:33:48.230 users will be permitted to continue operating 00:33:48.230 --> 00:33:51.869 for quite a while. The so -called sunset dates 00:33:51.869 --> 00:33:53.970 for amateur operation will be determined in a 00:33:53.970 --> 00:33:57.569 future FCC proceeding. The first portion of the 00:33:57.569 --> 00:33:59.349 band we're going to lose is the top of the band, 00:33:59.430 --> 00:34:04.509 3 .4 to 3 .5 gigahertz, which we will need to 00:34:04.509 --> 00:34:07.390 vacate by the time the FCC begins licensing companies 00:34:07.390 --> 00:34:13.000 for 5G operations in that band segment. It's 00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:16.059 expected this is going to be sometime in the 00:34:16.059 --> 00:34:21.139 middle of 2022 So we got just about two years 00:34:21.139 --> 00:34:24.400 of usage left on there. It's unclear whether 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:30.280 New operations will be permitted, you know, it's 00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:34.019 very obviously very difficult to enforce this 00:34:34.019 --> 00:34:37.519 it's not like we're licensed to a specific frequency 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:42.150 in a specific location so I don't know how they 00:34:42.150 --> 00:34:44.769 would know whether a new user is on the band 00:34:44.769 --> 00:34:49.690 or not. But the lower band segment from 3 .3 00:34:49.690 --> 00:34:53.349 to 3 .4 gigahertz will be closed to hams when 00:34:53.349 --> 00:34:56.289 and if licensing begins for commercial users 00:34:56.289 --> 00:35:01.869 in that segment. The time frame for this is not 00:35:01.869 --> 00:35:06.130 known because the FCC is still negotiating with 00:35:06.130 --> 00:35:11.550 the Defense Department on relocating its operations 00:35:11.550 --> 00:35:18.449 from those portions of the band and Nobody knows 00:35:18.449 --> 00:35:21.309 yet when or whether they will reach agreement 00:35:21.309 --> 00:35:26.630 on it and You know Defense Department is not 00:35:26.630 --> 00:35:33.570 easily thrown off of radio spectrum So if they 00:35:33.570 --> 00:35:36.010 comes down to them eventually saying nope, we 00:35:36.010 --> 00:35:39.619 can't do this We're gonna stay here then they're 00:35:39.619 --> 00:35:42.840 going to stay there and we'll see what happens 00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:46.119 with the secondary amateur allocation. I mean, 00:35:46.599 --> 00:35:51.400 this is an area that the ARRL really went to 00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:53.960 the mat with the commission on and trying to 00:35:53.960 --> 00:35:58.440 maintain our current secondary status there. 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:05.300 We've been operating as secondary users on a 00:36:05.300 --> 00:36:08.960 non -interference basis with the primary users 00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:12.820 who were Defense Department users for years and 00:36:12.820 --> 00:36:18.599 years without problems. There are virtually no 00:36:18.599 --> 00:36:22.820 reports of interference issues or anything like 00:36:22.820 --> 00:36:27.679 that. There has been basically full cooperation 00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:34.940 and full compliance with the secondary allocation 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:38.380 and not causing interference and accepting interference 00:36:38.380 --> 00:36:45.280 from the primary user. So the AWRL really went 00:36:45.280 --> 00:36:47.780 to bat for holding onto this ban and maintaining 00:36:47.780 --> 00:36:52.780 our secondary status and to be able to go in 00:36:52.780 --> 00:36:55.860 between the 5G uses and things like that and 00:36:55.860 --> 00:36:59.199 continue doing what we're doing. But the commission 00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:03.519 didn't want to hear about it. It's unfortunate. 00:37:04.260 --> 00:37:07.960 Yeah. Well, it is. Well, also in other news, 00:37:08.139 --> 00:37:12.539 the FCC literally made a move with their headquarters 00:37:12.539 --> 00:37:16.500 in Washington, D .C. They're now at 45 L Street 00:37:16.500 --> 00:37:22.030 Northeast. uh, Washington DC 20554 and they also 00:37:22.030 --> 00:37:26.070 implemented a new logo. Um, so you can, you can 00:37:26.070 --> 00:37:28.349 check that out if you're, if you're interested 00:37:28.349 --> 00:37:31.829 in the new logo, but we are behind, so we're 00:37:31.829 --> 00:37:33.989 going to take a break and we'll come back. We'll 00:37:33.989 --> 00:37:38.409 talk about, uh, some more of this and maybe some 00:37:38.409 --> 00:37:41.969 CQ worldwide and some other things and We'll 00:37:41.969 --> 00:37:45.630 unveil the new segment here after this word from 00:37:45.630 --> 00:37:49.110 Tower Electronics right here on HamTalk Live. 00:37:51.349 --> 00:37:54.289 Thanks for choosing Tower Electronics. How may 00:37:54.289 --> 00:37:58.309 we help you today? We have PL 259s. We have in 00:37:58.309 --> 00:38:01.889 connectors. We have SMA adapters. We have BNC 00:38:01.889 --> 00:38:04.670 adapters. What can I show you today? Where's 00:38:04.670 --> 00:38:07.809 the tower? Well, we don't actually have a tower 00:38:07.809 --> 00:38:10.690 with us. But we have all kinds of things you 00:38:10.690 --> 00:38:14.369 can use with a tower. We have power poles, antennas, 00:38:14.829 --> 00:38:16.909 soldering irons and meters. Where's the tower? 00:38:17.710 --> 00:38:20.809 Ma 'am, that's the name of our company. We can't 00:38:20.809 --> 00:38:23.289 haul towers to all the ham fest across the country 00:38:23.289 --> 00:38:26.150 that we visit, but we have almost every connector 00:38:26.150 --> 00:38:28.690 and adapter you would need to connect your antenna 00:38:28.690 --> 00:38:30.809 that's on your tower. I don't think there's a 00:38:30.809 --> 00:38:34.429 tower back there. I really don't. Tower Electronics, 00:38:34.750 --> 00:38:37.829 visit us at a hand vest near you or call 920 00:38:37.829 --> 00:38:43.650 -435 -2973 or see our whole catalog at PL -259 00:38:43.650 --> 00:38:46.570 .com. Sorry, one thing we don't have is a tower. 00:38:48.150 --> 00:38:51.710 Join the conversation. Give us a call at 859 00:38:51.710 --> 00:38:57.690 -982 -7373. Again, the number to call is 859 00:38:57.690 --> 00:39:03.440 -982 -7373. Or if you'd rather type than talk, 00:39:03.739 --> 00:39:07.019 tweet us at HamTalk Live. Now, here's Neil Rapp 00:39:07.019 --> 00:39:12.639 with more HamTalk Live. Oh, yeah. You're talking 00:39:12.639 --> 00:39:17.079 ham radio, baby. You're listening to HamTalk 00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:41.679 Live with Neil Rapp. Welcome back to HamTalk 00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:44.980 Live. Thanks to Scott and Jill at Tower Electronics 00:39:44.980 --> 00:39:48.199 for sponsoring this show tonight to help bring 00:39:48.199 --> 00:39:52.079 you HamTalk Live. Tower Electronics will be down 00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:54.679 the road from me, Bedford, Indiana, November 00:39:54.679 --> 00:39:58.699 7th, and then Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The 00:39:58.699 --> 00:40:01.260 HamFest there, November 13th and 14th. COVID 00:40:01.260 --> 00:40:03.860 -permitting, of course, but you can catch them 00:40:03.860 --> 00:40:10.260 anytime at pl -259 .com. And you can catch HamTalk 00:40:10.260 --> 00:40:13.179 Live every Thursday night, 9 p .m. Eastern time, 00:40:13.239 --> 00:40:16.760 right here at HamTalkLive .com. And be sure to 00:40:16.760 --> 00:40:20.599 check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 00:40:20.780 --> 00:40:24.159 Well, we've got a new segment of the show this 00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:28.750 week, N9GSU, Rick Garrett. from Indianapolis, 00:40:28.909 --> 00:40:34.429 Indiana, kind enough to humor me. And we came 00:40:34.429 --> 00:40:38.469 up with this new segment. So here we go with 00:40:38.469 --> 00:40:44.449 the debut of the N9GSU HamTalk Live Ham Radio 00:40:44.449 --> 00:40:47.510 Joke of the Week. Now it's time for the HamTalk 00:40:47.510 --> 00:40:50.570 Live Ham Radio Joke of the Week, the part of 00:40:50.570 --> 00:40:53.449 the show where Rick tells us a ham radio joke. 00:40:53.710 --> 00:40:56.489 The HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the Week is 00:40:56.489 --> 00:41:11.940 brought I was at the ham fest the other day and 00:41:11.940 --> 00:41:15.019 I saw a radio for sale for only a dollar but 00:41:15.019 --> 00:41:18.139 the volume was stuck on full blast. I thought 00:41:18.139 --> 00:41:22.750 to myself, I can't turn that down. This has been 00:41:22.750 --> 00:41:26.050 the HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the Week with 00:41:26.050 --> 00:41:29.789 Rick Garrett in 9GSU. Tune in again next week 00:41:29.789 --> 00:41:35.630 for another joke from Rick. Well there you go. 00:41:36.449 --> 00:41:40.309 I can't turn that down. Alright well it's time 00:41:40.309 --> 00:41:45.909 for your call so. I had you turned off you'll 00:41:45.909 --> 00:41:53.530 have to say it again. I said he's twisted Oh 00:41:53.530 --> 00:41:56.230 It's time for your calls if you have a question 00:41:56.230 --> 00:41:58.690 or comment for rich give us a call eight five 00:41:58.690 --> 00:42:02.730 nine nine eight two seventy three seventy three 00:42:02.730 --> 00:42:05.769 or tweet us at am talk live If you're listening 00:42:05.769 --> 00:42:09.510 to us on WTWW or on the podcast edition, uh, 00:42:09.550 --> 00:42:12.170 we're not here. It's, it's Thursday night. Uh, 00:42:12.250 --> 00:42:15.329 the debate's going on and we're, uh, we're, we're 00:42:15.329 --> 00:42:18.409 escaping it. So, uh, let's see here. We've got, 00:42:18.690 --> 00:42:20.590 uh, we've got several things going on. First 00:42:20.590 --> 00:42:24.170 of all, trip K five TRP says, uh, rich has been 00:42:24.170 --> 00:42:28.150 on a podcast role this week. So, so you're, you're 00:42:28.150 --> 00:42:32.699 making the rounds here. Yeah, I don't know why. 00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:35.619 I don't know what happened, but suddenly when 00:42:35.619 --> 00:42:38.840 I was on Ham Nation last night, I thought it 00:42:38.840 --> 00:42:42.400 was supposed to be next week, but I got a note 00:42:42.400 --> 00:42:44.239 from Bob at about six o 'clock saying, we're 00:42:44.239 --> 00:42:52.840 ready for you. Oh, oops. And of course, I do 00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:59.039 a regular segment once a month on Amateur Radio 00:42:59.039 --> 00:43:02.159 Roundtable. about what's coming up in the next 00:43:02.159 --> 00:43:05.159 issue and doing two of them this month because 00:43:05.159 --> 00:43:10.179 on September 29th, which was the day I was supposed 00:43:10.179 --> 00:43:14.880 to do it. That was the first debate and Tom canceled 00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:17.320 the show that night to not get in the way of 00:43:17.320 --> 00:43:24.159 the debate. And then he had streaming difficulties 00:43:24.159 --> 00:43:26.900 the following week. So that didn't happen. And 00:43:26.900 --> 00:43:29.820 I finally got on last week. And, uh, so yeah, 00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:31.679 I'm, I'm kind of bouncing around the podcast 00:43:31.679 --> 00:43:35.039 this month. You're getting your time in here. 00:43:35.340 --> 00:43:38.619 Well, Brett, W Y seven B G says, uh, the current 00:43:38.619 --> 00:43:41.880 FCC seems bound to determine to do every possible 00:43:41.880 --> 00:43:46.619 favor for the, uh, cellular triopoly, including 00:43:46.619 --> 00:43:50.039 booting others off. of the spectrum. Do you believe 00:43:50.039 --> 00:43:54.559 this move is part and parcel of this? The scourging 00:43:54.559 --> 00:43:57.239 ham radio is an excuse to repurpose the spectrum 00:43:57.239 --> 00:44:03.980 with the, you know, the license fees and the 00:44:03.980 --> 00:44:09.159 spectrum loss? Well, both of these are the direct 00:44:09.159 --> 00:44:13.599 result of legislation passed by Congress. There 00:44:13.599 --> 00:44:19.079 was the, you know, the Ray Baum act. is the law 00:44:19.079 --> 00:44:24.500 that's regarding the fees and the 5G, I forget 00:44:24.500 --> 00:44:27.679 the name of the law, let me see if it's in my 00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:30.860 notes here. I think it's like called the Mobile 00:44:30.860 --> 00:44:36.000 Now Act or something like that. Basically, Congress 00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:40.239 directed the FCC to make available contiguous 00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:47.230 spectrum between 3 .... three to three point 00:44:47.230 --> 00:44:51.550 five five gigahertz to make it available for 00:44:51.550 --> 00:44:57.630 5g services nationwide so that The companies 00:44:57.630 --> 00:45:02.530 wouldn't have to be dealing with having some 00:45:02.530 --> 00:45:04.889 segments available in this part of the country 00:45:04.889 --> 00:45:08.170 and not in that part of the country and and having 00:45:08.170 --> 00:45:13.650 to shift things around so I Don't think that 00:45:13.650 --> 00:45:17.730 you can lay any blame on the commission itself 00:45:17.730 --> 00:45:23.250 for this particular, these sets of actions. You 00:45:23.250 --> 00:45:26.710 can blame Congress if you'd like, but these are 00:45:26.710 --> 00:45:32.230 both the direct result of laws passed by Congress 00:45:32.230 --> 00:45:36.769 directing the commission to clear the frequencies 00:45:36.769 --> 00:45:44.800 for 5G and to remake the fee structure. I think 00:45:44.800 --> 00:45:48.400 that the responsibility in this case is on Congress 00:45:48.400 --> 00:45:56.659 and not the Commission. That's it. And I'm holding 00:45:56.659 --> 00:45:59.860 back my comments about it. It's all about the 00:45:59.860 --> 00:46:06.880 dollar, but let's see here. Jim K5ND says, greatly 00:46:06.880 --> 00:46:09.860 appreciated Rich's recent column titled the Young 00:46:09.860 --> 00:46:13.420 Ham's crisis is getting old. I agree with his 00:46:13.420 --> 00:46:17.559 perspective and great quotes from 1938 and 1948. 00:46:19.880 --> 00:46:25.480 Well, thank you, Jim. Yeah, it's you know as 00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:28.719 as Neil knows I am one of the biggest proponents 00:46:28.719 --> 00:46:32.300 of Getting young people involved in amateur radio 00:46:32.300 --> 00:46:36.440 and recognizing those young hams who are doing 00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:40.940 great things But the you know the people who 00:46:40.940 --> 00:46:45.000 are complaining now that we're not Getting any 00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:48.320 young hams into the hobby are the same people 00:46:48.320 --> 00:46:52.750 who? 30 years ago were young people not getting 00:46:52.750 --> 00:46:57.409 into the hobby because thirty years ago the same 00:46:57.409 --> 00:46:59.989 complaints were being heard and obviously fifty 00:46:59.989 --> 00:47:03.349 and seventy and eighty years ago this is is just 00:47:03.349 --> 00:47:06.690 seems to be as old as ham radio itself the complaint 00:47:06.690 --> 00:47:09.170 that we're not getting any young people in somehow 00:47:09.170 --> 00:47:13.030 they managed to sneak in despite our best efforts 00:47:20.170 --> 00:47:23.030 You know, I used to give a talk at club meetings 00:47:23.030 --> 00:47:26.789 back when there were club meetings called ham 00:47:26.789 --> 00:47:29.909 radio successfully dying for the past 50 years 00:47:29.909 --> 00:47:33.389 Because we've been hearing the same stuff over 00:47:33.389 --> 00:47:35.489 and over again about how this is gonna kill ham 00:47:35.489 --> 00:47:38.590 radio that's gonna kill ham radio and ham radio 00:47:38.590 --> 00:47:42.070 just sucks it all up and churns it over and makes 00:47:42.070 --> 00:47:46.820 it part of ham radio but I have to Expand that 00:47:46.820 --> 00:47:49.199 to now, you know ham radio successfully dying 00:47:49.199 --> 00:47:55.500 for the past 80 years It's not to say that that 00:47:55.500 --> 00:47:58.739 we should not be actively encouraging young people 00:47:58.739 --> 00:48:01.260 to become hams we absolutely should and to get 00:48:01.260 --> 00:48:05.039 on the air and to get active and to remake ham 00:48:05.039 --> 00:48:09.559 radio and Their image with art the new technology 00:48:09.559 --> 00:48:16.480 that's available to us But it's not the crisis 00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:19.480 that so many people make it out to be because 00:48:19.480 --> 00:48:23.300 if it was There would be no ham radio today and 00:48:23.300 --> 00:48:26.659 there wouldn't have been for the past 40 50 years 00:48:26.659 --> 00:48:34.780 So it's You know, I was just looking at an Article 00:48:34.780 --> 00:48:36.599 today that I think is going to be one of our 00:48:36.599 --> 00:48:40.079 CQ classics in November was talking about the 00:48:40.079 --> 00:48:44.349 number of hams at different points before World 00:48:44.349 --> 00:48:48.929 War I, there were 6 ,000 licensed amateurs in 00:48:48.929 --> 00:48:52.550 the United States. By the time World War II rolled 00:48:52.550 --> 00:48:55.710 around and ham radio got shut off again, there 00:48:55.710 --> 00:49:02.110 were 60 ,000 hams. And today there are 770 ,000. 00:49:02.690 --> 00:49:08.289 As I said, dying successfully for decades. And 00:49:08.289 --> 00:49:11.829 our young people are there, they're growing. 00:49:12.280 --> 00:49:16.159 And we're doing everything we can to grow that. 00:49:17.800 --> 00:49:20.519 And on Newsline, actually anchored it just a 00:49:20.519 --> 00:49:22.780 few hours ago. Coming out tomorrow, there's a 00:49:22.780 --> 00:49:28.039 couple of good youth interest stories on Newsline. 00:49:28.280 --> 00:49:32.179 And one of them is one that I'm involved with. 00:49:32.219 --> 00:49:36.780 And I have Bryant Rascal coordinating. December 00:49:36.780 --> 00:49:40.260 Yoda month where all these young hams get on 00:49:40.260 --> 00:49:42.739 and made over a hundred thousand contacts last 00:49:42.739 --> 00:49:45.659 December and they're going to try to break that 00:49:45.659 --> 00:49:52.139 record again this December. There's more out 00:49:52.139 --> 00:49:56.659 there now than when I was five years old and 00:49:56.659 --> 00:50:03.320 trying to navigate the ham bands. It's growing 00:50:03.320 --> 00:50:06.199 and maybe not as fast as we'd like, but it's 00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:11.019 but it is growing. Well, thanks, Jim, for that. 00:50:11.119 --> 00:50:15.320 And I think that's that's what we have so far 00:50:15.320 --> 00:50:17.960 tonight. I know we were going to talk a little 00:50:17.960 --> 00:50:21.539 bit and we're already over time. We were going 00:50:21.539 --> 00:50:24.639 to talk a little bit about CQ Worldwide, because 00:50:24.639 --> 00:50:27.179 that's this weekend. That's that's the. That's 00:50:27.179 --> 00:50:32.139 right. So, uh, over 22 hours from now it starts. 00:50:32.980 --> 00:50:36.800 Yeah. So what are you expecting from CQ worldwide 00:50:36.800 --> 00:50:42.079 in the middle of a pandemic? Well, it's been 00:50:42.079 --> 00:50:45.260 really amazing. You know, this is another example 00:50:45.260 --> 00:50:50.159 of how ham radio is really a wonderful thing 00:50:50.159 --> 00:50:54.539 for people. And it has been keeping those of 00:50:54.539 --> 00:50:59.369 us who are socially isolated, socially connected. 00:51:00.289 --> 00:51:04.550 We are very fortunate that we have these radios 00:51:04.550 --> 00:51:07.869 that let us talk to people around the corner 00:51:07.869 --> 00:51:10.829 and around the world, even if we happen to be 00:51:10.829 --> 00:51:14.809 stuck in our homes or going out for very limited 00:51:14.809 --> 00:51:17.929 excursions for like food and medicine and that's 00:51:17.929 --> 00:51:26.610 about it. And one of the casualties of The pandemic 00:51:26.610 --> 00:51:34.550 has been a lot of de -expeditions and trips to 00:51:34.550 --> 00:51:39.530 somewhat exotic places to operate. But a lot 00:51:39.530 --> 00:51:41.690 more people have been, since they've been home 00:51:41.690 --> 00:51:44.570 without a whole lot of other stuff to do, they've 00:51:44.570 --> 00:51:46.929 been spending a lot more time on the radio. We 00:51:46.929 --> 00:51:51.190 have had record participation in all of our contests 00:51:51.190 --> 00:51:56.190 so far this year. and shows no signs of slowing 00:51:56.190 --> 00:51:58.909 down. It's not just our contest, but every contest 00:51:58.909 --> 00:52:02.349 since March has had record participation. So 00:52:02.349 --> 00:52:05.369 we are expecting the CQ Worldwide this weekend 00:52:05.369 --> 00:52:09.590 to be part of that. There are going to be fewer 00:52:09.590 --> 00:52:13.610 multipliers to be had because a lot of the people 00:52:13.610 --> 00:52:18.869 who normally go and activate different islands 00:52:18.869 --> 00:52:22.869 and exotic places for the contest are not making 00:52:22.869 --> 00:52:26.110 the trip this year. We're going to have a lot 00:52:26.110 --> 00:52:29.289 more competition in the single -op categories. 00:52:31.849 --> 00:52:34.949 We've seen some innovation in multi -op areas 00:52:34.949 --> 00:52:41.170 though, a lot of remote operation, a lot of hybrid, 00:52:41.469 --> 00:52:43.949 we're featuring that in our November issue also, 00:52:44.309 --> 00:52:47.050 hybrid remote and local operation where you have 00:52:47.050 --> 00:52:54.760 a multi -multi station where you have one operator 00:52:54.760 --> 00:52:59.539 at the station physically controlling one radio 00:52:59.539 --> 00:53:02.920 and keeping an eye on the others while other 00:53:02.920 --> 00:53:05.619 operators are coming in remotely and operating 00:53:05.619 --> 00:53:09.800 from other locations. Our May issue featured 00:53:09.800 --> 00:53:14.199 on the cover a totally remote multi -multi operation 00:53:14.199 --> 00:53:17.559 with I think it was 10 or 12 operators all in 00:53:17.559 --> 00:53:21.679 different places. um, operating remotely from 00:53:21.679 --> 00:53:26.400 a station in Maine. And I think they won. Um, 00:53:26.800 --> 00:53:30.920 so there's a lot of ham ingenuity going on, a 00:53:30.920 --> 00:53:34.000 lot of innovation and a lot of activity. And 00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:37.980 that's really great. Yeah. That's some, some 00:53:37.980 --> 00:53:41.099 cool stuff. And I know there's a more and more 00:53:41.099 --> 00:53:44.199 of those remotes popping up all the time and 00:53:44.199 --> 00:53:48.519 they're going to be useful this weekend. That's 00:53:48.429 --> 00:53:52.909 That's for sure. So make sure you get a chance, 00:53:53.110 --> 00:53:55.550 get on CQ Worldwide this weekend. It's a great 00:53:55.550 --> 00:54:01.690 opportunity to rack up some DXCC credits and 00:54:01.690 --> 00:54:06.630 get some countries and have a fun time. And the 00:54:06.630 --> 00:54:09.429 sun is starting to wake up. The sun is waking 00:54:09.429 --> 00:54:13.929 up. Yeah. So get in there and give it a shot. 00:54:14.110 --> 00:54:18.889 It's on the way up. Well, we've got All kinds 00:54:18.889 --> 00:54:23.289 of stuff that we can talk about, but we're already 00:54:23.289 --> 00:54:27.469 over time, Rich. So we're going to end it here, 00:54:27.510 --> 00:54:29.630 but I thank you so much for being on the show 00:54:29.630 --> 00:54:32.150 and talking about all this stuff. Great stuff. 00:54:32.389 --> 00:54:35.269 My pleasure. I know you've got a couple of books 00:54:35.269 --> 00:54:38.469 coming out that you're working on over at CQ2. 00:54:39.070 --> 00:54:41.989 I'll give you like a minute here or two if you 00:54:41.989 --> 00:54:46.659 want to do something quick on those. Well, we're 00:54:46.659 --> 00:54:50.800 we're in the editing process on them one is a 00:54:50.800 --> 00:54:54.440 broad brush introduction to ham radio Written 00:54:54.440 --> 00:54:57.780 by Eric Nicholas kale 7a J who some of you may 00:54:57.780 --> 00:55:01.579 be familiar with he's written a lot of a double 00:55:01.579 --> 00:55:05.579 RL books and he's one of our columnists and he's 00:55:05.579 --> 00:55:09.400 he has a really great way of just connecting 00:55:09.400 --> 00:55:13.860 with people and Talking about technology in non 00:55:13.860 --> 00:55:16.659 -technical terms so to bring people in and get 00:55:16.659 --> 00:55:21.679 them interested and the other is a complete update 00:55:21.679 --> 00:55:26.480 to our shortwave propagation handbook which is 00:55:26.480 --> 00:55:30.900 quite long in the tooth by now and there's been 00:55:30.900 --> 00:55:33.420 so much that has been learned over the course 00:55:33.420 --> 00:55:38.860 of the past cycle and in terms of new satellites 00:55:38.860 --> 00:55:44.099 and new data on propagation and solar activity. 00:55:44.579 --> 00:55:47.019 It's all being worked into the revised version 00:55:47.019 --> 00:55:50.940 of this book. So hopefully both of them will 00:55:50.940 --> 00:55:55.780 be available for Christmas and they will be worth 00:55:55.780 --> 00:55:58.719 your while regardless of when they're out there. 00:55:59.760 --> 00:56:02.199 All right. And let everybody know where they 00:56:02.199 --> 00:56:06.940 can find. CQ and the books and all the information 00:56:06.940 --> 00:56:09.199 on all of that stuff and a new calendar coming 00:56:09.199 --> 00:56:11.800 out here too. That's right. The calendar is out. 00:56:11.940 --> 00:56:14.000 I've got one sitting right in front of me here. 00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:18.760 I love it. It's all available at our website 00:56:18.760 --> 00:56:28.019 at www .cq -amateur -radio .com. Okay, there 00:56:28.019 --> 00:56:32.739 you go. You can also subscribe. All right, rich. 00:56:32.880 --> 00:56:35.059 Well, thank you so much for being here and we 00:56:35.059 --> 00:56:39.059 look forward to more great things out of CQ communications 00:56:39.059 --> 00:56:43.519 and CQ magazine Thanks for being here as always 00:56:43.519 --> 00:56:48.099 and we'll be talking to you again soon Very good. 00:56:48.099 --> 00:56:50.780 Glad to join you and perhaps the next time you're 00:56:50.780 --> 00:57:00.179 on every other podcast See a lot of your listeners 00:57:00.179 --> 00:57:04.610 on the air this weekend Yep, I feel the same 00:57:04.610 --> 00:57:09.909 way. So that's a wrap for This week's edition 00:57:09.909 --> 00:57:13.050 of ham talk live. Thanks to my guest rich Moses 00:57:13.050 --> 00:57:16.050 and w2v you from CQ communications and everybody 00:57:16.050 --> 00:57:18.349 out there in cyberspace for listening and typing 00:57:18.349 --> 00:57:21.349 in tonight and Invite you back next Thursday 00:57:21.349 --> 00:57:25.469 night 9 p .m. Eastern time when we won't have 00:57:25.469 --> 00:57:29.969 the excuse of getting away from the presidential 00:57:29.969 --> 00:57:33.489 debate. For a list of all of our upcoming guests, 00:57:34.150 --> 00:57:36.630 visit HamTalkLive .com. If you like the show, 00:57:36.889 --> 00:57:38.929 please leave us a review. That would help us 00:57:38.929 --> 00:57:42.030 out tremendously. So for now, this is Neil Rapp, 00:57:42.230 --> 00:57:49.130 WB9VPG, saying 7375, and may the good DX be yours. 00:57:49.610 --> 00:57:57.869 Thanks for watching!