Louisiana ham fined $18,000 by FCC

From the ARRL - In an enforcement case prompted by complaints filed in 2017, the FCC has imposed an $18,000 forfeiture on Jerry W. Materne, KC5CSG, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, for intentional interference and failure to identify. The FCC had proposed the fine in a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) in the case in July 2018, and, based on Materne’s response to the NAL, the agency affirmed the fine in a March 12 Forfeiture Order (FO).

As the FCC recounted in the FO, an FCC agent “observed Materne causing intentional interference to a local repeater by generating digital noise into an analog radio.” The agent further reported that Materne failed to transmit his call sign, as required.

Materne disputed the FCC’s findings, arguing that the NAL should be canceled because the agent “was mistaken in his determination that the source of the interference was Materne’s station” as his

March meeting planned for ON-AIR

The Rusk County Amateur Radio Club will hold it's regular monthly meeting in March on the air. Due to COVID-19 restrictions implemented by the City of Henderson, the club's regular meeting room at the Fire Department is not available.

So, the club has decided to hold the meeting on the club's N5RCA repeater. The meeting will be on Thursday, March 26. The meeting will start at the typical net time of 7:30 p.m. instead of the normal 7 p.m. meeting time. This will help avoid interference with another net held the same frequency (on a different repeater). The N5RCA repeater is at 147.68 (- offset, PL131.8).

Several members noted that holding the net on the 2-meter repeater complies with the CDC recommends staying at least six feet from each other people to prevent the spread of COVID-19 since two meters is slightly longer than six feet!