ARRL VE Newsletter June 2023 - FCC Systems Unavailable and New General Exams
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Inside this VE E-Newsletter:
FCC Systems Unavailable
New General Class Exams Take Effect July 1st
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FCC Universal Licensing System Applications Are Unavailable
Please be advised that the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) is
currently down. The affected FCC ULS systems that are used by amateurs
are: the Electronic Batch Filing (EBF) used by VECs for new and upgrade
license submissions and club license applications, Application Search,
License Search, and the License Manager system used for filing
applications directly with the FCC.
A Public Notice was issued by the Commission late on Tuesday alerting the public to the ULS being unavailable.
FCC Public Notice DA 23-506: UNIVERSAL LICENSING, TOWER CONSTRUCTION NOTIFICATION, E-106, AND ANTENNA STRUCTURE REGISTRATION SYSTEMS
UNAVAILABLE; FILING DEADLINES EXTENDED
The notice states that the FCC's Universal Licensing System (ULS), Tower Construction Notification System (TCNS), E-106 System, and Antenna
Structure Registration System (ASR) have been unavailable since
approximately 6:30 PM EDT on Friday, June 9, due to technical issues
that the agency anticipates resolving in the near term.
Further, the FCC is extending deadlines for regulatory filings in ULS
and ASR because parties have not and will not be able to make electronic filings or view the contents of the affected systems while they are unavailable. The FCC is extending the filing deadlines for all regulatory filings that needed to be or will need to be made in these systems
starting June 9, 2023, and until the Commission announces ULS operations,
for at least 3 business days after access to the systems resumes.
The FCC's Commission Registration (CORES) System used to pay fees is
unaffected and will remain operational and available to pay any regulatory
fee or application fee payments during this period.
The FCC's EBF and License Manager Filing systems have stopped accepting
and processing all amateur radio exam session files and applications.
The EBF system has not processed any VEC license applications and
examination session files since Monday afternoon. The other systems
have not been available since Friday June 9 at the close of business.
At this time, the FCC has stated they do not have a target for the ULS
systems to be back online.
As soon as the FCC staff corrects the EBF system problem, the ARRL VEC
will immediately file the application backlog via the automated system,
which would take only a few hours or less to release.
Please continue to check the ARRL website for updates.
ARRL News Story:
https://www.arrl.org/news/updated-fcc-uls-unavailable-filing-deadlines- extended
(above URL all on one line)
New General Examinations will take effect for exam sessions on July 1, 2023
The newly revised general pool must be used starting July 1, 2023. VECs
and VEs will have new test designs available starting on that date.
Previously supplied versions of ARRL VEC General-class exam booklets (2019 series) and computer-generated General class exams from the 2019 question
pool are valid until midnight on June 30, 2023. The ARRL VEC will start
mailing the new General exam booklet designs to its officially appointed, field-stocked VE team leaders the week of June 19 to 23. The booklets are
being sent via USPS priority mail and should reach teams before July 1.
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The ARRL VEC Staff is Ready to Serve You
As always, the dedicated VEC staff are here to answer any questions you
may have.
ARRL VEC (860) 594-0300 (regular business hours US Eastern Time)
Address: ARRL VEC, 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111
Email:
VEC@arrl.org
Web: www.arrl.org/volunteer-examiners
ARRL VEC Fax: 860-594-0339
Maria Somma, AB1FM, Manager
Amanda O'Brien, N1NHL, Assistant Manager
Stephanie Borden W2MAU, Service Representative
Lisa Riendeau, Service Representative
Joshua Nance, Service Representative
We thank you for your support of the ARRL VEC program.
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ARRL VEC VE Newsletter is published by the
American Radio Relay League, Inc. - The National Association for Amateur
Radio (R).
Material from the ARRL VE E-Newsletter may be republished or reproduced
in whole or in part in any form without additional permission.
Credit must be given to The ARRL VEC.
ARRL VEC
225 Main Street
Newington CT 06111 USA
Sincerely,
Maria Somma, AB1FM - VEC Manager / Editor
ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111 USA
msomma@arrl.org
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