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November 1997 - Page 6

Candy Drive Report Karen Smith, KB2UUC, has announced that the last few boxes of candy have been distributed for sale. However if there still is anyone who could sell a few bars she would like to hear from you. For those of you who took any of candy but haven't reported back to the team yet, please do so immediately. We need to account for all of these boxes by the November monthly meeting. If you still have candy that you don't think you'll be able to sell, again please see fund drive team. For those who have sold all their candy please bring that money to the meeting. Karen Smith, KB2UUC: 273-6594 or kb2uuc@juno.com Jim Hannel, W2JHO: 438-3685 or 462-6992 W. J. Eddy, NY2U: 273-9248 or mrbill1953@aol.com		FCC SETS RF SAFETY EVALUATION THRESHOLD FOR REPEATERS The FCC has released an erratum to its RF safety rules that sets 500 W ERP (effective radiated power) as the limit for most amateur repeaters before a routine RF safety evaluation would be required. This applies to repeater systems on all bands. A routine RF safety evaluation would be required for all repeater systems with more than 500 W ERP and having either (1) a building-mounted antenna or (2) a non-building-mounted antenna with a height of less than 10 meters (approximately 33 feet) above ground level to lowest point of the antenna. It's fairly simple to calculate ERP. Take the PEP input to the antenna and multiply it by the numerical equivalent of the antenna gain in dBd (dB relative to a halfwave dipole in free space). Gain relative to an isotropic radiator (a point source), dBi, can be converted to dBd by subtracting 2.15 dB from the dBi number. For example, say your repeater puts out 100 W and has 3 dB of feedline loss. Calculate: 100 x 0.5 = 50 W to the antenna. The antenna has 8.8 dBd of gain, or 9.44 as a decimal. So the ERP is 50 x 9.44 = 472 W. For details, see "Second Erratum" (October 22, 1997) at: http://www.fcc.gov/oet/dockets/et93-62/
FCC INITIATES UNIVERSAL LICENSING

As a first step in implementing its new Universal Licensing System (ULS), the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is attempting to "populate" the ULS by getting licensees to register. Ultimately, the ULS will give hams and other licensees on-line access to make license updates and renewals, eliminating the need for hardcopy forms like the venerable Form 610. An FCC Public Notice this week said the ULS is aimed at combining the 11 different licensing systems the Bureau now uses--including Amateur Radio--into a single system.
ULS registration requires supplying a Taxpayer Identification Number (for individuals, this is typically your Social Security Number) and "associated call-

signs." These could include your individual call sign plus any club station call signs for which you are the trustee.
On-line registration via the Internet is available. In addition to providing basic name and address information, registration requires you to establish a password that you must use along with your TIN to re-enter the system to make future changes. The ULS also lets you check the status of a pending application. A spokesperson in the FCC's Technical Support Group said the FCC will verify all data supplied at the time of registration to ensure that it is valid before the data are entered into the FCC licensee database.
Using the TIN and the associated call sign(s), the ULS assigns a unique

sequential number to each licensee. The WTB says that once it has registration information and has implemented the ULS, it will streamline and simplify the FCC's ability to handle future administrative changes (name and address changes, for example).
Licensees are invited to register electronically via the internet at http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/uls. Select ULS Registration. Licensees without access to the Internet may file a TIN registration form, FCC Form 60, from the FCC's fax-on-demand service at 202-418-0177 or by calling the FCC Forms Distribution Center toll free at 800-418-3676.
Tnx: ARRL Letter