STATE OF GEORGIA
RADIO FREQUENCY COORDINATION
AND LICENSE MANAGEMENT


HEADLINE – Changing of the Guard.

Well as most you know as of this time last year Oct 31,2007 Wray Hall retired as the State of Georgia Frequency Coordinator and his job went unfilled until February 16,2008. But until that time Wray even in retirement was fulfilling the needs of the Public Safety Community in the State Of Georgia.

APCO knew the needs of Georgia and the Public Safety Community still had to be met as did Wray and he stayed onboard as the local advisor performing the same duties but with one small change, NO PAY.  That is correct. Wray, after being ask by APCO AFC to continue to process APCO applications for the State of Georgia  did just that and continues today to be my Advisor as I work my way into filling his shoes if that is at all possible. I email or call Wray weekly for advice on many different issues and appreciate him dedicating his

time to me to insure that The State of Georgia gets the same level expertise that he gave for all those years.

Thank you Wray for all you still do for APCO and the State Of Georgia.

Who am I?  Well I have worked in the communications field for the last 29 years. Starting right out of High school I enlisted in the Air Force where I work on world wide communications system for 4 years.  After leaving the military I moved back to my home town looking to continue in the field of electronics but at that time there was not a need for someone who specialized in world wide communications. I briefly worked for the Florida Department of Revenue until an opening came up with the Florida Highway Patrol. I worked in HQ for about 1 year before I moved to Troop G based out of Palatka, Florida were I performed many duties. My main duties were as communication technician working on all aspects of electronics. I also filled in many times for the dispatcher when emergencies arose or they just need a break after a business session on the radio. I applied with the State of Georgia June of 1990 in hopes of expanding my knowledge and moving closer to the mountains and the change of seasons. On June 29th,1990 I was hired and soon took on the task of learning to maintaining all the types of radio systems the state owned. It became apparent to my supervisors soon after getting to Atlanta that I had a knack for working on one of the states 5 paging terminals. In 1992 the State of Georgia purchased a single paging terminal that would replace all five and become one of the largest privately owned paging systems in the United States. I maintained the paging system and became the lead tech kind of the “go to guy”. That enabled me to work with 911 centers and communication centers all around the state and find new ways to enhance thier communication needs so they may provide better service to the citizens of Georgia.

After 17 years working as a technician for GTA I was given the chance to again to  expand my knowledge and on February 16th, 2008 I accepted the Job of State Frequency Coordinator filling the desk and position held by Wray Hall. The challenges come daily and if the grace of God allows, who knows maybe one day I will be able to fill his shoes.

Don’t forget to check the latest at the FCC on a routine basis.  If you don’t, you may miss something and then it will be too late. Just ask some folks who have lost their license(s) by missing a renewal date, or not responding to the FCC license audit, or a deadline on construction of station(s) or some other obscure but legitimate reason.  It behooves each and every radio user to be familiar with FCC regulations and the services offered by the frequency coordinators.

To that end, licensees should frequently visit the FCC Universal Licensing Service home pages and the APCO International web site.  Here are the URL’s, no excuses:

FCC - http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/uls/

APCO - http://www.apcointl.org/

If you have any questions about the status of your radio station license authorizations, don’t hesitate to contact me at the numbers or e-mail address below.

For local information on frequency coordination, see the page on the APCO Georgia web site:

http://www.gaapco.com/Frequency_Adv/frequency_adv.html

COORDINATE AND COMMUNICATE

For more information, contact:
     State Frequency Coordinator
     47 Trinity Ave.  4th Floor
     Atlanta, Georgia 30334
     Office (404) 656-2042
     Fax (404) 657-0320
Email:
Ralph.Bevan@gta.ga.gov