01-10-2002, 12:51 PM
I have been asked, via private EMAIL, what one ham can do to help the FCC. OK. here's the short summary. NOte - I am NOT a lawyer nor (anymore) an enforcement type, so please.. understand and accept.. that these are GENERAL ideas given for your consideration and use. Please consult folks who KNOW the current field of enforcement for specifics and tailoring ideas. I am trying to provide 'food for thought'.
First, what the FCC needs, from you, is OBJECTIVE, UNEMOTIONAL -evidence- that supports your contention that the rules have been broken.
WHAT YOU MUST DO - FIRST! READ PART 97! Read WHAT it says and let the 'black and white' speak for itself. Don't inject your own interpretation into it as many of us like to do. MOST parts of Part 97 are pretty plain and an 'on the face' reading will provide what it means. If you still have questions, GO ASK! The ARRL regulatory branch has wrestled with MOST (if not all) the issues you and I fight about and go ask them. If you don't like their answer, go ask the FCC (but I caution you.. asking the FCC can sometimes drive their attention to look at what you are saying which may result in unwanted regulations, so take care to consider that! THose of us who were around in the 70's for the 'WONDERFUL' Repeater regulations can attest to what happens when somone asks the FCC about something and the FCC comes and takes a a look-see HI!)
Once you have actualy gathered the knowledge and information, THEN decide 'IS THAT REALLY A VIOLATION?" For example.. many folks, especially on HF, complain that 'they were being intentionally QRM'd by another person ON PURPOSE!' Say W6XXX in L.A. is talking to W9YYY in In on 20M. Suddenly.. out of nowhere.. here comes W3ZZZ calling CQ. W6XXX or W9YYY transmits 'The Frequency is in use OM, Please QSY!'. No indication from W3ZZZ that he heard either station. W3ZZZ gets into QSO with a SP9 which causes problems for W6XXX and W9YYY.. SO they both get mad and begin to formulate all sorts of complaints of intentional QRM. Well,maybe not. Propagation, use of directional antennas, power levels, geography, atmospherics.. all these play into the equation. It is not intentional or malicoius QRM, although it is QRM and is unpleasant. The illustration is simply to provoke you to think before you fire off your weapons. FCC used to (and I'm sure still does) get a lot of these types of complaints both written and phoned in. Usually they were as I state or were the result of something like a contest where QRM is a given based on where you are in the band and the type of contest it is. We commiserate and understand, but there is no actionable items here. OF COURSE! if there IS intentional QRM there are things which point it out such as comments by the new station following the 'FREQUENCY IS IN USE, OM. PLEASE QSY' comment where the other folks indicate they hear you but still stay there. That's a different issue and shows intent which makes it actionable.
Now.. let say you want to help the FCC..
OK. FIRST RULE !! KEEP IT UNEMOTIONAL, FACTUAL, and HONEST.
SECOND RULE!! KNOW YOUR RULES AND REGULATIONS AND WHAT THEY SAY AND MEAN.
THIRD RULE!! KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT!
FOURTH RULE!! DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!
FIFTH RULE!! BE PATIENT!! BE PATIENT!!
SIXTH RULE!! IF THINGS DON'T WORK OUT.. BE PERSISTENTLY POLITE.. BUT BE PERSISTENT!
Audio tapes are good, but please... make notes for the FCC which show WHERE on the tape the sections of interest are. Summary listing of WHO is on the tape, WHAT they are doing (not a transcript.. just a couple words to show what's there) and any pertinent info that you feel is RELEVANT to the issue. What you are doing is making it EASY for the FCC to find and deal with what you send them. Believe me.. if you make it easy.. you are liable to get more action. It SHOULD NOT be that way.. but reality is what reality is so accept it and deal with it.
DON'T $%@#! AT THE FCC! It will get you tossedout as a crank and anut faster than you think. If you want to be taken seriously by the FCC, you must present them withthe picture that you are someone worth taking seriously.
EVIDENCE GATHERING - Think 'chain of custody' and 'integrity of information'. Simply put this means did you have control over the material which is being presented as evidence and do you keep the integrity of what you do above reproach? If you make tapes, make sure you control who has them, and that tampering is not allowed. If you have information, keep it clean and uncontaminated AND make sure that you document the sourcing so it can be less prone to being impeached by someone 'on the other side'.
Make sure any equipment you use is checked, opearational (and if you are doing DF work) calibrated. That means check your beam headings and rotator directional controls to see that when the indicator says NORTH thatyou are REALLY pointing NORTH. DOCUMENT thatyou did so. If you are taking bearings, FIRST.. do a calibration sweep of several stations at KNOWN locations around the dial (if possible) and note any discrepancies and make correction table (if needed). DOCUMENT that you took bearings on W3XXX repeateron xx frequency at a known location and your indicator agreed with the known bearing.
What you ahve done is eliminated the rebuttal that 'Your equipement is faulty and can't be trusted!' which blows your evidence out of the water.
Yes.. it's time consuming and takes abit of work.. but trust me.. invest 1 hour to know your stuff and you'll save yourself hours down the road. ALSO!! If you present hte FCC with the documetnation that YOU invested the time to make sureYOUR stuff was 'good to go' you impress them AGAIN that you are serious and they'll tend to put more weight into the complaint.
DOCUMENT YOUR FINDINGS!
FACTS! no emotionalism.. no opinoins, keep it honest and factual. Give observations, data (readings, bearings, time/date, etc. If you MUST include a commentary put it at thte end and label it CLEARLY as COMMENTS!
Sign it, date it, and submit it. (Keep copies for yourself, of course!)
Again.. this is general information for consideration and value. We did it that way when I was doing enforcement and that's the basic way things work.
It may seem cumbersome, but again.. YOU are providing the foundational information for what MAY turn out to be a legal case in court. THAT is why the chain of custody and integrity of evidence MUST be maintained. OK. Now you havethe basics. the rest is up to you.
Feel free to contact me at my EMAIL if you have questions.
73 Chuck K3FT
P.S... if you simply want to let the FCC know somehting is going on, a simple EmAIL or LETTER to RIley giving him the facts as you know it and telling him 'I'm simply informingyou of a possible problem for your information and reference." I have done that and it is recieved as information and a tip for further use, if they wish to use it.
Contact: k3ft@amsat.org
First, what the FCC needs, from you, is OBJECTIVE, UNEMOTIONAL -evidence- that supports your contention that the rules have been broken.
WHAT YOU MUST DO - FIRST! READ PART 97! Read WHAT it says and let the 'black and white' speak for itself. Don't inject your own interpretation into it as many of us like to do. MOST parts of Part 97 are pretty plain and an 'on the face' reading will provide what it means. If you still have questions, GO ASK! The ARRL regulatory branch has wrestled with MOST (if not all) the issues you and I fight about and go ask them. If you don't like their answer, go ask the FCC (but I caution you.. asking the FCC can sometimes drive their attention to look at what you are saying which may result in unwanted regulations, so take care to consider that! THose of us who were around in the 70's for the 'WONDERFUL' Repeater regulations can attest to what happens when somone asks the FCC about something and the FCC comes and takes a a look-see HI!)
Once you have actualy gathered the knowledge and information, THEN decide 'IS THAT REALLY A VIOLATION?" For example.. many folks, especially on HF, complain that 'they were being intentionally QRM'd by another person ON PURPOSE!' Say W6XXX in L.A. is talking to W9YYY in In on 20M. Suddenly.. out of nowhere.. here comes W3ZZZ calling CQ. W6XXX or W9YYY transmits 'The Frequency is in use OM, Please QSY!'. No indication from W3ZZZ that he heard either station. W3ZZZ gets into QSO with a SP9 which causes problems for W6XXX and W9YYY.. SO they both get mad and begin to formulate all sorts of complaints of intentional QRM. Well,maybe not. Propagation, use of directional antennas, power levels, geography, atmospherics.. all these play into the equation. It is not intentional or malicoius QRM, although it is QRM and is unpleasant. The illustration is simply to provoke you to think before you fire off your weapons. FCC used to (and I'm sure still does) get a lot of these types of complaints both written and phoned in. Usually they were as I state or were the result of something like a contest where QRM is a given based on where you are in the band and the type of contest it is. We commiserate and understand, but there is no actionable items here. OF COURSE! if there IS intentional QRM there are things which point it out such as comments by the new station following the 'FREQUENCY IS IN USE, OM. PLEASE QSY' comment where the other folks indicate they hear you but still stay there. That's a different issue and shows intent which makes it actionable.
Now.. let say you want to help the FCC..
OK. FIRST RULE !! KEEP IT UNEMOTIONAL, FACTUAL, and HONEST.
SECOND RULE!! KNOW YOUR RULES AND REGULATIONS AND WHAT THEY SAY AND MEAN.
THIRD RULE!! KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT!
FOURTH RULE!! DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!
FIFTH RULE!! BE PATIENT!! BE PATIENT!!
SIXTH RULE!! IF THINGS DON'T WORK OUT.. BE PERSISTENTLY POLITE.. BUT BE PERSISTENT!
Audio tapes are good, but please... make notes for the FCC which show WHERE on the tape the sections of interest are. Summary listing of WHO is on the tape, WHAT they are doing (not a transcript.. just a couple words to show what's there) and any pertinent info that you feel is RELEVANT to the issue. What you are doing is making it EASY for the FCC to find and deal with what you send them. Believe me.. if you make it easy.. you are liable to get more action. It SHOULD NOT be that way.. but reality is what reality is so accept it and deal with it.
DON'T $%@#! AT THE FCC! It will get you tossedout as a crank and anut faster than you think. If you want to be taken seriously by the FCC, you must present them withthe picture that you are someone worth taking seriously.
EVIDENCE GATHERING - Think 'chain of custody' and 'integrity of information'. Simply put this means did you have control over the material which is being presented as evidence and do you keep the integrity of what you do above reproach? If you make tapes, make sure you control who has them, and that tampering is not allowed. If you have information, keep it clean and uncontaminated AND make sure that you document the sourcing so it can be less prone to being impeached by someone 'on the other side'.
Make sure any equipment you use is checked, opearational (and if you are doing DF work) calibrated. That means check your beam headings and rotator directional controls to see that when the indicator says NORTH thatyou are REALLY pointing NORTH. DOCUMENT thatyou did so. If you are taking bearings, FIRST.. do a calibration sweep of several stations at KNOWN locations around the dial (if possible) and note any discrepancies and make correction table (if needed). DOCUMENT that you took bearings on W3XXX repeateron xx frequency at a known location and your indicator agreed with the known bearing.
What you ahve done is eliminated the rebuttal that 'Your equipement is faulty and can't be trusted!' which blows your evidence out of the water.
Yes.. it's time consuming and takes abit of work.. but trust me.. invest 1 hour to know your stuff and you'll save yourself hours down the road. ALSO!! If you present hte FCC with the documetnation that YOU invested the time to make sureYOUR stuff was 'good to go' you impress them AGAIN that you are serious and they'll tend to put more weight into the complaint.
DOCUMENT YOUR FINDINGS!
FACTS! no emotionalism.. no opinoins, keep it honest and factual. Give observations, data (readings, bearings, time/date, etc. If you MUST include a commentary put it at thte end and label it CLEARLY as COMMENTS!
Sign it, date it, and submit it. (Keep copies for yourself, of course!)
Again.. this is general information for consideration and value. We did it that way when I was doing enforcement and that's the basic way things work.
It may seem cumbersome, but again.. YOU are providing the foundational information for what MAY turn out to be a legal case in court. THAT is why the chain of custody and integrity of evidence MUST be maintained. OK. Now you havethe basics. the rest is up to you.
Feel free to contact me at my EMAIL if you have questions.
73 Chuck K3FT
P.S... if you simply want to let the FCC know somehting is going on, a simple EmAIL or LETTER to RIley giving him the facts as you know it and telling him 'I'm simply informingyou of a possible problem for your information and reference." I have done that and it is recieved as information and a tip for further use, if they wish to use it.
Contact: k3ft@amsat.org