[HamSat] Forwarded message about legal issue.

[Bill Beam]

On Mon, 24 Jun 2002 19:22:07 -0400, Tim Pickett wrote:

>This is a forwarded message talking about the legal issue of AO-7:
>

snip
snip

>
>The Mode-B situation is a different matter. You are making use of the
>antique AO-7 hardware and are not operating on a legal ITU frequency; and
>the frequency is not listed in the IARU bandplans. Whether the FCC (in USA)
>or Home Office (UK) or other national authorities will say "wink wink" and
>ignore the "accident of history" transgression is uncertain. My gut feeling
>is that it will not rise to visibility on their radar screens, and nothing
>unpleasant will happen. In terms of "What to do?", I'm reluctant to see the
>issue brought up to the FCC; there is a chance their answer would be NO!.
>I'm adopting the attitude
>    "'Tis far better to beg forgiveness rather than asking for permission".
>
>73 de Tom, W3IWI
>
>

IARU and ITU issues aside, it is worth reading FCC Part 97.209 (b) (2) and 97.3 (16)
which basically says 'it ain't legal under FCC jurisdiction.

I would rather not have to respond to an FCC query asking to explain why my
license should not be suspended....

Regards,
Bill


Bill Beam
NL7F
wbeam@gci.net or NL7F@arrl.net or NL7F@amsat.org