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The Rules Say... .
Can I Use Chinese Radios?
John B. Johnston, W3BE
Q. Those less-expensive
belt-clip Chinese VHF/UHF radios seem to be too good to be true. Am I being rule compliant when I use them
on our ham bands?
A. Very likely, because many hams do so. The proviso is that you are the one
accountable for your amateur station being compliant with the technical standards in Part 97. The FCC does not review amateur station transmitter types.
To access column, click on button The
Rules Say... column in the left panel
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BE
Informed No. 6.1, Review of Element 2 Question Pool updated
Our VECs’ 2010 Element 2 question pool represents the 396 most basic questions our volunteer-examiner coordinators maintain in their
combined pools of 1600 plus must-know-the-answers questions.
It is to enable our volunteer examiners to assure
that all newly FCC-licensed amateur operators are qualified for the massive privileges authorized to a Technician Class operator:
each grantee is assigned a unique station-identifying call sign; each grantee is authorized to have under his or her
physical control transmitting amateur station apparatus; and each grantee is authorized to safely and orderly cause or allow
1500 watt PEP amateur stations to transmit an unlimited variety of emission types on numerous frequency bands – exclusively
on some and shared with other radio services on others - from on or over practically any place where the FCC regulates our
amateur and amateur-satellite services as well as certain other places around the Earth.
Their question pools
also provide our amateur service community with current competency checks: Every FCC-licensed and reciprocal
alien amateur operator can and should periodically review the questions to assure themselves that they are keeping abreast
of regulatory, technological and operational developments.
Bannered sections include Domestic requirements, International
requirements, Advice to examinees, Attention volunteer examiners, Attention instructors and training aid providers,
and Q and A.
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For files mentioned in recent columns, click the appropriate button on the
left panel.
BE
Informed No. 1. W3BE CHECKLISTS - Use to review your duties before causing
or allowing a station to transmit on amateur service frequencies. The applicable Part 97 Rules are rearranged into two lists;
those that apply to the station licensee and those that apply to the control operator.
BE Informed No. 2. RILEY'S LIST Of GOOD AMATEUR PRACTICES
- Amateur radio's best friend tells it like it should be.
BE Informed No. 3. SECTION 97.113 SMELL TEST - Your station should never be used for any
communication unless "No" can be answered truthfully and completely to each and every one of eleven questions.
BE
Informed No. 4. WHICH CALL SIGN? - Explains your options and accountability when someone wants to use your station
apparatus or vice-versa.
BE Informed
No. 5.2 REVIEW OF JULY 1, 2011 ELEMENT 3 QUESTION POOL corrected March 1, 2011 - For examinees, VEs, instructors
and training aid providers.
BE Informed
No. 6.1 REVIEW OF QUESTIONS IN ELEMENT 2 POOL EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2010 - For volunteer examiners,
instructors, training aid providers and examinees.
BE Informed No. 7. ALL ABOUT THIRD PARTY COMMUNICATIONS - Tutorial for instructors and others who want to really
understand what third party communications is all about; includes section on Advanced Studies for 1, 2 and 3 Party Communications.
BE Informed No. 8. COLLECTION
OF EXCUSES - Collection of reasons for not complying with the FCC rules.
BE Informed No. 9. HAMFEST UNIFORM - We should all wear
color-coded apparel so that anyone can see our class of operator license just by looking. Humor.
BE Informed No. 10.1 INSTRUCTIONS TO THE QUESTION POOL COMMITTEE.
Thought to be the instructions thought to have been adopted by the National Conference of VECs on July 24, 2009.
BE Informed No. 11. QCWA VETERAN'S ID PETITION
- Amendment of Part 97 of the Commission's Rules to Provide for Recognition of Amateur Operators Who Have Served in the United
States Military.
BE Informed No. 14.
ABOUT THAT STATION IDENTIFICATION - Section 97.119 and excerpts from FCC webpage; Includes recommendations
for appended self-assigned indicators.
BE Informed No. 15. CLUB STATION LICENSE GRANT DOCUMENT OF ORGANIZATION GO-BY - Discusses requirement for obtaining
a club station license grant; Includes a sample Document of Organization.
BE Informed No. 16. OBTAINING A CLUB STATION LICENSE GRANT.
BE Informed No. 17. WHO DISCOVERED RADIO?
- Ray Dio's report. Humor.
BE Informed No. 18. READ THE RULES - HEED THE RULES - W3BE's arguments for complying with the FCC rules.
BE Informed No. 19. AMATEUR STATION ANTENNA
STRUCTURES - Section 97.15(b) says: Except as otherwise provided herein, a station antenna structure may be erected
at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate amateur service communications. (State and local regulation of a station
antenna structure must not preclude amateur service communications. Rather, it must reasonably accommodate such communications
and must constitute the minimum practicable regulation to accomplish the state or local authority's legitimate purpose. See
PRB-1, 101 FCC 2d 952 (1985) for details.) In PRB-1, the FCC granted a Request for Declaratory Ruling.
BE Informed No. 20. YOUR CLUB CAN OBTAIN
A CLUB STATION LICENSE GRANT.
BE Informed No. 21. HOW TO OBTAIN A DECEASED HAM'S FORMER CALL SIGN
BE Informed No. 24. WE ARE REGULATABLE (Aren't we?)
- From the questions asked by readers, our amateur service community seems to be having difficulty in adapting to digital
technology, particularly with systems of stations.
BE Informed No. 25. WHO MUST THROW THE BIG RED SWITCH? - W3BE standards for a control operator of a station
transmitting third party message.
BE Informed No. 26. AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND THE AMERICAN RADIO RELAY LEAGUE, INC.,
WITH RESPECT TO AMATEUR VOLUNTEERS - The FCC and the ARRL agree to cooperate in a joint effort to improve rules
compliance in the Amateur Radio Service, as provided for in Public Law 97-259 (the Communications Act of 1982.)
BE Informed No. 30. GEPS AND GAPS - A
collection of observations, including W3BE's proposed good engineering practices ("GEPs") and good amateur practices
("GAPs") most of which have appeared in the WorldRadio Rules & Regs column THE RULES SAY... .
BE Informed No. 31. HAMSLANGUAGE
The probable meanings of unofficial words and phrases sometimes used in our amateur service community.
BE Informed No. 32. STANDARD TERMS AND PHRASES
- A collection for writers about the amateur radio service.
BE Informed No. 33. OUR TPMSP "CLASS" - A report on a movement underway
within a segment of our amateur service community that is bent on changing dramatically our operator class structure.
BE Informed No. 37. EVALUATION OF JULY 1,
2008 ELEMENT 4 QUESTION POOL - For VEs and instructors; identifies defective, freebee, trick and misleading questions.
Also identifies questions not needed to know in order operate a station properly with Amateur Extra Class operator privileges
and questions unnecessary because reference materials are widely available. Also identifies questions that should have
been asked in Elements 2 or 3.
BE
Informed No. 38. TERMS USED IN PART 97 OF THE FCC RULES - A collection.
BE Informed No. 41. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MY NOVICE RIG
- 1954 homebrew 6AG6-6l6 and its significance.
BE Informed No. 44.1. EMERGENCY - Questions and answers
about our amateur service rules during emergencies.
BE Informed No. 45. REMOTE BASE, REPEATER AND OTHER SYSTEMS - FAQ answers
numerous questions from readers.
BE
Informed No. 48. FILING COMMENTS ON FCC RULE MAKING PROPOSALS.
BE Informed No. 49. QCWA 2009 CARIBBEAN CRUISE - Photos
from the cruise of a lifetime.
BE Informed No. 50. HOW TO BE CLUB PRESIDENT - Advice when your luck turns
bad and you have to serve - Humor
BE
Informed No. 52. INCLUDING A SELF-ASSIGNED INDICATOR WITH YOUR STATION CALL SIGN - Recommendations for appending
self-assigned indicators consistent with Section 97.119(d).
BE Informed No. 53. COMMENTS IN WP Docket NO. 10-72.
BE Informed No. 54. RECONSTITUTING
PART 99 OF THE FCC RULES PROVIDING FOR A DISASTER RADIO SERVICE - Petition for Rule Making to enable our amateur
service community to provide radio services during a disaster without negatively compromising the integrity of our amateur
radio services or our status as amateur radio operators.
BE Informed No. 55. WHAT DO HAMS REALLY NEED TO KNOW AND WHEN DO THEY NEED TO KNOW
IT? - An analysis of the privileges-requirements disconnect.
BE Informed No.
56. THE VPOD PROTOCOL AND THE GOTA – Theory of allowing non- and under-licensed persons
to use amateur stations.
BE Informed No. 57. THE AMATEUR OPERATOR PRIVILEGES-REQUIREMENT DISCONNECT - Our VECs and our policy
makers have different ideas about operator privileges for our three operator classes.
BE Informed No. 58. HOW TO DOWNLOAD QUERIES FROM THE FCC DATABASE
- Directions on performing a query download from search results in the FCC Universal Licensing System or Antenna Structure
Registration system, and then importing the raw data into Excel or Access spreadsheets.
BE Informed No. 59. QUIET ZONE DIRECTORY - Find out if your station would be
in or near a quiet zone and what you should do about it.
BE Informed No. 60. HOW THE INTERNATIONAL RADIO REGULATIONS ARE IMPLEMENTED IN PART 97.
BE Informed No. 61. LET'S GO VE GREEN! Call
for replacing our paper logged license examination system.
BE
Informed No. 62. SO, I’M A VE, NOW WHAT? - Answers to questions on how
to be a volunteer examiner. Also answers to questions about using audio/video systems when administering
examinations.
BE Informed No. 65 DIPOLE DIMENSIONS FOR PHONE BANDS - Dimensions for one of our most popular
HF antenna types.
BE Informed No. 66 IS MY REMOTE
BASE OK? - Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions concerning remote base stations.
BE Informed No. 67 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RADIOFREQUENCY RADIATION SAFETY
- Read this before signing an application for an FCC amateur service license grant.
BE Informed No. 68 HISTORIC PLACES FOR PRE-RADIO TELEGRAPHY ENTHUSIASTS TO VISIT - New Jersey, New York,
and Ohio.
BE Informed No. 69 VISITING OPERATOR
RULES - Rules for visiting operators at club stations.
BE Informed No. 70 MAKE HAM RADIO LAST 1000 YEARS - Talk given by Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH at 2011 QCWA Annual Convention
in Warwick, RI.
BE Informed No. 71 WHERE'S THE RULE? -
Questions are answered about the Field Day GOTA rules.
BE
Informed No. 72 CAN VES AND SCOS USE A/V? - Questions and answers about volunteer
examiners and station control operators using audio/video paraphenalia.
BE Informed No. 73 NEW 60 METER PRIVILEGES – Questions/answers about the rules for the 60
meter band.
BE Informed No. 74 Can
I Take A Paying Job As A PROFESSIONAL Communicator? - Questions/answers about accepting compensation in places where
our amateur service is regulated by the FCC.
BE Informed No. 75 HAMS AT SEA - Questions/answers
about rules for amateur radio aboard ship.
BE Informed
No. 76 What Was Incentive Licensing? - Questions/answers about the
most controversial episode to ever take place in our amateur service.
Read the
rules - Heed the rules
Parts 0, 1, 2, 17, 97 and 214.
Question about the amateur service rules? e-mail john@johnston.net
Report rule violations to fccham@fcc.gov