From: ornitz@kodak.kodak.com (Barry Ornitz)
Subject: Re: FCC Regulations (a little long, but informative)
Followup-To: alt.radio.pirate
Summary: Title 47, CFR
Keywords: FCC, Part 15, Part 73
Organization: Eastman Chemical Company
Distribution: us
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 00:51:28 GMT

In article <1992Oct1.162049.23630@mail.cornell.edu> Richard Zimmerman 
<YAQX@cornella> writes:
>Is there an FTP site for all the FCC regulations concerning FM Radio
>Broadcasts?  If not, where, and under what title can I find a printed
>copy?   Thanks..

I am not aware of any FTP site.  A full set of the FCC Rules & Regs occupies
about six inches of one of my bookcases, so I doubt if anyone wants to scan
them all in.

Most larger public libraries carry copies of the Code of Federal Regulations.
The FCC R&R's may be found in Title 47, CFR. There are currently four volumes
in the series.  I think a new edition of Title 47 may be released later this
month.  You can also order just the FCC R&R's from the Superintendent of
Documents, Government Printing Office.  I strongly suggest going the 47 CFR
route!

Broadcast FM regulations are listed in Part 73.  Unlicensed operation is
covered by Part 15.

There has been considerable confusion lately about permissible power levels
for unlicensed transmitting - at least among the uninformed readers of USENET.
For all unlicensed transmissions on frequencies above 1705 KHz, acceptable 
power levels are determined by permissible field strength limits measured at a 
fixed distance from the transmitting antenna.  [There is a special provision
for home-built devices on the 49 MHz band.]  These field strengths are
generally quite low.

For transmission in the 88-108 MHz band, for example, the maximum permissible
field strength is 250 microvolts per meter measured at 3 meters.  If you do
the antenna near-field calculations for dipoles, ground-planes, and other
relatively efficient antennas, this sets your maximum transmitter power to  
less than a few NANOWATTS, not the milliwatts most readers mistakenly believe.

You (collectively, the readers of this group) should read Part 15 carefully
before even thinking about setting up a "pirate" station.  Approximately a
year ago, the FCC changed their fine structure.  They are now coming down
quite heavily on pirate broadcasting. [FCC Policy Statement, "In the Matter
of Standards for Assessing Forfeitures", adopted July 11, 1991. (FCC 91-217)]

Since the field-strength/power restrictions tend to be confusing to most
people without antenna expertise, Paul Schenck, who maintains many of the
amateur radio FAQ lists has asked me to write an article on the subject.  I
plan to do this real soon now... it is on my list of things to do...  really...
{don't hit me again, Paul!}.  I have verified that my computer models do
agree with several cases where analytical solutions are possible so I hope
to crank out the data and write the article soon (after some business trips).

Sorry if this is so long and I turned the question into a soapbox a little.
The "pirates" are free to do as they wish; but they also must pay the
consequences if they are caught.  I am writing this, however, not for them but
for the person who wants to set up his own unlicensed neighborhood broadcast, 
but who does not understand the technical aspects of the Part 15 rules.
(I am also cross-posting this to the electronics and ham radio groups where
many people tend to ask questions when they cannot receive the "alt" groups.)

					Barry
 -----------------
|  ___  ________  |       Dr. Barry L. Ornitz          WA4VZQ
| |  / /        | |       Eastman Kodak Company
| | / /         | |       Eastman Chemical Company Research Laboratories
| |< < K O D A K| |       Process Instrumentation Research Laboratory
| | \ \         | |       P. O. Box 1972, Building 167B
| |__\ \________| |       Kingsport, TN  37662       615/229-4904
|                 |       INTERNET:   ornitz@kodak.com
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Newsgroups: alt.radio.pirate