Author: N7ONP

It’s meeting night!

In the midst of the Cascadia Rising 2022 exercise (and having had a series of special planning sessions on Zoom) I thought it prudent to note that we will be having our usual 2nd Tuesday Zoom meetings on the usual links tonight:

With so much to talk about, the Club will yield whatever time is needed to ACS for a debrief of the June 11 communications exercise and planning for the June 15 full scale exercise. The Club meeting will likely not start until the ACS meeting concludes. If you’re going to the Club meeting but not the ACS, either sit patiently in the waiting room (it could be a while, after all), or drop into the ACS meeting before it ends. The meetings are on different links.

The ACS meeting should be fairly short, with a report on sales at SeaPac, and we will check in on plans for Field Day.

FCC Application system down

Update: The system was back up, then has been up and down off and on. Just know that there have been some ongoing difficulties since the implementation of the $35 fee-collection system. We’ll have to be patient while they iron out the wrinkles. -N7ONP

The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) reports that the FCC
Universal Licensing System (ULS) electronic batch filing (EBF)
system has been down since midday Tuesday, April 19, 2022, which is
the day the FCC application fees became effective for amateur radio.

On Wednesday, in a notice to all VECs, the FCC asked them to refrain
from submitting any session or application files while they work to
resolve the issue.

ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, said the FCC did not estimate
how long the system would be down. Some applications were processed
through the system before the FCC notice was released to the VECs.

Applicants should expect delays with license and application
processing.

ARRL VEC will provide an update when the FCC communicates that the
filing system is back online.

——————————————————————–
ARRL Northwestern Division
Director: Michael T Ritz, W7VO
w7vo@arrl.org
——————————————————————–

Cascadia Coastal Coalition

Ralph KA8ZGM has provided information on upcoming talks from the Cascadia Coastal Coalition:

Talks are free and can be viewed in-person or by zoom.  Watch www.cascadiacoastalcoalition.org for updates and zoom info. RalphKA8ZGM

Next Upcoming Event: Saturday, May 21, 2022 at 10:00 am 

• What:   Spring Speaker Series
• Who: 
• Session 1: Yumei Wang, PE, FASCE, Owner of SLS LLC, and Senior Advisor on Infrastructure
• Resilience and Risk Affiliate Faculty, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Portland State University. 

• Cascadia Catastrophe in Coastal Communities

• Wang will discuss the expected catastrophic impacts from a Cascadia earthquake and tsunami on coastal communities, describing tsunami casualty estimates in each community, the breakdown of the Highway 101’s bridges that will result in a series of “islands”, and specific challenges that hospitals face in preparing for this inevitable disaster. People need to help reduce the increasing frequency and severity of disasters, including a Cascadia catastrophe. The “triple 3 resilience target” integrates readiness, response and recovery goals to strengthen community resilience. She will share fuel and water disaster planning guidelines aimed to help coastal hospitals prepare for “the big one”.

• Session 2:  Sky Terry , NW Regional Emergency Services Director.  Emergency Volunteer Aviation Team from NW Washington. http://www.evac.org/  and  http://www.evac.org/northwest.htm

• Hello, 

• Sky Terry is the NW Regional Emergency Services Director for the Emergency Volunteer Air Corps (EVAC) and also one of the leaders of the West Coast General Aviation Response Plan (WCGARP).

• It’s been well over a decades worth of drills, responses and effort but what we’ve developed together is a aviation based resource tied with ground support and HAM communication that we believe is the juggernaut that can take the worst the planet can dish out and can rise to the occasion to be that life saving critical life line when it’s needed the most.  Below is just one video of one of our past drills.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDJFjoXDgWQ&t=277s

• Thank you again for being willing to be a part of this noble effort and below is our main website with some great additional information.

• www.evac.org/northwest.htm

License Fee Clarification

ARRL News | New FCC Application Fee Will Not Apply To Amateur Radio License Upgrades

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) staff has clarified in response to an ARRL request that the new $35 application fee will not apply to most license modifications, including those to upgrade an Amateur Radio Licensee’s operator class and changes to club station trustees.

The FCC staff explained that the new fees will apply only to applications for a new license, renewal, rule waiver, or a new vanity call sign. As previously announced, the new fees take effect on April 19, 2022.“

We are pleased that the FCC will not charge licensees the FCC application fee for license upgrade applications,” said ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM. “While applicants for a new license will need to pay the $35 FCC application fee, there will be no FCC charge for future upgrades and administrative updates such as a change of mailing or email address.

Most current licensees therefore will not be charged the new FCC application fee until they renew their license or apply for a new vanity call sign.” ARRL previously reported that the new $35 application fee for Amateur Radio licenses will become effective on April 19, 2022. Further information and instructions about the FCC Application Fee are available from the ARRL VEC.