[Lowfer] Lowfer history

[JD]

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>
>     Boy if that's true almost all Lowfer activity is not Part-15 
> compliant!
>

There must be a lot more than 50 feet of wire in such a loading coil. [etc]

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And don't use Litz wire for the coil, guys!  Two turns on a goodly sized 
form, and you're over the limit.

8>(  Sigh.  Problem with a lot of anecdotal "history"--including the 
published kind--is often a lack of authoritative sources for many of the 
statements you'll find therein.  Unnamed FCC inspectors allegedly OKing 
not-hardly-Part 15 "broadcasters" who cover entire cities from a billboard, 
other times straining at every single strand of wire in an experimenter's 
beacon setup, coming up with personal interpetations which neither seem 
based on the plain wording of the Rules through strict exegesis, nor 
anything stated in OET-63...there's an awful lot of questionable, 
unverifiable, and half-truth-based "facts" in the history out there.  That 
sort of thing is perfect grist for political campaign strategies, but it 
makes a terrible basis for engineering.

And, it always eventually seems to bring out the "hey, we're all really 
outlaws" discussion at some point, a view to which I don't subscribe in the 
slightest for two reasons: (1) it's fundamentally incorrect, and (2) it's so 
often used as a prelude to some variation of the tiresome old "anything goes 
as long as we don't get caught" argument.

A coil is a coil, not an antenna or transmission line or ground lead.  As 
long as it's at the base of the antenna, I can't see it being anything but 
part of the transmitter tank circuit--for which there are no size limits in 
the Rules.  How do you tune your transmitter final?  In 99+% of Part 15 
installations these days, it's with.. the... variometer.  Where are the 
components of the final located in ~99% of Part 15 rigs?  In the same 
shelter with the variometer or other matching coil.   In nearly all cases, 
the inductor is part of the Part 15 device itself--not something separate in 
either an electrical or regulatory sense.

What about an elevated loading coil?  That's a larger topic with more 
ramifications than can be dealt with concisely, but I have to believe the 
principle is similar.  With the probable exception of a helical antenna, a 
coil is still just a coil...a discrete component that might well be used to 
break up an antenna electrically into more than one section, which is _not_ 
prohibited in any of the current LF or MF alternative provisions.  [Although 
it IS explicitly prohibited in the 49 MHz alternative regs, and it used to 
be a no-no in 11 meter homebrew devices too.  Point being, it's not as if 
the FCC reg-writers were unaware they could outlaw mid-mounted loading 
apparatus if they wanted to.  It's been done before.  If this had been a 
concern under the so-called original intent of the paragraphs under which 
_we_ operate, the prohibition would be explicit there as well.]

And that last sentence brings to mind two things: (1) the whole matter of 
intent, and (2) quite unbidden, the punchline of the joke in which Tonto 
replies, "What you mean 'we,' Ke-mo-sabe?"

First one first.  Ed mentioned, "The rules were never really written to 
cover what we do."  True enough, as far as that goes.  They weren't written 
to preclude it, either!  The Rules were written as they were to foster 
innovation in general, and afterward the pioneers of the hobby found 
fascinating ways to make use of the privileges they allowed...a logical 
progression.  After all, Part 15 is simply a catch-all way of covering all 
uses of radio that have low enough potential for interference to licensed 
services that it isn't worth the bother of licensing every single 
transmitter or user.  Some sections of Part 15 do have specific uses stated 
in connection with their provisions, but most do not.  Intent, original or 
otherwise, is immaterial to the bands we use.

And we should not kid ourselves that the FCC is in any way unaware of "what 
we do" with the Part 15 Rules they've given us in the LowFER community.  Did 
anyone here read the Report & Order that followed the LF ham rulemaking 
proceding?  In saying that privileges would not be granted at that time, 
they specifically stated that interested parties had two options in the 
meantime...Part 5 experimental licenses, and traditional Part 15 operation 
at 160-190 kHz, citing lwca.org for examples of the kind of work that has 
been done in that band.

And now that second matter.  I can't help but grin at the almost ironic use 
of "we" in this connection, as there are now so few of "we" still doing Part 
15 in this group.  No need for anyone to take umbrage at that statement or 
defend their reasons--I'm NOT criticizing in any way!  It's all fine with 
me.  I'm just making a factual observation.

I'm truly glad for all the great work that's been done under Part 5 
licenses, both because it has proven interesting on its own merits, and it 
paves the way for the eventual LF ham allocation that I hope to live long 
enough to see.  It's kind of heartwarming to witness this much interest in 
the challenge of traditional LowFERing again, even if it's from an 
historical or nostalgic standpoint, rather than operational.

It's good to remember your roots.

John