With the popularity of hotspots, cross-band repeaters and other devices, I got to thinking about the legal classification of these devices and what it means to their operation. I don't really want to start a 400 message discussion, but to allow each of you to contemplate what you believe to be in accordance to the law where you live.
I know for a fact that this can be debated until, well, forever, let's not do it here. I'm going to express my statements from US FCC Part 97, other countries may be different. Consult your local rules and regulations for details. When is a hotspot a repeater? Is it when it operates on two different frequencies? Just what is it? >From Part 97.3 (a) (39) (39) Repeater. An amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels. Okay, different channels. But what happens if two simplex nodes are connected together? Aren't they transmitting on different channels? Does that make it a repeater? Or is it the fact that they are different stations that make them not a repeater? But then again, it also sounds a lot like an auxiliary station (7) Auxiliary station. An amateur station, other than in a message forwarding system, that is transmitting communications point-to-point within a system of cooperating amateur stations. Well, that sounds a little closer. But why wouldn't we just call it a standard ham radio station? And then that's 97.113 (f) (f) No amateur station, except an auxiliary, repeater or space station, may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur stations. Whoops, that "automatically retransmit" becomes a problem. So what does "automatic" mean Which Automatic Control is defined in 97.3 (6) as (6) Automatic control. The use of devices and procedures for control of a station when it is transmitting so that compliance with the FCC Rules is achieved without the control operator being present at a control point. So it boils down to control operator at a control point. This one has been debated for many years. Does it mean that the control operator has to push the microphone? Do they have to be in the room and watch every action that occurs? Can they be 100 miles away, but always monitoring and able to send a command turn off the transmitter? But what probably defines automatic control is when a control operator is not listening and a transmission occurs. Why does it matter? A few reasons: * A repeater or auxiliary station is limited to they frequencies that they may operate at * A repeater may require coordination * A system that is not a repeater, nor auxiliary station may always have to be under positive control So think about this as you deploy things such as cross-band repeaters or access points. Are they correctly operated? Are they correctly identified? Are they on an appropriate frequency? We've already had one ruling by the FCC about D-STAR repeaters and that didn't go the way that many organizations had hoped. Let's not force another ruling. Ed WA4YIH
