Approximately 2 years ago we received a notice from the FCC office stating that we were illegally using an external antenna on our Talkingsign AM transmitter and that the antenna, ground and transmission line were exceeding the 3 meter limit. We responded imediately by removing our antenna from the market. After reading about the kit contructor who was reported to the FCC, it occured to us that someone may have turned us in. How would we go about inquiring who did turn us in, if that is in fact what happened?
Gerry
I can't seem to locate the FCC paper work on your situation.
I checked the EB enforcement Action database. I went back as far as 2k5. I also did a FCC site search for it.
But you can get that info from a FOIA Request to FCC in washington.
I would not be suprised to find out that it was the same party who turned in that guy selling assembled SSTRAN's.
I'm assuming you did not have the TS100 and ATU combination certified? if that was the case then you were in violation.
I don't know how the TH II with ATU got certification, unless as others have speculated that the ATU contains the Final RF Stage.
Thank You,
Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis
Universal Life Ministries
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Moderator Hunterdonfree
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I will try the FOIA route as you suggest (just out of curiosity).
Correct, the TS100 was only certified with the wire antenna, but many folks were requesting an external antenna at the time so that the unit could be used in commercial buildings (metal shielding problems) - so we created one. We assumed that this issue was not that big a deal, but when it comes down to it - rules are rules, and the FCC has every right to enforce them.
This also explains why TalkingHouse is so reluctant when it comes to inquiries about their external antenna. I believe that the TH external antenna is just a tuner like ours - so it would also likely be in violation.
As an aside: our antenna would be technically legal if the user only used 15 in of coax 🙂 Also, there is nothing preventing us from selling an external weatherproof antenna for whatever uses - the responsibility resting with the user.
Gerry
www.chezradio.com
Airwave Freedom
Hello all,
Seems like every time I get onto these boards someone is asking for my head, the only time I ever said anything to the FCC about illegal operators is the Ryan situation, only because I had customers that had been busted by the FCC for using his product, after being assured by Ryan that they were fully legal, At the same time I also mentioned a company that was making high powered FM transmitters and scamming people with them.
At the time I did not know that such comments were public knowledge, and I would not comment like that again. The mob is to nasty an animal and there are also a lot of nuts out there. If a similar situation came up, customers being apparently scammed, I would handle it a different way, like just post it on a message board or such.
About the antenna/wire exceeding Part 15 length, I didn’t know about that until I read about it somewhere on a message board.
Interesting comment about the talking house tuner/antenna, I'll bet they sold thousands of those, talking house has been sold in the hundreds of thousands!
I agree with the comments of others here; the best approach would be to add a PA to the outdoor antenna tuning unit. Of course, to be sold commercially, it would need to be certified together with the main unit. I don't really see any barrier to getting that configuration approved.
I think it would be practical to retain the design of the main unit mostly as it is, and pipe the RF output via coax to the outdoor ATU/PA. In this mode, you would disable modulation of the inside unit and send the RF and audio out to the ATU/PA on a cable, along with power and control signals. The ATU/PA would amplify the carrier to the 100 mW input level and apply modulation. The modulator could reside in the ATU, but I suspect there is probably plenty of audio available in the main unit such that additional amplification would not be necessary-- especially if it were not modulating the PA of the main unit.
I haven't seen the existing remote antenna, so can't comment on whether the tuner would need to be modified, but I assume that it should be feasible to control it from the main unit over the cable.
To summarize, in order to be legal (and therefore certifiable), I would recommend adding a PA to the outdoor antenna tuner and sending the audio, RF, and control signals to it via cable.
You may well ask: why bother? You could just buy an outdoor transmitter instead, such as the Hamilton Rangemaster or the Chez Radio Procaster. That would work fine, but then you still have the need for an indoor unit to store the messages (for the Real Estate application). Having an external add-on unit that can simply adapt the Talking House to external operation would seem to be an ideal way to have a system that could be used either way. Also, the existing product is very simple to set up and operate, and requires no tweaking. That is essential for a non-technical user.
Now for those of you who like to experiment, as I do, there is absolutely nothing to stop anyone from building an outdoor ATU/PA as I have described and remoting the necessary signals to it. The only downside is that it certainly won't be FCC Certified in that configuration. But if you are going to install it in compliance with Part 15 rules anyway, that should not be a problem. I am already thinking about building a remote PA for my TH once it arrives and I have a chance to gain some experience with it. It would sure be nice to have one of the existing remote antenna tuners to use as a starting point though.
Comments invited!
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