Revision to FCC Form 605 could affect some Amateur Radio applicants
Effective Monday, July 11, a revised FCC Form 605, "Quick-Form Application for Authorization in the Ship,
Aircraft, Amateur, Restricted and Commercial Operator, and General Mobile Radio Services," goes into effect.
The revised form includes a new Question 13 (subsequent questions have been appropriately renumbered)
that will affect amateurs applying for an administrative update (AU) to reflect a change in licensee name.
Question 13 now asks: "If the licensee name is being updated, is the update a result from the sale (or transfer
of control) of the license(s) to another party and for which proper Commission approval has not been received
or proper notification not provided?" Amateur Radio Service applicants should always answer "no" to Question
13. Not answering the question--which has nothing to do with the Amateur Radio Service--could result in
dismissal of an application. The FCC has indicated that versions of Form 605 prior to July 2005 will be
considered obsolete. But the change will not affect the NCVEC Form 605 that VECs and VE teams use.
VANITY CALLSIGN FEES TO INCREASE
The FCC has approved raising the fee for an amateur vanity callsign by $1.10 for the forthcoming fiscal
year. The fee, currently $20.80 for a 10-year term, will increase to $21.90. The Commission bases its
fees on its anticipated annual costs of processing license applications, but for small fees (such as those
for amateur vanity callsigns), it averages those costs over the life of the license term and collects the
entire amount up front. The new fee is based on an annual amount of $2.19 (currently $2.08), multiplied
by the 10-year term of the license. The FCC anticipates collecting a total of $166,443 in revenue from
amateur vanity call applications over the next fiscal year, meaning it expects to receive approximately
7600 vanity applications. The current fees have been in effect since August 10, 2004; the new fees take
effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
FCC ASSIGNS CALL LETTERS TO ARRL 600 METER EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
The Federal Communications Commission has issued the call letters WD2XSH for the 600 Meter Part 5
Experimental operations to be conducted by the ARRL 600 Meter Experimental Group. The actual grant
of license will be done in the normal course of operations by the FCC. In the meantime, it is reported
that members of the Experimental Group are melting solder, tuning transmitters, stringing feedlines,
and polishing their keys in eager anticipation of the issuance of the license itself, which will allow then to
commence operations on 600 Meters. All operations will necessarily adhere to the Part 5 rules and to the
proposed plan of research specified in the license application.
US Senate Version of Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2005
Introduced (Jun 17, 2005) -- A US Senate version of the Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2005
has been introduced with bipartisan support in the 109th Congress. Sen Michael Crapo of Idaho
sponsored the measure, S 1236, on June 14. The wording of the bill is identical to the House version,
HR 691, introduced earlier this year by Rep Michael Bilirakis of Florida. Joining Crapo as cosponsors of
the Senate bill were Senators Christopher Bond of Missouri, Max Baucus and Conrad Burns of Montana,
and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii. The bill has been referred to the US Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee of which Burns is a member. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said the League
is pleased that Crapo has agreed to once again sponsor this legislation at ARRL's urging.
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