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FMTAG Form 10 applications-Business Manager Debby ZL2TDM

FMTAG Form 10 applications: Just a reminder to all branches that in line with Council policy, all applications for repeater and beacon changes will incur a fee and be invoiced accordingly from NZART. Doug ZL2TAR will determine the amount of which on receipt of your application and when it is to commence.

The application will not proceed until payment has been received; therefore it is important to advise both Doug and myself on sending payments and what they are for.

Recently I received a cheque in the mail and I wasn't sure why - to save any embarrassment please let us know. I like getting money, but I would hate to apply it to the wrong branch.

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FMTAG MATTERS FROM COUNCIL MINUTES 2 and 3 February 2008

Agenda Item 8/22 - ZL2KH

Report in conjunction with monthly report, agenda item 8/5 (b)

Doug ZL2TAR addressed the meeting advising that David ZL2SX has resigned as Chairman of the FMTAG committee due to ill health. Although Council was aware of David's resignation, which had been accepted with regret, they agreed that, a suitable replacement be found immediately to assist Doug in this important position. Doug suggested Brian Fearnley ZL2BRF, be contacted as he may be willing to step into the chairman role at least as an interim measure. Council agreed to ZL2TAR contacting ZL2BRF and will advertise in Break In for a permanent solution. Action: ZL2TAR to contact ZL2BRF re the interim position of the FMTAG Chairman

Action: Council to place advertisement in Break In for FMTAG Chairperson

ZL2TAR advised that since the inception of SMART a total of 58 new licenses had been engineered. A service he provides free of charge, as his thanks for what Amateur Radio has given him in his working career. This has saved the Association and branches $17,400 as new license engineering would cost between $300 -$400 each. He advised time to engineer a simple license would be up to 3 hours. Branches will now be advised of the application fee of $45 at this time and until they agreed to pay, the application will not be completed.

ZL2TAR suggests that Councillors in their respective regions follow up on branches to ensure they now take ownership of their beacons and repeaters as per Council policy advised to all branches in November last year. The 2008 round of annual license fees will now be invoiced by NZART. Council questioned ZL2TAR on the issues arising from Kordia collocation of sites. Is this an area that FMTAG needs to consider, or Council? ZL2TAR suggests that although this has been discussed for some time between Matthew Jackson (Kordia) and David Andrews, there is no real urgency. David's position as Chairman was one of negotiator, one which he did very well. This is what is required here. Council are also concerned that there is no back up for ZL2TAR. Doug further advised that there were a total of 125 Amateur Radio Engineers (ARE's), however only 45 are active. Of these only approximately 12 are able to fill this role.

A query re ZL2AMJ being an ARE was asked of Doug, who confirmed that yes he is registered, however had never undertaken the task. ZL2TAR further advised that now we have been through the cycle of fees twice, the rogue licenses have pretty much been culled. Therefore he is able to keep up with the workload on his own at this stage.

ZL2UFI suggests that now is the time to tidy up the positions within FMTAG such as job descriptions and roles. Do we declare publicly that this is time to realign roles and seek interest from other members? ZL2HD advised that a job description for the position of Chairman of FMTAG can be found on 1-4 of the 2007/2008 Call Book. ZL2TAR confirmed that two people are desirable (to bounce ideas off each other), interpersonal skills being the most important attribute to assist in the areas that ZL2TAR is not comfortable in undertaking.

Action: ZL1TGC to prepare a job description for the chairman/site negotiator as this person needs to be involved as Council liaison. ZL2WP confirmed that he had sent a draft OSH policy to the Business Manager that can be incorporated with Kordia as legal requirement dictates.

Action: Councillors to advise ZL2TAR what Branches they will monitor to ensure they pay their repeater fees.

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Text Version of STSP Policy Statement

Policy Statement - Short Term Special Purpose Repeaters -MED Licence 209732 February 2008

The MED has granted NZART a single license for all STSP's in New Zealand. This policy statement sets out the terms and conditions of this license.

MED Licence Conditions:

1. Short-Term Special-Purpose (STSP) repeaters must not cause interference to other licensed services.

2. Only STSP repeaters are permitted under this licence.

3. The maximum permitted operating duration is 14 days.

4. The minimum inter-antenna spacing, between the antenna of the STSP and the antenna of any other communication service, is 50 metres.

5. Maximum permitted e.i.r.p. +17 dBW.

6. Five specified transmit frequencies in the 2 metre band:

146.675 MHz, 146.725 MHz, 146.825 MHz, 146.875 MHz, 146.925 MHz

7. Five specified transmit frequencies in the 70 cm band:

438.625 MHz, 438.675 MHz, 438.725 MHz, 438.750 MHz, 438.775 MHz

NZART Operating Conditions:

8. The operating frequency of a STSP should be selected in consultation with neighbouring branches/AREC sections.

9. Two trustees are required for each STSP; these trustees must be NZART members.

10. A STSP operating under Licence 209732 may only be established by NZART members.

NOTES:

Licence 209732 may be viewed on the MED web site:

http://spectrumonline.med.govt.nz/licence-search.html

Insert licence number 209732 in the top box. Press the ENTER key.

When the next page appears, click on the blue underlined licence number 209732 in the left-hand column.

The next page is the licence. This page shows Conditions 5, 6 and 7. A copy can be printed.

The MED Licence Conditions may be viewed by clicking on the blue underlined "View Licence

Conditions" towards the bottom of the licence. This page shows Conditions 1, 2, 3 & 4. A copy can be printed.

ZL1UD and ZL2TAR - 31.1.08

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Repeaters and Beacon Payments-Business Manager Debby ZL2TDM

Previously advised in my final HQ Info-line last year, all payments for branch repeaters and beacons are to be sent to me here at NZART HQ. Doug Ingham advised branches of all repeaters and beacons that they are financially responsible for last year. What this meant was, should a branch only require some licenses to be renewed, they should contact Doug immediately.

The remainder licenses to be renewed would be paid for by Doug with NZART reimbursing him accordingly.

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Radio Fee's Review for 2007

It was announced yesterday, via the MED Radio Spectrum Management web site that as a result of the Radio Fee's Review for 2007 - that the fee currently charged by the MED for repeaters, beacons and fixed links for the Amateur Service are not increasing, but remaining at the same level, ($50.00 per annum, reduced by 10% to $45.00 per annum if paid on-line). Additionally it is noted first that the regulations include a ten percent reduction in licence fees for licence holders who undertake their own interference investigations and secondly that the cost for engineering the same licenses has increased from $300.00 to $400.00.

NZART extends it's thanks to the submission submitted by the two previous ALO's, namely Bruce Douglas ZL2WP and Mark Gooding ZL2UFI; as this no doubt lead to the successful case of at least keeping the fee's at their current level. Members will recall that a figure of $250 p.a. was a possibility. This shows the value of the submission process and is good example of what NZART is doing for its members, and for amateurs as a whole.

As part of the press statement from the minister responsible for this fee's increase, David Cunliffe stated in part the following:

"Mr Cunliffe said there will be no changes to the amateur licence fees for repeaters, beacons and fixed links - but these will be included in a review of the amateur fees to be commenced in the New Year."

The new ALO Don Wallace ZL2TLL will be taking up this "new" review referred to by the minister when next meeting with the MED.

The new fee structure takes effect on 1 February 2008.

Stuart Watchman, ZL2TW, NZART Vice President

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ANNUAL RENEWAL OF REPEATER and BEACON LICENCES

292 Licences are due for renewal on, or before, 30 November 2007.

FMTAG has notified all of the affected branches by email, advising them of NZART Council's policy, published in HQ Info Line #145, also available at:

http://www.nzart.org.nz/nzart/policies/

As at the time of writing, Friday 16th November, 157 licences have been renewed.

With only 14 days to go, the following Branches have not yet advised FMTAG of their decision on which licences they want renewed or cancelled:

11 Gisborne 20 Manawatu 23 Marton 28 Whangarei 33 Rotorua 34 South Canterbury 35 South Otago 37 Southland 38 Taumarunui 39 Tauranga 51 Eastern Bay of Plenty 55 Waitomo 61 Central Otago 62 Reefton-Buller 66 Auckland VHF 67 Kawerau 78 Far North 81 Waikato VHF 86 Suburban 87 South Taranaki CARDS

The SMART system will automatically cancel any licence not renewed by midnight on the 30th of November.

Re-instatement of a cancelled licence is expensive. The MED currently charges an engineering certification fee of $300, to create a replacement licence, plus the annual fee of $50 for the subsequent 12 months.

Please contact FMTAG for a re-send of the licence renewal email sent to the Branch, or for more information on licence renewal:

fmtag@nzart.org.nz

Please contact your local NZART Councillor, listed on page 1-2 of Call Book, for more information on NZART Council's repeater and beacon licensing policy.

Please don't leave renewal until the last minute; last year the MED fee payment website, which is shared with other parts of the MED such as the Companies Office, Patent Office, etc., was inaccessible for several hours on the last day, while the MED's other customers were paying their fees, also at the last moment.

Renewals take place in the order in which they are received, and we would like to see our families for, at least, a few minutes on the last few days of the month.

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NZART Council - Policy Statement: Licensing of Repeaters, Beacons and Fixed Links

The purpose of this policy document is to outline the processes that NZART will follow, to support the Licensing of Repeaters, Beacons and Fixed Links.

The policy is available as PDF file from the following link:

http://www.nzart.org.nz/NZART/policies/index.html

Mark ZL2UFI

Policy Statement

Licensing of Repeaters, Beacons and Fixed Links

Tony Case and Mark Gooding - NZART Council

The purpose of this policy document is to outline the processes that NZART will follow, to support the Licensing of Repeaters, Beacons and Fixed Links.

1. Short Term Special Purpose Repeaters (STSP's)

Council to ensure that a single licence covering all STSP's is implemented as soon as possible.

Agreement has been reached with the MED that all STSP Repeaters will be contained within one licence. This one licence will include all VHF (144-148 MHz band) and UHF (430-440 MHz band) STSP repeaters.

Once completed, there will a single licence covering all STSP Repeaters New Zealand wide.

Recommendation is that NZART seek that AREC pay for this one licence, as these repeaters are used for AREC purposes.

2. Amateur Television (ATV)

The 614 MHz, Channel 39 allocation is moving to a Spectrum Management right.

It is generally accepted that if New Zealand Amateurs ever give up this allocation it will be lost, and would be unlikely to be returned.

Recommendation is that NZART pay for these licenses, but seek reimbursement from clubs or individuals to assist in the cost involved.

3. UHF National System

The UHF National System throughout New Zealand is deemed a national asset. As such NZART is prepared to fund the licensing fees for this asset. Physical ownership and control will remain vested in the Branch that owns the asset. The billing address for these assets funded by NZART will remain with NZART.

All applications to extend the UHF National System in the first instance must be made to NZART Council for approval to fund the licensing fees.

If an application made by a Branch is declined on financial grounds, the Branch concerned will be made aware of the fact. If that Branch agrees to fund the licensing of the extension then in this instance, the address for billing will be held by the Branch.

4. International Beacons

The International Beacons based in the Wairarapa, are currently all on one licence.

Recommendation is that NZART continue to pay for this licence. That if individuals or Branches wish to assist, they should be encouraged to do so.

5. Applications for new Repeaters, Beacons and Fixed Links

With the exception of number 3 (above), all applications for new repeaters, beacons and links will be funded by the Branch applying. The billing address for licensing will remain with the Branch.

As part of the process of applying for a new licence the branch/individual will need to pay in advance of the granting of the licence. This is to ensure that NZART has no financial burden during the licensing process. The cost involved is expected to be one years licensing fee, currently set at $50.00 less 10% for online payment.

Recommendation is that all Branches are written to and advised of the policy outlined above for new license applications.

6. Re-licensing Licenses held by NZART on behalf of Branches

All licence bills received by NZART prior to 31 January 2008 will be paid for by NZART and the Branch concerned will be invoiced for the amount paid.

Branches need to notify NZART should they wish to cancel a repeater Licence. If no notification is received, then the licence will be renewed, once only for the 2007/2008 licensing year.

From 1 February 2008, any licence invoice received by NZART will need to be prepaid by the Branch concerned, before payment of the Licence fee by NZART. Branches will be notified prior to this occurring. If their repeater licenses have not been paid by the due date, the licence will not be paid by NZART, and the licence will lapse or become cancelled.

If the Branch or individual later wishes to have the licence re-engineered, and reinstated an additional cost will be involved. It is recommended that Branches actively monitor this process to avoid cancellation or having to go through the re-engineering process.

In some cases special circumstances may exist that require some assistance by NZART in the relicensing process. If a Branch has any difficulties, it should apply immediately to NZART for special circumstances consideration. This consideration could be assistance in the payment process as an example. Each circumstance will be considered on its merits by NZART Council.

Recommendation is that all Branches are written to advising of the policy outlined above for existing repeaters.

7. Returning Repeater Licenses held by NZART back to Branches

Repeaters, Beacons and Fixed Link licenses are held by NZART on behalf of the Branch at the request of RSM, so that they could enact "one invoice". This has not occurred.

Billing dates can differ between licenses that are held by NZART on behalf of a Branch, if for instance multiple licenses are held. This can be confusing for branches, but is no different to owning two cars with different registration dates throughout the year.

RSM need to be approached regarding this so that no extra expense is added for returning licenses to the Branches.

NZART HQ will work with individual Branches to return licensing responsibility back to the Branch involved.

Recommendation is that as soon as possible NZART HQ write to the Branches, one at a time and commence the returning of licenses to branches. This may take some time to complete and work through, but this recommendation will then take the onus of payment and invoicing away from NZART. The Branches will then, once again be in charge of their destiny.

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CALL BOOK REPEATER, BEACON AND LINK LISTS

FMTAG will soon be contacting Branches, seeking their assistance in the preparation of up-to-date repeater, beacon and link listings for the next Call Book.

The details being sent to Branches contain the latest information on FMTAG's files of their repeater, beacon and link stations, and of the Repeater Trustees contact details (required by the MED).

Branches are asked to to update the details, to ensure that the next Call Book is the most accurate ever.

The cut-off date for returning the details is Sunday the 12th of August 2007.

Many thanks.

Doug Ingham, ZL2TAR, Secretary FMTAG

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Deceased Amateurs

Several members have noted that the names of some deceased Amateurs are still shown in the MED's licence database. NZART has offered to facilitate the removal of deceased Amateurs from the MED's licence database.

Please advise NZART Headquarters of the details of the deceased Amateurs, before the 29th of September 2006. The email address is: nzart.hq@clear.net.nz.

All of the Silent Key notices published in Break-In, and notified to NZART Headquarters, have already been processed.

*Final date 29th September 2006*

The MED is moving to a new system in early October, so this offer must expire on the 29th of September 2006.

Many thanks, Doug, ZL2TAR, Secretary FMTAG

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The Licensing Of Amateur Repeaters, Beacons And Links - An Update

_Summary_

The MED has introduced a number of step-wise changes in the licensing of all radio services, including Amateur repeaters, beacons and links. Many of our members appear to be unaware of these changes, despite much publicity by the MED (several direct mail-outs to all licensees) and FMTAG and Council (Break-In, HQ InfoLine, Official Broadcasts and Branch visits). Failure to understand these licensing changes can have costly consequences, particularly if the Annual Licence Fees are not paid by the due date. The total cost of re-certifying a cancelled licence is in the region of seven to eleven times the Annual Licence Fee. Fines for operating while un-licensed typically start at five to twenty-five times the Annual Licence Fee. The automated collection of Annual Licence Fees commenced in July 2005, for all services except Amateur repeaters, beacons and links. From that date the Amateur repeater, beacon and links licences showed an Annual Licence Fee of $50, but fee collection was "turned off". The MED "turned on" the collection of the Amateur Licence Fee in July 2006, after 12 month's grace. 324 licences are currently in the name of NZART Incorporated. Failure to pay the Annual Licence Fee has serious practical and monetary consequences. _Failure To Pay The Annual Fee For An Existing Licence_ SMART operates automatically, without human intervention, issuing emails at every step of each process.

In the case of failure to pay the Annual Licence Fee for an existing licence, SMART automatically cancels the licence and erases all its engineering records, without human intervention. This means that once cancelled, a licence cannot be re-instated. A new licence has to be applied for, and pass through the Engineering Certification process, as if it were a new licence application. The hidden dangers of this process will be discussed in the next section. SMART sends an email to the Licensee, advising of the cancellation, and of the severe consequences of operating the station without a licence. SMART also sends an email to the nearest MED Field Office (previously known as the Radio Inspector's office). This describes the new licence granted (for inspection) or the old licence cancelled (for inspection to confirm that the station is no longer operating and has been dismantled). MED compliance action (warning or infringement notice and fine) follows if a cancelled licence station is found to be still operating. With 324 licences currently in the name of NZART, it will be seen that the failure to pay the Annual Licence Fee has serious consequences. The largest group of these licences falls due for payment in two month's time. _Hidden Dangers Of Licence Cancellation_ MED document PIB38 requires that each new or modified licence has to be certified to be compatible with every existing licence within a radius of 2 km, or more in certain circumstances. In other words, every new licence granted since our particular repeater licence was granted, has had to be made compatible with our old licence. This is sometimes referred to as "first in time rights". Often the certification process reveals technical problems, requiring the new licence to be on a frequency other than that preferred by the applicant, and sometimes in a different frequency band. On cancellation of an old licence, for example for non-payment of the Annual Licence Fee, the "first in time rights" are lost. The new, replacement, licence becomes the "last in time", and has to be made compatible with all existing licences. Similarly, a frequency or band change may be required. _The Special Case of TV Channel 39 (614 MHz To 622 MHz)_ NZART holds 30 licences on Channel 39, distributed around New Zealand. These licences effectively prevent the use of Channel 39 for non-Amateur use, and force prospective broadcast applicants, for Channel 38 and Channel 40, to engineer their applications for compatibility with our existing Channel 39 licences.

The recently proposed MED procedures for licensing additional Channel 39 Amateur stations, or for modifying existing Channel 39 Amateur stations, are more complex that previously. It is likely that the cancellation of a Channel 39 licence, for non-payment of fees, would make it more difficult, or impossible to re-certify, prevent the re-licensing of that station. This is a serious hidden danger. _MED Spectrum Management And Registration Technology (SMART)_ SMART is a fully automated licensing system. Each intermediate step of the SMART process must be satisfactorily completed before the SMART software permits commencement of the next step. In the case of new or modified licences, one such intermediate step is the payment of fees. The process stops if the fees are not paid, and the application is erased from SMART after a period. In the case of the Amateur Service, the minimum cost is $50, being the Annual Licence Fee, plus a zero dollar Engineering Certification Fee, provided that a charitable MED-Approved Person, willing to waive the fee, and having the required software and 3 to 5 hours to spare, needed to certify each licence application, can be found.

The Amateur Licence Fee requested for a new application can differ from $50, depending on the timing difference between the Application Date and the Annual Billing Date of the licence applicant. In the case of the Amateur Service, when Engineering Certification by the MED is chosen, the typical fee is $350, consisting of the $300 MED Internal Engineering Certification Fee plus the $50 Annual Licence Fee. Similarly, the Annual Fee can differ from $50, owing to timing differences. Another option is External Engineering by one of the Approved Radio Engineers or Approved Radio Certifiers, listed on the MED's web site. The Approved persons typically charge $300 to $500 for Engineering Certification of an application, depending on its complexity. Similarly, the $50 Annual Licence Fee, and any timing-difference supplement, is additional. Failure to pay either fee freezes applications at the payment request step. The present NZART policy, of not paying the Annual Licence Fee, has stopped all new or modified licence applications. Existing applications, frozen by non-payment, are being automatically erased by SMART, as time progresses, while this policy continues.

Doug Ingham, ZL2TAR, Secretary FMTAG

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Repeaters Beacons and Fixed Links

Without going into the history of how the present state of affairs has come about a brief explanation is required. Prior to 2004 each amateur licence holder paid an individual fee. That fee contained a component which went towards MED services for repeater licences and fixed links. This was a trade-off for what might otherwise have been a slightly reduced annual fee and was seen by NZART Council of the day as fair and reasonable. The problem of "repeaters beacons and fixed links" only arose when free licences to amateurs became a reality. Members may recall that this was heralded at the Nelson AGM/Conference in 2002, when no mention was made of charging for "repeaters beacons and fixed links." All present thought that these, too, would be free. However this proved to be not the case and in due course we learned of the intention to charge a fee of $250 for each of those items. This was intolerable and a totally unrealistic impost. Our Administration Liaison Officer (ALO) persuaded the MED to reduce this fee to $50 but no further. This $50 fee is prescribed by the current radio regulations. A $5 reduction for payment on-line is available in effect reducing the fee to $45.

NZART Council is aware that members want "solutions not problems". At the same time members need to know what is happening. Everyone should be aware of the view of NZART Council and members, endorsed at the last two AGM's that our objective is to have all MED costs assessed by way of licence fees shared equitably amongst all amateur licence holders. It is not acceptable to our membership that fees for the provision of services to amateur radio be incurred solely by our membership. Bearing in mind the wishes of members NZART Council has considered a number of options as to how to achieve an equitable outcome for the members. There have been a multitude of possible solutions offered to us as to how a desired outcome might be achieved. Many of these have not passed scrutiny and others, although appearing attractive, have been rejected for one reason or another. Very serious consideration was given to a mechanism whereby we could invoice non members but this was rejected by the MED and thus could not be enforced. Recently NZART Council has investigated the possibility of instituting legal proceedings such as a judicial review of the MED invoicing NZART for a service of benefit to all amateurs (members and non-members alike. High level but informal legal advice became available to us, gratis, from a variety of sources, for which I together with the NZART Council are most grateful. The considered opinion of all legal advisors, as accepted by your NZART Council, was that while there was some possibility of achieving a favourable outcome, legal arguments would need to be advanced in a ground-breaking way by highly experienced legal people (probably at Q.C. level). Win or lose, NZART simply cannot afford the costs of such legal proceedings. Certain political initiatives have been, and continue to be, undertaken by both your Administration Liaison Officer and myself. These continue and I can offer no comment at this stage as to whether or not they will be successful - but I remain optimistic. Another initiative is to seek the assistance of the Ombudsman. Preliminary discussions are currently underway. If results are encouraging NZART Council will take matters further. Recent Happenings: Last month (August 2006) the first of the repeater invoices arrived followed in September by two more.

The bulk of the invoices are expected in November. We had expected a single invoice for all repeaters, as stated by MED, but the SMART software application has been turned on and is sending out a few individual invoices as a precursor to the bulk invoicing yet to come. With most licences now in the name of NZART, we received the first invoice when it was issued. Following considerable discussion by NZART Council, the General Secretary was asked to contact the Branch and Repeater Trustees concerned to give them the opportunity to pay the fee should they so wish. This they did and, by arrangement with all concerned, the fee has been paid by NZART on the basis that it will be reimbursed to by the Branch. The process involved was extremely time consuming. It took many working hours plus several telephone calls and emails to achieve a positive outcome. As a one-off the General-Secretary was able to help facilitate this and for the next two invoices a similar process can be followed. However, our single part time manager will be unable to process the work generated by a bulk invoice for several hundred licences.

So what do we do?

Council has debated the matter and considered many options. We know that all members want any assessed fees to be born equitably by all and not by our members alone. NZART Council fully support this view. We have these choices or some combination of them:

_Option 1:_ NZART pays all beacon, repeater and fixed link licence fees for this licensing period only (2006-7).

_Option 2:_ NZART declines to pay any beacon, repeater and fixed link licence fees, without exception.

_Option 3:_ NZART pays for certain beacon, repeater and fixed link licence fees for 2006-2007 and maybe beyond.

What are the pros and cons of each of these options?

_Option 1:_ Is an interim measure to buy time. It enables retention of the existing infrastructure without incurring the substantial costs and difficulties associated with trying to contact branch secretaries and trustees. It avoids placing the burden of licence fees on some branches such as VHF groups who have already used substantial funds of their own for the benefit of all. It means we can retain all Channel 39 (ATV or Amateur Television) licences nationwide and all component parts of the National System. Further it means that we will not lose hill top repeater sites because a particular branch can't, won't, or fails to act when a renewal is required. In essence we buy time to continue efforts to obtain free licences for repeaters, beacons and fixed links as Canadian and British amateurs will shortly have. If this option were chosen there would be a substantial unbudgeted cost falling in the current financial year. Will the amateur fraternity see this as an acceptable course of action to preserve our infrastructure while all avenues of persuasion are explored, or until the membership can review the situation at the next AGM in 2007? If this option was adopted, there could be some cost recovery by setting up a fund (a fighting fund, if you will) to accept voluntary donations. Members might like to return their $15 subscription rebate to such a fund, for example. _Option 2:_

This is an option that was voted on at two AGM's and is the view of the membership. It means that branches/repeater trustees will need to make their own arrangements to pay assessed fees. NZART would do its best to advise those affected of the details of the accounts received, but clearly this may need to be done in a global rather than an individual way. With licences in the name of NZART the system for collecting payments will need to be established. It is almost inevitable that if this option is taken then several licences will not be renewed. This may be due to inertia or other reason such as the branch deciding to relinquish a repeater licence. Associated with this option is the suggestion that all licences should revert back to the branch/beneficial owner. This is not as easy to achieve as the undoing process requires input from the branches. One difficulty with retention by NZART is that if a licence is allowed to lapse NZART must take immediate steps to ensure the repeater is disabled. Failure to do so could expose us to liability and compliance costs if it is not disabled, such as fines. It is unlikely that NZART Council has the ability to disable any significant number of repeaters. _Option 3:_

This is a compromise option. It recognises that NZART should not be paying for licences even as an interim measure - but at the same time recognises that at least in the interim certain items of infra structure ought to be paid for by NZART, e.g. our international beacon. The cost of this is negligible (as the beacon is now only one licence, not the many it had been) and it is unlikely that anyone would object to NZART paying to preserve this. Another candidate for preservation is our Channel 39 ATV access. NZART Council has good reason to believe that if we lost these licences then access to Channel 39 would be lost forever. Commercial interests in the UHF TV Band are already putting pressure on MED to have the amateur allocation reviewed, and possibly removed. Then there is the National System. Is this something that needs to be preserved? NZART Council will need to make decisions very soon. None of us want to lose any of our current repeaters, beacons or fixed links. None of us want the situation of our members having to pay for repeaters, beacons or fixed links available for the use of non members to continue indefinitely, as this is simply not a fair situation.

None of us want access to repeater to be controlled by access codes so that they can be accessed by NZART members or branch members only. So what's the answer? The time has come for your input. If we select option one this preserves our infrastructure for the time being, enables us to continue to fight for what we believe is justice, at the cost of temporarily reversing our position as set out in recent AGM resolutions? If we select option two we are asking those who have worked long and hard to ensure Channel 39 access to accept its likely permanent loss. Will NZART members at large accept any loss of the repeaters and links in the National System? Will those individuals who have given freely of their time and energies in providing infrastructure be motivated to revive and renew dismantled stations, resulting from non-payment of licences? Will those faced with a re-engineering fee of $300 plus a licence fee of $50 be interested to re-instate any lost licence? Will there be physical resources available which will enable this to happen in a timely way? If we select option three will we be faced with endless arguments as to what should or should not be preserved? Or can we identify the need to preserve our International beacons, our Channel 39 access and our National System infrastructure as a minimum? Members want answers not problems. Whatever answer we give you will not be acceptable to all. There is no magic wand to wave to conjure up $16,000 (or so) to preserve our infrastructure for another year. It would not be fair of me to suggest a solution to you as being the option preferred by NZART Council.

I can however give you my own view, which is that I do not wish to see any of our infrastructure lost in the short term - certainly not before we have had every opportunity to take all appropriate measures properly available to us and pursued each of them to their logical conclusion. We do not have the advantage of time. If licences are not paid by due date they are automatically cancelled by the SMART system. All rights in relation to the same would be lost and would have to be reapplied for as if they were applications for new licences, with all the processing formality that is associated with a new application. In the case of Channel 39 it is my belief, on advice, that if not paid for these licences would most likely be permanently lost.

It is my personal opinion at this time (and not necessarily the opinion of any other member of NZART Council) that Option 3 is the preferred course (though Option 1 is in my view a viable alternative). So where to from here? Send an email with your name, call sign and membership number to repeatersurvey@nzart.org.nz with the subject line showing your order of preference. For example "Option 2, Option 1, Option 3" or if only one or two of the options is acceptable to you specifying accordingly e.g. "Option 1". If for any reason you are unable to email, a fax or letter to NZART Headquarters to the same effect will be acceptable. If you have any additional comments please send these to Council or myself separately. The purpose of this survey is simply to ascertain overall support for suggested options. There may be other options that occur to you - by all means suggest these to us we would appreciate all constructive input at this time.

Also included with this statement is a document entitled "The Licensing Of Amateur Repeaters, Beacons, And Links - An Update" by Doug Ingham ZL2TAR, Secretary of FMTAG. This explains the workings of the SMART system that has been instituted by MED.

73 Bruce Douglas ZL2WP

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Operating on the 614-622 MHz band

Operating on the 614-622 MHz band: The recent GURL for Amateur Radio Operators that came into force on 1 July 2006 removed the band 614 to 622 MHz from the schedule of bands available to radio amateurs with an operator's certificate and current callsign. This band had been used for the output from the many ATV repeaters throughout the land as well as for the usual amateur radio experiments and contests.

The MED RSM, pursuant to a Cabinet decision, is creating a Management Right for the spectrum block 614 to 646 MHz. A Management Right automatically cancels any radio licences in the included bands. The MED intends issuing Spectrum Licences to NZART for the ATV installations and their operation will continue.

Provision for individual amateurs with an operator's certificate and current callsign to operate from time-to-time on the 614 to 622 MHz band for experiments and for contests has now been restored by a new arrangement. Fred ZL2AMJ and Doug ZL2TAR met with two officials from the MED and an agreement for the continued use of this band has been developed. The "rules" are different to what we are accustomed to and are expressed in the NZART policy document attached to this issue of HQ- Info-Line. This is NOT an amateur band, but by these conditions being within the engineering profile of a covering ATV Spectrum Licence, amateurs continue to have access. This provision is for NZART members, the Spectrum Licence being in the name of NZART. Enquiries to FMTAG.

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