[Hallicrafters] FCC and freq. operation.

[Roy Morgan]

At 11:23 PM 7/13/2006, Waldo Magnuson wrote:...
>I am helping move a NDB (non-directional beacon) from one airport to 
>another.  ... Is a FCC license required for the on-air part or will the 
>FAA approval be adequate when all is ready for their approval?

Skip,

I can not speak from much experience. (The last FAA job I had anything to 
do with was the Microwave Landing System, a mulit-year, many million dollar 
project that got scrapped eventually: the contractor was Westinghouse 
Electronics Corporation, who had been doing military electronics and FAA 
systems for some 50 years or so.)  But:

It sounds to me like you need to do some investigation before you go much 
farther. I *could* be that you need FAA certifications of some sort to even 
touch that stuff. It is, after all, in the safety of flight category. The 
FAA does not take that lightly, I assure you.

I think that there had better be someone on the project who really knows 
the regulations and requirements situation thoroughly, or you may be headed 
for an impossible situation.

Here is a short story to illustrate: many years ago, the chain link fence 
topped with barbed wire around part of US Army Fort Devens in Massachusetts 
was replaced by, of course, the lowest bidder on the contract. Upon 
completion, the government inspector was invited to see the job and sign 
off so the contractor could be paid. He invited the contractor to get a 
laborer with a shovel, and they took a walk some half mile through the 
woods along the fence. Finally the inspector said: "Dig up this 
footer."  The 18 inch square foot pad was two inches too shallow. They then 
dug up a number of others at random, all of which were a bit too 
shallow.  "Replace them all, or don't get paid" was the final 
verdict.  Needless to say, for the want of a few inches of concrete, the 
contractor lost his shirt on that job.

This is a simple example, but you really need to know what you are doing 
when installing aviation safety of flight systems.

Many years ago, I did a lot of NDB approaches to mostly Navy airfields, 
some of which were in genuinely bad weather. I don't remember worrying 
about how well the facilities were built, installed, or maintained. 'Had 
other things to worry about at the time.

Roy
US Naval Aviator, retired.




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