[CQ-Contest] Band edges?

[LRod at pobox.com]

> I have been licensed since 1977 and have never had the misfortune to receive
> a notice from an OO which I believe stands for Official Observer.  

I prefer not to characterize such a notice as a "misfortune." Recognizing that 
regardless of my ego, I am still capable of some sort of oversight (see subsequent 
discussion), I prefer to view such a notice as an opportunity to rethink a 
procedure, my knowledge base, an attitude, etc.

> Let us say that one is out of band by a small amount and receives a notice
> from an Official Observer.  What is a operator to do next?  Is one required
> to respond back to the Official Observer in a prescribed amount of time? 
> What is the penalty for this violation? 

At one time, I believe there was no result from an OO report. If memory serves, 
in recent years the FCC has indicated they take the OO reports seriously and 
will act upon them as if they were actual FCC monitored incidents. I doubt 
seriously any sanction would result from a single instance such as you describe, 
or even more egregious ones. But accumulating a history of OO reports can't be 
good for one's radio health.

In any event, as I mentioned in my earlier post on the subject, I think a dialogue 
with the OO is very important. A note of thanks for the report is certainly not 
out of line in my mind, even if you think it was in error. 

And, much like an FCC citation, I think a response indicating an explanation of 
what happened and the steps taken to prevent a recurrence is not unwarranted, 
although I don't believe a requirement to do so exists. It does strike me as the 
responsible thing to do, however.
 
> This is amateur radio and I believe some of us are going to occasionally
> make some unintentional mistakes.  Anyone ever set the radio up incorrectly
> on one of their first times operating phone split on forty meters phone.  

There are two kinds of operators, those who have transmitted SSB below the 
phone band edge, and those who are not DXers. And I'm not talking about the 
lids who are yelling "Up, Up" at the errant.

The report I got was kind of funny when you think of how circumstances can 
lead you down the garden path. Virtually all of my near band edge experience on 
SSB has been dealing with the lower limit on 20 meters (before phone band 
expansion) and to a lesser extent on10 and 15. 

Remember the days of the DX calling on 14.195 and listening above .200? 
Remember Blackie, W6HLH on 10 meters? "California calling... listening  
28495 and this frequency. If you are transceiver equipped, turn your RIT to the 
far right position. Whiskey Six Hotelllll Lima Hotelllll."

All the DX split operations were at the lower edge of the phone band on USB. 
One could cozy right up (down) to the band edge with impunity. That's years of 
mindset, even after phone band expansion.

Of course having my Extra early on, I was able to sit on 3.795 and work DX in 
the DX window BELOW the significant band edge for 80M. There was no 
concern about the lower band edge, because I was in my band at the upper edge.

So there I was, on SS phone cozying up (down, actually) to the 3.750 mark 
(lower edge of the phone band), just like I used to do on 20, but this time I'm on 
LSB. Ka-ching! OO comes a-calling. I looked at my TRLog log (which I have 
configured to log my frequency) and Bingo! There I was, 3.75000 (too close for 
USB, too, by the way) 

It was a wake up call for me. All my standard operating over the years had lulled 
me into not thinking about a new situation. Thanks to the OO who got me to 
open my eyes and think about each one of them.

> I am surprised that these new high tech computerized transceivers do not
> warn or prevent an operator from operating out of band.

They do. Or mine (TS 850 and FT 757) do. But you have to actually be out of 
band, not just your products. And it's the whole band, not the subbands.


73, Rod K4QG     |  It's pronounced
                          |  "jig-a-byte" 
                          |  Look it up.

Never be afraid to try something new; 
remember amateurs built the Ark, 
professionals built the Titanic


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