FCC fines K1MAN $21,000
from ARRL
Website: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/06/14/100/?nc=1 on June 14,
2005
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http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2...-259301A1.html

NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 14, 2005--The FCC has issued a Notice of Apparent
Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) proposing to fine Glenn A. Baxter, K1MAN, of
Belgrade Lakes, Maine, $21,000. In the NAL, released June 7, the FCC alleges
that Baxter has violated several sections of the Part 97 Amateur Service
Rules. The list includes rules proscribing interference with ongoing
communications, transmitting communications in which he has a pecuniary
interest, failure to provide information the FCC requested, engaging in
broadcasting, and failure to exercise control of his station. In the NAL,
the FCC's Enforcement Bureau recites a litany of correspondence over the
past several months to and from Baxter--a registered professional engineer
and executive director of the American Amateur Radio Association (AARA).

"In response to numerous complaints of deliberate interference caused by
transmissions from Mr Baxter's Amateur station K1MAN to ongoing radio
communications of other stations, including stations participating in the
Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Net, the Bureau issued a Warning Notice
to Mr Baxter on September 15, 2004," the NAL states. "The Bureau requested
information from Mr Baxter with regard to the method of station control and
what action, if any, was being taken in response to the complaints of
interference."

The FCC said its Warning Notice also recalled a written warning dated April
14, 2004, advising Baxter that enforcement action would be taken if he
failed to correct the deliberate interference attributed to his station and
if he continued to use his station for pecuniary interest by advertising his
Web site.

Baxter responded to the FCC Warning Notice on October 14, 2004, stating "no
corrective actions are necessary at K1MAN" and that his means of station
control "is in full compliance with all FCC rules" and that K1MAN "is in
full compliance with all FCC rules, state laws, and federal laws."

According to the FCC, Baxter concluded his reply by saying, "I encourage you
to take 'enforcement actions' and look forward to seeing you in court(s)."

Calling Baxter's response "insufficient," the FCC issued a second Warning
Notice last October 29, spelling out his "obligations as a licensee to
furnish the information requested by the Bureau." The Warning Notice also
reported the receipt of two more complaints of deliberate interference
allegedly caused by K1MAN. The FCC gave Baxter 20 more days to provide
information regarding the identity of the control operator and his method of
station control on the dates and times specified in the recent interference
complaints.

The FCC says Baxter responded last November 2 to indicate that his previous
response had "provided all the information required by FCC rules and by
federal law." He did not offer any information regarding the identity of the
control operator or the method of station control, the FCC added.

The NAL also cites monitoring of K1MAN by FCC personnel and asserts that
last November 27, "K1MAN began transmitting on top of ongoing communications
at 5:54 PM EST on 3.890 MHz, disrupting the communications by other
licensees." It alleged similar occurrences on December 8 and March 31.

FCC personnel from Boston inspected Baxter's station last November 30.
During that visit, the FCC said, Baxter demonstrated that he could control
his station's transmitter using a telephone interface. "Mr Baxter claimed
that he monitored the station from a mobile receiver when not at the
transmitter and that he could control the transmitter through a land-line or
cellular phone," the NAL recounted.

The FCC said last December 1, K1MAN transmitted "a pre-recorded program
lasting nearly seventy minutes, which consisted of an interview by Mr Baxter
with Mr Jeff Owens." The Commission contends that the transmission
"consisted of a lengthy broadcast of the telephone interview with Mr Owens"
during which, it says, Baxter explained how Owens could invest in franchises
of Baxter Associates--a management consulting, executive search and
executive career management enterprise--and how Baxter planned to market
franchises of Baxter Associates.

"Nothing in the program related to Amateur Radio, and no station call sign
was given until the conclusion of the seventy-minute program," the FCC
stated. The Commission said the transmission constituted a broadcast and an
impermissible one-way transmission.

On December 19, 2004, the Commission asserts, K1MAN "broadcast transmissions
of an apparently defective pre-recorded audio tape, which resulted in the
repeated transmission of a nine-word phrase, and segments thereof, without
any intervention of a control operator and without the identification of the
station's call sign." The transmission lasted some 46 minutes, the
Commission reported, noting that Baxter's station shut down abruptly in
mid-sentence. The FCC said this incident indicated that the control operator
did not have sufficient control over his station.

The Commission says on March 30, 2005, on at least four occasions on 3.890
MHz its monitoring personnel observed K1MAN advertising the AARA Web site,
which "offers various products for sale." It concluded that those mentions
and the transmission of the Baxter Associates interview violated FCC Amateur
Service rules "by transmitting communications regarding matters in which he
has a pecuniary interest."

The FCC further concluded that Baxter failed to supply information it had
requested in its warning notices of last September 15 and October 29. Baxter
has 30 days to pay the fine or file a written statement seeking a reduction
or cancellation of the proposed fine.
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It's about time the FCC dealt with K1MAN!
Ace - WH2T