Guys, I think what he's saying is the repeater itself has no IDer. Eric, you didn't say whether these are ham repeaters.
If they are, each repeater must have a licensee, and that licensee's callsign must be given on the repeater's transmitter at intervals not to exceed 10 minutes when the repeater is active, and at the end of activity. Unless the user is also the licensee, announcing his own callsign on the input won't cover the requirement to ID the repeater. This is a common-sense issue. If there's an interference problem caused by the repeater's transmitter, the FCC needs to know whose transmitter it is. Any transmitter needs to be identified with the callsign of whoever is responsible for its operation and compliance with technical standards. I believe the FCC language requires "devices or procedures" to ensure compliance. A repeater controller which generates a CW or voice ID employs a "device." Users who faithfully announce the repeater's callsign often enough to satisfy the requirement would be one possible "procedure." If the user-ID approach is always followed meticulously, there is never a random signal or uninformed transient user to trigger the repeater to transmit without a user there to ID it, and in no case does the repeater ever come to life spontaneously, there's no violation. Since listening to any conversation longer than 10 minutes on 2M invariably reveals users who don't even ID their own transmissions as often as legally required, entrusting users with ID-ing the repeater is highly dubious. It's also highly likely you'll have visitors to the area who stumble across the repeater and don't know its callsign. Long-story-short, if there's never a time the repeater goes without an legally-required ID, I think you'd be hard-pressed to demonstrate a violation. On the other hand, if it happens even once in years of otherwise compliant operation, you've probably earned a violation for failing to employ "good amateur practice." In the real world, you could probably run a recording and catch violations any day, especially regarding the requirement for an ID at the end of activity. If the repeater itself has no IDer, and users are rarely or never identifying the repeater by its own callsign, then it's a slam-dunk violation. Hopefully an ARRL Official Observer will drop the licensee a card before the feds do. 73, Paul, AE4KR ----- Original Message ----- From: n6nmz To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 4:59 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Repeater Identification Requirements Someone told me that this was discussed already on the group but I have not been able to locate the thread. There are some repeaters in our area that are using CTCSS access and have no call sign indentification. Anyone know if that is compliant with the FCC rules. Does the operating station, who is in control via their tone, suffice as the indentification? Thanks, Eric Homa - N6NMZ.
