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<DIV>Hello Kirk and all!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In reference to " The term control operator throws me a
bit here because an unmanned D-RATS RF station has no control
operator. I'm not even certain an unmanned D-RATS RF station can
exist under Part 97. ".... An unmanned station refers to a system
which is in remote operation. As an amateur operator we are responsible for any
transmission which is sent over RF at our station and if we are not at the
radio sending the transmission, we must monitor and have remote control over the
station to stop undesired operation. Even a Station operating in beacon mode
must have a control operator.</DIV>
<DIV> This is not a new problem. Packet radio using automatic
forwarding of mail has caused the same issue to arise before. It is part of
our job to monitor transmissions as we are ultimatly responsible for what ever
is sent over our radios.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>You have some
good ideas for gaining some automatic control over what is passed through RF. On
the other hand a feature that would stop an email from going through an RF link
would probably need to be turned off for emergencies as some DRATS users and
EOCs use tactical call signs and a critical emergency or priority message could
easily be rejected instead of getting to the destination</FONT>.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I believe your statement about non Hams refers to a party (as in trouble
maker or rif-raf) that is sending data over amatuer frequecies during a non
emergency condition for the purposes of bypassing paid subscription or
normal unlicenced methods of sending the data. This is usually
handled in the same manner that a trouble maker (even a Ham) would be
delt with when causing spurious transmissions over voice. You do not have
to be an official observer to request some one to stop violating FCC rules, and
if the party continues to violate the rules they can be reported to the FCC for
further action.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Alan McGrew kc4mts</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>