Line A
Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes “Line A”?
A line roughly parallel to and south of the border between the US and Canada.
Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?
420 MHz - 430 MHz
Line A runs roughly parallel to and south of the Canadian border. North of it — that is, in the strip nearest Canada — the bottom 10 MHz of the 70 cm band is unavailable, because Canada allocates 420–430 MHz to other services.
Two facts, easily confused: Line A is south of the border, and the restricted segment is 420–430 MHz.
Both halves are in Part 97 and worth locating, because “somewhere near Canada” is not a usable answer when you are planning a station. §97.3(a)(30) defines Line A as a specific sequence of great-circle arcs — beginning at Aberdeen, Washington, running east through points including the southernmost point of Duluth, Minnesota, and terminating at Searsport, Maine. §97.303(m)(1) is the prohibition itself.
The distance from the border is not constant: it varies from roughly 50 to more than 75 miles along its length. Being south of the border tells you nothing; you have to check where the line actually runs.
Amplifier certification
Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?
It must satisfy the FCC’s spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power.
Certification is about spurious emissions at full rated output, tested at whichever is lower — 1500 W or what the amplifier actually produces. It is the −43 dB standard from the previous lesson, applied to equipment approval rather than to your operation.
Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz if it has not been granted FCC certification?
The amplifier is constructed or modified by an amateur radio operator for use at an amateur station.
The homebrew exception. Certification exists to stop uncertified amplifiers reaching the general public — where they would be used illegally on CB — not to stop amateurs building their own. A dealer may sell an amateur-built amplifier; a manufacturer may not sell an uncertified production one.
Spread spectrum and auxiliary stations
On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?
Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz.
Spread spectrum occupies far more bandwidth than the information requires, which the crowded HF and 2 metre bands cannot absorb. Above 222 MHz there is room.
Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?
Only Technician, General, Advanced, or Amateur Extra class operators.
An auxiliary station is a link — remote base, repeater linking, control. Every class except Novice may control one, which is the practical reading of the list.
Special Temporary Authority
Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?
To provide for experimental amateur communications.
An STA grants something the rules do not otherwise allow, for a limited time and a stated purpose — experimental work. This is how amateur operation on new bands has historically begun, before a permanent allocation existed.
Prohibited communications
The rule most often misunderstood, so read the exact words.
Which of the following types of amateur station communications are prohibited?
Communications transmitted for hire or material compensation, except as otherwise provided in the rules.
When may an amateur station send a message to a business?
When neither the amateur nor their employer has a pecuniary interest in the communications.
The test is pecuniary interest — a financial stake — not the identity of the person you are talking to. Consequences:
- Ordering a pizza on the air is legal: you have no financial interest in the restaurant’s business.
- Calling in a delivery for the company you work for is not: your employer has an interest in it.
- Being paid to operate is prohibited outright, apart from the narrow exceptions the rules name (a teacher operating a school station during class; a club station operator paid to transmit code practice).
Which of the following cannot be transmitted over an amateur radio mesh network?
Messages encoded to obscure their meaning.
The mesh runs ordinary internet protocols over amateur frequencies, so the temptation to run encrypted traffic is obvious — and it remains prohibited. Compare the space telecommand exception in the previous lesson: that is the only place obscuring content is allowed.
Canadian licensees
What privileges are authorized in the US to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the government of Canada?
The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed US Amateur Extra class license privileges.
Their licence’s terms, capped at US Extra. They operate under what Canada granted them, and can never exceed what a US Extra could do. The same principle as the CEPT and IARP arrangements from lesson 3: your home authorisation travels with you, bounded by the host country’s maximum.
Check yourself
- You live 30 miles south of the Canadian border and want to use 425 MHz. Can you?
- Your employer asks you to relay a parts order over the air because the phones are down. May you?
- A dealer offers you an uncertified 1 kW HF amplifier. Under what circumstance is that legal?
Answers
- Only if you are south of Line A — which runs parallel to and south of the border, so being south of the border is not enough. Thirty miles south of the border is very likely still north of Line A, where 420–430 MHz is unavailable. Check the §97.3(a)(30) definition against your location; the line is 50 to 75+ miles inland depending on where you are.
- No. Your employer has a pecuniary interest in the communication. Emergency provisions are a separate matter, but “the phones are down” is not one.
- If it was constructed or modified by an amateur radio operator for use at an amateur station. A production amplifier without certification may not be sold.