From: feit@ERA.COM (Mark Feit)
Subject: Re: License delays
Organization: Engineering Research Associates, Vienna, VA
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 16:42:12 GMT

On radio.amateur.misc, clmorgan@miavx3.mid.muohio.edu posts:
 > In article <1992Dec18.220443.4783@ERA.COM>, feit@ERA.COM (Mark Feit) writes:
 > > Here's an even better idea: An electronic 610.  I'd be willing to bet
 > > that if the FCC had a way to accept batches of applications on a
 > > lowest-common-denominator format floppy (5.25" DD, maybe?) the license
 > > delays would drop down to nearly nothing.
 > 
 > Mark, our exam sessions are, relatively speaking, small.  On a typical exam
 > night, we process 28-44 applicants.  Having looked over the 610s and being
 > familiar with the content, would YOU be willing to do the typing?

To keep the license delays down to a minimum and help get new and
upgraded calls out before hell freezes over?  You bet your
Alpha-Sierra-Sierra.  If I were a VE (which I'm not but hope to be one
as soon as I get upgraded far enough) I'd have no objections to
putting in a few hours every so often so new hams don't have to chomp
at the bit for three months.

The point of my last posting was this: SOMEBODY has to key in all of
the data, be it a VE or someone at the FCC.  The question is, is the
VE community willing to shoulder the extra work to get their
examinees' tickets out faster?

How about a slightly unscientific comparison:

Let's say VECs around the country sponsor 100 exam sessions in a given
week and 100 people at each pass and file 610s.  So we've got 10,000
forms to wade through.  Let's also say that it takes 1.5 minutes to
key a 610 into the computer, giving us a total of 250 hours of time
spent by the FCC on keying alone.  If the Commission has two people
doing the work, the application on the bottom of the pile will sit for
a little more than three weeks, during which time 30,000 more 610s
will have rolled in.

If the same number of applications were processed locally (at each
testing session), each exam team would spend 2.5 hours keying in their
hundred applications.  Assuming 5 minutes are spent at the FCC loading
each VE-supplied disk into the computer, a little more than a day
elapses while all 100 disks are loaded with no backlog to catch up on
when the next week's applications come in.

I can think of a few problems with this approach:

 - My figures are probably off in left field.  If the VEs in netland
   would like to let me know how many 610s they file per exam session,
   and whether or not they'd be willing to participate in an
   electronic filing program, I'll come up with something a little
   more realistic.

 - I don't take into account any of the other things the FCC does with
   610s before keying them in.  Applications are either accepted or
   rejected, and I'm sure something could be put in place to
   (electronically) kick out those applicants that won't be issued
   licenses.

 - Not everyone has access to a computer.  Those that don't should
   still be able to file on paper.  But in these days of packet BBSes
   and the like, I find it difficult to believe that at least one VE
   on 95% of exam teams doesn't have one they'd be willing to donate
   some time on.


If the FCC were able to keep up with the incoming applications, there
wouldn't be as long a wait for a license as there is.  The fact is
they're understaffed and can't, and if we keep piling them up with
610s at our present rate, the delays will get worse, not better.
Unless there's a miracle on Capitol Hill (doubtful), there won't be
any sudden windfall in funds for extra staffing, and the pileup will
continue.  So we either have to doom filers of 610s to a lifetime of
waiting or find a solution.  I think electronic filing _en masse_ can
work.  In computing circles, similar techniques are called "parallel
processing."  If it works for doing large numbers of caclulations in
minimal time, it can be made to work here on a smaller scale for
processing 610s.

 > Your willingness to kick in an extra buck on the exam fee is
 > meritorious ... how about $25 to the FCC as a processing charge?
 > That's only $2.50/year, presuming you keep/use your license for 10
 > years.  What else can you enjoy for $2.50/year?

Nothing I can think of, but it's worth pointing out that if you
divided the FCC's amateur-related budget by the number of hams paying
taxes, the amount is probably more than $2.50 each.  I'd be willing to
kick in that much for a processing charge if the FCC had *no* budget
to support the amateur service, but that simply isn't the case.  Also
keep in mind that if there were a processing fee, the Commission would
have to hire bunches of accountants and VECs would have to handle (and
mail!) money.  That would get real messy real fast.

						- Mark

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: Mark A. Feit             KD4TAJ : Internet: feit@era.com          :
: Engineering Research Associates : USENET: ...!uunet!era!feit      :
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