FCC Presses K1MAN for Additional Information

WASHINGTON, DC, Aug 5, 1999--The FCC has given Glenn Baxter, K1MAN, another 20 days to provide additional details about who was running his station on two days in mid-May. FCC personnel monitored and visited Baxter's station in Belgrade Lakes, Maine, on May 14 and 15 but failed to find Baxter or anyone else on the premises. FCC engineers from the Commission's Boston office reported that the station was transmitting, but facilities appeared to be locked and no one was around.

The FCC subsequently wrote Baxter to inquire into the circumstances of the May visits and--among other things--to ask for the name and whereabouts of the control operator on the days in question. Apparently unhappy with the information Baxter provided in response, FCC Attorney Riley Hollingsworth wrote Baxter again this week.

"Your response of July 25 failed to provide the information requested by the Commission," Hollingsworth said.

According to Hollingsworth's letter, Baxter had told the FCC that on May 14 and 15 he was "both mobile and portable in the local area." Hollingsworth said the FCC wants him to identify whether it was mobile or portable and at what times and in what specific areas.

Hollingsworth also pressed Baxter for more specifics on his station's operating schedule--for which Baxter had referred the Commission to his Web site while noting that the schedules had been altered over the years. In his initial inquiry, Hollingsworth had asked Baxter to list the programming schedule for K1MAN for the period of January 1, 1998 through June 1, 1999, "and provide the dates, times and frequencies," as well as the name address, and telephone number of the control operator for each of those transmissions.

The FCC also had asked if K1MAN employed station automation equipment and if the station ever was remotely controlled. According to the FCC, Baxter's reply indicated that his three Collins transmitters were "controlled by two Radio Shack timers." Calling the statement "insufficient," Hollingsworth asked for details and a control circuit configuration "as requested" and for specific information of any remote control operation--including a schematic of the control circuit. He also asked Baxter for information on any automated tape control devices.

The FCC letter also said Baxter failed to provide information "regarding dates and times that K1MAN may have transmitted without a control operator being present since the inception of the license term."

The letter cautioned Baxter that "Commission rules require that Amateur stations be under the physical control of a control operator, and that the control operator must ensure the immediate proper operation of the station."

The letter cited FCC authority to request the information under §308(b) of the Communications Act and pointed out that the FCC "may revoke the license of a licensee who willfully fails to provide the information or who submits a willfully false or misleading response."

The FCC has said that during its first attempt to visit K1MAN, on the morning of May 14, 1999, K1MAN was transmitting on 3.975 MHz. FCC personnel say they were unable to find anyone--either at Baxter's station at the tip of Long Point or at his nearby residence--and, according to the FCC, "there were no vehicles on the premises."

The next day while K1MAN was on the air, Hollingsworth wrote, "FCC personnel again attempted to inspect your station but there was no one present and there were no vehicles."

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