clements@bbnccq (01/26/86)
From: Bob Clements <clements@bbnccq.ARPA>
Before the PR
Federal Communications Commission FCC 86-18
Washington DC 20554 36413
In the Matter of )
)
Amendment of Part 97 of the ) PR Docket No. 85-105
Commission's Rules to permit )
automatic control of amateur ) RM-4879
radio stations. )
_REPORT AND ORDER_
Adopted: January 13, 1986; Released: January 16, 1986
By the Commission:
1. On April 5, 1985, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed
Rule Making (50 F.R. 15196; April 17, 1985) to permit any amateur
station to be under automatic control provided that operation was on
frequencies above 29.5 MHz and that no third-party traffic was
transmitted. This was an expansion of the proposal requested by The
American Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL), who had requested automatic
control only for stations transmitting digital communications while
operating on frequencies above 30 MHz. Nineteen comments and one reply
comment were filed in this proceeding. (1)
2. Our Notice of Proposed Rule Making in this proceeding, _supra_,
particularly invited amateur radio operators experienced in automatic
control to submit comments on the practicality of expanding automatic
control to encompass all amateur operations, not just digital
communications. Such comments were not forthcoming. Because of the
lack of user support, we will adopt only the ARRL's recommendation to
limit automatic control to digital communications on very high
frequencies (VHF) and above. (We select 50 MHz rather than 30 MHz, as
the petitioner requests, because there are no amateur frequencies
between 29.7 and 50 MHz).
________
(1) Comments filed by the American Radio Relay League, Inc., (ARRL),
Robert C. Clements, Jess de la Cuesta and Joseph Anthony Wolos were
filed late. Consideration of the viewpoints expressed in those
comments will aid in the resolution of this proceeding. Therefore,
we accept them.
________________________________________________________________________
(Page 2)
3. In the Notice, _supra_, we reminded amateur operators that the
current rules require the presence of the control operator at the station
control point whenever third-party traffic is being transmitted. We
emphasized that the proposed amendments would still prohibit automatic
control of the station when it is transmitting third-party traffic.
Some commenters were confused about unsupervised third-party traffic.
For example, repeater stations are already permitted to be operated
under automatic control. However, as with any amateur station, when they
are transmitting third-party traffic, the control operator must be present
at the control point monitoring and supervising the transmissions.
4. Many of the commenters request that high-speed digital operating
modes, such as packet-switching, bulletin boards, computer based message
systems and electronic mailboxes be exempt from the requirement that the
control operator supervise third-party traffic. They believe that the
third-party rules as applied to such high-speed digital communications are
impracticable and would, in effect, nullify the advantages of automatic
control. To acquiesce in that request would be inconsistent with other
types of amateur operation. Third-party traffic is radio communications
on behalf of anyone other than the control operator.(2) Neither the speed
at which the message is transmitted nor the emission mode (voice,
telegraphy, digital etc.) changes its character. This was pointed
out in our letter of October 19, 1978, to Richard L. Baldwin, then General
Manager of the ARRL.(3) In that letter, we reiterated that unsupervised
third-party traffic by amateur stations is not permitted.
5. Some comments suggest that the third-party traffic rules be
amended so that they would be applicable only at the time the third-party
traffic is first introduced into the amateur communications system.
However, screening the message content at its introduction does not change
the character of the traffic. It is still third-party traffic which must
be closely regulated in the non-common carrier Amateur service. Otherwise,
amateur facilities and frequencies would be open to non-amateurs and could
eclipse other amateur uses. Moreover, we are also concerned about the
final destination of the message. We do not want to give our approbation
to a mechanism which could be used to circumvent the international Radio
Regulations which forbid exchange of amateur third-party traffic between
countries who are not parties to agreements permitting such traffic.
______
(2) Section 97.3(v).
(3) FCC 78-742; 70 F.C.C. 2d 1303. See also News Release No. 2028,
October 25, 1978.
__________________________________________________________________________
(page 3)
International third-party radio communications are prohibited by Section
97.114 of the amateur rules and Article 32, number 2733 of the
International Radio Regulations (Geneva, 1979), except where arrangements
have been made between the two countries involved, Article 32, number
2734.
6. Some commenters suggest that MF and HF frequencies between 1.8
and 29.5 MHz be added to the frequencies available for automatic control
or that automatic control be extended at least to all digital
communications below 29.5 MHz on a regular basis or by temporary special
authority (STA). They state that coast-to-coast coverage for
point-to-point message handling would be accommodated by including MF
and HF frequencies. Because of the possibility of congestion on the MF
and HF frequencies, we do not believe that it would be advisable to permit
automatic control on those frequencies.
7. Robert C. Clements is under the impression that we inserted a
clarification into the proposed Section 97.79 (b) that the station licensee
is presumed to be the control operator of the station, unless there is
documentation to the contrary. However, this is essentially the same as
the present wording of Section 97.79(b). The words "at all times" will
be deleted from this rule in order to be consistent with the revised
wording of Section 97.3(m)(3).
8. For the reasons given herein, we amend our rules to permit
automatic control only for digital communications on amateur frequencies
50 MHz and above. Further, we affirm our present rule that requires the
control operator to be present at the control point whenever the station
is engaging in third-party traffic.
9. IT IS ORDERED, That Part 97 is amended as set forth in the
Appendix hereto. This action is taken pursuant to the authority contained
in Sections 4 (i) and 303 (r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended.
10. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That these rule amendments shall become
effective, March 14, 1986.
11. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That the Secretary shall cause a copy
of this Report and Order to be published in the Federal Register.
12. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, That this proceeding is terminated.
__________________________________________________________________________
(Page 4)
13. Information in this matter may be obtained by contacting
Maurice J. DePont, (202) 632-4964. Private Radio Bureau, Federal
Communications Commission, Washington, D.C. 20554.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
William J. Tricarico
Secretary
Attachment: Appendix
__________________________________________________________________________
(Page 5)
_APPENDIX_
Part 97 of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations is
amended, as follows:
1. The authority citation for Part 97 continues to read as follows:
Authority citation: 48 Stat. 1066, 1082, as amended;
47 U.S.C. 154, 303.
2. Section 97.3 (m) (3) is amended to read:
Sec 97.3 Definitions.
* * * *
(m) * * *
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) _Automatic control_ means the use of devices and procedures for
control without the control operator being present at the control
point when the station is transmitting.
3. Section 97.79 (b) is amended to read:
Sec 97.79 Control operator requirements.
* * * *
(b) Every amateur radio station, when transmitting, must have a control
operator. The control operator must be present at the control point of
the station, except when the station is transmitting under automatic
control. The control operator must be a licensed amateur radio
operator or permittee designated by the station licensee. The control
operator and the station licensee are both responsible for the proper
operation of the station. For purposes of enforcement of the rules
of this part, the FCC will presume that the station licensee is the
control operator of the station, unless documentation to the contrary
exists.
__________________________________________________________________________
(Page 6)
4. Section 97.69 is amended by adding a new paragraph (d), as follows:
Sec. 97.69 Digital communications.
* * * *
(d) An amateur station may be under automatic control when
transmitting digital communications on frequencies 50 MHz and above.
5. A new section 97.80 is added, as follows:
Sec. 97.80 Operation under automatic control.
(a) When under automatic control, devices must be installed and
procedures must be implemented which will ensure compliance with
the rules when the control operator is not present at the control
point of the amateur station.
(b) No amateur station may be operated under automatic control
while transmitting third-party traffic.
(c) Automatic control of an amateur station must cease upon
notification by the Engineer-in-Charge of a Commission field
office that the station is transmitting improperly or causing
harmful interference to other stations. Automatic operation
must not be resumed without prior approval of the Engineer-in-Charge.
6. Section 97.114 is amended by adding a new subparagraph (4) to
paragraph (b) as follows:
Sec. 97.114 Third-party traffic.
* * * *
(b) * * *
(4) Third-party traffic from an amateur station under automatic
control.
* * * *
__________________________________________________________________________
[The above copy retyped for distribution by Bob Clements, K1BC,
from the FCC text as obtained from ARRL. 25 January 1986.]