In the comments, CQ generally supported the concept for
former licensees as well as those amateurs who gained partial credit for an
upgrade but did not complete the upgrade within the one-year "window"
granted by a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) [for
example, a pre-2000 Advanced Class licensee who had passed the Extra Class
theory exam but not the 20 word-per-minute code test].
CQ disagreed with the proposal to shorten or eliminate the
current two-year grace period for license renewal, primarily to protect a
licensee from losing his or her call sign due to missed paperwork. CQ also
disagreed with the proposal to reduce the minimum number of Volunteer Examiners
at a test session from three to two, and recommended that the FCC initiate a
pilot program on remote exam administration before making a final decision on
that part of the proposal.
Finally, CQ supported the proposal to permit the use of
single-slot TDMA (time domain multiple access) on the amateur bands, but called
on the FCC to re-initiate a dialog with the amateur community on broader
changes in mode regulation in order to remove the necessity of going through
the rule-making process whenever a new operating mode is introduced.
The full text of CQ's comments, along with others received
by the FCC in this proceeding, may be accessed through the FCC's Electronic
Comment Filing System (ECFS) at <http://bit.ly/Ty6Qdh>. Enter 12-283
under "Proceeding Number," then scroll down and click on "Search
for Comments." The deadline for filing comments is December 24, 2012, with
reply comments accepted through January 22, 2013.
