Regulations -- was -- Re: [BC] Regulations For AM Station DX Te sts

[Cowboy]

On Saturday 31 December 2005 04:59 pm, khcs at juno.com wrote:

>AFAIK, doing a DX test as part of maintenance during the Experimental Period
>should be permissible if of fairly short duration.   

 The key here, is "as part of maintenance" or in other words, if testing
 is scheduled for clearly non-DX purposes, there's probably nothing
 wrong with notifying an AM DX club of the schedule.

 I would have severe reservations about scheduling "maintenance" for the
 clear purpose of justifying a DX test !

On Saturday 31 December 2005 05:16 pm, JYRussell at academicplanet.com wrote:
>Isn't it spec'd in the CFR that it is indeed patently illegal to 
>intentionally attempt to communicate by commercial radio communication with 
>parties beyond your licensed contour..? (Or some fancy language version of 
>that...)

 If memory serves ( and it may not ) at one time, and perhaps currently, it 
was
 specified that using a broadcast station for point-to-point communication to 
an
 individual recipient *not necessary to the immediate preservation of life or
 property* was not permitted, and was still not permitted even if it was to 
preserve
 life or property if it would bypass the telephone company.
 The rule used some fancy lawyer-ese wording like "for which recourse
 to the fixed public telecommunication service" etc. etc.

 The first part made perfect sense.
 The second part was obviously to protect the long-distance revenue for the
 telephone company.

On Sunday 01 January 2006 04:50 am, Lewis Munn wrote:

>  As I read the Rules, I could run during the experimental period with either 
day or night facilities, with non-commercial test programming, for purposes 
of testing and adjustment of the equipment.  Was a good time to test out 
spare tubes, condition Mercury Vapor rectifiers (remember them??), and adjust 
modulation using tones and test music.
>   
>  It was not legal to program normal programming especially when running Day 
power and patterns at night.  Or run commercials.

 That is consistant with my memory and understanding as well.

>  Some DX clubs asked for tests, very occasionally, and supplied a Morse ID 
to use.  So I would oblidge them by running frequent code ID's, voice IDs, 
and March music, and keep a log. 

 Morse has been legally accepted as a default for station ID of any licensed
 radio facility since the beginning.
 I know of no rule that ever *excluded* CW as a legal ID for a broadcast 
 station, and have used it myself when circumstances required an ID, and
 for whatever reason a voice announcement wasn't practical or possible.

 ( one might note that the transmitter did not like it one little bit, not 
being
 designed for any type of on-off keying )

>  This is irrespective of whether it caused practical interference to another 
station.  The Rules were not written to say it was OK to blast as long as 
nobody complained!!  At least not then.

 As I recall, the rule clearly ( although I'm not a lawyer ) implied that the
 non-interference part was an additional restriction, not a permission.

>  And I am not sure it would have then been proper for the STATION to 
initiate "DX testing" on it on its own initiative. "DX testing" is not 
needed.

 And clearly inconsistent with the intent of "broadcast."
 In fact, it could be argued that it implies point-to-point to a specific,
 though perhaps non-specified, recipient, and not a broadcast at all.

>  But I guess from what I read those who want to cheat will figure out ways, 
and eventually will get caught and their hands slapped...or maybe cut clear 
off!

 Some of the field personnel I know, will nail you to the cross if it appears 
to
 a reasonable person that the intent of what is being done is as an excuse
 to circumvent a rule, the letter of the law or not.
 It's ALWAYS possible to find SOME violation at any station if that is what
 one intends to do !

 What I find interesting, is the the *chief operator* and not the licensee, is
 ( or was at one time ) specificly granted the authority to use his broadcast 
station
 in absolutely *any* manner he sees fit under disaster conditions,
 including with power and or pattern for which the station is not authorized !

 To me anyway, the intent is clear.
 Katrina, yes. DX test, no !

-- 
Cowboy

http://cowboys.homeip.net

Take my word for it, the silliest woman can manage a clever man, but it
needs a very clever woman to manage a fool.
		-- Kipling