The ARRL has withdrawn its petition, that attempted to circumvent Congress. This lengthy and expensive effort was reversed only a month or so after submission. The ARRL will proceed with ARPA with a different approach and wording in the future. An unfortunate chapter in ARRL-- and ham radio-- history is now closed. http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-board-of-directors-issues-statement-on-amateur-radio-parity-act
I don't know about "closed", how many of the directors that supported this debacle in the past are STILL there?
Apparently not enough to keep the new board from halting the direction it seemed to be going. All of the directors were not up for re-election this past cycle. Maybe more turnover is coming.
It is tragedy that so much time and especially money was wasted on this and the related HR555 (and versions) efforts, with the 'CAI accommodated wording'. Amateur radio has been hurt badly in the US by this bogusly justified petition submission. Specifically the ARRL has lost major cred with the FCC as a 'first point' of contact on Part 97 matters. Furthermore, the ARRL loss of membership, and the poor conversion of Tech to new members happened simultaneously. Wrong focus. Wrong problem. The new board has some great people in it and IMO we should strongly support the board, the president, and the CEO in moving ARRL forward. Its no longer 'business as usual' in Newington. There are more hams in the US than ever before. We need a strong and responsive ARRL to represent us to the FCC and the world. IMO there is a very good opportunity to realize this now.
I would hope all of this would have been a learning experience for the ARRL so that in the future the basis for any such action(s), on their part, would first answer the question how does this benefit the vast majority of our members and not just a special interest group.
Apparently, thankfully, its not just ARPA that is being addressed by the new BoD and CEO. The actual ARRL BoD meeting minutes ought to be fascinating, but check out the preview below. It's a report of the board meeting verbally presented by SW Director N6AA at Quartzfest with notes heard and recorded by Virgil K7VZ and published on the My ARRL Voice public Facebook page. 73, John, WØPV ARRL Southwest Division Director, Dick Norton N6AA, QuartzFest ARRL Forum Fresh off his trip to Newington, Dick presented to a large crowd in the Arizona desert. I believe there may be video of this presentation, but here are my notes. What he presented appears to be a good change in direction from the ARRL board. - ARRL board has revoked the code of conduct. - There is a new lawyer they are working with from DC who has previous experience with the FCC. - WARFA jammer. Problems persist. (Western Amateur Radio Friendship Association) - Volunteer Monitor program. OO program worked on our end, but nobody was paying attention on the FCC side. They want VM’s to be qualified and be able to get results when problems arise. - QSL Bureau will be returned to being a membership benefit. Stop trying to run it for profit. - NTS - National Traffic System. Many split off to RRI- Radio Relay International. The damage has been done, but the current board would like to mend ties. - ARES – They are going to allow sections to set the “rules” and adapt. Discussion focused on some sections organize ARES based on counties, while others operate under hospital layouts, etc. The ARES program in each section will be the ultimate call of the Section Manager (along with SEC and DEC’s.) They will follow local requirements. The ARRL EC-001 course fee of $50 will be dropped and ARES members will be able to take this for free. - Data rates on HF. Discussion focused on allowing use of PACTOR4 in the USA. It hasn’t “ruined” amateur radio in all other countries that allow the data rates. - Petition for Technicians to gain more HF privileges. It was discussed, but there is no real update at this time. - Web site revamp. Life Long Learning program. There are 30k new hams annually, ARRL gets about 17% who join and only half of those renew. They really want to focus on new hams and are brainstorming how to appeal to these folks. The ARRL wants to provide a resource where all hams can turn to for answers and Elmer help. - Membership discussion from the crowd: Someone brought up the ARRL should offer a discount to first time members. There was also membership incentives suggested for older hams as well as life membership discount ideas thrown out. The ARRL used to offer a 5 year renewal, but only offers up to 3 years now. Bring back 5 year option. Someone suggested the IEEE offers free lifetime membership if years of paid membership plus age is greater than 100. Adopt a similar program? It was joked that most in attendance would qualify. - Many hams have started YouTube channels with training on amateur radio. KE0OG suggested the ARRL work with these folks to contribute to Life Long Learning portal mentioned above. - ARPA status was discussed. See ARRL press release. There was a lot of discussion and I stopped taking notes here. January 25, 2019 Virgil K7VZ
Jim, The ARRL today is very different from the ARRL of a month ago (see post #10). There's been THAT much change in the leadership. The ARRL needs our support in helping it advance for all US hams. I hope you will re-consider; each member is valuable, and valued. 73 Chip W1YW LM ARRL
I hate to personalize or ad hominem stuff most of the time, but it is amazing what .. replacing two people can do. I've seen some of Mike Lisenco and Chris Imlay's correspondence, and Chris's arrogance was ...unbelievable ..and as for Mike, something is just flat out wrong with the guy. I think things are looking up. Even some of the BOD members remaining from the previous Board, will likely improve without the nastiness those two brought to the table.
