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 Previous: The K7RA Solar Update | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif "Canada Drops Morse Requirement as "Sole Additional Requirement" for HF Access"){kind=small} Next: Canada Drops Morse Requirement as "Sole Additional Requirement" for HF Access |
 (L-R) Jim Wiley, KL7CC; Fred Maia, W5YI; Steve Sternitzke, NS5I, and Larry Pollock, NB5X. |
 Representatives of 12 of the 14 NCVEC-member VECs attended the Gettysburg gathering. (L-R): Norm Harrill, N4NH; Win Guin, W2GLC; Brice Umstead, K0CSJ; Willard Sitton, W4HZD; Ray Adams, W4CPA (partially obscured, wearing yellow shirt), all of WCARS; and Rebecca Williams and Donna Scott, of the FCC. |
 Tom Fuszard, KF9PU (left), chairman of the Gettysburg NCVEC meeting, and Jim Wiley, KL7CC. |
 Bill Cross, W3TN, of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. |
 FCC Special Counsel for Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth. |
 Dorothy Conway of the FCC's Wireless Bureau. |
 The ARRL VEC delegation (L-R): Norm Fusaro, W3IZ; Perry Green, WY1O, and Maria Somma, KB1KJC. [Perry Green, WY1O, Photos] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 29, 2005--Meeting July 22 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) offered no public reaction to the FCC's recent Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order (NPRM&O). The NCVEC also took no action at the gathering on whether to file formal comments with the FCC in the proceeding. The FCC NPRM&O endorsed eliminating the Morse code requirement for all amateur license classes--something the NCVEC sought in a 2003 Petition for Rule Making--but it turned away a 2004 NCVEC proposal to create a new "Communicator" entry-level license class with expanded HF privileges and upgrade all Novices to that level. Acting on a motion focusing on whether the Conference should get involved in rule makings, the NCVEC voted to dissolve its Rules Committee--the panel that had prepared the Conference's rule making petition. Outgoing Rules Committee Chairman Fred Maia, W5YI, later encouraged individual VECs to review the FCC document and comment to the FCC on their own.
"After we voted to dissolve our Rules Committee, I sensed that the group was not interested in pursuing this matter any time soon," NCVEC Chairman Tom Fuszard, KF9PU, told ARRL this week. "Unless I receive a clear indication from the VECs that they want the Conference to offer a response, I won't proceed further."
The NCVEC voted 10-2 to abolish its Rules Committee "until it decides on a clear need and purpose for such a committee," Fuszard explained. "We had neither the time then--nor, I felt, the inclination--to discuss the matter further," he added. "What happens in the coming days or weeks is entirely up to the VECs."
ARRL VEC Assistant Manager Perry Green, WY1O, says some disappointment with the FCC's failure to endorse the NCVEC's proposal to establish a new entry-level license was apparent among the 12 VECs attending the Gettysburg meeting. The NCVEC's 2004 petition also asked the FCC to upgrade Technician licensees to General and Advanced holders to Extra, but the FCC rejected that idea too. Some members expressed pleasure, however, that the FCC is poised to eliminate the Morse code requirement. Fuszard said if one of the member VECs wished to offer a motion to pursue filing formal comments on the NPRM&O, "we will proceed accordingly." As chairman, Fuszard could appoint an ad hoc committee to take on the issue.
In other matters, Green reports that as a result of the recently released FCC proposal, the NCVEC Question Pool Committee (QPC)--the body that formulates examination questions for the various license class examinations--is considering surveying individual VECs to review the Technician class question pool out of its usual sequence. The most recent Technician question pool went into effect in 2003, and it normally would not undergo another review until 2007. The NCVEC held up implementing a new Amateur Extra class question pool this year in anticipation of FCC action on various regulatory issues and possible further restructuring.
Green was elected to the QPC to replace former ARRL VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ. Others attending from ARRL Headquarters were Interim ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, KB1KJC, and ARRL Affiliated Club/Mentor Program Manager Norm Fusaro, W3IZ.
Green says there was considerable discussion among NCVEC delegates regarding the size and makeup of the QPC. In the end, however, two motions to expand the panel's membership failed, and the organization made no changes to the committee, chaired by Jim Wiley, KL7CC, of the Anchorage Amateur Radio Club VEC. The NCVEC elected Larry Pollock, NB5X, of the W5YI VEC to join Wiley and Green on the QPC. Wiley issued an open invitation to the group to get more involved in question pool development.
Bill Cross, W3TN, of the FCC's Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division within the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau reviewed the July 19 NPRM&O with the NCVEC delegates and answered questions.
FCC Special Counsel for Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth also addressed the gathering and reminded the VECs to remain vigilant in spotting apparent problems that crop up during examination sessions and reporting them to the FCC for handling. He said that if it's true--as Thomas L. Friedman says in The World is Flat--that America is losing its edge in science and technology, then Amateur radio can help turn that perceived trend around. Hollingsworth cited the example of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, teacher Sean Barnes, N3JQ, whose classes have helped 60 youngsters to obtain Amateur Radio licensees over the past three years. Hollingsworth also noted that new FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin is a staunch supporter of enforcement.
The FCC's Dorothy Conway spelled out some upcoming Universal Licensing System (ULS) and Commission Registration System (CORES) procedures affecting new Amateur Radio applicants as well as VECs. The changes, which will make it easier for new licensees to access their CORES records sooner, will not become effective until September.
The NCVEC also elected officers for 2005-2006. They are Chairman
Tom Fuszard, KF9PU, of the Milwaukee Radio Amateurs' Club, who chaired the 2005
NCVEC gathering; Vice Chairman: Larry Pollock, NB5X, of the W5YI VEC, who succeeds
Wiley; Secretary: Steve Sternitzke, NS5I, of the W5YI VEC, and Treasurer: Ray
Adams, W4CPA, of the Western Carolina Amateur Radio Society VEC.
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