Subject: [NEXTEL-1] The ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 11

From: Alan Dixon <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 20:37:16 -0500

The ARRL bulletin below is not news to licensed radio hams.  Ham radio
will be fine if our war escalates.  But the same cannot be said of mobile
phones.  Depending that is, on which carrier one may have.  So far, one
carrier has wireless Priority Access Service (PAS) up and running in a
couple of major cities.  More are slated to follow.  Also, certain
additional carriers may elect to jump on board the easy-money PAS gravy
train.

So, what does this mean for wireless telephone consumers if a shooting
war breaks out.  Plenty.  Even if all of the shots and bombing is on the
other side of the world, government officials here can now commandeer
wireless phone channels whenever and wherever they feel it is necessary. 
And doing so does not require an emergency or a disaster.  Nope.  Just
whenever officials feel that they *might* need some extra bandwidth, as
in the Winter Olympic Games held recently in Salt Lake City.

So, how does one go about securing their own emergency communications
needs?  Whether you are a consumer or a local response volunteer, first
make sure that you are *not* doing business with a wireless carrier
offering PAS.  Find a carrier that cares about its regular ratepaying
subscribers, and that cares about giving priority to true emergency
calls, identified by destination rather than by origin.  Oh yes, a second
action to consider is getting your own Amateur Radio Service license. 
Equip yourself with VHF/UHF mobile and portable radios.  Join a local
repeater group and get telephone autopatch privileges.  Now your 911 call
to get your injured child to the hospital won't be preempted by an
overblown politician, stuck in rush hour traffic, arranging a illicit
rendezvous with his mistress.

Alan Dixon

"The Washington Iconoclast"

Contributing Editor
Popular Communications

[Please copy replies to: [email-masked] <n3hoe[a]juno.com>]

--------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: "ARRL Letter Mailing List"
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 16:36:44 -0500
Subject: The ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 11
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 22, No. 11
March 14, 2003
***************

==>WILL HAM RADIO BE SHUT DOWN IF WAR IS DECLARED?

Some amateurs have been wondering if the FCC will shut down Amateur Radio
in the event that war breaks out in the Middle East. The short answer is
"no."

Just prior to the Gulf War, §214.4(b)(4) of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations was deleted. This section had mandated the closing of
all Amateur Radio stations except Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
(RACES) stations in the event that the president proclaimed a war or
national emergency. The last time Amateur Radio was shut down was during
World War II, although the FCC continued to give Amateur Radio
examinations.

While the Amateur Radio Service will not automatically be shut down if
the
president invokes the War Powers Act, Amateur Radio licensees must
continue to observe any directives the FCC may issue in the interests of
national security and of making spectrum available for government use.

The FCC is directed to work in coordination with the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to issue
"appropriate rules, regulations, orders and instructions" for use of the
spectrum "as may be necessary to ensure the effective use of those
portions of the radio spectrum shared by government and non-government
users." Amateurs share most UHF allocations with the US government.

===========================================================
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==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, [email-masked]
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From: Rick Parrish <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 20:29:50 -0600

Alan Dixon wrote:

>Now your 911 call to get your injured child to the hospital won't be preempted by an overblown politician, stuck in rush hour traffic, arranging a illicit rendezvous with his mistress.
>  
>
Man! I soooo hate it when that happens ...

-rick