"Dave Platt" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Jerry wrote:

And of course you can always buy one from another amateur that is
already modified or buy one purchased new prior to April 28, 1978. My
comments above were related to buying something new.

Didn't the builder of these kits get cited by FCC a couple of years ago
for
selling them?

I don't know the details, but that certainly seems to be implied by
what he writes on his website when he explains why his products are
only available for sale to non-US amateurs.

He complains that only one company (Communications Concepts) can get
authorization from the FCC to sell certificated amplifier kits. In
looking through the Communications Concepts web site, though, I don't
see any _complete_ amplifier kits at all, nor do I see any discussion
of certification status.

C.C. sells PC boards, and selected sets of components which can be
used to construct some of the Motorola reference-design amplifiers,
but they state quite clearly that they do not provide manuals,
heatsinks, chassis, connectors, etc. needed to complete the amplifier.

Since you cannot construct a working amplifier solely from what
Communications Concepts is willing to sell you, the result isn't
something which would require certification. An amateur could
construct one amp per year using their components (plus others that
s/he acquires elsewhere) without having to have the resulting
amplifier certificated.

I suspect that this is the difference. Communications Concepts is a
component supplier (and components by themselves do not require
certification), while the kit builder in question is providing
completely kitted amplifiers (which do require certification). That's
probably enough to make the difference between all-is-OK, and an
enforcement action.

The kits *could* have been designed in a way which would allow them to
be certificated - they'd just have to have a difficult-to-defeat
rolloff of the upper HF frequencies - but the designer didn't do this,
and for this reason they don't meet the current rules for certification.

This issue seems likely to become moot within a few months, as the FCC
is proposing to drop the restriction on construction and sale of amps
capable of operating in the upper HF band.

--
Dave Platt

Is there an announced date when this restriction is to be lifted, or is it
still just a proposal?


Jerry