On 24-Aug-99 Bob Nielsen wrote:
> The FCC has just changed the amateur licensing in the U.S. to use the
> Universal Licensing System, which uses online completion of the
> necessary forms (not 610, but a new form 605). I just registered my TIN
> and call sign at the FCC's web site and tried to access the ULS. It
> isn't reachable from the Internet, but via a toll-free 800 phone number.
>
> The instructions only tell how to access it via dial-up networking with
> Windows 95/98. It would appear that one might be able to configure
> Linux ppp to handle it, this sounds like a nice way to really mess up my
> networking configuration (new routing and DNS information). Ugh! All I
> wanted to do was make a slight correction in my address. Fortunately I
> don't need to renew my license for another five years. By then, I
> expect they will have changed it considerably.
>
> Bob, w6swe
Well, at least as far as I can tell they only require things that are available
on Linux. (Netscape, not internet explorer, no special Microsoft encryption,
...) However, I did notice one of the other FCC web page popped up with a
window saying "This plug in is only available for Windows 95/98". I have no
clue what the plug in did.
It doesn't look that bad to connect. Just create a temporary resolv.conf (may
not even have to do this if you have a second path to the internet) Then set
up ppp, dial in, and see if the route ppp created works. If not, add another
route pointing at the ppp connection.
(of course I haven't tried this, so YMMV)
This looks like someone's weird idea of security. I guess not as many crackers
will try to attack a machine that you can't get to directly over the internet.
Also, I guess you can get caller id info from the 800 number, and it may be
restricted to the US only, but anyone who has read "A Cuckoo's Egg" can
understand how to get around that. I also hope they were smart enough to set
up a firewall to keep the people who are dialing in over the 800 number out of
the rest of the FCC.
I'm not complaining that they set up an 800 number as a option, just that it's
the only option. It's probably good that some people don't have to pay an ISP
to get to this.
I agree with you. Usually I try these things out just to see what the options
are. However, I have a cable modem and ripped my modem out of my primary
machine the other day because I needed the slot. (The modem in the other
machine handles the caller id info) In this case, I think I'll wait the two
years till my license expires, and then decide if I want to do this or go with
the dead tree approach. :)
