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

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

(quoting the NCVEC proposal)

In addition, the NCVEC proposed mandatory low
voltage to the final transmitter amplifier stage

What about the 110 AC line?

and that only commercially
manufactured transmitters be used by Communicator Class licensees.

Might as well call it "Appliance Class" and be done with it.

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.

This is the worst part. We must fight this like the plague. What it *really"
means is that there will be *no* rules and regs questions on the 20 question
test!

It is precisely this sort of thing that messed up cb.

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.

The old Novice I took was 20 questions, and we could homebrew. Which I did from
Day One. If a 13 year old kid with books for Elmers could safely build
transmitters in the hollowstate era, why all these additional limits today?

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.

Which means a third of them disapproved. Were the individual VEs polled?

This NCVEC thing is very similar to the "Amateur Radio in the 21st Century"
paper by KL7CC. I wrote a detailed commentary on it some time back.

NCVEC's proposal makes the ARRL one look good. Which isn't saying much...

73 de Jim, N2EY

"N2EY" wrote in message
...
(quoting the NCVEC proposal)

In addition, the NCVEC proposed mandatory low
voltage to the final transmitter amplifier stage

What about the 110 AC line?

Good glub OM, where did you get your technical facts?
110 VAC was the standard line voltage in 1927!
Today the standard is 125 VAC. Update your notes.

and that only commercially
manufactured transmitters be used by Communicator Class licensees.

Might as well call it "Appliance Class" and be done with it.

Sour grapes. Poo-Poohs. Cry me a river.
Same shi+ different day. Blah Blah Blah.
You old ham farts think everyone should know
code just because YOU had to learn it 40+
Years ago in a smoke filled room. OyVey
Bitch-****-and-Moan.....(playing my violin)

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.

This is the worst part. We must fight this like the plague. What it
*really"
means is that there will be *no* rules and regs questions on the 20
question
test!

How do you know that? You don't even know
what the present day standard Line Voltage is!

The old Novice I took was 20 questions, and we could homebrew. Which I
did from
Day One. If a 13 year old kid with books for Elmers could safely build
transmitters in the hollowstate era, why all these additional limits
today?

That was THEN - this is NOW.

I got my licence in 1969 btw and my first xmitter was
a DX-60B (which I built from a kit) and a Drake 2B.
Would I burden today's hams to do the same? No way.
It's a different era.

As someone said at a Bond Traders Luncheon I was
at 2 Months ago: "Glue-ing feathers to your ass
DOES NOT make you a rooster in the hen house".

NCVEC's proposal makes the ARRL one look good. Which isn't saying much...

I'll give you that one. The ARRL is trying to backpeddle
big time as the hobby is dying on the vine with ever month
of the full-page listings of SK's. They should have been doing
this kind of restructuring 20 Years ago!! It's probably too
late now. EXAMPLE: Plunk a teenager in front of a new Yaesu HF station
and a 2 gHz Pentium w/DSL, DVD, CD burner and a Kazaa
account and *try to guess* which one he'll want to play with.....(grin)

"Hambone the Magnificent" wrote in
groups.com:


"N2EY" wrote in message
...
(quoting the NCVEC proposal)

In addition, the NCVEC proposed mandatory low voltage to the final
transmitter amplifier stage

What about the 110 AC line?

Good glub OM, where did you get your technical facts?
110 VAC was the standard line voltage in 1927!
Today the standard is 125 VAC. Update your notes.

and that only commercially
manufactured transmitters be used by Communicator Class licensees.

Might as well call it "Appliance Class" and be done with it.

Sour grapes. Poo-Poohs. Cry me a river.
Same shi+ different day. Blah Blah Blah.
You old ham farts think everyone should know
code just because YOU had to learn it 40+
Years ago in a smoke filled room. OyVey
Bitch-****-and-Moan.....(playing my violin)

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.

This is the worst part. We must fight this like the plague. What it
*really" means is that there will be *no* rules and regs questions on
the 20 question test!

How do you know that? You don't even know
what the present day standard Line Voltage is!

The old Novice I took was 20 questions, and we could homebrew. Which I
did from Day One. If a 13 year old kid with books for Elmers could
safely build transmitters in the hollowstate era, why all these
additional limits today?

That was THEN - this is NOW.

I got my licence in 1969 btw and my first xmitter was
a DX-60B (which I built from a kit) and a Drake 2B.
Would I burden today's hams to do the same? No way.
It's a different era.

As someone said at a Bond Traders Luncheon I was
at 2 Months ago: "Glue-ing feathers to your ass
DOES NOT make you a rooster in the hen house".

NCVEC's proposal makes the ARRL one look good. Which isn't saying
much...

I'll give you that one. The ARRL is trying to backpeddle
big time as the hobby is dying on the vine with ever month
of the full-page listings of SK's. They should have been doing
this kind of restructuring 20 Years ago!! It's probably too
late now. EXAMPLE: Plunk a teenager in front of a new Yaesu HF station
and a 2 gHz Pentium w/DSL, DVD, CD burner and a Kazaa
account and *try to guess* which one he'll want to play with.....(grin)



It's 120v actually, not 125, and the International IEC standards are
115v/60Hz and 230v/50Hz

"Hambone the Magnificent" wrote in message
groups.com...

"N2EY" wrote in message
...
(quoting the NCVEC proposal)

In addition, the NCVEC proposed mandatory low
voltage to the final transmitter amplifier stage

What about the 110 AC line?

Good glub OM, where did you get your technical facts?
110 VAC was the standard line voltage in 1927!
Today the standard is 125 VAC. Update your notes.

and that only commercially
manufactured transmitters be used by Communicator Class licensees.

Might as well call it "Appliance Class" and be done with it.

Sour grapes. Poo-Poohs. Cry me a river.
Same shi+ different day. Blah Blah Blah.
You old ham farts think everyone should know
code just because YOU had to learn it 40+
Years ago in a smoke filled room. OyVey
Bitch-****-and-Moan.....(playing my violin)

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.

This is the worst part. We must fight this like the plague. What it
*really"
means is that there will be *no* rules and regs questions on the 20
question
test!

How do you know that? You don't even know
what the present day standard Line Voltage is!

The old Novice I took was 20 questions, and we could homebrew. Which I
did from
Day One. If a 13 year old kid with books for Elmers could safely build
transmitters in the hollowstate era, why all these additional limits
today?

That was THEN - this is NOW.

I got my licence in 1969 btw and my first xmitter was
a DX-60B (which I built from a kit) and a Drake 2B.
Would I burden today's hams to do the same? No way.
It's a different era.


But why forbid them from experiencing such an activity?? That makes no
sense in light of the basis and purpose of amateur radio as stated in the
current Part 97. They should not be required to homebrew nor should they be
prevented from home brewing.

As someone said at a Bond Traders Luncheon I was
at 2 Months ago: "Glue-ing feathers to your ass
DOES NOT make you a rooster in the hen house".

NCVEC's proposal makes the ARRL one look good. Which isn't saying
much...

I'll give you that one. The ARRL is trying to backpeddle
big time as the hobby is dying on the vine with ever month
of the full-page listings of SK's. They should have been doing
this kind of restructuring 20 Years ago!! It's probably too
late now. EXAMPLE: Plunk a teenager in front of a new Yaesu HF station
and a 2 gHz Pentium w/DSL, DVD, CD burner and a Kazaa
account and *try to guess* which one he'll want to play with.....(grin)


The problem is NOT in the licensing structure. There is no structure that
will dramatically increase the number of amateur radio operators, not even a
no test license. The non-licensed services have proven that. Today CB
activity is way down. It is so low that there are now people who not only
have not heard of ham radio, they haven't even heard of CB!

The actual problem is stems from several elements. 1) Most people outside
of amateur radio have never heard of it. So even if they might be inclined
to pursue this hobby, they will never be involved. 2) Amateur radio, as
with any specialized activity, is only going to appeal to a limited number
of people in the first place. 3) There is a greater multitude of hobbies
and activities available today than ever before. People have to make
choices on how to spend their time and money.

I've seen no evidence of ham radio "dying on the vine". The listing of SK's
has shown no quantum leap. The number of new licensees exceeds the number
of licenses expiring.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

Dee D. Flint wrote:


The actual problem is stems from several elements. 1) Most people outside
of amateur radio have never heard of it. So even if they might be inclined
to pursue this hobby, they will never be involved. 2) Amateur radio, as
with any specialized activity, is only going to appeal to a limited number
of people in the first place. 3) There is a greater multitude of hobbies
and activities available today than ever before. People have to make
choices on how to spend their time and money.



Some people probably will choose a hobby that doesn't require taking a test
to get a license to do it. So we have to get a prospective ham person past
that chore. Not a big chore, but still a chore.

PAMNO (N2EY) wrote in message ...
(quoting the NCVEC proposal)

In addition, the NCVEC proposed mandatory low
voltage to the final transmitter amplifier stage

What about the 110 AC line?

and that only commercially
manufactured transmitters be used by Communicator Class licensees.

Might as well call it "Appliance Class" and be done with it.

Tafkarj, there's no point to reading the rest of your comments.

You're only here for intelligent discourse concerning amateur radio.

Right!

PAMNO (N2EY) wrote in
:

(quoting the NCVEC proposal)

In addition, the NCVEC proposed mandatory low voltage to the final
transmitter amplifier stage

What about the 110 AC line?

and that only commercially
manufactured transmitters be used by Communicator Class licensees.

Might as well call it "Appliance Class" and be done with it.

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.

This is the worst part. We must fight this like the plague. What it
*really" means is that there will be *no* rules and regs questions on
the 20 question test!


Agreed

It is precisely this sort of thing that messed up cb.

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.

The old Novice I took was 20 questions, and we could homebrew. Which I
did from Day One. If a 13 year old kid with books for Elmers could
safely build transmitters in the hollowstate era, why all these
additional limits today?

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.

Which means a third of them disapproved. Were the individual VEs
polled?


No, I wasn't

This NCVEC thing is very similar to the "Amateur Radio in the 21st
Century" paper by KL7CC. I wrote a detailed commentary on it some time
back.

NCVEC's proposal makes the ARRL one look good. Which isn't saying
much...

73 de Jim, N2EY




It has some improvements over the League's plan, but that all depends on
your perspective.

I'm not in favour of making the theory requirements easier. Both of these
plans upgrade all the Techs to General just to add a lower class licence
without increasing the number of classes. This is because they know the FCC
won't accept anything that makes the end result more complicated.

I don't think we need an easier theory test to attract people. If someone
is genuinely interested they will learn the theory. What we need is simply
publicity. Most people are scarcely aware that ham radio even exists.

The code test does need to be dumped to get over the hurdle of potential
recruits who immediately lose interest when it is mentioned. No-code
licencing for VHF+ did not eliminate that problem, no matter what anyone
says to the contrary. Any intelligent person knew that code testing was
only postponed if they wanted HF. However, most people don't even get that
far. Our visibility is zero. Besides, I am sure that the FCC will eliminate
Element 1 anyway.

By all means restructure, but these petitions are misguided.

73 de Alun, N3KIP

Alun wrote in message . ..
PAMNO (N2EY) wrote in
:

(quoting the NCVEC proposal)

In addition, the NCVEC proposed mandatory low voltage to the final
transmitter amplifier stage

What about the 110 AC line?

and that only commercially
manufactured transmitters be used by Communicator Class licensees.

Might as well call it "Appliance Class" and be done with it.

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.

This is the worst part. We must fight this like the plague. What it
*really" means is that there will be *no* rules and regs questions on
the 20 question test!

Agreed

It is precisely this sort of thing that messed up cb.

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.

The old Novice I took was 20 questions, and we could homebrew. Which I
did from Day One. If a 13 year old kid with books for Elmers could
safely build transmitters in the hollowstate era, why all these
additional limits today?

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.

Which means a third of them disapproved. Were the individual VEs
polled?

No, I wasn't

Do you get to vote on who represents your VEC at NCVEC? Do individual
VEs have any say at all?

It seems to me that NCVEC wants to get into the regulatory side of
things without having to get input of *any* kind from the VEs
themselves.

This NCVEC thing is very similar to the "Amateur Radio in the 21st
Century" paper by KL7CC. I wrote a detailed commentary on it some time
back.

NCVEC's proposal makes the ARRL one look good. Which isn't saying
much...


It has some improvements over the League's plan, but that all depends on
your perspective.

I don't see *any* improvements over the ARRL proposal. What do you
see, besides no code test for Extra (ARRL proposal drops all code
testing except 5 wpm for Extra)?

I'm not in favour of making the theory requirements easier.

But that's exactly what the NCVEC proposal does - to an extent even
greater than the ARRL proposal.

Both of these
plans upgrade all the Techs to General just to add a lower class licence
without increasing the number of classes. This is because they know the FCC
won't accept anything that makes the end result more complicated.

They also upgrade Advanceds to Extra.

I don't think we need an easier theory test to attract people. If someone
is genuinely interested they will learn the theory.

I agree 100%. NCVEC doesn't - where is the "improvement"?

What we need is simply
publicity. Most people are scarcely aware that ham radio even exists.

Too true.

But we also have to accept that only a small percentage of those who
become aware will be interested, and that of those who are interested
only some will actually become active licensed amateurs regardless of
what is done to the requirements.

The code test does need to be dumped to get over the hurdle of potential
recruits who immediately lose interest when it is mentioned.

I disagree. People who are *really* interested will learn 5 wpm. That
has been demonstrated over and over again.

No-code
licencing for VHF+ did not eliminate that problem, no matter what anyone
says to the contrary. Any intelligent person knew that code testing was
only postponed if they wanted HF.

Sure - but not all want HF, or can get on HF effectively.

However, most people don't even get that
far. Our visibility is zero.

Not zero, but not as high as it needs to be.

Besides, I am sure that the FCC will eliminate
Element 1 anyway.

Let's say for a moment that you're right, and Element 1 is simply
dropped for all license classes. Which proposal do you think is better
- ARRL's or NCVEC's, and why?

By all means restructure, but these petitions are misguided.

I agree that NCVEC's is very misguided.

73 de Jim, N2EY