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| The award-winning monthly publication of The Baltimore Radio Amateur Television Society P.O.Box 5915 Baltimore, MD 21282-5915 |
April, 2009
Attention All Amateurs ...
Julius Genachowski Nominated as Next FCC Chairman
On Tuesday, March 3, President Barack Obama nominated Julius Genachowski as FCC Chairman. Genachowski, 46, is a technology executive and a former classmate of Obama's from Harvard Law School. Upon Senate confirmation, Genachowski will replace Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps; Copps took over the Commission on January 22, 2009, two days after then-Chairman Kevin Martin resigned. Genachowski has been widely praised by industry executives and consumer-activist groups -- two groups often at odds -- for his wide-ranging experience and intimate knowledge of technology issues.
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein to Leave FCC
On Friday, March 20, President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Democrat FCC Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein to serve as Administrator for the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), of the United States Department of Agriculture; the nomination will need to be confirmed by the US Senate. It is speculated that Adelstein will not leave the five-member Commission until at least one of the three Commissioner vacancies is filled, since his departure would leave the FCC without a quorum.
FCC Clarifies What Constitutes an Amateur Radio Repeater
In December 2007, Gary Mitchell, WB6YRU, President of the Northern California Packet Association (NCPA), filed a Petition with the FCC, asking for the Commission to clarify the definition of a repeater. According to Part 97, Section 3(a)(39), A repeater in the amateur service is "[a]n amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels."
FCC Denies Petition to Increase Size of Amateur Radio Question Pools
In April 2008, Michael Mancuso, KI4NGN, of Raleigh, North Carolina, filed a petition with the FCC, seeking to increase the size of the question pools that make up the Amateur Radio licensing exams. Mancuso sought to increase the question pool from 10 times the number of questions on an exam to 50 times more questions. On March 19, 2009, the Commission notified Mancuso that it was denying his petition.
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