MI Ham Call Letter Plates Available in Lansing

Hams are still having trouble getting amateur radio plates in Michigan. We have been told to go to the Secretary of State offices. However sometimes when we go there, the clerk does not know what amateur radio plates are and cannot service us. For example:
Rick NE8Z went to the Secretary of State to get ham call letter plates. They looked at the sample plate form to try to find what he was asking for. They found the amateur radio plate as a "sample" and told him they would sell him a plate for $10. The plate he would receive would say "AMATEUR RADIO" down the left side, his call sign and "MICHIGAN" in the blue stripe across the top just like the sample plate on the form at this link: Sample Plate . They emphasized what it said on the form "These plates are for display purposes only - not for vehicle registration" and that it would say N8EZ instead of "SAMPLE" . They added that if he was caught driving with that on his car he would be arrested.
They told him that it was illegal to drive a car with the call letter plate that says AMATEUR RADIO down the side. They offered to sell him a regular vanity plate for $30 extra that would say NE8Z. It would not say "AMATEUR RADIO". They said that was all that was available. He then sent out an email to the amateur radio community saying that he was informed by the Secretary of State office that if you have a plate that says "AMATEUR RADIO" and your call, it is an illegal plate and a sample and if you are caught driving with that on your car, you would be arrested.
Amateur radio call letter plates are issued by the Distributed Services Unit of the Secretary of State office - a special division located in Lansing. This unit issues specialized plates like: amateur radio,clergy, physicians, etc. To get an amateur radio plate you must fill out a form. This form should be available at the local Secretary of State office or online at ARO Plate Form .
Only 2 types of amateur radio plates are available: MICHIGAN blue stripe or Spectacular Peninsula. You must indicate on the form your choice. They both will say "AMATEUR RADIO" on the left side with your call letters.
To complete the process you must:
Fill out the form
include a copy of your amateur radio license
include either $2 for the regular MICHIGAN plateor $7 for Spectacular Peninsula plate [ABOVE THE NORMAL REGISTRATION FEE (if you don't know then contact your local Secretary of State office )
Send all documents and money to the address shown on the form
You will receive a license plate in the mail with your call letters on it, "AMATEUR RADIO" down the left side and either "MICHIGAN" blue stripe or Spectacular Peninsula design (depending on what you ordered) with a current Tab.
All plates with "AMATEUR RADIO" on the left side and your call sign with current Tab and "MICHIGAN" the across the top or the Spectacular Peninsula design ARE LEGAL. These are white background with blue letters.
Should you have any trouble you can call the Distributed Services Unit directly at 517-322-6274. I find they are most helpful in resolving issues like Rick had. They also will fix it if you do end up ordering a vanity plate my mistake and need to get a refund and order your regular amateur call letter plates.
NOTE: the number on the bottom of the form is for the general Secretary of State's office in Lansing and not the direct line to the Distributed Services Unit as shown above.
Also, to clear up some more license plate confusion, as of January 1, 2007 the Secretary of State is issuing new plates. These new plates will replace your old blue background with white letter plates and also any plate issued before January 1, 2007 even if it has a white background. These new plates have a new special reflective paint applied to them that makes the license plates completely reflective and are supposed to be better for safety and that is why the state is offering them. When you apply for any new tabs, you will receive this new plate. It will say www.michigan.gov and only pay for a license Tabs at no extra charge.
If you are an amateur radio operator and want to be recognized by state officials in time of emergencies while driving your car, then you need an amateur call letter plate. That is what identifies you as an amateur radio operator. We lobbied hard to get these plates at a reduced cost from the vanity plates.
Vy 73,John Fleming K8UP

ARRL, DoD, FCC Try to Come to Terms with Pave Paws

The ARRL has sent out more than 100 letters to repeater owners/trustees who have repeaters affected by the "Pave Paws" radars (PPR). Citing an increasing number of interference complaints, the US Air Force has asked the FCC to order dozens of repeater systems to either mitigate interference to the Pave Paws radars or shut down. The ARRL is working with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to develop a plan to mitigate alleged interference from 70 cm ham radio repeaters to this military radar system on both coasts.

The situation affects 15 repeaters within less than 100 miles of Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and more than 100 repeaters within some 140 miles of Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, California.

ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, stresses that the Defense Department acknowledges Amateur Radio's value in disasters and emergencies and is being extremely cooperative -- and a wholesale shutdown of US 70 cm Amateur Radio activity is not on the table.

The Amateur Radio Service is a secondary user in the 420-450 MHz band, both by the Table of Frequency Allocations and the FCC Part 97 regulations. As such, Amateur Radio licensees, jointly and individually, bear the responsibility of mitigating or eliminating any harmful interference to the primary user, which in this case is the Government Radiolocation Service that includes the DoD Pave Paws systems.

The letters sent to affected repeater owners/trustees give them an up-to-date briefing on the ongoing negotiations with the US Air Force, as well as outlines the DoD's plan. The DoD has indicated a willingness to try a mitigation proposal, but they have also indicated their need is for these issues to be resolved sooner rather than later. With that expediency in mind, the proposed mitigation strategy is as follows:

• All repeaters on the DoD list in the affected areas will immediately reduce power to 5 W transmitter power output (TPO). Each repeater licensee/trustee should contact Henderson to confirm this once this has been done for their system. Confirmation of this being done is needed from each repeater owner by Friday, June 15, 2007.

• The ARRL will provide the Longley-Rice calculations for each repeater to the DoD by June 15, 2007. The DoD will provide engineering data to the ARRL and FCC by June 15, 2007. These studies will be reviewed by the DoD, the ARRL Lab and the FCC to determine the amount of mitigation necessary for each repeater. Based on this review by the DoD, additional mitigation proposals for individual repeaters (including further power reductions, lowering of antenna heights, use of more directive antennas and other possible mitigation techniques) will be provided by the ARRL as needed to individual repeater owners. If there is a disagreement on the conclusions, a conference call will be held to resolve any outstanding issues.

• All interference must be resolved no later than August 1, 2007.

• Beginning in August 2007 (and continuing on a periodic basis), the DoD will have a follow-up engineers study at each PPR site to ensure corrective actions have been taken and to ensure that successful mitigation continues.

ARRL Working Closely on Plan to Mitigate Interference
According to the DoD, the in-band interference from Amateur Radio fixed FM voice repeaters has increased to an unacceptable level. Pave Paws radars are used for national security functions, including early detection of water-launched missiles. They are critical to our national defense and are in use 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
The goal of the ARRL has been to develop and implement a plan that would mitigate the interference, and at the same time to permit the repeaters to continue operation and to operate on as liberal a basis as possible. To do so, the League has offered to work closely with the two involved repeater coordinating groups, as well as the individual repeater owners, sharing information and dealing with this issue on a coordinated basis with all stakeholders.
The League has also been in contact with representatives of the FCC. They have the ultimate responsibility for enforcing any mitigation plan, up to and including ordering specific repeaters to shut down operations. The FCC is aware of the complex nature of this problem and the mitigation strategy being proposed by the DoD.

As secondary users on the band, the ARRL has few options, and all options involve cooperation with the DoD. It is hoped the Longley-Rice calculations from the ARRL and the DoD's engineering studies will provide enough data to allow as many of the repeaters in the affected areas as possible to remain on the air at reasonable power levels.

It is entirely probable that even with extreme mitigation techniques, some repeaters in close proximity to the PPR sites may have to be shut down permanently. If that happens, official notice would come from the FCC. It is also possible that some repeaters might be required to operate permanently at a lower power level in the areas near these Air Force bases. In those cases, the League will be in contact with the individual repeater owners with that information and the FCC will be notified.

Repeater Owners/Trustees Need to Comply
Henderson requests that all repeater owners/trustees affected by this issue immediately implement the 5 W TPO for your repeater/s; please contact his office by June 15 indicating if you have implemented the power reduction. This will allow the ARRL to have voluntary compliance on hand that can be used to show the cooperation of the amateur community.
Henderson stresses that it is to each repeater's long-term advantage to implement the power reduction as soon as possible. The DoD indicated they will be collecting engineering data during June. This presents the opportunity to assess a repeater's actual impact at the lower power level and a more honest determination of its continued potential for harmful interference to the PPR sites. If any repeaters are running at higher power levels, then the determinations can only be based on assumptions rather than on actual data.

Contact Dan Henderson, N1ND (860-594-0236) with specific questions or issues associated with this situation.

Faker Alerts National Weather Service to bogus weather reports

Associated PressPublished June 11, 2007, 12:40 AM CDT

MILWAUKEE -- Someone has been submitting fictional reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service, causing unnecessary alerts and frightening people.The areas affected have included Milwaukee, La Crosse, Chicago, and Lincoln, Ill., said Tom Schwein, chief of the National Weather Service's systems and facilities division for the central region in Kansas City, Mo.

The person started sending reports in mid-April through an online form on the service's Web site."We've been detecting a regular pattern of a person who has been submitting false severe weather reports that are constructed in a way that seem very realistic," Schwein said. "Whoever this person is seems to have knowledge of severe weather reports."Schwein said reporting severe weather is like calling in a bogus bomb threat or unnecessarily pulling a fire alarm."People had to take cover, media interrupted their broadcasting for hours -- we've alerted people unnecessarily and frightened them. This person has really misled us," Schwein said.More than 25 pretend reports were submitted from the same computer over one weekend this month, and the service typically gets 40 to 50 a month from that source, Schwein said. It does not appear that any phony reports were sent during Thursday's severe weather, according to Pat Slattery of the Weather Service.The public can use a form on weather service local Web sites to anonymously report weather. The agency recently added a notice at the top of the form that submitting false statements is a federal crime, with a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.Schwein said investigators have traced the Internet protocol address of the faker's computer. The FBI is helping subpoena records to figure out who is registered for the computer IP address, he said.On April 25, a report came in stating that a tornado causing damage and injuries had hit Blue Mound, Ill. Local NBC affiliate WAND-TV in Decatur, Ill., interrupted normal broadcasting for approximately three hours, said Lee Davis, chief meteorologist with WAND-TV."We were getting warnings from the National Weather Service which seemed inconsistent with the data I was showing on my radar," Davis said.Severe weather was already present in that county. The county's Emergency Management Agency issued a tornado warning based on spotter reports, said Phil Anello, the emergency agency's coordinator for the county. Nevertheless, the reports of damage and injuries were false.The person usually submits the false reports when severe weather is already present, Schwein said."The time and location of the report will line up very well with our satellite and radar data," Schwein said. "They'll report damage that fits the structure of the storm."Forecasters consider radar, environment and spotter reports before alerting the public of severe weather, said Rusty Kapela, warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service's Sullivan office."We need two out of three in most cases to push the meteorologist past the point where they'll issue a warning," Kapela said.The false reports coming through the public Web site differ from reports from trained spotters who register with the weather service and must log in to sites with a password.
Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press

Make a Disaster Kit and a Family Plan

Release Date: June 8, 2007Release Number: FNF-07-030
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Now is an excellent time for residents to make sure their home has a disaster supply kit and a family communication plan. FEMA is urging everyone to act now to assemble their family's emergency supplies and develop a plan.
Every home should be stocked with a supply kit. When storing the supplies, keep them easily accessible in case of an evacuation. Keep a full tank of gasoline your car. Gas stations may be closed during emergencies and may be unable to pump gas during power outages. Plan to take one car per family to stay together and reduce highway congestion and delay.

Know your home's vulnerability to storm surge, flooding and wind. Locate the safest areas in your home. In certain circumstances the safest areas may not be your own home but another within your community. Determine escape routes from your home and places to meet. These routes should be measured in tens of miles rather than hundreds of miles. Choose a meeting location. Should your family become separated during a storm, have a pre-determined rendezvous point at which everyone can rejoin the family.

Make sure each member of the family has contact information for family members, work and school, meeting locations and emergency services. Choose an out-of-town contact who family members can call to let them know where they are, especially if the family is separated. Everyone should know this contact's phone numbers. After a disaster, it is often easier to make a long-distance call than a local call from the disaster area.

Visit www.fema.gov and www.ready.gov for a thorough look into disaster preparedness and a more detailed list of emergency supplies. Also, www.ready.gov/kids is an excellent resource for information on how to involve children in the process of assembling the family's disaster supply kit.

A Disaster Supply Kit should contain the following:

Water - at least one gallon per person for three to seven days

Food - at least enough for three to seven days: non-perishable packaged or canned food; juices; foods for infants or the elderly; snack food; non-electric can opener; cooking utensils; fuel; paper plates and plastic utensilsMapsBlankets and pillows

Clothing - seasonal, rain gear, sturdy shoes Medical supplies - first aid kit, medicines, prescription drugs, a spare set of eye glassesSpecial Items - for infants and the elderly

Toiletries - toilet paper, hygiene items and plastic bags for sanitary disposalMoisture wipes and anti-bacterial hand sanitizerFlashlight - extra batteries Radio - battery-operated and NOAA weather radio

Cash - (Banks and ATMs may not be open or available for extended periods.) Important documents - in a waterproof container: insurance, medical records, bank and credit card account numbers, birth certificates, social security cardKeys

Toys, books and games ToolsPet care items: proper identification, immunization records, ample supply of food and water, a carrier or cage, medications, muzzle and leash

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

ARRL to FCC: Shut Down "Grossly Noncompliant" Ambient BPL Pilot Project

NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 1, 2007 -- The ARRL has again demanded that the FCC shut down Ambient Corporation's broadband over power line (BPL) pilot project in Briarcliff Manor, New York. On May 21 the FCC called on the BPL equipment maker and system operator to demonstrate it's complying with all terms of the Part 5 Experimental license authorizing the system, or face possible enforcement action. In a May 31 letter to FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Chief Kathryn S. Berthot, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, contended that it's "long past time that the Commission enforce its own rules," and again objected to the Commission's "inexplicable inaction" in the face of evidence the system is noncompliant. Imlay pointed out that the FCC's May 21 letter made no mention of Condition #1 of Ambient's Part 5 Experimental license.
"That condition requires that if any interference occurs, the holder of the authorization will be subject to immediate shutdown," Imlay wrote. "Interference has repeatedly occurred, and it has been witnessed and verified by a member of the Commission's Enforcement Bureau staff. Yet no action has been taken whatsoever to terminate this experimental authorization over a period of more than two and one-half years. This is inexcusable."
Ambient operates the Briarcliff Manor BPL pilot program under Experimental license WD2XEQ. ARRL testing as recent as late May indicated the system is operating outside of the parameters of its FCC authorization.
Too Little, Too Late
The League called the FCC's most recent push to get the company to comply with the terms of its Experimental license "too little, too late and an abdication of the Commission's responsibility to protect its licensees from interference from unlicensed RF devices."
"The Commission's obsessive compulsion to avoid any bad news about BPL has clearly driven its multi-year inaction," the League continued. "Had this been any other experimental authorization dealing with any technology other than BPL, the experimental authorization would have been terminated long ago."
The League's complaints regarding interference to Amateur Radio communication from the Briarcliff Manor system date back to October 2003 and included supportive technical reports and test results.
As it stands, the League maintained, the FCC should have shut down Ambient's BPL system a long time ago. The ARRL further objected to Ambient's "repeated misrepresentations in its six-month reports claiming that its Briarcliff Manor BPL system meets FCC emission limits."
Third Time Not the Charm
New measurements done May 24 by ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, conclusively establish that the Ambient BPL system, in Hare's words, "continues to operate well above the Part 15 emission limits that are stipulated as a condition of its Experimental license." Hare said his latest excursion marked the third time his emissions testing in Briarcliff Manor showed the system to be operating significantly above Part 15 emissions limits.
"The spectral masks in this system intended to protect some radio services from interference work poorly enough in this generation-1 equipment, but when the system is operated at excessive levels, strong interference is an inevitable outcome," he commented. "By operating this system above the Part 15 emissions limits, Ambient is making it impossible for any electric utility to use results from this experiment to reach any conclusions about the technical and commercial viability of BPL."
Under the Radar
The ARRL further argued that the Ambient BPL system should not be permitted to continue operating under the radar with an Experimental license instead of under the FCC's Part 15 BPL rules, adopted in 2004. The Briarcliff Manor system does not even appear in the FCC's BPL database, the League noted.
"Causing Ambient to operate in accordance with the BPL rules rather than allowing it to hide behind its experimental authorization would at least be consistent with the Commission's regulatory plan for BPL, however inadequate that plan is in terms of interference avoidance," Imlay's letter concluded.

New England Ham Honored

New England Ham Honored for Work with Handiham Program (Jun 6, 2007) -- Phil Temples, K9HI, ARRL New England Assistant Director and Affiliated Club Coordinator for the ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section, was recognized by Boston College for his work with the Courage Center Handiham program and participation in the Read Aloud program in the Boston school system. Temples, an employee in the Boston College Computer Science Department and a Handiham volunteer instructor, received BC's 2007 Community Service Award at a recognition dinner in May. "You have been recognized for your efforts in recruiting, organizing, teaching and mentoring at the non-profit Courage HandiHam System Camp in Lake George, Minnesota and Cupertino, California," wrote William R. Mills, Jr., Director of Community Affairs at Boston College. "We know you consider yourself a privileged man to be able to serve others because you believe that people should have the right to live, work and learn in a community based on abilities, not disabilities."