SB QST @ ARL $ARLB007
ARLB007 ARRL Requests Expanded HF Privileges for Technician Licensees

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ARRL Bulletin 7  ARLB007
> From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  March 1, 2018
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB007
ARLB007 ARRL Requests Expanded HF Privileges for Technician Licensees

ARRL has asked the FCC to expand HF privileges for Technician licensees to
include limited phone privileges on 75, 40, and 15 meters, plus RTTY and
digital mode privileges on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters. The FCC has not yet
invited public comment on the proposals, which stem from recommendations put
forth by the ARRL Board of Directors' Entry-Level License Committee, which
explored various
initiatives and gauged member opinions in 2016 and 2017.

"This action will enhance the available license operating privileges in what
has become the principal entry-level license class in the Amateur Service,"
ARRL said in its Petition. "It will attract more newcomers to Amateur Radio, it
will result in increased retention of licensees who hold Technician Class
licenses, and it will provide an improved incentive for entry-level licensees
to increase technical self-training and pursue higher license class achievement
and development of communications skills."

Specifically, ARRL proposes to provide Technician licensees, present and
future, with phone privileges at 3.900 to 4.000 MHz, 7.225 to 7.300 MHz, and
21.350 to 21.450 MHz, plus RTTY and digital privileges in current Technician
allocations on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters. The ARRL petition points out the
explosion in popularity of various digital modes over the past 2 decades. Under
the ARRL plan, the maximum HF power level for Technician operators would remain
at 200 W PEP. The few remaining Novice licensees would gain no new privileges
under the League's proposal.

ARRL's petition points to the need for compelling incentives not only to become
a radio amateur in the first place, but then to upgrade and further develop
skills. Demographic and technological changes call for a "periodic rebalancing"
between those two objectives, the League maintains.

"There has not been such a rebalancing in many years," ARRL said in its
petition. "It is time to do that now." The FCC has not assessed entry-level
operating privileges since 2005.

The Entry-Level License Committee offered very specific data and
survey-supported findings about growth in Amateur Radio and its place in the
advanced technological demographic that includes individuals younger than 30.
It received significant input from ARRL members via more than 8,000 survey
responses.

"The Committee's analysis noted that today, Amateur Radio exists among many
more modes of communication than it did half a century ago, or even 20 years
ago," ARRL said in its petition.

Now numbering some 378,000, Technician licensees comprise more than half of the
US Amateur Radio population. ARRL said that after 17 years of experience with
the current Technician license as the
gateway to Amateur Radio, it's urgent to make it more attractive to newcomers,
in part to improve upon science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) education "that inescapably accompanies a healthy, growing Amateur Radio
Service," ARRL asserted.

ARRL said its proposal is critical to developing improved operating skills,
increasing emergency communication participation, improving technical
self-training, and boosting overall growth in the Amateur Service, which has
remained nearly inert at about 1% per year.

The Entry-Level License Committee determined that the current Technician class
question pool already covers far more material than necessary for an
entry-level exam to validate expanded privileges. ARRL told the FCC that it
would continue to refine examination preparation and training materials aimed
at STEM topics, increase outreach and recruitment, work with Amateur Radio
clubs, and encourage educational institutions to utilize Amateur Radio in STEM
and other experiential learning programs.

"ARRL requests that the Commission become a partner in this effort to promote
Amateur Radio as a public benefit by making the very nominal changes proposed
herein in the Technician class license operating privileges," the petition
concluded.

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/EX

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