ARRL ARES & License Information

ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)

ARES has come to Medina County.  Our very own president, Ray Martinez, Jr./N5VRE has been appointed to be the ARES Emergency Coordinator for Medina County.  The process of building an ARES team in our county is underway.  Thus far, Ray has recruited Walter Hock/KK5LO, Tom Taylor/KC5NAK and Curtis Lechner/N5VLV to be assistants.  According to Ray, Walter is looking over the training materials and will be conducting training in the next few months.  Tom and Curtis will help coordinate activities in the West and East half of the county.  The Medina County EC further explained "as the team develops and grows, we will continue to evaluate how best to serve the county."

Martinez has attended a table top exercise with Medina County first responders, and county and municipal government officials, conducted by a Homeland Security contractor on behalf of the State of Texas.  The exercise was an opportunity to network with other Medina County officials.  Ham radio operators were a big hit with those that understand the importance of the amateur radio service.  Martinez says that he made lots of great contacts and passed out more than a few business cards.  "One thing that I hoped to accomplish was to get a copy of the county emergency plan so that I can begin to understand how we fit in," said Martinez.  County Judge James Barden's office provided a copy of the plan.

All licensed amateur radio operators are eligible to participate in ARES.  Medina County amateur radio operators are invited to join the Medina County ARES team.  Amateurs need not be members of McArc or any radio club.  The only requirement is a desire to serve and some type of radio equipment.  There are any number of ways that each amateur can be put to work and be a vital part of the Medina County team. 

If you are interested in becoming a part of the Medina County ARES team, please contact Ray Martinez, Jr./N5VRE at 830-931-9301 or email at MedinaEC@mcarc.org.

To download an ARES brochure from the American Radio Relay League, click here.

FCC Says- No To Code!

As hard as it may be to believe the FCC has finally dropped the code requirement for ALL amateur license classes.  According to an email blast news letter from the ARRL to Volunteer Examiners (VE's) the "FCC modifies the Amateur Radio Service rules by eliminating the Morse code exam requirements.  The effective date of the FCC's action will be 20 days after publication in the Federal Register -- most likely in February."

The ARRL news letter continued "In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code test requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission adopted the long-awaited "Morse code" proceeding (WT Docket 05-235), and released it December 19. The FCC's action will eliminate the Morse code test as a licensing requirement to operate on HF."

What does it mean for Technicians?  The League offers the following.

Technicians Gain Operating Privileges
Once the changes are in effect, all Technician licensees -- whether or not they have passed a Morse code examination -- will have "Tech Plus" operating privileges. This means you will have all of your current VHF/UHF and above frequencies and also will have access to the Novice/Technician Plus frequencies on HF.

No Morse Code Test to Upgrade
Technicians can upgrade to General by passing the General (Element 3) written exam and to Amateur Extra by also passing the Extra (Element 4) written exam. No Morse code test will be required. Visit the ARRL VEC exam search web page http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml for test session locations.

For additional details visit the American Radio Relay League at www.ARRL.org.

How Do I Upgrade Without Code?

Now that the FCC has dropped the Morse code exam requirement, you may be interested to know what it takes to upgrade.  The ARRL has been answering telephone calls non-stop since the announcement was made to drop the code.  To help alleviate some of the telephone backlog, they sent out a an email blast news letter with the following information.

Navigating through the Upgrade Process

1. Technician Amateurs who wish to upgrade to General have a couple of options.

a. We recommend that Technician licensees who have NOT yet passed the General written exam (Element 3) wait until the new rules take effect to upgrade. At a session, the candidate must present a photo ID and their current license, pay the $14 test session fee and fill out the NCVEC form 605. If the Element 3 written exam is passed, the VE team will issue the candidate a CSCE for the upgrade to a general class license.

b. Technician licensees who have already passed the General written exam (Element 3) or wish to pass the General written exam before the rules take effect, will then have to apply for the upgrade at a VE session once the new rules are in place. At a session, the candidate must present a photo ID, their current license and the non-expired CSCE document, pay the $14 test session fee and fill out a NCVEC form 605. If the Element 3 written exam credit is valid, the VE team will issue the candidate a CSCE for the upgrade to a general class license. If the CSCE for Element 3 credit has expired (a CSCE is only valid for 365 days), you will have to retake the examination element in order to receive the credit toward your upgrade.

2. Post Session Process

The VE Team must prepare and mail all session paperwork to the coordinating VEC. Once the session arrives at the VEC, in accordance with FCC rules, the VEC staff must verify all session documentation. All 605 forms and CSCEs must have the candidate’s signature and 3 VE signatures. The CSCEs used for General written exam element credit must be validated as being passed within the previous 365 days and/or the test documents must be confirmed as being passed. Finally, the session data and information from the 605 forms can then be keyed and submitted to the FCC. The upgrade should appear in the FCC database http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/ within a few hours and a new license copy will arrive in the mail in 7 to 10 days.

VEC Test Fee

As you can see, much of the same work is involved in both types of General class upgrades, therefore the administrative costs are embedded in the process.

The FCC has mandated that all paperwork only upgrades be done through a VEC via their VE Teams. The processing and administration of FCC "projects" such as this, actually places a greater demand on all the VECs. This is not a special case involving only a few people; we expect to receive a flood of upgrades to General. The paperwork only upgrade is not automatic for the amateur and the forms may not be sent directly to the FCC or the VEC office (again the upgrade must occur at a test session and follow FCC guidelines). The VEC test session fee is regulated (per annual agreement) by the FCC.

A New Era

When the new rules are in place, we hope you explore your new band allocations, enjoy your new privileges and have fun!

For additional details visit the American Radio Relay League at www.ARRL.org.

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