Phil - This is a little off subject, but I would appreciate your comments on
what current FCC practice/policy is regarding minor amateur rule
infractions. Haven't had any recent problems, but years ago I was caught
with an AM sideband a little over the edge of the voice band. In those days,
you responded to the FCC with an apology, and if it happened three times in
two years, I understood that there would be a two-year license suspension.
No fines involved. I know there is little if any monitoring going on these
days for such things, but what is the normal penalty for what could be
reasonably considered unintentional out of band violations? Are fines
assessed for first or second-time offenders?

ak

(Now and then I catch myself calling a phone station below 21.2 MHz,
thinking I was still on 20 meters.)


I've made that kind of mistake on 40m once or twice. I suspect that
the FCC figures that most people will make occasional errors
from time to time, and that most people will spot the error
and correct it themselves. Most of the enforcement actions
you hear about are idiots that keep on committing the offenses.
Such that it becomes clear that they are doing it on
purpose and are not oversights.

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 20:01:12 GMT, robert casey wrote:

I would appreciate your comments on
what current FCC practice/policy is regarding minor amateur rule
infractions.

I've made that kind of mistake on 40m once or twice. I suspect that
the FCC figures that most people will make occasional errors
from time to time, and that most people will spot the error
and correct it themselves. Most of the enforcement actions
you hear about are idiots that keep on committing the offenses.
Such that it becomes clear that they are doing it on
purpose and are not oversights.

That hits the nail on the head. For minor infractions that are not
willful or repeated, the practice is to issue a Notice of Violation,
which requires a written response as to how the problem came about
and how you are going to prevent it from happening in the future.

A monetary penalty can be issued only where the violation is
willful (meaning that you know that you are doing the act, not
necessarily that you intended to violate the law) or repeated (more
than one day).

Whewn one starts to rack up "brownie points", the Commission has
ample ammunition to decide whether the licensee has the
qualifications to remain a licensee.

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane