I would estimate that about 5% of the cases ARRL handles involves an amateur
who threatens legal action at least once during the process. That does
complicate things a bit, but our RFI engineer is skilled at navigating that,
and most of these companies know that few threats like that will turn into any
action. Maybe we've been lucky.
We do point out to companies that our goal is to simply get interference
resolved, and that the last thing we want to do is to have to turn the case
over to the FCC. If a company is trying, but doesn't know how to resolve
interference, getting the FCC involved doesn't make them any smarter, so we
have been known to work with them to help them understand just what steps may
be necessary. That is sometimes hard to do many miles away, but that approach
has kept cases alive that would have stalled when lawyers got involved.
Where that rubber really met the road is in ARRL's participation with the C63
EMC Committee and the IEEE EMC Society. Spearheading the development of Std.
1897-2024 on power-line noise truly gives utilities good guidance on how to
respond to complaints. I want to do similar work on solar and other types of
devices, though finding time in my "spare time" is quite a challenge. (This
month, I am replacing a roof on my house that has more issues than just
shingles.)
https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/1897/6837/
________________________________
From: RFI <rfi-bounces+w1rfi=arrl.org@contesting.com> on behalf of Dave (NK7Z)
<dave@nk7z.net>
Sent: Monday, July 29, 2024 5:43 PM
To: rfi@contesting.com <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] New ARRL Mission statement > Was solar fix
Hi,
I would think that we would want a single voice speaking for us. Not a
bunch of discordant, non organized, not communicating between
themselves, citizen groups, all talking to the same companys the ARRL
has spent a few years creating working relationships with, and then one
of them threatening an entity with a lawsuit. The first time that
happens, is the last time the threatened entity, (and maybe all of
them), talks to the ARRL or anyone else for that matter, without a
lawyer reviewing everything said and done. At that point the focus
shifts from RFI corrections, to a game of legal cover ass...
I guarantee you-- someone sometime soon, will threaten a lawsuit to one
of the companies the ARRL is currently working with, and crap up the
relationship the ARRL has worked so hard to create...
That is why you discourage people from forming grass roots, anti RFI
groups, that are not affiliated with the biggest dog the Amateur
community has right now, the ARRL. This HAS to be a coordinated effort!
We need to wake up and realize that the cat is already out of the bag,
some of the foreign, (and probably some of the American manufacturers),
have already discovered they can submit a test article to a lab, obtain
a pass, get FCC blessing, and then remove components and sell the "new"
device without a low pass filter in it, saving them tons of money,
(while spraying RFI all over), until they get caught.
We are no longer in the PROACTIVE FCC world we grew up in, we are now in
the REACTIVE FCC world that exists today, and will NEVER go back to
PROACTIVE FCC again...
I suspect if the FCC were to hit the companies doing switch game with
meaningful punishments, (read that as millions of bucks in fines, and a
hiatus on importation, or sale into the US markets, for at least one
year), things would get somewhat better.
The fact of the matter is we are small potatoes to the FCC, and the
vendors. We are just lucky we USED to have emergency status, we don't
have that anymore in the FCC's eyes, so the rules are different. We
need to adapt to the new environment... We all know what happens to
species that fail to adapt...
73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources
I never learned from a man who agreed with me. (HeinLein)
On 7/29/24 09:24, Mike Fatchett W0MU wrote:
> Why would we want to discourage people from actually organizing a grass
> roots movement and make our case heard.
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