THE INDIANAPOLIS RADIO CLUB - FOUNDED IN 1914 (The oldest continuously meeting Amateur Radio Club in the United States) THE AMACHEWER FOR SEPTEMBER 2001 NEXT MEETING IS SEPTEMBER 14, 2001 at 7:30 P.M. AT THE INDIANAPOLIS TRAINING CENTER, 2801 NORTH MERIDIAN. (Come early to socialize) 2001 IRC Officers: Pres. Bill Goodall (K9DBY) 255-4749 V. Pres. Chuck Crist (W9IH) 787-6674 Director Bruce Woodward (W9ZY) 251-5606 Secy. Tom Chance (K9XV) 783-1093 Treas. Wade Kingery (W9JGZ) 255-5191 Chief Op. John Lee (W9GRE) 251-3793 Editor Gale Wuollet (AA9WU) 849-8449 ** BRUCE WOODWARD (W9ZY) - SK For those of you that somehow missed this news a few weeks ago we include the following which was excerpted from the Indianapolis Star newspaper: Bruce Berlyn Woodward, 70, Indianapolis, died August 19. He was a math teacher 33 years for the Indianapolis Public Schools, retiring in 1986. He was a Navy veteran of World War II. A ham radio operator, he helped run the Indiana weather net, was past president of the Indianapolis Radio Club and was the 1975 Ham of the Year. He was a former Boy Scout leader, American Red Cross volunteer, president of the Indianapolis Grade Teachers and Treasurer of the Indianapolis Education Association. Memorial contributions may be made to the Indianapolis Radio Club, American Red Cross or the American Cancer Society. (Ed: Bruce was laid to rest on Wednesday August 22, 2001 and will be very much missed by his family and many friends in and out of the ham radio community) ** Our June Meeting Minutes: Chuck Crist wrote for Secretary, Thomas Chance: Indianapolis Radio Club Date: 06/09/2001 1. Meeting was called to order by Bill Goodall K9DBY at 7:30 PM. 2. Trevor Fulk has just returned to the Indy area from Texas and volunteered to help with the ITC restoration committee. 3. Membership sign-ups for the auction were handled by AA9CK and KB9TSV. 4. Wade, W9JGZ, gave the Treasurer's report. 5. Wes, W9ASM, began the auction. During the auction ..... Hot items were: a 5 element 2M beam and a 12v, 1-amp Pyramid power supply. Most $$$ spent by a ham - again - (for how many years in a row???) goes to, K9DBY. The most $$$ made by a ham went to N9DOO and KB9TSV. The club donations totaled $4.50 and there was approximately $150.00 exchanged in the auction of "ham stuff." All had a good time and many bargains were found. ** Our September Meeting: Mr. Bob Lagrange (N9SIU) will be with us for the evening. Mr. Lagrange is an employee of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). He is also Secretary of the MidStates Ham Club and very active with the SEMA Hams group. Bob is also District #6 ARES representative. We expect that this will be one of our more informative meetings of the year and you should try to bring along a friend, partner, spouse, etc. For this same meeting, Chuck (W9IH) is requesting the following ..... "JUST FOR FUN" I invite all attendees to bring along the "Oldest CALLBOOK" they have in their ham shack. Discussion of same will allow all "Old timers" the opportunity to brag about how much they know, So, here's a real chance to shine on a subject we (think) we are all very knowledgeable about. ** Local News: TECHNICIAN LICENSE CLASS The American Red Cross Disaster Radio Group has scheduled their Fall Technician class. The first class meeting is Thursday night, September 13 and the class will meet for 10 successive Thursday evenings completing on November 15, 2001. As in the past, the class itself is free of charge. The only expense is the purchase of the ARRL Technician manual that is used for study. If you know someone interested in attending this class and would like more information, please have them call Gale Wuollet, AA9WU at (317) 849-8449 or email him at aa9wu@arrl.net. ** News from the FCC: (or .... they're at it again!) FCC REGISTRATION NUMBER BECOMES MANDATORY IN DECEMBER Get ready (again) for the FRN! Although the FCC has slipped the deadline before, the Commission said this week that, starting December 3, 2001, everyone doing business with the FCC--licensed or not--must obtain and use a 10-digit FCC Registration Number--or FRN. The FCC called the move "a first step" toward streamlining fee collection and tracking. Many amateurs registered with the Universal Licensing System (ULS) were assigned a 10-digit FRN by the Commission Registration System--or CORES--in a one-time cross-registration last year and notified by mail. Details to implement CORES for the Amateur Service are still being worked out. Steve Linn of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau said just how CORES and ULS will work together remains up in the air. "CORES is not replacing the ULS database," he explained, "but there are a lot of questions as to how it is to be integrated." A final implementation with respect to Amateur Radio is "yet to be determined," he said. Under the most likely scenario, however, CORES registration will supplant ULS registration for those who do not already have an FRN. Those without an FRN will be required to register and provide one before transacting business with the FCC, whether or not a fee is required. An individual does not have to hold an FCC license to obtain an FRN. The requirement to obtain one extends to applicants for an Amateur Radio license as well as to anyone required to pay a fee to the FCC, such as those applying for a vanity call sign. CORES registrants will be required to supply a Taxpayer Identification Number-- or TIN--typically a Social Security Number (SSN) for an individual. The FCC says CORES information is not made public. An FRN will not be needed to file comments in rule making proceedings. Filings that do require an FRN but don't include one will be rejected. The FCC has not yet proposed replacing the ULS Licensee Identification Number with an FRN; many amateurs already have both, and both numbers appear in FCC licensee records. The ULS continues to be available to new registrants. The FCC began implementing CORES last year. The agency announced the adoption of its new CORES/FRN rules on August 31 and detailed the requirements in a Report and Order. In its Order, the FCC sounded almost apologetic for imposing yet another set of numbers on licensees and applicants. "We realize that the manner in which our electronic systems have developed has results in a multiplicity of numbers, passwords and identifiers," the FCC conceded. The FCC said that once various electronic filing systems--such as ULS--incorporate CORES and FRN into their application process, "the need to maintain registration information in multiple systems will be eliminated." The FCC said CORES makes provision for the registration of foreign nationals unable to obtain an SSN by providing the ability to register without one. The FCC has required that club stations obtain an assigned TIN when registering in the ULS. In an apparent about-face, the FCC's CORES Order states that unincorporated radio clubs registering in CORES should use the TIN/SSN of the license trustee. The ARRL has asked the FCC to clarify. The on-line filing system and further information on CORES is available by visiting the FCC CORES Web page, ** Miscellaneous Like many retirees, I am finding too many things to do and too little time to do them in. For that reason, at the end of this year I am resigning as editor of the AMACHEWER. I bring this up at this point in time so that a "volunteer" can step forward soon to take over this task and in that way we will both have enough time to make a smooth transition of paper files, database information, etc. If you are interested please contact me or Bill Goodall our club President. 73, Gale A. Wuollet (AA9WU)