William M. Pasternak wrote:

ENFORCEMENT: BROADCASTER FINED FOR AVIATION BAND INTERFERENCE

The FCC has affirmed a $4000 fine issued against California based Playa
Del Sol Broadcasters. This after it determined that a broadcast
translator at its transmit site was causing interference to three
frequencies in the aviation band. Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports:

--

On March 12, 2008, the FCC Enforcement Bureau's San Diego, California,
office received a complaint of interference from the Riverside County
Sheriff's Department regarding the aviation frequency of 122.875 MHz,
in the Indian Wells, California area. The Sheriff's Department
identified the interference as having the same audio as station KRCK on
97.7 MHz in Mecca, California. That's a station licensed to Playa del
Sol

On March 13, 2008, an agent from the San Diego Office traveled to the
Indian Wells and was able to detect the audio of KRCK on three separate
frequencies in the VHF aviation band. These were 109.5 MHz, 122.2 MHz,
and 136.1 MHz. The agent also determined that the three signals were
emanating from the KRCK studio which is collocated with FM Broadcast
Translator station K238AK.

[snip]


In its Response, Playa argues that a forfeiture is not warranted in
this case because it responded to the San Diego Office and addressed
the issue "promptly and fully," and that the violation was not willful
or repeated.

Now, after weighing the Playa del Sol response and in conjunction with
the agency's Forfeiture Policy Statement the FCC conclude this past
July 17th that Playa del Sol Broadcasting willfully and repeatedly
violated Section 74.1236(c) of the Rules. Considering the entire
record including the fact that Playa did not cease the unauthorized
emissions until the San Diego agent confirmed its translator as the
source of the interference, the FCC says that neither reduction nor
cancellation of the proposed $4,000 forfeiture is warranted.

From Playa del Sol's perspective, this fine would be cheap at twice the
price. I was once a broadcast engineer, and although the salaries
weren't much to brag about, Playa del Sol would have to pay at least
ten times that amount to employ a licensed engineer for a year.

Since the FCC eliminated the requirement to have a licensed engineer
available, broadcasters have to trust the manufacturer's claims as to
the quality of their equipment, and guesswork as to its proper
installation and operation.

Yes, those grapes _were_ sour: but there's a serious point here. The
broadcast industry used to be a career path for ham operators who were
willing and able to take their skills and performance to the next level.
Now, broadcasters no longer have a pool of independent, neutral
expertise to rely on when setting up and operating RF devices.

W1AC