HRN 342: It Ain't Parity Until We Say It's Parity

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The Amateur Radio Parity Act drew plenty of critics — and plenty of supporters — in its original form (HR 1301, the early days). The supporters celebrated the language that took away the HOA's 'Just Say No' antenna veto. Critics opposed the idea of the federal government interfering with what they saw as a private contract.

The bill was stalled in the House until the ARRL and the CAI (Community Associations Institute) arrived at compromise language. Then the US House of Representatives was happy (and passed it), but ham critics accused the ARRL of 'selling out'. The bill is awaiting action in the Senate that may or may not ever come.

More recently, several hams, prominent lawyers in the amateur radio community, crafted their own considerably more thoughtful arguments about to why the compromise bill (now HR-555 and S-1534) is not good for Amateur Radio.

Two of them, former FCC attorney Jim Talens N3JT, and well-known antenna law attorney, author (and contester) Fred Hopengarten K1VR, join David and Gary to make their case. Former ARRL Vice-Director Marty Woll N6VI also contributed his expertise.

If you want an explanation of what's in the Bill, pre- and post-compromise, check out HamRadioNow Episode 259 (Click-bait titled PokeHAM GOta). The link will take you to the spot Gary starts his review. And here's a link to HRN 213: Parity in the Senate, Gary's discussion with Chris Imlay W3KD, ARRL's General Council, and Mike Lisenco N2YBB, Hudson Division Director, on the original HR 1301.

Here are links to the documents that Fred, Jim and Marty published, and the ARRL's FAQ rebuttal:

And our previous programs on the Amateur Radio Parity Act

Audiophiles... this episode has some text of the bills in the video, but we're pretty careful to read everything out loud. So we'll give it a Radio Rating of B+. 

HRN 341, EmComm Extra #15: Eclipse 2 - ARES Fights Back

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Last time on HamRadioNow... David and Gary wondered if there was an ARES mission with the coming Total Eclipse. Something about millions of people cramming into a 70-mile wide swath of darkness, overloading the highways and cell systems, and taxing emergency services. So yeah, maybe there was. But we hadn't heard much about it. Just Propagation studies and QSO parties.

Well, watching that show were Don and Betsy Reid, W7DMR and K7BTS. Don is EC for Benton County OR ARES, and Betsy is his AEC. And they were already making plans with their ARES group to be on the air from the county EOC, running a net. 

So in this show we'll get the details. We'll also talk to the HamKid, Sam Reynolds KM4WDK. Sam and his family are planning to drive down to South Carolina from their home in Charlotte. Sam was a good foil for our concerns that, while there will be ARES activity in many areas (and especially in South Carolina), it's hard for hams who may be traveling to those areas to learn about them.

OK, we'll stop doing the whole show here in the cliff notes and let you listen. Especially since this talker gets a Radio Rating of A. That one pesky map keeps it from getting an A+.

HRN 340: Eclipsing ARES

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All the chatter about Amateur Radio and the Eclipse (coming August 21 to a sky near you, if you're in the USA...) has been about propagation - what effect will the eclipse have on the bands? - Special Event Stations and QSO parties.

But major HRN fan Mark Cartwright noted that one county in Idaho had declared Eclipse Day to be a State of Emergency. 

Think about it. The path of totality is about 70 miles wide, stretching from the Pacific Northwest to the Atlantic in South Carolina. Most of it is in very rural territory, and a few small to medium size cities are right in the middle. Millions of people are expected to flock to that zone. In any given county, it could be tens to hundreds of thousands, depending on expected viewing conditions.

It turns out that emergency management in most areas have been preparing for months. The State of Emergency may (or may not) be a bit too much, but at a minimum, EM is expecting gridlock on most major arteries in the zone. So are astronomers who have experienced total eclipses before.

While an eclipse isn't a 'natural disaster', and won't wipe out communications (maybe a little on HF), that many people in rural territory will certainly overload the cell system.

Does Amateur Radio have a role? And are ARES groups stepping up to fill it?

This show began as an off-line Skype discussion between hosts Gary KN4AQ and David W0DHG. At some point, David said 'this ought to be a show', and Gary pushed the Facebook Live button. 

We'll probably do another show after we've rounded up a few ECs, etc. in the zone to talk to about what they're planning.

Gary shows some maps of the path of totality. You can see it here:

http://www.eclipse2017.org/xavier_redirect.htm

But mostly it's a discussion. So an accidental Radio Rating of A.

Toward the end of the show, they go off-topic, and Gary discusses the 'Future of HRN'. Spoiler alert: Gary says that view counts and downloads do not justify doing the show. Only the level of fan contributions make it worth doing (and that's at the 'just barely' level).  So while this 'show-not a show' rambles and ambles a bit (typical, really), you might want to stick around to the end.