[CQ-Contest] KP2MM Disqualified in ARRL CW 2012

[Martin Durham]

Not 'quite' Ron......Not a lot of difference between control op and station licensee requirements when it's your station. 

Per the part 97 rules from the current ARRL FCC rules page:

§97.105 Control operator duties.-

(a) The control operator must ensure the immediate proper operation of the
station, regardless of the type of control.

(b) A station may only be operated in the manner and to the extent permitted
by the privileges authorized for the class of operator license held by the
control operator.

<http://www.arrl.org/part-97-amateur-radio> §97.103 Station licensee
responsibilities.-

(a) The station licensee is responsible for the proper operation of the
station in accordance with the FCC Rules. When the control operator is a
different amateur operator than the station licensee, both persons are
equally responsible for proper operation of the station.

(b) The station licensee must designate the station control operator. The
FCC will presume that the station licensee is also the control operator,
unless documentation to the contrary is in the station records.

(c) The station licensee must make the station and the station records
available for inspection upon request by an FCC representative. When deemed
necessary by a District Director to assure compliance with the FCC Rules,
the station licensee must maintain a record of station operations containing
such items of information as the District Director may require in accord
with § 0.314(x) of the FCC Rules.


One could arguably make the case that whether the station is being operated
by a lower class licensee or an Extra class licensee who is not the primary
station licensee, the primary station licensee (presumed control operator)
should be present when the station is in operation… LOTS of SO efforts in
the records that were by ‘guest op’s…

I ‘suppose’ if you want some wiggle room…97.105 a) says “Immediate proper
operation” whereas 97.103 a) says “proper operation”.

Hmmm…station owner turns on the equipment and gets everything ‘all tuned up’
and ready to go before the guest op arrives…is THAT assistance?

I remember back around the first year I was a ham (30+ years ago)…my elmer
explaining to me what a control operator was supposed to ‘do’ (you won’t
find this in the FCC rules or ARRL contest Rules…but I think we’d all agree
that this is the intent)…a control operator is supposed be close enough at
hand to be able to take over/stop the transmitter/or disable the transmitter
should the person who is operating it under the control operators ‘watchful’
guidance do something against the rules.

You have FCC rules which are THE rules…that must be followed…then the
contest rules…which must be followed AS LONG AS they don’t cause you to
break any of the FCC rules (this is for US amateurs)

So…does a CONTROL operator really constitute a 2nd operator if all they do
is ‘monitor’ the operation of the PRIMARY operator at the radio controls…to
ensure that the FCC rules are followed? The control operator doesn’t
(presumably) log, doesn’t (receive to aid the PRIMARY operator), and doesn’t
transmit. What exactly did the CONTROL operator due that a station operator
wouldn’t do to ensure that the station is operated within the rules?

This is all based on the ARRL contest and the specific KP2MM scenario…WW
contests add in the whole 3rd party issue which is a whole ‘nother’
discussion…

73,

Marty

W1Minutuae Discriminator



Sent from my iPad

On Jun 24, 2012, at 4:13 PM, "Ron Notarius W3WN" <wn3vaw at verizon.net> wrote:

> If you come over to my house to operate, as an Extra Class operator, I do
> not need to be present as a control operator.  So in the unlikely event that
> this would happen, yes, my presence would not necessarily indicate that I am
> there to be a legal control operator.
> 
> On the other hand, when my friend Ben KB3ERQ comes over to my house to
> operate, as a Technician Class operator, I MUST legally be present as a
> control operator, UNLESS he is operating within the limits of a Tech. (Or
> someone of a higher license class must be present as the designated control
> op, if you really want to split hairs that thinly.) Therefore, my presence
> WOULD indicate that I am there as a legal control operator (when Ben is
> operating outside of Tech privileges).  Not, to me, a hypothetical situation
> either, since Ben is a member of my multi-single team for multiple contests.
> 
> So, Dick, with all due respect, you can split the proverbial hairs however
> you like.  I really don't feel like playing arm-chair lawyer (that's what I
> have K3AIR for, anyway).  To me, the unfortunate situation is
> cut-and-dried... Yuri operated KP2MM outside of General privileges.  So
> either he was in violation of the rules for doing so; or if he did so with a
> legal control operator (Herb) present, then he was legally operating
> Multi-Single & entered in the wrong entry class.  It's either one or the
> other, and no arm-chair lawyering will change that.
> 
> And again, we don't know the full story.  Yuri hasn't amplified his original
> public post that I am aware of (outside of some indicated PM's which have
> remained private), nor is the ARRL Contest Committee saying anything (not
> that I would have expected them to).  So there may be more to the story that
> we are not aware of.
> 
> Granted, it's no fun to have your fingers burned in a situation like this,
> which is why he has my sympathies.  
> 
> 73, ron w3wn
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dick Green WC1M [mailto:wc1m73 at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 2:43 PM
> To: 'Ron Notarius W3WN'; cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: RE: [CQ-Contest] KP2MM Disqualified in ARRL CW 2012
>