Your Repeater - Your Rules HRN281

NOTE: We have an index of time-links to specific topics in this video at the bottom of this description.

We haven’t heard a lot from FCC Special Counsel Laura Smith lately, but she spoke at Pacificon, a large ham conference in the San Francisco area, last October. Her talk was recorded by Bob Miller WB6KWT and his son Robert KA7JKP, and Bob gave us permission to use the talk for HamRadioNow.

Gary adds a long intro (typical HamRadioNow style), with a summary of the talk’s highlights and a few comments, along with a status report on the Amateur Radio Parity Act, before we play Laura’s talk in full.

The title is a bit of click bait. Laura does actually talk about repeaters and uses that phrase, but she talks about a lot of other things, too. The headline should probably be about the plan to have ARRL Official Observers work closer with the FCC on initial investigations of complaints.

INDEX:
– Laura Smith begins, notes that she’s been on leave for two years: 24:21
– Enforcement position moved in FCC: 25:38
– Online Enforcement Complaint System: 26:44
– RFI: 29:35
– Lots of NAL’s & Forfeiture Orders: 33:19
– Stay away from ‘the problem frequencies’: 34:23
– Bad reputation among some FCC staff: 39:12
– Hams with felony convictions: 39:45
– FCC is Closing Field Offices: 43:31
– OO Program revamp coming: 46:38
– More aggressive policing of Ham Bands: 49:34
– Wireless Bureau – Bill Cross W3TN retired: 51:00
– Ham’s participation in rulemaking comments critical: 51:58
– Baud Rate FCC 16-96: 53:22
– Hide your home address in ULS FCC 15-40: 57:34
– Your Repeater: Your Rules: 1:03:07
– Repeater owner not responsible for bad ham: 1:05:28
– One Big Knob: 1:06:46
(here’s a link to Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH’s whole “One Big Knob” talk at Dayton 2007:
https://youtu.be/oCN-3jkMHqE )
– Enforcement action process described in detail: 1:09:12
– Mad Ham (since 1977), blame the lawyers: 1:15:23
– Enforcement faster in Public Safety, slower in Amateur: 1:18:20