FCC\'s Riley Hollingsworth: Recent Speech

Riley Hollingsworth spoke in the Pittsburgh, PA area this past
weekend.



Pleasant Hills, PA, 14 April 2001 -- The FCC Enforcement Bureau's
Special Counsel for Amateur Radio, Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH,
spoke for over 45 minutes to a crowd of over 50 Amateur Radio
operators at the Blue Flame restaurant on Route 51 this morning. It
was one of two talks he was scheduled to give today in the
Pittsburgh area, the second being that evening in Monroeville at the
Palace Inn hotel.








Hollingsworth covered a wide variety of topics involving the FCC and
the Amateur Radio Service, covering enforcement issues, possible
International regulatory changes, and some of his views for the
future of the Amateur service.



He emphasized several times the importance of "how we sound on
the air" both domestically and internationally, and how critical that
was at upcoming ITU conferences with other countries -
conferences where the rule was, large or small, that "one country
(has) one vote -- just like we do." He warned the crowd that there
was a good chance that the 40 Meter Amateur band would be
reduced by 1/3 (from 300 to 200 kHz wide) at the next World
Administrative Radio Conference, and that it was very important that
we conduct ourselves well on the air. "Operate as if the whole world
is listening!"



On cases of interference and other enforcement issues,
Hollingsworth emphasized the need for vigilance against the
"proliferation of all that junk out there," citing some specific
cases.



He urged amateurs to "hear it, document it, and notify the FCC," and
that while it may take 3 to 5 years to get back up to full enforcement
levels of years past, enforcement IS back but we should not become
complacent about it. He also reminded the audience that
enforcement alone won't save Amateur Radio, as "there is no rule
against being stupid" on the air.



Hollingsworth compared the existing Amateur Radio spectrum to
New York's Central Park, reminding the audience that it was "worth
billions" and would become a target if the Amateur service did not
manage itself properly. He pointed out that the new demands for
spectrum today compared to as little as 15 years ago, and
emphasized the need for the Amateur Radio community to have a
strong National voice and presence - and that the American Radio
Relay League is all we have.



Hollingsworth also discussed briefly the growing problem of
restrictive zoning, deeds and covenants, mentioning some of the
"horror stories" that the FCC had heard about CC&R's only
disclosed at the closing or settlement, when it was too late for the
home buyer to do anything about it. And he brought up some recent
legislation in Texas that would have essentially prohibited all towers
(including Amateur) over 25 feet high throughout the state, that the
ARRL was able to resolve in our favor. He emphasized that the FCC
would only take action to strengthen PRB-1 over deed restrictions if
the Amateur community continued to provide the FCC with factual
information and insist that action be taken.



Hollingsworth also had praise for the Amateur community in their
efforts to innovate new communications techniques, specifically
mentioning the new digital PSK-31 mode as something "amazing"
and a "big draw for people." He urged the audience to "spark your
own enthusiasm" on this and other new communication modes.



"Amateur Radio is at a crossroads right now," and Hollingsworth
added that with the convergence of computer and radio technology,
we have "the greatest potential" to grow in the last 20 to 25 years.
He pointed out that while it was important to try and draw younger
people into the Service, we should remember that Amateur Radio
appeals to all age groups. He also urged the Amateur community to
continue to train and educate incoming amateurs, stating that "we
have a duty to teach new operators everything we know."
But he also urged us to "stay away from the negative operators" and
to not "give them a safe harbor "as the survival of Amateur Radio
was at stake. "Negative operators need to learn that Amateur Radio
is not the training ground for "the next Jerry Springer," and that
with the technology now available to the FCC monitoring stations
(despite the closing of many local field offices) that they "can and
will be caught, sooner or later."



He also urged Amateurs to get more publicity out about themselves
and what they do, stating that "we're not equipped to give ourselves
credit." He cited the publicity following recent pirate attacks on
shipping in the Caribbean as an example of what we should be
doing, and singling out ABC's "20/20" program for getting the story
right - "the best publicity we've had in 20 years." But the lack of
publicity of the importance of Amateur Radio to the Hurricane Watch
and other events of that scope is something we need to do more
about.



On the matter of the Amateur Service restructuring, Hollingsworth
emphasized that it was "done" and that we would look back on this at
the end of the decade as a "stroke of brilliance." He also pointed out
that a side effect has been an upswing in the use by Amateurs of
Morse Code communication. More Amateurs are turning or returning
to the mode since higher speeds are no longer mandated, citing the
analogy "the best way to kill a good book is to put it on the required
reading list." He felt that this showed that it wasn't the code speed
that was important, but the code itself.



Hollingsworth also touched briefly on the positive relationship that
the ARRL President is developing with the FCC commissioners, and
that the ARRL and that the ARRL will be giving a presentation and
demonstration to the FCC Commissioners once all of the new
members have been seated. He brought up that FCC Chairman
Powell is very enthusiastic and thinks very positively of the Amateur
service. But he also brought up that without Senator Barry
Goldwater or FCC Commissioner Lee in Washington any more, we
have "no built in safety mechanism" or "insurance policy" and that it
is up to us. He also discussed the ARRL's upcoming Big Project to
try and put an Amateur station in every elementary school in the
country, and the great potential that AMSAT-OSCAR 40 will present
to us, even with all of it's problems.



He concluded by reminding everyone present that we need to realize
"what a great gift (Amateur Radio) is," but that like any great gifts,
it comes with great responsibilities too.



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