Thanks to all who voted in our club election. The number of ballots received was not what we had hoped for but with everything going on in the world we’re grateful. Six ballots were received and each candidate received six votes. I’m thinking that our voting percentage was almost as good as was the country’s General Election.
So a hearty congratulation is in order to all my fellow candidates.
The PRC Board for 2021:
President, Hal Rogers K8CMD; Vice President, Mike Marganski, KE8HBK; Secretary, John Malloy, KA8VTV; Treasurer, Tom Pechnik, AC8EH, and Trustee, Tom Bedocs, K8DMM.
Again, congratulations to the Board and thank you all for your support and thanks to Rich Nagel, W8KU who served as Elections Chairman.
As the current year has not been “business as usual”, the coming year will also have it’s challenges. On the bright side, it appears vaccines are on the way in 2021 and we’ll begin to get control over the pandemic. What a wonderful day it will be when we can get back to a “normal” way of life. Until that time, we urge you to continue to protect yourself, family and friends by taking the precautions advised by medical experts.
Net Control Operators needed
If you’d like to have some fun this winter, step up and volunteer to run one of our nets. It’s as easy as chatting and there’s no need to be formal. Just step in and start an old fashioned roundtable. However, if you prefer the formal approach, write us and we’ll explain the simple process.
ARRL urges FCC to waive the proposed fee
ARRL has urged the FCC to waive its proposed $50 amateur radio application fee. The Commission proposal was made last month in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD 20-270. The proposal already has drawn more than 3,200 individual comments overwhelmingly opposed to the plan. The fees, directed by Congress and imposed on all FCC-regulated services, are to recover the FCC’s costs of handling and processing applications.
“Amateur radio applications were not listed when the Congress adopted its 1985 fee schedule for applications, and therefore amateur license applications were excluded from the collection of fees,” ARRL said on November 16 in its proposal. “Similarly, a decade later when regulatory fees were authorized, the Amateur Service was excluded, except for the costs associated with issuing vanity call signs.” The new statutory provisions are similar. Amateur radio license applications are not addressed in the application fees section and explicitly excluded from regulatory fees,” ARRL said, and there is “no evidence of any intent by Congress to change the exempt status of amateur applications and instead subject them to new fees.”
ARRL argued that the FCC has explicit authority to waive the fees if it would be in the public interest, and should do so for the Amateur Radio Service. Unlike other FCC services, the Amateur Radio Service is all volunteer and largely self-governing, with examination preparation, administration, and grading handled by volunteers, who submit licensing paperwork to the FCC, ARRL pointed out.
more …. http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-seeks-waiver-of-proposed-fcc-amateur-application-fees
April 18, 2021, designated as “National Amateur Radio Operators Day” thanks to 12 year old ham
US Representative Debbie Lesko of Arizona has introduced a resolution designating April 18, 2021, as National Amateur Radio Operators Day, to recognize the important contributions of amateur radio operators.
“Amateur radio operators are critical in times of crisis and our communities are safer thanks to their dedication to sharing important information with the public,” Lesko said. She was approached to introduce the resolution by 12-year-old Raymond, N7KCB, from Peoria, Arizona.
“I started Long Distance Responders so I can help prepare the community for emergencies with amateur radio,” said Raymond. “There might be a price for a radio, but the ability and knowledge to help someone is truly priceless.”
As Lesko’s resolution notes, World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) is celebrated annually on April 18 to commemorate the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in 1925, and she said her resolution recognizes the amateur radio community with a national day in the United States in 2021. The resolution cites the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) for providing “invaluable emergency communications services following recent natural disasters, including but not limited to helping coordinate disaster relief efforts following Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Maria and other extreme weather disasters.”
ARRL
Stay safe, warm and active on the bands.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
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