4 thoughts on “Image226.jpg”

    1. Seen on a gas pump. I wanted to look up the internals on the FCC website to see what they crammed into the pump, and why. Easiest way to take notes is to photopost them.

        1. no.

          Amateur equipment, when they're primary on the band, does not have to accept interference. Thus, if I'm trying to do something interesting at 2.4 gigahertz with ham radio, I have every right to bitch about your access point interfering, and can even start enforcement action requiring you to shut off your access point (or find a way for it not to interfere, such as change channels to the upper half of the 802.11b channel space, which isn't part of the ham band) or face fines.

          Realistically in that example, it'd be more trouble than it's worth, but if, for example, your TV picks up my ham radio transmissions, you can bitch until you're blue in the face, and I don't have to do a thing about it, I can even do it just to mess with your TV (intentional interference), as long as I'm operating legally.

          Police radios are another example. They don't have to accept interference, and may generate interference if they're operating properly. If you generate interference on the police bands, even by accident, they can compel you to disable the equipment causing it.

          The best example is cell phones. They are not part 15 devices, and also are not required to accept interference (which is an FCC term basically saying 'you have no right to bitch about interference'). There was an article in the free press technology section last year where mike wendland rode with a verizon technician, and they tracked down some cell interference to a dude's house. They entered with his permission, tracked it down to a malfunctioning set of amplified bunny ears on his TV. They had every right at that point to seize the interfering device, or somehow disable it, but as you often learn when you're playing with big radios, it's easier to catch flies with sugar than salt – verizon bought him a set of amplified bunny ears (better ones, at that), that didn't interfere, in exchange for them being able to take the malfunctioning one with them (so they knew it wouldn't end up being turned on again at some point and interfering again).

          The rules are there basically so if both sides aren't playing nice, there's an obvious demarcation of who wins and who loses.

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