MormonMike

My Feedback: (2)

OK guys heres a different one. A friend of mine from upstate New York who flys quite regularly and lives about 25 minutes from an AMA site says he's "fed-up" with other locals who are not club members flying off of open fields close enough to his homeflying site that he is taking "hits" whenever he decides to fly at his personal site at his home. He stated that he feels its in his rights to leave on his TX and also to have a spare TX to leave on before, during and after his flying. This is supposedly to bring down anyone else that might be flying on his Freq. His logic is to safely fly his own expensive RC's and not to care about anything else in the area on his channels. I did'nt know what to say. I know its wrong but what can I say to him without starting a fight [or at least, a very heated argument] Request replys please.[] MM.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

He needs to make nice with the other fields and come up with frequency sharing agreement(s).

His "solution" will not necessarily protect his plane from interference. He could indeed loose his plane and the other person never know anything was happening, or vice versa.

flycatch

My Feedback: (26)

Reminds me of a fellow in South Carolina who had his own airstrip for his full scale airplane. He said he had every right to fly his airplane from his strip even though it was located within one mile of a FAA controled airport. The FAA gave him two options either keep your plane permently grounded or request clearence from the local airport for all departures and landings at his airstrip.
Unfortunately for models these rules don't apply. You friend in my opinion has every right in doing what he does. The legalities and moralities of this issue lie within the grey area of the consequences of his actions.

J_R

There is probably nothing you can say or do, short of turning him in, to deter him.

What he is doing is illegal under part 95 of the FCC regulations. You may only have your Tx on when you are using it for it's intended purpose. Check the RC sections for more.

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/w...7cfr95_00.html


TITLE 47--TELECOMMUNICATION

COMMISSION (CONTINUED)

PART 95--PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES--Table of Contents

Subpart B--Family Radio Service (FRS)

Sec. 95.191 (FRS Rule 1) Eligibility and responsibility.

Source: 61 FR 28768, June 6, 1996, unless otherwise noted.

General Provisions


(a) Unless you are a representative of a foreign government, you are
authorized by this rule to operate an FCC certified FRS unit in
accordance with the rules in this subpart. No license will be issued.
(b) You are responsible for all communications that you make with
the FRS unit. You must share each channel with other users. No channel
is available for the private or exclusive use of any user.

Sec. 95.212 (R/C Rule 12) What communications are prohibited?

You must not use an R/C station--
(a) In connection with any activity which is against federal, state
or local law;
(b) To transmit any message other than for operation of devices at
remote locations (no voice, telegraphy, etc.);
(c) To intentionally interfere with another station's transmissions;

[[Page 531]]

(d) To operate another R/C transmitter by remote control (See R/C
Rule 17, Sec. 95.217); or
(e) To transmit two-way communications.
(f) To transmit data. Tone or other signal encoding, however, is not
considered to be data when only used either for the purpose of
identifying the specific device among multiple devices that the operator
intends to turn on/off, or the specific sensor among multiple sensors
intended to turn on/off indicating device for the operator.

[48 FR 24890, June 3, 1983, as amended at 54 FR 8336, Feb. 28, 1989; 54
FR 20476, May 11, 1989]

Sec. 95.214 (R/C Rule 14) Who is responsible for R/C communications I make?

You are responsible for all communications which are made by you
from an R/C station.

Sec. 95.218 (R/C Rule 18) What are the penalties for violating these rules?

(a) If the FCC finds that you have willfully or repeatedly violated
the Communications Act or the FCC Rules, you may have to pay as much as
$10,000 for each violation, up to a total of $75,000. (See Section
503(b) of the Communications Act.) (b) If the FCC finds that you have violated any section of the
Communications Act or the FCC Rules, you may be ordered to stop whatever
action caused the violation. (See section 312(b) of the Communications
Act.)
(c) If a federal court finds that you have willfully and knowingly
violated any FCC Rule, you may be fined up to $500 for each day you
committed the violation. (See section 502 of the Communications Act.)[[Page 532]]

(d) If a Federal court finds that you have willfully and knowingly
violated any provision of the Communications Act, you may be fined up to
$10,000, or you may be imprisoned for one year, or both. (See section
501 of the Communications Act.)

[48 FR 24890, June 3, 1983, as amended at 57 FR 40343, Sept. 3, 1992]

Live Wire

Its hard to get the FCC to do any thing about this problem when they have bigger fish in the sea. There are more RC unit's being used off of club sights than use them, and other than that what are you going to turn them in to.

J_R

As usual, we do not know what the actual facts are.

If I were the guy, I would put the word out, loud and clear, that I was leaving a Tx on, on channel xx, all the time. I would then do as I normally do and not leave a Tx on unless I was flying. The threat may be achieving his desired results.

On the other hand, he may not know what he is doing is illegal and may be a law abiding type that would quit when he realizes it is illegal.

Or... he may be a jerk

In any case, it is unlikely anyone is going to call the FCC and complain... whether he is a friend... or an enemy.

I guess, if anyone really wanted the FCC to go after him, they could say they thought he was a terriorist planning to use an RC plane for evil purposes.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

A lot of guys who fly from open fields that are within striking distance of a club field do so either out of ignorance, or they don't care. Alot of these flyers who show up at open fields are there without the owners' permission. Communication with the land owner might reveal that these flyers shouldn't be there. Maybe the local club can find a way to welcome them in with an introductory offer?

abel_pranger

MM-
In answer to your question, you can say absolutely nothing within your constraints of not arousing his animosity. Seems pretty obvious he doesn't hold that back - if somebody exercising their rights interferes with his, then to hell with them, shoot them down. Just like the good old days of beef cattlemen shooting sheep and their keepers on the open range. Say, last time I went through Utah there appeared to be a lot of open range left - maybe you could suggest he move there?
FCC rules would be hard to apply as it would be unlikely that evidence sufficient to convict could be gathered without his cooperation - not likely. Pretty much the same deal with a civil case brought against him by somebody he shot down - gotta prove it. So, he can probably do it and get away with it as far as the law is concerned. But then there's justice frontier style, and if I were among his victims, it would be served on him with due dilligence.
BTW, why is this guy your friend?

Abel

Live Wire

It is supposed to be all people are created equal, so they have the same rights as you. So they can fly where and when they choose. It is hard to prove that you were shot down when the guy standing by you has his Tx in his hand but if he is not flying with you it is going to be harder. A lot of people fly with out getting overfly rights, they fly in parks, off county roads and out of their back yard. The best thing is to get them to fly with the club or let them no there is a problem! But some don't care.

MormonMike

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks guys, I appreciate your advice. Abel, this fellow is really a nice guy. I will chose one of the responses to talk to him about and resolve this to all's advantage. thanks again, MM

âûñøåå îäíî

I think your friend is being an ***. Not everyone needs to fly with the AMA, so they can fly off of their feilds. And what would he do if they started doing the same thing, besides be very pissed off, and go on a rant?

BasinBum

My Feedback: (2)

A couple of points here that don't make much sense....I know this is a second hand account of the guy but since it's posted......

You say he is "fed-up"with people that are flying at their private site yet he is doing the same thing. Does the fact that they are not club members mean that there would be some form of frequency control if they were?

You say, "he is taking hits whenever he decides to fly at his personal site ". If that is the case I'd say it's probably a problem with his gear because it's highly unlikley that someone is on his channel evertime he goes flying.

Leaving his transmitter on seems like a waste of time and makes me think he's some kind of a-hole, the same as someone at our field who leaves their flag up all the time. He'd be a lot wiser to get a frequency scanner to see if there is actually someone using a particular frequency.

JR's suggestion of dropping a dime to the FCC and his subsequent quoting of regs is just plain silly as they are spending most of their time worrying about radio talk shows than to bother with something such as actual technical infractions like they are supposed to do.

(Edited so as not to be hypocritical and do the same thing I'm accusing someone else of....)

abel_pranger

Cripes, BB - Next time try the decaf

Abel

edited to delete misquote

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

edited per request

BillyGoat

I have to agree with BB on the point that he very likely is not taking a hit from another Tx on his frequency. It’s very likely some other form of interference.

Tell him he could burn up the module in his Tx leaving it on for long periods over and over.