In the past, I and other ARCC personnel have attempted to work with the applicant on a one-on-one basis to make the necessary corrections and amendments to the application in order to yield an application able to be processed further. In some cases, ARCC makes the corrections without any intervention by the applicant, such as if there was a simple math mistake. In other cases, ARCC has contacted the applicant by email or telephone to work out the deficiencies.

Although we wish we could walk through each and every application with the applicant in order to obtain correct data, the fact is this takes a significant amount of time – time that could better be used in processing applications that were filled out completely and accurately. Rather than slowing down ARCC’s efforts by taking the time to make these post-application corrections, which effectively penalizes those who have provided a complete and accurate application by delaying their applications’ processing, ARCC personnel will be curtailing the amount of time spent on making amendments and corrections to flawed applications. Applications which have major flaws will be rejected without any further action. A notice of rejection will be sent to the applicant which outlines the problems in the initial application. It is then up to the applicant to make the necessary corrections and re-file the application. Copies of the original application will not be included in the rejection notice, therefore, it is advisable that the applicant keep a copy of the application when filing.

There are a number of areas on the coordination applications where mistakes are frequently made:

1. Location information
1. Latitude and longitude values are often specified in degrees and decimal minutes, where the form has blanks for degrees, minutes, seconds.
2. Latitude and longitude values that are guesstimated or rounded off to the nearest minute. ARCC requires coordinates that accurate to the nearest second.
3. City names that are not within the county of the transmitter. Because ARCC and the ARRL publish directories which are sorted by county, the city of the repeater should be within the county where the transmitter is located.


2. Effective Radiated Power
1. Antenna gain and antenna system loss values that are obviously incorrect, particularly antenna gain values that are in the wrong units (dBi is required) and antenna loss values that "just don’t add up", such as having a duplexer and 500 feet of feedline totaling a mere 1 dB of loss.
2. Calculating the final EIRP value. If you do not have a scientific calculator or do not understand how to calculate EIRP, you should fill out the transmitter power, antenna gain, and antenna system losses fields, and ARCC will calculate the final EIRP result for you. We have made available a very simple EIRP worksheet (available on the web site) to assist you in calculating EIRP – it is not a very difficult process. Although not mandatory, it is helpful to us in reviewing the accuracy of the application if you include a copy of the EIRP worksheet with your application.



3. Antenna heights. This is where most errors are made. Based on what I have seen over the years, it is obvious that height above average terrain (HAAT) and ground elevation (GL) are routinely guessed at. Although it may seem to be a bit of work to do it, you must determine these values accurately! There are a number of resources available on the web now, including HAAT calculators and cartography sites that allow you to view USGS maps with elevation contours. There is also an HAAT worksheet available on ARCC’s web site to assist you in determining HAAT from USGS maps. As such, there is really no excuse for not being able to supply accurate data for these fields. Because a transmitter’s coverage area is most affected by antenna height, ARCC will remain diligent in filtering out applications that do not provide accurate data for these fields.



4. Repeater features. For each of the boxes in the Repeater Features section, check off one and only one box. Checking off both "carrier squelch" and "PL" is not acceptable. Also, keep in mind that all new coordination applications and modifications to existing coordinations require that the repeater receiver utilize a means of access control (PL, DPL, or DTMF), and as such, it must be specified in the application. Likewise having a repeater that is both "open" and "closed" at the same makes no sense. The only exception to this is the ARES, RACES, OEM options, as frequently a repeater that is part of one group is also part of one of the others.



5. Frequency selection.
1. ARCC’s bandplans are well documented on the web site and elsewhere – please ensure that the frequency(s) specified are eligible for coordination. We will not coordinate any frequency that is not in compliance with the current bandplans. The bandplans not only specify frequency ranges eligible for a particular operation type (such as 146.610 through 146.985 for repeater outputs on the 2m band), but also the channel spacing (15 kHz for repeaters in the segment used above as an example).
2. If a specific frequency or frequency pair is specified in the application, ARCC will only attempt to "fit" the operation on the frequency(s) specified. If you are willing to entertain other frequency(s) for the operation, check off the box that asks that ARCC provide a list of possible alternative frequencies. Keep in mind that ARCC does not "assign" frequencies. We can provide a list of possibilities that look good based on cursory database searches, but we cannot guarantee that any or all of those frequencies will be approved by the coordinator or adjacent coordination councils. But at least we can give you a starting point from which you can do additional testing and research to hopefully come up with a choice that is likely to be approved.
3. On occasion, we will provide such a list of prospective frequencies to an applicant, then many months later receive an application from that applicant for one of those frequencies. However, in the meantime, another applicant may have applied for that frequency and has received coordination. ARCC will not "hold" any frequency for an applicant – we process applications in the order received. As such, if you have requested and received a list of possible frequencies, it is in your best interest to investigate and select a frequency as soon as possible.

As stated above, approximately half the coordination applications we receive have no significant flaws. Those are the coordinations that are most likely to be processed in the shortest amount of time. So, by filling out applications correctly the first time, not only do you allow ARCC to keep the coordination process smoothly for all applicants’ benefits, but you also help ensure your own application will be processed as expeditiously as possible.

On behalf of all ARCC personnel involved in the coordination review process, we thank you for your efforts in providing accurate data in your coordination applications.

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