On 24 Jul 2003 14:31:36 GMT, Alun Palmer wrote:

"Elmer E Ing" Elmer E wrote in
news:XIRTa.11189$ff.4959@fed1read01:

Better read URL:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/07/22/1/?nc=1




I have read it now. IME, it is more typical for the rule making process to
take about a year. I guess the two year figure in this NG comes
specifically from this article.

Well, that and the story in Amateur Radio Newsline that estimated the
same time frame.

Whilst I think that two years is a worst
case scenario, one other useful piece of info does come out from the
article, i.e. that ratification is not required before the FCC can act
(although I'm not sure why not).

The U.S. is already a signatory to the ITU treaty. That may have
something to do with it. Besies that, though, I'm sure there has been
at least one treaty that was actually submitted to the Senate for
ratification that the Senate didn't ratify, but the executive branch
implemented the terms of the treaty anyway. This was not viewed as a
breach of checks and balances, but as the U.S. complying voluntarily
with the terms of the treaty as a matter of administration policy even
though as a non-signatory it was not required to do so.

My XYL (a no-coder) has asked me to draft a petition to the FCC. Since it
looks like others may be waiting unnecesaarily for ratification, I guess I
should get to work on it. Does anyone here have any sensible advice on how
to draft an FCC petition? I'm sure there are people here who have filed
one before.

You might try contacting Alan Dixon, N2HOE. He filed a petition awhile
back relative to removing the 150-mile distance limit for contacts in
the 11-meter Citizens' Band Radio Service (Part 95), so he is familiar
with the procedure. His petition was rejected, not because he failed
to follow proper procedure, but rather because FCC decided the action
he petitioned for was not warranted.

His column in Popular Communications does not show an e-mail address,
but you could probably contact him through the magazine, or run his
call through QRZ and see if there's a valid e-mail addy listed. I'm
composing this offline, on a laptop that's nowhere near an Internet
connection right now, or I'd try to run down hos e-mail addy myself
for you.

73 DE John, KC2HMZ