FCC is messed up

[electricflyer]

For those of you that are not ARRL members you may not know what is going on. It seems that the FCC hasn't been processing new license applications or other license operations in a timely manner since June 28th. ARRL says there is a backlog of nearly 1,000 license apps, changes and the FCC can't figure out what is causing it. I check license information daily and there has been a lot less activity lately. There are a good number of renewals but not many new licenses being issued. The FCC has been tightening their belt for quite a while now and perhaps not as many personnel to handle the load. They did back off of closing FCC field offices.

[NN5I]

Still better than the old days. Remember back in the 1950s, when it took typically about a month to get a license, after passing the test at an FCC office?

[Radio]

Still better than the old days. Remember back in the 1950s, when it took typically about a month to get a license, after passing the test at an FCC office?

Not to date anybody :waggle: but...

Things didn't change much in 30 years or so, when I was first licensed in 1981 that was the way it worked, but by that time the FCC would venture out to the larger hamfests and do some testing.

But then you still had to wait a month.

:(

[electricflyer]

The ARRL VEC has told our team leader that we will be beta testing direct FCC entry of test results sometime before the end of the year. Right now all the paperwork is mailed to ARRL Hq and they check it for errors and then enter the data to FCC online. I usually takes about a week counting the mail delay. If that is the case people that pass an exam will have a license or upgrade within 24 hrs of the test, since we test on Monday they will have a license or upgrade by Tuesday PM. The CAVEC VEC already does it now so it can be done. When I worked with the CAVEC group and we tested at the Atlanta hamfest on a Saturday the licenses were issued by 2:30pm on Monday.

[wa8yxm]

From what I have read they are blaming that old standby. "THE COMPUTER".

But of course.. With the ULS doing most of the processing automatically and without human intervention other than the applicant or VEC.... Well.... It might really be "The Computer" after all.

Computers do not like High Heat and ... We are setting records.