Official NCVEC Press Release:

VECs PROPOSE NEW ENTRY LEVEL COMMUNICATOR HAM LICENSE

The National Conference of VECs filed a Petition for Rulemaking on
March 1, 2004 proposing their version of a new entry-level Amateur Service
license and redistribution of some HF frequencies to General and Amateur
Extra Class licensees.

The petition, which is somewhat similar to the one filed by the
American Radio League, requires no required demonstrated Morse code
proficiency for any license class ...including Extra.

The NCVEC proposed the same HF/VHF/UHF bands for the entry level
class as the ARRL and both petitions grant more privileges to all classes.
The VEC's proposal, however, allows wider voice subbands and less exclusive
CW/digital frequencies. The NCVEC petition also places more emphasis on the
use of 15 and 10 meters for entry-level voice operation than does the ARRL.

The VECs proposed an additional 50 kHz of 80-meter voice spectrum
over the ARRL proposal and 25 kHz more 40 meter voice spectrum for both the
General and Extra Class. At 15 Meters, the General Class would get an
additional 75 kHz of voice spectrum over ARRL proposal; Extra Class, an
additional 50 kHz.

The frequency privileges proposed for the new entry level class
which the VECs want called the "Communicator" Class a

80 Meters:
3950-4000 kHz (voice/image), 3550-3675 kHz (digital/CW).

40 Meters:
7250-7300 kHz (voice/image), 7050-7150 kHz (Digital/CW).

15 Meters:
21350-21450 kHz voice/image), 21050-21150 kHz (Digital/CW).

10 meters:
28.300-28.500 and 29000-29700 kHz (voice/image), 28050-28150 kHz
(CW/Digital).

All bands 6 Meters through 70 cm:
Full Amateur privileges.

The NCVEC envisions that all Novice Class operators would
automatically become Communicator Class licensees as of the effective date.
At the same time, Technician and Tech Plus amateurs would be upgraded to the
General Class ...Advanced Class licensees would become Extra Class. The
VECs believed that there was no other effective way to redistribute
Novice/Tech Plus spectrum to the General and Extra Class without this
automatic upgrade feature.

This means that some 350,000 Tech/Tech Plus and 85,000 Advanced
Class would not be testing for an upgrade to the next class. This amounts
to about 60 percent or all current licensees and those in the two year grace
period. On the other hand, the VECs anticipate a greatly expanded demand
for entry-level ("Communicator") testing and license preparation material.
Some 40,000 Novices would be automatically upgraded to the new entry level
which would not only contain their existing frequency bands, but additional
HF/VHF/UHF bands as well.

The NCVEC proposes that existing Novice, Technician, Tech Plus and
Advanced Class operators be issued a new Communicator, General or Extra
Class license document upon their next renewal. The new privileges will
"kick in," of course, as of the effective date. The Novice, Technician,
Tech Plus and Advanced Class licenses will be permanently retired.

The VECs suggested that Communicator Class call signs might come
from the authorized but unallocated NA1AAA through NZ0ZZZ call sign block.

Proposed entry level transmitter power is proposed to be 100 watts
when the operation takes place below 24 MHz; 50 watts above. This is the
same as the ARRL proposal. In addition, the NCVEC proposed mandatory low
voltage to the final transmitter amplifier stage and that only commercially
manufactured transmitters be used by Communicator Class licensees.
Communicator Class licensees may not install repeater or remote base
stations, be a volunteer examiner or establish a club station.

Communicator Class licensees must pass a simple 20 question
multiple-choice written exam and will be required to obtain, read and
certify their understanding of the Part 97 rules. The VECs Question Pool
Committee feels that it is impossible to cover the FCC rules in what would
be a relatively few questions. The ARRL proposed 25 examination questions.

This petition was reviewed prior to submission by all 14 of the
VEC's around the country, and was approved by a 2 to 1 margin. While some
areas of disagreement were to be expected, the fact that such an
overwhelming majority of the VEC's approved the NCVEC petition speaks well
for it's being representative of the true feelings and opinions of those
most in tune with the examination process and the needs of the Amateur Radio
community.

This is further supported by the fact that the NCVEC and ARRL
petitions are similar in basic concept, and in fact agree on most issues.
Taken together, these two filings appear to be speaking in a unified voice
as to the needs of the future of Amateur Radio in the United States"

The FCC acknowledged receipt of the Petition for Rulemaking on March
4, 2004. It is not known when it will be distributed for initial Public
Comment. The ARRL Petition has not been assigned an RM (rulemaking) file
number yet either.

---End of press release---

The NCVEC has filed a petition on restructuring US
licensing. You can obtain a PDF or RTF copy
via one of the following:

http://www.arnewsline.org/newspages/...20Petition.pdf

or

http://www.arnewsline.org/newspages/...20Petition.rtf