Replying to post 1:
Anyone can contact any senator or member of the House of Representatives. If you contact a senator who is not from your state they will not feel as compelled to listen to you as if you contact a senator who you can vote for. If you contact a representative who is not for the district you live in they will not feel as compelled to listen to you as if you contact a representative who you can vote for. It also helps if you are actually a registered voter.
If transmitting using part 15 rules is important to you, you should contact your senators and representative. They do not need to be on the committee; if the action ever makes it for a vote then you contacting them could influence their vote. While you contact them, keep a few things in mind.
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Keep your message short and simple.
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Don’t threaten them. Saying “I won’t vote for you if you don’t protect part 15” is not going to make them a champion of part 15.
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If you have multiple issues to complain about, keep them separate, ideally on separate emails or calls. For example FCC pirate enforcement, a lack of range on part 15 FM, and music royalty hikes may all seem to go together, but they would be separate legislative issues so you risk your message being lost in what could be perceived as a long tirade.
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Unless you know the person you are speaking to has a technical background don’t bring up modeling, experiments, tests, calculations or anything of the sort unless asked. You could cause their eyes to glaze over and get “uh-hum”s and have them trying to get you off the phone.
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Your communication is going to be documented, and probably recorded. Be nice or your phone number or email may end up on a bad list.
my comment will be published as an opinion peice in their op-ed section of RW 🙂
also paul seems to have an avid interest in low power radio which may explain radio worlds apparent frinedly attitude towards part 15 which is good to know.
maybe TIB can pen an opiinion piece for RW on his pirate vs p15 fact sheet 🙂
RW is a good vehicle to use for disemminiating info to the industry as a whole. they have the ear of the industry.
The thinking behind this type of enforcement action is troubling for several reasons. Very few people have the knowledge or skills and equipment to determine if an unlicensed radio system is compliant with the rules so their only recourse is to not participate or facilitate any such operation.
It is not beyond imagination to conclude that all unlicensed operation will be outlawed to make detection and enforcement simpler by eliminating the need for FCC inspection. This way, a landlord or advertiser need not know or be concerned about Part 15 exemptions.
This type of thinking is dangerous beyond the effect it can have on hobby broadcasting and can be extended to many other situations where people are unknowingly caught in a legal trap for aiding and abetting a whole host of things which are labelled illegal.
Neil
from congress authorization to allow licensed stations to sue pirates and abetors in civil court for damages.
setting up a low altitude air baloon that is gps controlled and held over the area of interest and not attached to a particular prooerty. link would be via license free 900 mhz IP, with current technology this is no longer outside of the realm of possibility. same thing with putting a remote transmitter deep in the woods (on public land), solar powered on a mountain overlooking the city or town of interest and linking it via 900 mhz or an open wifi AP within range. this whole thing is troubling, it is not going to do a thing to stop true piracy only cause pirates to become more inovative. it would do plenty to hurt part 15