"K0HB" wrote in message
om...
(Steve Robeson, K4CAP) wrote


Obviously not a lawyer, but my read on this was that the FCC is
giving him a chance to keep his radios, avoid the nasty fine that
COULD have gone along with this, and sends a very loud signal to
anyone else so inclined to not abuse the privilege.


My concern is NOT with the severity of his penalty (I think it was
pathetically lenient) but with the chilling effect it could have on
tinkering and experimenting by amateurs who apparently must now fear
that FCC can require them to put their equipment back into
factory-fresh configuration.

I do not think it will have any effect on tinkering or experimenting. The
reason that he was ordered to do this was because after the mod, he
deliberately violated the regulations governing the amateur radio service by
transmitting out of band etc.


I don't have a single peice of equipment which I have not "improved"
from it's original schematic. Frankly, I thought the FCC encouraged
such experimentation. This incident suggests just the opposite and
I'm surprised that ARRL isn't screaming bloody murder.

Yes the FCC and ARRL do encourage this experimentation. But remember that
the offender was committing some rather serious violations of the
regulations. The FCC can modify the operator/station license in almost
anyway they see fit when someone has committed such violations. The ARRL
would have no reason to scream bloody murder about the guy's penalty.


Dee D. Flint, N8UZE