if i aired it in public it would open up long closed wounds between my friend, me and the staff of the reporting station.
some explanations are better left alone.
Healed wounds are the best kind.
I am happy that the uproar is now settled.
Although, there are a couple AM's near here that appear to be using full vertical dipoles rather than a 1/4 wave radiator over a counterpoise.
One is on 1350 the other 1520. They are both directional arrays. 1350 has two phased antennas, 1520 has six or seven.
But, in both cases you can see the insulators half way up separating the upper and lower half. I'm certain both are over 300 feet which would be more like a half wave, 1/4 wave above and below the insulators.
he has been running rm since 08 the way i reimstall amd adjusted it. he still hasn't been bothsred to this day
It was in January 2007 (just before the incident of this thread occurred) that the era of FCC enforcement of the "ground lead" rule began. An NOUO was issued to a church near San Diego called Iglesia de Dios Ebenezer. I have friends in San Diego, and since I knew that this particular NOUO was a very big deal, I aked them to visit the church to see what the antenna arrangement looked like. They told me that there was a very long television-style mast on the roof of the church. I talked to the pastor (through somebody who speaks Spanish) by telephone about what happened, and he told me that he saw an advertisement for Rangemaster in a publication called "Radio Guia," and he thought that this was exactly what he needed for his church. The pastor was surprised that he got into trouble with the FCC, because he followed the manufacturer's instructions exactly. When the transmitter was taken down to the level of the earth, he got very little range.
Since 2007, there have been several other enforcement actions; for example KENC and Liberty 1640.
2007 was not the first time that long ground leads were discussed publicly. The long ground leads were contoversial at least since LPB was promoting using them for their AM 2000 around the turn of the Millenium. It was a long time before the FCC got around to issuing ground lead NOUOs, but they did get around to it eventually.
Not all of the equipment that is certified to be a Part 15 device have been certified to comply with Part 15 Rules by the FCC. They are self certified by the manufacture. This means the manufacturer submits the required paperwork to the FCC claiming that the equipment meets the requirements to be a Part 15 device.
With some of the self certified equipment, the FCC purchases the device from a vendor or store and then tests the equipment to verify that it is complaint with Part 15. Usually this was done because the FCC had reason to believe that the equipment was not complaint!
I do not remember if the Rangemaster in question was a self certified piece of equipment. If the buyer/user/installer sets the equipment up as specified by the manufacturer and the equipment fails to meet Part 15 rules, that is not the buyer/user/installers fault! In cases like this, if the user fails to stop transmitting (or operating the equipment) when asked to by the FCC, only then would the person be in violation of the rules and could be subject NOV's and in some cases NAL's! This has happened with Part 15 users and licensed broadcast stations alike!
Very few prototype transmitters are tested at the FCC laboratory. Practically all certified transmitters are "self-certified," but only in the sense that the FCC itsef did not test the transmitters. Most often, the certification tests are done at the test range of an independent contractor hired by the manufacturer. The manufacturer must pay several thousand dollars to the contractor to get such tests done. Whether or not the transmitter passes the tests, the contractor gets paid just the same. This is a sore point between kit manufacturers and certified transmitter manufacturers. Certified transmitter manufacturers have the big certification expense that kit manufacturers do not have, and therefore kits can be sold a lot more cheaply, and have a big competitive advantage.
Certification test records are available on the FCC website, usually with some sensitive information related to the manufacturer's trade secrets deleted. No test data is available for the Rangemaster because certifivcation records before a certain date were not didgitized by the FCC, and the Rangemaster was certified before that date.
Even if a transmitter is certified, it must meet the requirements of Part 15 when installed. That is why several Rangemaster owners have received NOUOs. The transmitters were installed in a manner violating Section 15.219.
well the subject of this nov was told the hamilton was certified and passed being mounted 6.5ft off ground with ground lead and steel whip. we all know thats two meters when tx are typically certified one meter ground. my guess is they somehow got the data and confirmed it if they made a statement like that to my friend.
Comment
these inconsistent enforcements is one of the reasons i say that if the hamilton certification docs and the fcc 22 pg ED field manual ever showed up everyone would be left with a little brown on their nose. i'm the type that whenever i'm denied access to information my first question is what are you up to and the second what are you hiding. they get even more so with a suppose to be transparent government.
"...he had radials going across the top of his garage and attached to the pole and also in the ground at base of pole."
This would constitute "elevated ground radials" and would be placed for the purpose of increasing signal strength. In other words, the elevated radials were intended to radiate. That would be a violation of 15.219.
However, FCC inspections of this sort are most often brought about by broadcaster complaints. 15.219 is just the justification for inspection and corrective action.
the guy (a local engineer) who turned him in was also the same guy who sold him the equipment (all the gear including studio) and installed the transmitter.
ps: this is one of the very few topics i kinda wished would have stayed buried. i'd be appreciative if everyone would just let this one float back to archives or if admin would lock this one.
it serves no real good beating this dead horse over and over and only serves to stir bad blood and open old wounds between some individuals.