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FCC News: Kansas Ham Issued $10,000 Fine for Operation of Unlicensed Broadcast Station

Dec 7th 2012, 23:19

K9YC

Joined: Apr 4th 1998, 00:00
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On December 5, Glen Rubash, KC0GPV, of Dwight, Kansas, was issued a $10,000 fine for what the FCC called "willfully and Repeatedly" violating Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, by operating an unlicensed radio transmitter on the frequency 88.3 MHz in Manhattan, Kansas.

= = = = =

This story in this week's ARRL Letter lacks some basic information about the violation cited. Specifically, how egregious was this violation -- what was the power level, or the observed field strength at a specified distance? This is important information -- it is quite common for radio engineers to use a low power FM transmitter to "pipe music" around a home, and products designed to do this are widely available. I've been doing so for years. Was he exceeding the limit by a few dB, or by a lot?

Thanks and 73, Jim K9YC
Dec 11th 2012, 15:24

N0NB

Joined: Apr 4th 1998, 00:00
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The article on the main ARRL site seems rather detailed. My understanding is that the transmitter was violating Part 15 per the FCC engineers and was therefore operating unlicensed in the the FM broadcast band.

So long as your device is Part 15 certified, there should be no problem.

73, de Nate >>
N0NB.us
Feb 6th 2013, 14:21

N9XAW

Joined: Apr 4th 1998, 00:00
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Total Posts: 0
Too bad the FCC can't monitor 14.313. They could issue fines all day long there but really don't seem to care about the ham bands.
Feb 17th 2013, 03:15

Bart_KJ6BWB

Joined: Aug 28th 2009, 08:43
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Quote by N0NB
The article on the main ARRL site seems rather detailed.

"Section 15.239 provides that non-licensed broadcasting in the 88-108 MHz band is permitted only if the field strength of the transmission does not exceed 250 μV/m at 3 meters."

But the article doesn't say what he was transmitting at. How much was the field strength of the transmission?

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