I Called the FCC...Info for Hams About License Renewal

Though this is not related to part 15, there are many hams here who might benefit from my recent experience. My amateur radio license was up for renewal and I learned something about the process that I want to share.

The license renewal process used to involve submitting a 610 form but it now allows for electronic filing. You need a FRN (FCC Registration Number) and that is easily obtained online. I did that a year ago, received a letter with my FRN and a ULS logon password, so I was ready to go with my renewal. I did this about a month ago and all appeared well, until I checked my application status.

Though my renewal was accepted, it wasn't processed! I determined this by checking under "applications" on the FCC ULS website and I was not listed. So, I called the FCC and spoke with a very nice, and as it turns out patient, lady who talked me through the on line renewal step by step. Step one was to delete my previous application for renewal. After about 20 minutes of trying and not succeeding we figured out that the problem was that I was not using Internet Explorer as my browser. Reluctantly, I opened IE and the renewal "took". She explained that their system is designed for IE and apparently other browsers (Mozilla in my case) won't work.

The troublesome part of this is there was no indication whatsoever that my initial renewal attempt failed since all appeared well as I completed the process. So, if you hams are renewing, use IE and confirm the next day that your application has been granted.

Kudos to the FCC for having such a patient and helpful staff member to hold my hand on the phone to get this done, but it would have been helpful if a message about my failed submission had been presented during my initial attempt, or even better, if they will fix the software to accept input from non IE browsers.

Hope this helps.

Neil