Posted on 02/28/2007 6:11:58 PM PST by TechJunkYard
RADIO LAW: SENATOR AIDS UNLICENSED BROADCASER TO RETURN TO THE AIR
A high ranking Democrat and leader in the Senate has helped an unlicensed radio station return to the airwaves. This, after the FCC acted to take it off the air following an inspection revealed that it had no license. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, is in Scottsdale, Arizona with more:
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Rod Moses, the owner of Radio Goldfield Broadcast Inc., was given special temporary authority to go back on the air with his low-power radio station in a January 29th letter from the Federal Communications Commission. A letter generated by pressure brought by Nevada Democratic Senator Harry Reid.
Based the action on a complaint filed with the agency, FCC enforcement agents came to Moses' trailer on June 9, 2006. This is the location that also houses his radio station, The FCC engineers inspected the station, and then requested that it be shut it down. Moses complied but then wrote to Senator Reed asking his assistance in getting back on the air. He explained that he had been running the station he calls Radio Goldfield since March 2005. In that time frame he had been broadcasting community news as well as oldies from an MP3 player. He wanted a low power license but had been informed by the FCC that the period to apply had long ago expired.
Reed apparently got Moses letter and in turn wrote to the FCC. In his letter to FCC chairman Kevin Martin dated Sept. 1, 2006,, Senator Reed stated that Radio Goldfield made significant public interest contributions to the local community. He told Martin that the unlicensed stations programming brought regular weather reports to this high-desert area of Nevada, where conditions can abruptly change in often times dramatic ways.
It did not take the FCC very long to act. It soon wrote to Moses giving him permission to put his unlicensed station back on the air. The letter cites Section 309(f) of the communications Act of 1934, which authorizes the commission to grant the temporary allowance in cases of extraordinary circumstances requiring temporary authorizations in the public interest.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline., I'm Norm Seeley, KI7UP, reporting from Scottsdale.
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Moses originally from Fresno, California was a radio broadcaster for 40 years. He says that a friend who used to run a radio station in California has informed him that because of his protest, other hopeful radio station operators are bringing up a resolution to ask the FCC to offer low-power FM licenses again. Its not known if Senator Reed will lend his support to such a request. (CGC, RW, Pahrump Valley Times)
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I winder when the STA expires? Will he go back and whine to Harry Reid some more?
Wouldn't this require the operator to pay licensing fee's to the record labels for broadcasting copyrighted material, just like the big stations do?
I would think so.
The fact he got Reid involved in the matter makes it more likely it was illegal, and Reid was not educated enough to look deep enough into the matter.
>>>Wouldn't this require the operator to pay licensing fee's to the record labels for broadcasting copyrighted material, just like the big stations do?
It certainly should. Perhaps someone should call ASCAP & BMI and report this guy...they'll sue his butt out of business.
Low power radio transmitters of the type that he runs probably are around 400 milliwatts, which, surprisingly, can reach quite a distance with the right antenna.
Oh, and the antenna and transmission line length is regulated as well.
Yep. Very short antenna, and the antenna feed line is short too.
Yeah, sort of like using the IRS Code to get Al Capone.
I think it's around 10 feet, but I haven't brushed up on the regulations lately.
I forgot what it is too. There are the same antenna and feed length restrictions for the amateur radio 60 meter band as well.
Oh and output power restrictions on the 60 meter band, and instead of frequencies, the 60 meter band has 5 specific channels.
When I was a kid I got a Lafayette phono oscillator and, if I remember correctly, the AM broadcast band legal limit was 100 milliwatt input to the final and a 10 ft combined antenna + feed). I souped it up to about 10 watts with a 6L6 final and longer antenna. Music was recorded off of a top 40 station onto a converted Dictaphone. Boy that was fun!
Yep.
"The FCC granted amateurs access to channels centered on 5332, 5348, 5368, 5373, and 5405 kHz. Amateurs may only operate upper-sideband voice (emission 2K8J3E) at a maximum of 50 W effective radiated power (ERP) and an audio bandwidth not exceeding 2.8 kHz."
Boy, what a poop of a neighbor!
But I wonder if the guy was paying the RIAA the license fee for the music he was broadcasting from his MP3 player? If not, he'll have a bunch of Hollywood lawyers suing him for every penny he's got.
If I remember correctly, anything under 1 watt ERP (effective radiated power) is legal... provided you're not interfering with any other signals.
My mommy wouldn't let me play with anything that had to be plugged in, so I was limited to batteries and transistors. AM band was too noisy, and you needed lots of antenna to put any kind of usable signal out, not many quiet spots on the FM BCB in Philly, so we went on the "freeband" (just above & below the 11M Citizens Band) and rigged up some crude repeaters using some old walkie-talkies. I had quite a collection of crystals. Those were the days...
Now I'm a ham, playing on the 902 MHz band.
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