Subj : ARRL/VEC VE Newsletter To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Wed Jun 14 2023 20:05:51 ARRL VE Newsletter June 2023 - FCC Systems Unavailable and New General Exams ======================================================================== Inside this VE E-Newsletter: FCC Systems Unavailable New General Class Exams Take Effect July 1st ======================================================================== 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. ======================================================================== 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. ======================================================================== Please do NOT respond to these automated emails. A "reply" to this bulk email address will not reach us as only the list administrator may post to the list. To unsubscribe from these messages, forward this message to VEC@arrl.org. ======================================================================== 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 ======================================================================== --- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (454:1/33) .