SB QST @ ARL $ARLB091
ARLB091 FCC cracks enforcement whip

ZCZC AG91
QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 91  ARLB091
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  October 26, 1998
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB091
ARLB091 FCC cracks enforcement whip

The FCC has begun to crack its amateur enforcement whip. A New
Jersey ham has been ordered off 40 meters until further FCC notice
after allegedly causing interference to the ANARC Net on 7.240 MHz
October 18. The FCC also issued an Official Notice of Violation
October 21 against James C. Thompson, KA2YBP, of Waretown, New
Jersey.

Thompson, 58, was accused by FCC inspectors of illegally
retransmitting programs from a Standard Broadcast (AM) station on 40
meters and willfully interfering with the amateur net. The FCC also
charged Thompson with failing to properly identify.

It's the Commission's first amateur enforcement action since the FCC
announced it would consolidate amateur enforcement within the
Compliance and Information Bureau under the coordination of Riley
Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, the CIB's legal advisor for enforcement.

Hollingsworth said the FCC acted in the Thompson case on complaints
from amateurs, but FCC inspectors did all the legwork. The Notice of
Violation says FCC representatives conducted an inspection of
Thompson's station on the morning of October 18. ''From approximately
9:39 to 10:00 AM EDT, the licensee of station KA2YBP retransmitted
programs from a Standard Broadcast station, broadcasting on 1450
kHz, to Amateur Radio Service frequency 7.240 MHz,'' the Notice said.
FCC officials found an AM receiver ''positioned adjacent to the
Amateur station's microphone and tuned to 1450 kHz,'' the FCC said.

Hollingsworth said two FCC inspectors caught Thompson red-handed and
that he admitted being the culprit. Hollingsworth said FCC personnel
used a combination of long-range and local monitoring and tracking
to zero in on Thompson's QTH as the source of the interfering
signal.

Thompson has 10 days to respond to the notice and provide ''specific
action taken to correct the conditions observed above.''

Hollingsworth said he expects to have some additional amateur
enforcement cases develop as a result of calls to the Amateur
Enforcement Line, 202-418-1184.
NNNN
/EX