CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

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CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

Ken Kopp
Eric, please read your message (below), not for what you
probably meant to say, but for what the words actually say.  

It tells the reader that "high power TX in the CB band " is
always blocked, and doesn't say "TX in the CB band is blocked".  
Your wording clearly indicates that it only blocks "high power TX
in the CB band".  

I'm guilty of taking your posting literally, and from reading the reply
postings I'm not the only one who assumes the K3 will transmit on
27 mHz.

After the fact, I -DID- check mine ... it doesn't. (:-))

73! Ken Kopp - K0PP


Hi Ken - My email said exactly the opposite :-) The K3 -always- blocks
TX in the CB band (except out the 0 dBm transverter port.)

73, Eric  WA6HHQ

>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft
> To: David Ferrington, M0XDF
> Cc: Elecraft Reflector
> Sent: Wednesday, 19 December, 2007 16:54
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] #174 band limits
>
> Please note that the K3 -always- blocks high power TX in the CB band,
> regardless of what is programmed in for band TX limits.
>

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Re: CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

Goody K3NG
I'm not in favor of breaking the law, but I think the chances of running
into the FCC today are slim to none.  If you don't identify with your
ham callsign while using a ham rig on FRS or CB frequencies, it's
unlikely anyone, even the FCC will know a difference, or even care.  The
FCC can't even enforce Part 95 today, except for the occasional bust of
Joe's Radio Shop selling souped up CBs and amps.  And if you look at
their recent "creative" interpretation of harmful interference in Part
15 in regards to BPL it would appear that the FCC is taking a more
liberal approach to the rules.  Today's FCC is more concerned with Janet
Jackson and figuring out how to maintain telco monopolies, but I digress
:-)  I think the only time the FCC would ever know about an occurrence
of a ham using a ham rig out of band during an emergency would be if
another ham reported them to the FCC.  One would have to ask what the
true motives are of someone doing this.

I do carry an FRS and CB radio in my communications go kit, but if
either of them don't work for any reason during an event, I won't
hesitate to use one of my ham rigs.  If the FCC has lost its last
vestige of common sense and wants to fine me, I'll turn in my license as
it's no longer worth my time and effort to volunteer my services.

I'm disappointed the K3 won't transmit on its entire receive range.  
We're amateur radio operators, not toddlers trying to get into the
cabinet under the sink.

Phil Kane wrote:

> On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:12:05 -0500, Goody K3NG wrote:
>
>  
>> Recently our county has been getting its act together in regards
>> to Emcomm, so we've been doing drills and educational programs at
>> meetings.  As an amateur, you need to be prepared to communicate
>> on non-ham frequencies, like FRS or CB.  Sometimes in a disaster
>> situation you may need to communicate with non-hams who are only
>> equipped with FRS or CB.  One prime example of this in a drill we
>> did was a trucker coming in to deliver supplies to a shelter.  We
>> needed to "talk in" the driver to the shelter over CB.
>>    
>
>   And what excuse are you going to rely on if the FCC declares that
>   the "out-of-band" communication did not meet the very specific
>   and narrow "window" permitting "any frequency, any power"?
>
>   When I was on the FCC enforcement staff I served on severalv
>   investigations of such situations, and although you may feel
>   that given the same facts there was no other choice, none of
>   the "out-of-band" situations was found to meet the requirements.
>
>   The answer to the "CB/FRS" problem?  Use the proper radios.
>   All of our comm centers and EOCs have them - they are very
>   cheap.  Plan ahead.
>
>   It's your license on the line, as well as seizure and
>   forfeiture of your radio equipment.
>
>   'Nuff said.
>  
--
Blog: http://thek3ngreport.blogspot.com/

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Re: CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

David Pratt-2
In a recent message Goody K3NG <[hidden email]> writes
>I'm not in favor of breaking the law, but I think the chances of
>running into the FCC today are slim to none.  If you don't identify
>with your ham callsign while using a ham rig on FRS or CB frequencies,
>it's unlikely anyone, even the FCC will know a difference, or even care.

It is the tendency these days for radio amateurs of all nations to
self-regulate.  So let us do just that and use equipment which is legal.
A CB transceiver can be bought for just a few $, so let's act
responsibly and keep the hobbies separate without complicating the issue
any further.  It is fortunate that the CB bands can be disabled in K3
firmware.

73 de David G4DMP


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Re: CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

Shaun Oliver
I quite agree. even the vaunted yaesu ft817 with a few jumper
modifications can be made for general coverage tx.
shaun.


On 20/12/2007 4:49 PM, the old scribe known as David Pratt was able to
impart this pearl of wisdom:

> In a recent message Goody K3NG <[hidden email]> writes
>> I'm not in favor of breaking the law, but I think the chances of
>> running into the FCC today are slim to none.  If you don't identify
>> with your ham callsign while using a ham rig on FRS or CB frequencies,
>> it's unlikely anyone, even the FCC will know a difference, or even care.
>
> It is the tendency these days for radio amateurs of all nations to
> self-regulate.  So let us do just that and use equipment which is legal.
> A CB transceiver can be bought for just a few $, so let's act
> responsibly and keep the hobbies separate without complicating the issue
> any further.  It is fortunate that the CB bands can be disabled in K3
> firmware.
>
> 73 de David G4DMP
>
>
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>
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>
>
>
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Re: CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

Brendan Minish

On Thu, 2007-12-20 at 17:15 +1100, Shaun Oliver wrote:
> I quite agree. even the vaunted yaesu ft817 with a few jumper
> modifications can be made for general coverage tx.
> shaun.

the FT817 can have general coverage TX enabled and have it's region
changed by software alone. A firmware reset restores the region set by
the hardware jumpers
73
Brendan EI6IZ

--
Don‘t complain. Nobody will understand. Or care. And certainly don‘t try
to fix the situation yourself. It‘s dangerous. Leave it to a highly
untrained, unqualified, expendable professional.

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Re: CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

Goody K3NG
In reply to this post by David Pratt-2
David Pratt wrote:

> In a recent message Goody K3NG <[hidden email]> writes
>> >>I'm not in favor of breaking the law, but I think the chances of
>> running into the FCC today are slim to none.  If you don't identify
>> with your ham callsign while using a ham rig on FRS or CB
>> frequencies, it's unlikely anyone, even the FCC will know a
>> difference, or even care.
>
> >It is the tendency these days for radio amateurs of all nations to
> self-regulate.  So let us do just that and use equipment which is
> legal. A CB transceiver can be bought for just a few $, so let's act
> responsibly and keep the hobbies separate without complicating the
> issue any further.  It is fortunate that the CB bands can be disabled
> in K3 firmware.


My point is not that the K3 should be a CB transceiver, nor am I
encouraging someone to use it regularly on CB bands or "combine the
hobbies".  The point is it would be prudent to have the capability there
if you need it.  I'm not disputing that in normal situations "legal" CB
transceivers are cheap and readily available.  The reality is in
abnormal situations (i.e. emergencies) they're not readily available.  
It doesn't matter to me if I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere that
Walmart is selling  CBs for $15, I don't have a Walmart that I can get
to.  It doesn't matter that I own a cheap CB if it happens to be at my
house if I'm a hundred miles away.  While we can preach with blue skies
that everyone should be prepared and carry a CB, the fact of the matter
is that we can't carry in our vehicles or on our person at every moment
every possible tool needed in an emergency.  CB disabled on the K3 is
like the little saw removed on a Swiss Army knife.

Jim Cundiff KB3GFC wrote:

 >If you can afford $3K for a radio and have the time and desire to
volunteer, spend a hundred bucks and buy the CB if you want to TX there!

<sigh> It's not about the money.  If it was, anyone could buy a ham rig
already on the market cheaper than the K3 that can TX in the CB band and
amateur bands.

In summary (to the group), it seems the point of this no-TX-in-the-CB
band "feature" isn't to keep law-abiding amateurs legal, it's to keep
non-hams from using it for a glorified CB.  As I've mentioned earlier,
the price point, appearance, marketing, and features of the K3 take this
so far out of the law-breaking CBer demographic, it's silly to think
there would be widespread use of K3s on CB bands in areas where it was
illegal.  The potential benefits of having CB TX available far outweigh
the risks.  Not to get mellowdramatic, but it seems often in amateur
radio today, we've thrown out common sense and practical reality for
legalistic and/or idealistic principles.  That is what several of the
arguments here are doing.

Everyone (in the US) should keep a paper copy of Part 95 and 97 with
them for emergencies -- it makes a good fire starter.

73
K3NG
Goody

--
Blog: http://thek3ngreport.blogspot.com/

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RE: CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

Richard Kent


-----Original Message-----

Before Eric Stops this thread,

This is a point I have wondered about for a long time. In the US, it has
been illegal to use CB frequencies since the late 70's. To the hams this
mean that transverters had only 2 Mhz to work with (28-30mhz) as an IF. This
means that a 6 meter transverter had to be crystaled 50-52 or 52-54. The
same is true for the other bands that are 4 Mhz wide also. I have often
wondered if the FCC would allow an "IF" radio to be built that covers either
26-30 Mhz or 28-32 Mhz to allow tranverters access to both small signal and
FM ends of the band. Maybe this is a point that we have been to afraid to
ask (with good reason, the FCC scared me well). Maybe there was another
answer all along we did not know it. Maybe the popularity of the CB band has
dwindled to the point that it is not the hot spot we remember.

Still scared
Richard Kent WD8AJG K2 5296


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Re: general coverage TX

Ian Stirling, G4ICV, AB2GR
In reply to this post by Shaun Oliver
On Thursday 20 December 2007 01:15:21 Shaun Oliver wrote:
> I quite agree. even the vaunted yaesu ft817 with a few jumper
> modifications can be made for general coverage tx.

 The FT817 in general coverage TX with a variable attenuator
is a useful bench signal generator - just as my IC-735 was
with diodes 33 and 34 on the main board snipped.

Ian, G4ICV, AB2GR, K2 #4962
--
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RE: CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

k1uo-Larry
In reply to this post by Richard Kent

Richard Kent wrote

 Maybe there was another
answer all along we did not know it. Maybe the popularity of the CB band has
dwindled to the point that it is not the hot spot we remember.
or maybe the FCC will give us back the 11 meter band that used to be a Ham band!
yeah....right !
Merry Christmas
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Re: CB band TX? - I'm shocked!

Phil Kane-2
In reply to this post by David Pratt-2
On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:49:49 +0000, David Pratt wrote:

>It is fortunate that the CB bands can be disabled in K3
>firmware.

  As Eric and Wayne will agree, if any ham transmitter or kit
  sold commercially transmits in the CB band, it must be type
  certified for such use before it can be marketed.  This is far
  more complicated than it sounds.
--
   73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
   ARRL Volunteer Counsel



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