Narrowbanding explained ..

[FFPM571]

Everything pretty much summed up in a nutshell.

http://www.officer.com/print/Law-Enforcement-Technology/Are-you-ready-for-narrowbanding/1$56093

 

[SteveC0625]

FCC Backlog for Narrowband Emission Modification

Rather than start a new thread, I'll post this here since the topic is pretty much the same.

As of right now, the FCC's backlog for processing license modifications to add narrowband emissions is 70 days. That is from date they received it to the the date they granted the modification. Add a few days at the start to get the application through APCO's coordination process and to the FCC plus a few days on the end for FCC to print and mail the paperwork makes the lag about 80 days total.

If your agency has not already filed to add narrowband emissions to your license(s), it is probably time to get it done. I don't anticipate lead times growing any shorter in the months ahead.

 

[Thunderknight]

Add a few days at the start to get the application through APCO's coordination process

You are not required to use a coordinator to add the NB designator to your license. You can do that yourself in the ULS.
(As long as that is the only technical change you are making)

 

[SteveC0625]

You are not required to use a coordinator to add the NB designator to your license. You can do that yourself in the ULS.
(As long as that is the only technical change you are making)

Understood. In this case, we were moving the base station to a new location (less than 1/2 Km.) and cleaning up several clerical issues. Since APCO is charging just $25 per call sign for NB mods, I felt it was worth it to have them review the application before it went on to the FCC. I had not done any FCC filings in many years and didn't want to cause a bigger problem.

And using ULS directly only works when you have the specific FRN tied to your ULS account and have a current password. I had neither squared away yet when I was ready to file the NB mod. They are all set now, and if I have to file another mod to remove the 20K emissions, I will do that directly through ULS.

But there's a rumor that the FCC is going to automatically remove WB in some manner after 1/1/13. That is a wait and see...

 

[davidgcet]

that is not a rumor, WB becomes illegal on 1/1/13 so even if the emission deisgnator is still listed there it is no longer valid. you do not have to remove it, they will do so automatically at the next renewal if not sooner. just make sure you are not using WB anymore!

as to not having the FRN and PW, you can pull up the license on ULS and it lists the associated FRN. if one is not listed then none has been assigned, which is very rare and usually only older licenses. all you have to do is call/email the helpdesk and request a PW reset. they call the listed contact and verify you are authorized, then reset the PW for you. i do it all the time, even when teh contact person is no longer valid it is fairly easy, all you need is the FRN, tax ID(business or social security #) and answer a couple questions. they usually call in 10-15 minutes after i email, though occassionally it is the next day. sinc eyou are moving the base it requires relicensing any way, but if you run into this again on a straight add NB/update contact now you know how to do it.

 

[SteveC0625]

that is not a rumor, WB becomes illegal on 1/1/13 so even if the emission deisgnator is still listed there it is no longer valid. you do not have to remove it, they will do so automatically at the next renewal if not sooner. just make sure you are not using WB anymore!

as to not having the FRN and PW, you can pull up the license on ULS and it lists the associated FRN. if one is not listed then none has been assigned, which is very rare and usually only older licenses. all you have to do is call/email the helpdesk and request a PW reset. they call the listed contact and verify you are authorized, then reset the PW for you. i do it all the time, even when teh contact person is no longer valid it is fairly easy, all you need is the FRN, tax ID(business or social security #) and answer a couple questions. they usually call in 10-15 minutes after i email, though occassionally it is the next day. sinc eyou are moving the base it requires relicensing any way, but if you run into this again on a straight add NB/update contact now you know how to do it.

I already did all that several months ago, but after I filed the NB mod. My learning curve was to get the mod into the FCC and then deal with other things like the ULS account. My point really was that I can only use ULS to modify my own licenses and not someone else's unless they have a password and allow me access to their account which is probably not such a good idea anyway. I am working with a number of neighboring agencies, and in almost every case, there are some fairly good reasons to spend the $25 and let APCO look at the application before it goes to the FCC.

I fully understand that WB is illegal after 1/1/13, and expect we'll be exclusively NB by the end of 2011 if our county gets an implementation schedule in place soon. The rumor I picked up was that the FCC would remove the WB emissions automatically at renewal time.

As for moving the base, apparently there's a 1/2 kilometer rule. If you are moving it less than 1/2 kilometer and the heights and power/erp don't change, the FCC pretty much grants the change without any other requirements. There was no re-licensing required, no coordination, and no additional fees. It was part of our NB mod and is now a done deal.

My only intent in my first post was to alert folks to the current backlog of at least 70 days at the FCC. The other issues that have been brought up are all understood and taken care of here. Others may still need the info so it is good to cover it again.

 

[davidgcet]

there is no backlog for a straight NB add, file it one day and a couple days later it is legal. apps that run thru for any other type of mod(besides a change of contact/administrative) still take the standard "up to 90 days" processing time.

as far as having other folks PW, that is a personal choice and up to their department policy. i do them for most departments around here, the rest do them themselves.