SB QST @ ARL $ARLB013
ARLB013 FCC okays RF identification tags at 433.5 to 434.5 MHz

ZCZC AG13
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 13 ARLB013
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT April 16, 2004
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB013
ARLB013 FCC okays RF identification tags at 433.5 to 434.5 MHz

The FCC has adopted a somewhat limited proposal to permit deployment
of RF Identification (RFID) tags on the 70-cm band at much greater
duty cycles than current Part 15 rules permit for such devices.

Among other applications, RFID tags are used to track shipments and
packing containers. A Third Report and Order (R & O) in ET Docket
01-278--approved April 15 but not yet released--follows a 2000
petition by SAVI Technology to revise FCC Part 15 rules to
accommodate such devices in the vicinity of 433 MHz. The ARRL has
consistently opposed the proposal, but the FCC just as unfailingly
has gone along with it. FCC Office of Engineering and Technology
(OET) Chief Ed Thomas said RFIDs provide important public benefits.

"This device is designed to increase homeland security at ports,
rail yards and warehouses," Thomas told the FCC open meeting. "It
will foster the development of more powerful and advanced RFID
systems that can identify the contents of shipping containers and
determine whether tampering has occurred during shipment." Thomas
said the devices also would increase efficiency in shipping
operations and inventory control.

In requesting Commission adoption, OET's Hugh van Tuyl provided the
broad strokes of the Part 15 rule changes, which, he said, would
apply specifically to shipping containers "in commercial and
industrial areas." In certain cases, he asserted, current Part 15
requirements aimed at preventing interference to licensed services
"may unnecessarily constrain the operational range of RFID systems
as well as the speed and quantity of data that can be transmitted."

The Third R & O would increase the maximum radiated field strength
permitted for such devices as well as the maximum permissible duty
cycle--from one second to one minute. The longer duty cycle would
allow an RFID to transmit the contents of an entire shipping
container, van Tuyl said. "We therefore believe there will be no
significant increase in the potential for interference to authorized
services," he concluded.

The Third R & O reflects certain accommodations to the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which
expressed "grave concerns" about the proposal in 2002. The R & O
limits the operating band for such RFID tags to 433.5 to 434.5 MHz,
instead of the 425 to 435 MHz SAVI originally asked for. It further
prohibits operation of RFID tag systems within 40 km (about 25
miles) of five government radar sites. Manufacturers of 433 MHz RFID
systems would have to register the locations of their system base
stations to aid in interference resolution.

Since SAVI first approached the FCC in 2000, ARRL has maintained
that the RFID tags the company proposed would represent a
significant source of potential interference to sensitive receivers
and be incompatible with ongoing requirements of incumbent services.

More than 130 amateurs filed comments in opposition to SAVI
Technology's RFID tags proposal, and most supported the ARRL's
position that the proposed rules were flawed and should not be
adopted.
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SB QST @ ARL $ARLB012
ARLB012 FCC proposes wide-ranging changes to Amateur Service rules

ZCZC AG12
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 12 ARLB012
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT April 16, 2004
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB012
ARLB012 FCC proposes wide-ranging changes to Amateur Service rules

The FCC has released an "omnibus" Notice of Proposed Rule Making
(NPRM) that seeks comments on a wide range of proposed Amateur
Service (Part 97) rule changes. The FCC also denied several
petitions for rule making aimed at altering portions of the Amateur
Radio regulatory landscape and ordered minor changes in Part 97. The
NPRM is a result of a dozen petitions for rule making, all filed
more than a year ago and some as long ago as 2001.

Comments on the proposals put forth in WT Docket 04-140 are due by
Tuesday, June 15, with reply comments by Wednesday, June 30. Among
other changes, the FCC has recommended adopting the ARRL's "Novice
refarming" plan, which can be seen on the web at,
http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/refarm/.

"Because the ARRL petition addresses the operating privileges of all
classes of licensees on these Amateur Service bands, we believe that
the ARRL petition provides a basis for a comprehensive restructuring
of operating privileges," the FCC said.

The ARRL referenced its Novice refarming proposal in its recent
Petition for Rule Making, RM-10867, which, along with three other
petitions remains open for comment until April 23.

The FCC also has proposed essentially eliminating its rules
prohibiting manufacture or marketing of Amateur Radio Service power
amplifiers capable of operating between 24 and 35 MHz. The current
rules "impose unnecessary restrictions on manufacturers of Amateur
Radio equipment and are inconsistent with the experimental nature of
the Amateur Service," the FCC said.

The FCC proposed amending Section 97.201(b) of the rules to permit
auxiliary operation on 2 meters above 144.5 MHz, with the exception
of the satellite subband 145.8 to 146.0 MHz, in addition to
frequency segments already authorized.

The FCC proposed extending the bands available for spread spectrum
experimentation and use to include 222-225 MHz as well as 6 and 2
meters. Current rules limit SS emissions to frequencies above 420
MHz.

Among other things, the FCC also proposed to prohibit acceptance of
more than one application per applicant per vanity call sign; permit
retransmission of communications between a manned spacecraft and its
associated Earth stations, including the International Space
Station; allow current amateurs to designate a specific Amateur
Radio club to acquire their call sign in memoriam; eliminate Section
97.509(a) of the rules, which requires a public announcement of
volunteer examiner test locations and times; and add to Section
97.505(a) to provide Element 1 (5 WPM Morse) credit to any applicant
holding a Technician license granted after February 14, 1991, and
who can document having passed a telegraphy examination element.

The Commission ordered some changes in Part 97 without requesting
comment. It ordered, among others, the revision of the definition of
an "amateur operator" in Section 97.3(a)(1) to reflect that entry in
the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS), not a license document,
determines whether a person is an Amateur Radio operator.

The FCC adopted a technical change to specify that the mean power of
any spurious emission from a new amateur station transmitter or
amplifier operating below 30 MHz be at least 43 dB below the mean
power of the fundamental emission.

Among other petitions, the FCC turned down a proposal to establish
distinct CW and phone segments in the 160-meter band. Also denied
were petitions that would have imposed restrictions on the time,
length or transmission frequencies of bulletins or informational
transmissions directed at the amateur community and a request to add
to the special event call sign system certain call sign blocks
designating territories and possessions that lack mailing addresses.

The FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making, on the web at,
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi...CC-04-79A1.doc,
in WT Docket 04-140, is available on the FCC Web site.

As soon as the document has been posted, comments on the NPRM may be
filed via the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System at,
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Click on "Submit a filing." To view
filed comments, click on "Search for filed comments." In either case
enter the NPRM number in the "Proceeding" field as "04-140" (without
the quotation marks).
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