Report No. CI 98-3 COMPLIANCE AND INFORMATION ACTION March 20, 1998

FCC CLOSES DOWN UNLICENSED RADIO OPERATION

THAT THREATENED AIR SAFETY AT SACRAMENTO AIRPORT;

FOURTH AIRPORT INTERFERENCE INCIDENT IN FIVE MONTHS

The Federal Communications Commission today announced it had located and
shut-down an unlicensed radio broadcasting operation in Sacramento,
California, that was reported by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) to be causing interference to safe air traffic control
communications at Sacramento Executive Airport.

The FCC said that after investigating FAA complaints about interference
at the airport on four different frequencies, it identified the source
as an unlicensed radio station operating on 107.2 MHz from the office of
Dollar and Sense Productions, 2251 Florin Road, Suite 128, Sacramento.
FCC investigators informed the operator of the interference yesterday,
and shortly thereafter the station shut down its operations.

In a letter to the FCC on the incident, the FAA told the FCC the
unlicensed radio operation was \"creating an unsafe condition in our
National Airspace System.\"

This is the fourth time in the last five months that FCC investigators
have had to make emergency-response investigations to locate illegal
unlicensed broadcast stations which were interfering with air traffic
communications. In October 1997, the FCC obtained voluntary shut down of
two separate unlicensed operations interfering with air traffic control
frequencies at Miami International Airport and West Palm Beach
International Airport. In February this year, the FCC and Office of the
United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico obtained a court
order to confiscate transmission equipment from an unlicensed operator
who was causing interference at San Juan International Airport and who
refused to shut-down voluntarily.

FCC Chairman William Kennard said, \"Unlicensed radio operations such as
this pose a threat to critical air traffic communications and a risk to
safety of life due to the interfering transmissions. I am concerned that
we have now had multiple incidents of interference at four airports
around the country. We will continue to inform the public of these
dangers and to move swiftly to eliminate these potential hazards to air
traffic communications.\"

\- more -

In the Sacramento case, the FCC\'s San Francisco office was first
alerted by the FAA on Wednesday, March 18, that aircraft over Napa,
California, were receiving interference to their radio communications
and that there was a radio station signal being heard on the pilots\'
air traffic control radio channel. The FCC began an immediate
investigation, but was hampered by the fact that the signal was only
being heard high in the air and the possible location of the source was
anywhere in a 60 mile radius of Napa.

On Thursday, March 19, the investigation focused in the Sacramento,
California, area when the FCC was notified that the FAA radios at
Sacramento Executive Airport were receiving interference on several
channels (119.5, 122.2, 125.0, and 126.8 MHz) from a radio station. The
FAA reported that the station appeared to be drifting or changing
frequency.

Two FCC investigators were immediately dispatched to Sacramento. FCC
technical measurements showed that the transmitter of the illegal
station was not only sending out the intended broadcast station signal,
it was also sending out numerous other spurious signals on aviation
frequencies. When notified of the interference, the operator of the
unlicensed operation voluntarily shut down the transmissions.

Unlicensed radio transmissions, in general, can create a danger of
interference to important radio communications services. Such illegal
transmissions, using equipment of unknown technical integrity, raise a
particular concern because of the potential for harmful interference to
authorized radio operations, including public safety communications and
aircraft frequencies, as in this case. Unlicensed broadcast stations are
of particular concern because they operate on channels directly adjacent
to those used for sensitive aviation communications and air navigation
signals.

Under federal law, radio stations may be operated only upon the issuance
of an FCC license covering such equipment. Unlicensed operation may
subject the violator to serious penalties provided for in the
Communications Act of a civil fine of up to \$11,000 and/or seizure and
forfeiture of the radio equipment by court order. Violators could also
be subject to criminal fines imposed by the Justice Department of up to
\$100,000, and/or imprisonment for up to one year or both for a first
offense.

In addition, interference with a government communications system, such
as the FAA air traffic control or air navigation systems, is a federal
felony and violators can be punished under the federal criminal code.

-FCC-

News Media Contact: David Fiske, (202) 418-0513

Compliance and Information Bureau Contact: Joseph Casey, (202) 418-1100