Quote Rich's comment...
Quote Rich's comment...
"Buyers of FCC-certified Part 15 AM transmitters have a reasonable expectation that the manufacturers of such equipment have done the research to determine what the FCC requires for legal Part 15 AM systems.
Such buyers also should have the reasonable expectation that, if the FCC awarded a Part 15 AM certification to any specific transmitter, such certification was made with full regard to FCC rules and policies."
As a manufacturer of Part 15 AM transmitters, we take issue with the rumour of not allowing loading coils - this has come up many times before on other forums over the years.
We are all aware that loading coils are used to provide inductive reactance into a circuit and just becasue they happen to be manufactured with wire does not mean that the wire should be included as the antenna length. In the same light, one could argue that a capacitor consisting of separated plates could connect a very long piece of wire (an antenna), to a transmitter and would be legal because the capacitor has no electrical connection - of course this would also be nonsense as the capacitor adds capacitive reactance and is only an open connection at DC.
We have gone through great expense to have an FCC-approved lab. test both the Talkingsign (2000) and Procaster (2007) transmitters to comply with FCC requirements. Full technical disclosure of all details of the devices was submitted to the FCC prior to receiving Type approval. If there had been any legal issues at the time, then it would have been the FCCs responsibility to notify us accordingly.
We have invested considerable capital and grown our reputation accordingly based on a business in this industry and as such we have the right to hold the FCC liable for undermining and potentially "scaring" customers away from our business. This is unacceptable business practice.
Thanks so much for stopping by and clarifying this. I'm not sure the FCC is entirely to blame here, as there has been considerable confusion created by various posts that purport to represent positions and so-called clairifications that have never been confirmed by the appropriate FCC documentation. In the past we've had a more passive approach to moderating our forums but that will no longer be the case. This web site and forums are dedicated to supporting experimentation, not platforms to debate imagined policy.
As you know, I have been very concerned about this issue since it first surfaced. In fact, I have signed my station off the air in the interim while trying to decide what to do. I own several certified transmitters, including the Talking House and the Rangemaster. These are high quality products; they are very well designed and manufactured. When the transmitters were on the air, they were operated in full compliance with the manufacturers' instructions and the Part 15 rules as they currently exist.
I discussed this issue with my partners, and we have come to the conclusion that the risk is acceptable. If the FCC were to decide to change the Part 15 rules such that previously certified devices were negatively impacted, it would have to revoke those certifications. This would affect thousands of users in the Real Estate industry alone. It is not plausible that they could issue a NAL to a user of a certified device without due process. In the unlikely case that we were fined, we would most certainly appeal the fine. In the meantime we have set aside a contingency fund in case it is needed.
We plan to put our station back on the air as soon as the program schedule can be regenerated. We can't let a few closed minded individuals put an end to low power radio-- it is too important.
I appreciate your support!
Glad you'll put the fire to the wire again - enjoy!
Having read your blog post, thoght I would just say that I have been on the air with low power stations on and off since 1991 and have never had any problems.
I'm not worried about station engineers - because they are all contract engineers and we already know each other.
My station uses a Rangemaster. My ground system and cables need some tweaking and tightening as we have had recent storms (again) but I have also begin streaming my station most of the time.
While I will continue running the Part 15 station, its range really doesn't help our overall station that much, since it mostly is covering pastures! We like just being able to listen without having to listen via the web stream all the time.
Between homeschooling two stepgrandsons and finding that I'm going to have to resurrect my previous direct-mail marketing business, I'm not going to have a lot of time to tinker with the Part 15 station.
Our mobile home has severe water damage, and our insurance carrier has cancelled us. So we may be looking at trying to build a prefab house, while living at the poverty level.
But..the station stayed on through the storms!