March Club Talk Highlights

Mike Umbricht, W9GYR, Curator of the Ladd Observatory at Brown University, spoke March 26, 2024 at the Providence Radio Club (W1OP)

Spider Webs, Telescopes and Time Standards

Did you know telescope cross-hairs (as shown above from the 1880s) were made out of spider web silk, raised at scale? Get hams talking and you will always learn something new and unexpected like this. It’s a community interested in technology, standards, and yet also able to find welcoming storylines for new stakeholders seeking a seat at the table. 

“In the 19th century, astronomers did find a use for spider silk. They needed better cross-hairs on their telescopes. Spider silk proved to be the perfect material. By WW-II, gunsights and bombsights, rangefinders and transits, telescopes and microscopes were all using spider silk. Demand outran supply.” https://engines.egr.uh.edu/episode/1069#:~:text=In%20the%2019th%20century%2C%20astronomers,were%20all%20using%20spider%20silk.

Thank you to PRA President David Tessitore, K1DT for inviting me to this truly fascinating and wide-ranging presentation. Links were provided to explore more of the topics covered:

“Starting in 1893, Ladd Observatory at Brown University began transmitting time signals from precision pendulum clocks that were synchronized to observations of stars. A “time signal” was then sent to a central station in Providence and distributed via telegraph wire to clocks in the area. The signals were used by local businesses such as jewelers, factories, railroad operations, and for navigation. The signals were also transmitted to the fire stations throughout Providence, which sounded signals at exactly noon and 8:30 p.m. daily for the public to set their clocks.

Timekeeping:  https://youtu.be/1qWInlP0wVY?si=nvQ8Sxu6qbUo2DXt

Past Presentation: https://brown.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=16abe7c6-9b45-4b51-ae74-e1b12aa02e6c

Mike Umbricht, W9GYR is also the Brown Radio Club KIAD Trustee – Reference; Brown U Radio Club History:  https://www.qrz.com/db/K1AD

NASA citizen science projects for the April 8 eclipse:

The eclipse is 92% in Providence. Amateurs are encouraged to make observations that will improve our scientific understanding of nature.  https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/citizen-science/  

Of particular interest to amateur radio enthusiasts is the Ham SCI project. The eclipse will cause changes in the Earth’s ionosphere. 

Reception reports of ham radio communication will help scientists understand these changes. https://hamsci.org/

More ambitious is Radio JOVE. It uses a software defined radio to measure radio emissions from Jupiter and the Earth’s ionosphere. It can also be used for Solar observations. This is esp. important during an eclipse.

https://science.nasa.gov/citizen-science/radio-jove/“

For more information on the Providence Radio Association, see their impressive new website: https://w1op.com/

Club News – Stay Tuned

BVARC – April 6, 2024

In conjunction with National Library Week, Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (BVARC) is again offering its popular Get on the Air demo at the nearby EMA Bellingham (MA) Public Library, https://www.bellinghamma.org/library

“The Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (BVARC) will conduct an amateur radio demonstration Sat., April 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bellingham Public Library, 100 Blackstone St.The club will operate two radio stations outside the library as an introduction to ham radio. An indoor display will feature the history of ham radio, its purpose, the benefits of the ham radio hobby and the public service hams render during national emergencies and natural disasters. Some vintage radio equipment will be displayed as well as a continuous Morse code demonstration. Experienced hams will be present to welcome visitors, explain the day’s proceedings and answer questions regarding their hobby.” 

Questions may be directed to Mickey Callahan, K1WMC, at [email protected] or Teri DiIorio, W1PUP, ARRL RI-ASEC.

Fidelity Amateur Radio Club – new ham station coming soon?

Stay tuned for more information about the strategic alliances the new club president has forged to connect amateur radio skills and workforce development opportunities for disabled RI veterans in Kent County. A permanent ham shack in West Warwick is in the works – if I got this right. https://k1nqg.wordpress.com/

Stay tuned! 

ARRL Field Day Plans – June 22-23, 2024 

https://www.arrl.org/field-day                                                                                                                                

https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Thank you to the two clubs who have already posted their plans to ARRL. Lots of planning underway for this major annual Amateur Radio showcase now less than 3 months away. 

NEQP Contesting & Clubs – May 4-5, 2024

It’s the New England QSO Party! Plan now to be part of this congenial regional warm-up to Field Day. https://neqp.org

LOTS of Club-sponsored Awards to shout out about: https://neqp.org/awards/

(Regional) YCCC – Yankee Clipper Contest Club 

YCCC RI Area co-managers: Charlie Morrison, N1RR and Dave Neil, W2DAN

https://yccc.org/

YCCC Sponsoring these NEQP awards this May 2024:

• New England Club
• New England – Single Operator
• DX – Single Operator
• USA – Single Operator

(Regional) CT-RI Contest Group –  https://ctri.club/

• Rhode Island – Single Operator

(BVARC) Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club – http://www.w1ddd.org/

• New England – Single Operator – QRP

Individual-sponsor: N1NK, Jim Spears (official RI ARRL QSL card checker)

• Golden Log (non-W1 top score with no errors) (Great award!!!)

Top RI & Club records to date

Club results to beat – https://neqp.org/records/#wve

Top RI results – https://neqp.org/new-england-records/

It’s 2024: do you know where your five Rhode Island counties are?

https://neqp.org/map-of-new-england-counties/

Get on the Air!

Welcome One (1) New RI Technician-licensed hams! 

If you hear a “KC1″x3 call sign with a suffix starting with a “T” or “U”, ask if the caller is a newly licensed ham and send CONGRATS! WELCOME!!!

From the ARRL “New License Report” for 2024-02-05

• Ricardo Ferrer, KC1UEZ – Cumberland – Great to hear you on an ARES net. Welcome!

Continuing Kudos to these 16 new RI hams from the ARRL “New License Report” previously posted 2024 and 2023-12-05. Need help getting started? Please reach out! 

• • • Herbert Peterson, KC1TZK – Barrington
    • Patrick Foster, KC1TYM – Newport
    • Ruben Morawicki, KC1UBS – Warwick
    • Geovanny Maldonado, KC1UBF – Warwick
    • Shana Saunders, KC1UBA – Westerly
    • John Macvittie, KC1TVX – Coventry
    • David Walker, KC1TVM – East Greenwich
    • Richard Tucker, AC1QR – Lincoln
    • John Flanders, KC1TVQ – Saunderstown
    • Edward Dufresne, KC1TVR – Warren
    • Michael O’Neil, KC1TUR – Warwick
    • Darrell Wood, KC1TXB – Woonsocket
    • Jose Sandoval, KC1TWM – Providence
    • Frank Saccoccio, KC1TWB – Johnston
    • Scott Vigneau, KC1TTH – Warwick
    • Aaron Sucov, KC1TRG – Cranston

Congrats to the FOUR LATEST RI License Upgrades

From the ARRL “New License Upgrade Report” for 2024-02-05

• Maggie Heaney, KC1TOQ – Chepachet
• Jeremy S Taylor, K1JST – Extra, Coventry
• Douglas E Pierini, N1DZS Pawtucket
• Jack W Cole, K1JWC – Warwick

Continuing Kudos to these 6 RI hams from the ARRL “New License Upgrade Report” previously posted for 2024 & 2023-12-05.

• Mark W Beezer, W1NZR – Jamestown
• Stephen Crawford, AI1IA – Westerly
• Michael Vincent, KB1EVH – Chepachet
• Dennis Hobert, KC1OYW – Harrisville
• Matthew Sarasin, KB1HEG – Warren
• Alfred J Watterson, KC1TGV – Warwick

Get licensed! Upgrade? Upcoming RI In-person VE Sessions 

Many thanks to these 3 RI ARRL-Affiliated Clubs for consistently offering publicly-announced, in-person VE sessions. Here’s what they are offering April-June 2024.. https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session

• W1AQ (Associated Radio Amateurs of Southern New England) on Saturdays at 9:30am on April 6; May 4, June 1, 2024 (Rumford, RI)  (walk-ins allowed)
• Blackstone Valley ARC (BVARC) on Saturday at 9am May 11, 2024 (Woonsocket, RI) Location: Our Saviour’s Parish (Pre-registration via email preferred; Walk-ins allowed)
• Newport County Radio Club (NCRC | W1SYE.org) on Saturday at 10AM June 8, 2024 in Middletown, RI at the Middletown Police Station  (No Walk-ins / Register ahead, info here: https://w1sye.org/?page_id=151)

License Study Options for all Learning Styles

Prefer to study with a class? Check out the ARRL listing for classes here: https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class

Newport County Radio Club (NCRC) – free online classes starting soon

Technician Class – APRIL 23 – June 08, 2024 (7 weekly sessions via Zoom; VE session follows) Times: 6 PM. Free! Instructor – Bob Beatty, WB4SON

https://www.arrl.org/courses/online-ri-00000-2

Online via Zoom Classes on six consecutive Tuesday nights, followed by a review session, then the exam on the following Saturday. Please Register Here: https://forms.gle/yyBU7DWSxvLhBnLGA

General/Extra Class – APRIL 26 – May 31, 2024 (6 weekly sessions via Zoom; VE session follows) Times: 7-9 PM. Free! Instructor – Paul Fredette, K1YBE

https://www.arrl.org/courses/online-ri-02871-2

License Exam Prep via HamStudy.org. License prep and/or review has never been easier than with this transformational learning platform offering self-paced study and practice tests. Available on demand, for free. 

See also the new post by John Brewer, N1SXB – the RI Section Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) and new Extra Class license holder:

“How the ARRL website helped me pass the Extra exam” (March 15, 2024) by N1SXB

https://ri-arrl.org/how-the-arrl-website-helped-me-pass-the-extra-exam/

OR: check out the respected WEEKEND ZOOM License Class boot camps being offered all-remote this winter/spring by The Nashua Area Radio Society (N1FD) 

Upcoming Regional Remote Amateur Radio License Class Weekend Bootcamps

For more information see: https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/

• Extra License Class – April 19th, 20th, and 21st, 2024

Get on the Air! 

• Showcase your GOTA station at Field Day, June 22-23, 2024
• W1OP is sponsoring GOTA station at upcoming New England Division HamXposition August 22-25, 2024 in nearby Marlborough, MA

https://hamxposition.org/2024/02/03/providence-radio-association-to-sponsor-2024-official-hamxposition-station-w1xpo/

Did you know: “This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first ARRL New England Division Convention, and Northeast HamXposition committee members are discussing ways to commemorate the milestone….”  https://hamxposition.org/2024/02/21/new-england-division-convention-to-celebrate-100th-anniversary/

RI ARES and the Situational Awareness mission

Is Ham Radio a Dinosaur technology?

The recent 2024 National Hurricane Conference in Orlando revealed the endless ways ham radio operators provide critical ground truth situational awareness “when all else fails”. See especially tales told by Julio Ripoll, WD4R  in the YouTube video link in the blog post.  See especially 1:25-1:33.  (And shout out to the wire antenna!)

https://ri-arrl.org/analog-communication-in-a-digital-world/

(See also the The ARRL Letter for March 28, 2024, sent to members via email.)

RI Skywarn Training April 30, 2024

Sign up for RHODE  ISLAND SKYWARN Training  Tuesday April 30th, 2024 – 530-730 PM:
CCRI Newport Campus, 1 John H Chafee Boulevard, Newport, RI 02840
Taught by: NWS Forecaster
Registration required: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdruGus86JIOf5u234ZfFdV3PQgIku-3cd8Ci6ZKG9gvpEmcQ/viewform

FEMA Region 1 WinLink monthly exercises continue

Thank you to the 8 RI amateur radio operators that responded to the March FEMA R1 Winlink preparedness test:

AA1VV Jason, K1JST Jeremy, K1NPT Mike Cullen, KC1NEJ Mike Rousseau, KC1NEK Nancy, KE1AK Corry, N1SXB John, W1PUP Teri.

Shout out also to new ham KC1TJG, Steve who continues to work to get this capability in his toolkit. 

Individual  initiative matters. It was a good learning curve for me. Let’s keep working to improve our operating skills and ease at completing a given Winlink task. Thank you again for participating, despite any challenges you might have had to work through. 

Want to join in? Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2VWQ7PNKjMqFf_985VS6LqOASdOxWqcAeElExaT3vNYlUHA/viewform

There is much to learn starting out with the Winlink Android app, WoAD, available on the Google Play Store with all served agency templates ready to explore. See also: https://woad.sumusltd.com/download/. 

Let’s move the RI participation rate up to double digits as we continue to build blue-sky collaborative relationships across the state and region.  

Its a data-driven world

As an external professional coach for mostly tech companies, I’m here to confirm that the competitive, data-driven need to demonstrate business value is unlikely to go away anytime soon. It’s an epoch-defining time of continued digital transformation. Our FCC-granted personal amateur radio license spectrum privileges exist as part of this real world context – whether we like it or not.

Let’s support the efforts of Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, Director of Emergency Management, ARRL HQ as he continues to use data to advocate for all of us during times of tight resource constraints. How to do this?

Join RI ARES and, among many other things, help RI Section Emergency Coordinator, Jeremy Taylor, K1JST capture and report as much of our RI radio activity as possible to report up to Josh. Jeremy has put together reporting forms to make this as easy as possible. Please be part of our shared goal. 

Reporting your Public Service initiatives as part of RI ARES is being part of the solution for all of us as we collectively justify spectrum allocation for amateur radio. 

https://riares.org/membership  

For example, there are 71 ARRL geographic Sections in the US and its territories, and 15 ARRL Divisions. With only about half the sections still getting up to speed on this new data-gathering, Josh Johnston, KE5MHV can already report that amateur radio volunteers have delivered at least $2,622,479 in short order. This kind of data will matter as ARRL continues to make the case for why our hobby matters and deserves to preserve its incredibly valuable spectrum privileges. 

Thank you to our volunteer RI SEC, Jeremy K1JST for raising awareness about this initiative, providing training to RI leaders, and for giving us incredibly simple to use Google forms for reporting after each relevant activity. This accounting aspect is only going to get more important, so thank you, K1JST, for humanizing this and explaining why it matters so much. 

Rhode Island is now actively reporting significant hours to this national effort. For more information on how to participate at the RI level, please reach out via email to [email protected] or [email protected]. 

Please help and be part of the solution. ARES is an ARRL program and reporting your Public Service initiatives up to ARRL HQ this way matters and will have outsize impact. 

Amateur Radio – Strategic Context to help set priorities (in process)

Here’s the thing: our community is a living body that ebbs and flows. We honor Silent Keys with a last call; VEs license and clubs warmly welcome and mentor new hams. People move in and out of state. Contesting or POTA or ARES or rag chewing may be the shore we explore most. We join clubs; we drift away; we refocus, as do clubs. The shifting responsibilities of an adult life might mean there are years or even decades when the passion to play radio has to be set aside – temporarily, until another time, but always ready to be picked up again after the pause. 

As we head deeper into Spring 2024, strategic parameters continue to get clearer to me, your still-new Rhode Island Section Manager. I’m listening. Looking at data. Diving into the history of standards and the still evolving spectrum policy too. The technology matters, but so do the people who collaborated and negotiated the context we operate in.

Here are some of the things I’m taking in:

Riveting commentary by Dan Henderson, N1ND in “FCC Rules and Regulations for the Amateur Radio Service, 4th Edition” 

https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/114291

Available from the ARRL online shop for $7.95. Written by the former ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, who retired in June 2021 after nearly 23 years on the ARRL staff.

How does he introduce the Amateur Radio Spectrum?

• “The electromagnetic spectrum is a limited resource. Every kilohertz of the radio spectrum represents precious turf that is blood sport to those who lay claim to it…Every minute of every hour of every day, we have a fresh chance to use the spectrum intelligently.”
• “Although the radio spectrum has been used in a certain way in the past, changes are possible.”
• “Amateur radio is richly endowed with a wide range of bands starting at 1.8 MHz [160m] and extending above 300 GHz.”

Where do the rules come from? – International Regulation of the Spectrum:  “Amateur radio frequency band allocations don’t just happen.” 

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) 

• “The origins of the ITU trace back to the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century. To establish an international telegraph network, it was necessary to reach agreement on uniform message handling and technical compatibility….”

Lots available to read about the history and evolution of the ITU. An overview is available on Wikipedia as here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Telecommunication_Union

• As a result of the 1865 Conference, the International Telegraph Union, the predecessor to the modern ITU, was founded as the first international standards organization. The Union was tasked with implementing basic principles for international telegraphy. 
  • This included: the use of the Morse code as the international telegraph alphabet, … and the right of everybody to use the international telegraphy
• The name was changed to Telecommunications c. 1932 to to reflect its expanded responsibilities over radio and the telephone. 
• Global Governance: The ITU is one of the oldest international organizations still in operation,… since post WW2 (1947/49) it is a specialized agency within the United Nations system. 

This ITU history reminded me: 

of an unusual talk given at Harvard during the April 2016 New England Security Day (NESD) Conference. Amidst the cutting-edge technology talks, she presented the ITU founding as an example of the possibility for people to come together to negotiate and agree upon global governance standards. Despite great skepticism and odds. The problem was not the technology; the challenge was people agreeing to a negotiated standard. She offered the formation of the ITU an example of a time when it did happen.

Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. (1867). Map Showing the Telegraph Lines in Operation, under Contract, and Contemplated, to Complete the Circuit of the Globe Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-12d0-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

3 notable things I learned from the ITU website are:

https://www.itu.int/en/about/Pages/default.aspx

1. The Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) … is a licensed amateur radio operator. Doreen Bogdan-Martin KD2JTX took office on 1 January 2023.  https://www.arrl.org/news/doreen-bogdan-martin-kd2jtx-is-elected-as-next-itu-secretary-general
2. The standard language they use has changed from IT to ICT = Information & Communication Technology 

See for example the broader meaning of ICT:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_and_communications_technology 

“Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage and audiovisual, that enable users to access, store, transmit, understand and manipulate information. 

This has important workforce development implications. Especially if one goal of a sustainable Amateur Radio community is to be understood as a vital partner of the STEM pathway for a changing workforce. For example, see the upcoming sponsored ITU – Girls in ICT to be held 25 April 2024. This year’s theme is on the critical role of mentoring and leadership to make progress on inclusive workforce development goals. https://www.itu.int/women-and-girls/girls-in-ict/ 

3. Workforce development opportunities are growing out of each of the 3 ITU Sectors: Standards, Radiocommunications, Development. 

Development (ITU-D).This sector was established in 1992, and helps spread equitable, sustainable and affordable access to information and communication technologies (ICT). It is concerned with technology and culture problems like digital divide and equitable broadband access. (KD2JTX came from this career pathway. Amateur radio could be an inspiration for any number of cross-functional STEM career pathways, broadly conceived.)

The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is responsible for radio communications. Its role is to manage the international radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources and to develop standards for radiocommunication systems with the objective of ensuring the effective use of the spectrum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU-R

 ITU Standardization encompasses Interoperability and the interworking of Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities and Communities (SC&C) applications and services. There is much more to say about this another time.  

Where do the rules come from? – the United States Regulation of the Spectrum:

After laying out how the ITU governs international spectrum standards and policies, Dan Henderson, N1ND then reviews the three main Federal bodies responsible for some area of telecommunication policy in the United States, and how this policy is enacted as law in the Code of Federal Regulations. Again, the Amateur Radio service is governed by the FCC, but the FCC is only one of three players here. It was helpful for me to better understand how the NTIA governs Federal Spectrum Use, among other things.

NTIA

For example, the NTIA is busily concerned about where the future RF engineering workforce is going to come from. 

https://www.ntia.gov/other-publication/2022/2022-ntia-spectrum-policy-symposium

The recent NTIA Spectrum Policy Symposium (September 19, 2022) and the Aspen Institute’s Toward A National Spectrum Strategy (September 2022) position spectrum as a national asset “foundational to meeting our national goals of economic growth and leadership in the information economy”.

IMO, the Amateu Radio community has much to contribute here, and I look forward to continuing to learn and assess how to communicate everything our community is already doing well and might contribute as best practices. 

I have been following the education and workforce implications of SpectrumX as we brainstorm what are the compelling stories about why Amateur Radio for the new generations I hear everywhere we must connect with: https://www.spectrumx.org/research-and-education/education/

The FCC governs Amateur Radio 

FCC History 1934

90 years ago this June before Field Day (June 19, 1934)  “The Federal Communications Commission was established, replacing the Federal Radio Commission.” https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/history-of-commercial-radio#:~:text=June%2019%2C%201934,replacing%20the%20Federal%20Radio%20Commission.

You can find this by following the path:

Home > Media > Bureau Divisions > Audio Division > Radio History Documents > History of Commercial Radio

Dan Henderson, N1ND again provides insightful commentary on Part 97, heard so often by licensed radio amateurs. For now, I just bookmark this here:

FCC Part 97

Code of Federal Regulations, reference

• https://www.arrl.org/fcc-rules-and-regulations
• https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/technologies-systems-and-innovation-division/rules-regulations-title-47
• Latest version: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97
  • pdf version updated annually

CFR Title 47 Chapter I Subchapter D Part 97 

• CFR = Code of Federal Regulations

• Title 47: Telecommunication

• Chapter 1: Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

• Subchapter D: Safety and Special Radio Services

• Part 97: Amateur Radio Service

• • • Subpart A—General Provisions
      • 97.1 Basis and purpose.

• The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles: 
• (a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
• • (b) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art. 
  • (c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art. 

• (d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts. 

• (e) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s unique ability to enhance international goodwill.

• 97.3 Definitions.
  • a) The definitions of terms used in part 97 are: 
    • (1) Amateur operator.  A person named in an amateur operator/primary license station grant on the ULS consolidated licensee database to be the control operator of an amateur station. 
    • (2) Amateur radio services.  The amateur service, the amateur-satellite service and the radio amateur civil emergency service
    • (4) Amateur service.  A radiocommunication service for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by amateurs, that is, duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. ….
    • (37) Radio Regulations.  The latest ITU Radio Regulations to which the United States is a party. 
    • (38) RACES  (radio amateur civil emergency service). A radio service using amateur stations for civil defense communications during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies.emergency service. 

I found it interesting to compare this with a look at the current FCC organizational chart. Amateur Radio is under Wireless Telecommunications – a place with lots of opportunities IMO.

FCC BUREAUS & OFFICES

Consumer, Enforcement

Inspector General

Media

Public Safety

Space

Wireless Telecommunications

Wireline

Wireless > Mobility > Amateur Radio

https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service

First – at least glance at what the Mobility Division is tasked with. 

SO many subcategories!!!

https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/mobility-division-wtb

But then you get to this contemporary language about Wireless > Mobility > Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio: 

“The amateur and amateur-satellite services are for qualified persons of any age who are interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. These services present an opportunity for self-training, intercommunication, and technical investigations. Twenty-nine small frequency bands throughout the spectrum are allocated to this service internationally. Some 1,300 digital, analog, pulse, and spread-spectrum emission types may be transmitted.

Millions of amateur operators in all areas of the world communicate with each other directly or through ad hoc relay systems and amateur-satellites. They exchange messages by voice, teleprinting, telegraphy, facsimile, and television. In areas where the FCC regulates the services, an amateur operator must have an FCC or Canadian license. FCC-issued Reciprocal Permits for Alien Amateur Licensee are no longer needed. Reciprocal operation in the U.S. is now authorized by Section 47 C.F.R. § 97.107.

All frequencies are shared. No frequency is assigned for the exclusive use of any amateur station. Station control operators cooperate in selecting transmitting channels to make the most effective use of the frequencies. They design, construct, modify, and repair their stations. The FCC equipment authorization program does not generally apply to amateur station transmitters. …”

This is an opportunity. It’s the context we need to understand to set our priorities and be effective. Even here in the smallest state. Among other things, I am more convinced than ever that the ARRL’s advocacy mission deserves our support as we band together our Personal Spectrum Licenses to be heard and work together to shape the future. 

Communicating how amateur radio mentoring has a proven track record and stands ready to deliver both the technical skills and inclusive leadership people skills seems like something we could achieve. Step by step. 

to be continued….

Nancy Austin, KC1NEK

Rhode Island Section Manager 31 March 2024