FCC license from wide band to narrow band modification ?

[Satelite]

Hello:
One more qestion :
Did i read that the FCC would automaticly make changes to a licensees license at time of renewal to be narrow band when the individual renewed it ?
In other words if i get the licensee on narrow band specs per his radios can i inform the licensee to wait till his license needs renewal and the fcc will make the needed changes ect ?
Thank you.
Satelite

[abrasowski]

As far as I know, No. The FCC is not automatically changing licenses to narrowband when you renew. The only "automatic" changes they are making is after January 1, 2011 they are automatically denying any application which files for a new license with wideband emissions. You will still have to change the change the license accordingly:

At the time of renewal (before Jan 1, 2013) you can change emissions designator to narrowband.
or
Anytime (before Jan 1, 2013) you can log-in online to the FCC and change your emissions designator to narrowband.

As far as I know, the FCC is now allowing this change WITHOUT approval or coordination with a licensed frequency coordinator, since there are so many licenses to be changed.

[MassFD]

At the time of renewal (before Jan 1, 2013) you can change emissions designator to narrowband.
or
Anytime (before Jan 1, 2013) you can log-in online to the FCC and change your emissions designator to narrowband.

As far as I know, the FCC is now allowing this change WITHOUT approval or coordination with a licensed frequency coordinator, since there are so many licenses to be changed.

That's the info I have gotten from the FCC and Apco, the only thing I can add is licenses not converted by Jan 1 2013 will be canceled.

So get it done ASAP or loose the license and have to go thru a new application and coordination process to get it back.

[SteveC0625]

As far as I know, the FCC is now allowing this change WITHOUT approval or coordination with a licensed frequency coordinator, since there are so many licenses to be changed.

You are correct on this. I have been helping a number of agencies modify their licenses to add narrowband emissions to existing authorizations. APCO confirmed to me that adding NB emissions alone does not require any involvement of a coordinator.

I was also asked to help relocate a couple of licensee's base stations on the licenses. APCO verified that as long as the move is less than 0.5 kilometer and there is no appreciable change in any of the antenna or structure heights, no coordination is necessary.

When I filed on behalf of our town's highway department to add NB, the application was granted, printed, and mailed within 12 hours.

[escomm]

I was also asked to help relocate a couple of licensee's base stations on the licenses. APCO verified that as long as the move is less than 0.5 kilometer and there is no appreciable change in any of the antenna or structure heights, no coordination is necessary.

Has APCO put this in writing? I suspect they're wrong. Moving the transmitter that far is considered a major modification. Is this only applicable to narrowbanded frequencies? Something doesn't seem right with this.

[Satelite]

Hello:
Ok my license emission designator is 20k0f3e for wide band now so to change to 12.5 khz narrow band id need to change my present designator to 11k0f3e ?
corect ?
Thanx Satelite

[SteveC0625]

Has APCO put this in writing? I suspect they're wrong. Moving the transmitter that far is considered a major modification. Is this only applicable to narrowbanded frequencies? Something doesn't seem right with this.

I don't know if it is available from APCO in writing, but I'll you exactly what happened. I went through APCO to get our own license modified to NB because I had not touched FCC paperwork in at least 18 years. On the license, our base station was listed as being at the fire house. In actuality, it was two blocks away at our ambulance base. We wanted to get the application corrected so I asked APCO and they said no problem, less than 1/2 km and no real changes in height, etc. would be a non issue. I signed the paperwork, paid the $25 fee and sent it off electronically. APCO sent it on to the FCC the same day. It all came back just fine.

I then sat with some folks from another service who had pretty much the identical situation with their base station. We did pretty much the same thing through APCO and that one came back just fine as well.

I do know in both cases that the coordinator for this area was not contacted by APCO. He's a long time personal friend and we talked about this several times.

Since then, I have helped several other agencies file NB mods directly through the FCC's online filing system with no issues or bounce backs.

[escomm]

Did they actually change the transmitter locations on the license? Can you give a sample license to look at? Might help with some issues we're having with getting the tx location of an 800MHz license corrected... but 800MHz has the freeze so it may not help...

[abrasowski]

Hello:
Ok my license emission designator is 20k0f3e for wide band now so to change to 12.5 khz narrow band id need to change my present designator to 11k0f3e ?
corect ?
Thanx Satelite

Satelite,
That sounds about right. I usually put "11K2F3E" for analog narrowband emissions per the frequency coordinator I usually work with.

[SteveC0625]

Did they actually change the transmitter locations on the license? Can you give a sample license to look at? Might help with some issues we're having with getting the tx location of an 800MHz license corrected... but 800MHz has the freeze so it may not help...

Yes, take a look at KNFF434.

Can't speak to 800 Mhz stuff as we are all high band VHF in this area. If I remember correctly, 800 is not part of the NB initiative so I don't know any details there.

For the other poster, our upstate NY Coordinator recommended 11K2F3E as well.

[n3obl]

I just did one through apco back in june. Finally got to the fcc in july and its been offlined since then for major review. Is there a contact at the FCC i can get in touch with to find out whats going on with it.

[mancow]

We are preparing to go narrow this month and had modified the license a couple of months ago. We then decided to move to a different structure that is not much higher and only a couple of miles away but still had to go through the whole coordination process and pay again to update the license to reflect the height difference.