The FCC recently threw out all eight applications for new NCE FM channels from a recently formed ham radio club in Washington state, citing “numerous significant and egregious technical defects.”
When the Media Bureau last month announced the settlement period for mutually exclusive applications filed in the recent window for new noncommercial educational stations, it also published a list of applications being dismissed due to technical defects.
The Fort Ward Amateur Radio Club was prominent on the list. The club, established in 2021 according to its website, is on Bainbridge Island, home of the historical Fort Ward WWII naval radio station. The club’s mission statement indicates that the club includes licensed amateur radio men, women, students and youths.
The FCC said it typically doesn’t review MX applications for technical defects at this early stage, but it made the effort to do so and the ham club’s technical defects were identified.
Attempts by Radio World to contact the Fort Ward Amateur Radio Club for comment were unsuccessful.
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The commission cited numerous technical conflicts in the club’s applications, including significant overlap caused to first-, second- and third-adjacent channels and co-channel licensees. It said the club also ignored interference treaty agreements between the U.S. and Canada.
A rejected applicant has one opportunity to file a minor curative amendment and petition for reconsideration, requesting reinstatement of the application, according to the FCC. Any amendments and petitions for reconsideration must be filed within 30 days of the dismissals.
“In order for an application to be reinstated, the amendment must correct all the application defects, propose only minor changes, comply with all the commission’s relevant rules, and not create any new application conflicts,” according to the rules.
Bainbridge Island is just west of Seattle across Elliott Bay from the city. The island is connected to Seattle by ferry, according to the city’s website.
The Fort Ward Amateur Radio Club was founded this year by Louis Charles Hoffmann Alloin, according to the club’s website.
The commission received almost 1,300 applications for noncom educational FM stations in the recent window. Out of those, there are 231 MX groups with a total of 883 applications.
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