Amateur Licensee Faces Big Fine for Marketing Non-Certified CB Equipment

NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 14, 2006 -- The FCC has imposed a $21,000 fine on Wesley Noe, doing business as GI Joe's Radio Electronics and GI Joe's CB Radio, of Richmond, Kentucky, for allegedly marketing non-certified Citizens Band transceivers and external RF power amplifiers. Some of the equipment was capable of operating on Amateur Radio and US Government frequencies, the FCC has asserted. Noe appears to hold a Novice class ham ticket, KC4CJD. A December 11 Forfeiture Order (NoF) in the case followed a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) from the FCC's Detroit Field Office asserting that GI Joe's Radio Electronics apparently willfully and repeatedly violated FCC rules by offering for sale non-certified CB transceivers and RF power amplifiers via its Web site and at its Richmond, Kentucky, shop. GI Joe's did not dispute the NAL's findings, the FCC said, but requested cancellation or reduction of the forfeiture based on an inability to pay and submitted federal tax returns to support that claim.

"We decline to grant GI Joe's request that we cancel or reduce the proposed forfeiture," the FCC said in the NoF. "After reviewing GI Joe's claim and supporting documentation, we find that a cancellation or reduction of the forfeiture based on an inability to pay is not warranted."

The case dates back to June 2003, when an agent from the Enforcement Bureau's Detroit Office visited the GI Joe's Web site in response to a complaint. "The agent observed that the Web site displayed and offered for sale multiple makes and models of non-certified CB transceivers, including Galaxy models DX55V and DX66V, as well as the Connex 3300 model," the FCC said in the NAL. "These models previously had been tested by the Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) and determined to be non-certified CB transceivers."

The FCC said its Detroit agent also observed numerous makes and models of external RF power amplifiers offered for sale, including RM Costruzioni Elettroniche (RM Italy) models KLV-60, KLV-200P, and KLV-300P.

The Detroit office issued a Citation to GI Joe's for offering for sale non-certified CB transceivers and external RF power amplifiers. Noe responded: "All 10 meter radios have been identified and labeled as 10 meter radios and will only be sold as such in the United States," the FCC said. He further stated that he had discontinued the sale of the external RF power amplifiers that operate between 24 MHz and 35 MHz, the FCC added.

After subsequently observing that many of the same non-certified CB transceivers and external radio frequency power amplifiers were offered for sale in the GI Joe's store, an FCC agent orally warned Noe and issued written warnings to GI Joe's ordering the sales to cease immediately and warning that future violations could lead to fines.

Legal counsel for GI Joe's responded by disputing "all of the legal and factual contentions set forth in the citation and notices," the FCC said. The Commission declined to withdraw or cancel the Citation as requested by GI Joe's counsel, however.

In April 2005, agents from the Detroit office responded to complaints that GI Joe's continued to sell non-certified CB transceivers and illegal external RF power amplifiers. The FCC says its agents not only saw non-certified CB transceivers offered for sale but inspected two CB stations in the shop that, the FCC says, used non-certified CB transceivers. "The agents observed that both transceivers were equipped to operate on the frequencies assigned to the CB Radio Service as well as on other frequencies, including those assigned to the Amateur Radio Service (ARS) and the United States Government," the FCC recounted in the NAL.

A Detroit Office agent also found several non-certified CB transceivers and RF power amplifiers offered for sale on GI Joe's Web site. During another visit last March an agent found that GI Joe's continued to market non-certified CB transceivers and non-certified external RF power amplifiers.

A check by ARRL two days after the FCC released its NoF showed that GI Joe's Radio Electronics Web site still offering Galaxy DX55V and DX66V and Connex 3300HP transceivers for sale as 10 meter Amateur Radio gear. The Connex 3300HP ad indicates the transceiver runs 40 W. A photo shows a CB-type channel selector for tuning and the number "23" in the display.

Under the terms of a consent decree in a similar case last May, the FCC reached agreement with Pilot Travel Centers LLC that required Pilot to remove from sale Galaxy transceiver models DX33HML, DX66V and DX99V. Pilot further agreed to make "a voluntary contribution" of $90,000 to the US Treasury but did not admit to any wrongdoing.

The FCC cited those same Galaxy models last June in affirming a $7000 fine on TravelCenters of America in Troutdale, Oregon, for marketing non-certified CB transceivers as 10-meter Amateur Radio transceivers. The FCC turned away TravelCenters' argument that the transceivers in question were not CB transceivers, which require FCC certification, but Amateur Radio transceivers, which do not.

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