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BE INFORMED No. 7 ●▬ ▬ ●●●▬ ▬ ▬●●● ● ALL ABOUT THIRD PARTY COMMUNICATIONS John B. Johnston W3BE Q. Our Club officers have some very creative interpretations of the rules for third party communications. Please clarify just what it is all about? A. It might help your club officers to better accept and respect the rules for third party communications by first making certain that they comprehend fully the rules for one and two party communications. Here goes: ONE PARTY COMMUNICATIONS are one-way amateur station transmissions authorized by Section 97.111(b):
(1)
Brief transmissions necessary to make adjustments to the station; (2)
Brief transmissions intended to establish two-way communications with other stations; (3)
Telecommand; (4) Transmissions necessary to providing emergency
communications; (5) Transmissions necessary to assisting persons
learning, or improving proficiency in, the international Morse code;
(6) Transmissions necessary to disseminate information bulletins (sometimes called hamcasting);
(7) Telemetry.
 The above diagram
shows amateur station #1 transmitting a one-way message for which no response from another amateur
station is necessarily expected. The station control operator (SCO) is at the station control point.
Section 97.3(a)(14) says the control point is the location at which the control operator function is performed. When
the SCO causes or allows the station to transmit, he or she takes on responsibilities for assuring compliance with the FCC
rules.
A one party communication,
therefore, is a message from the SCO at the control point of amateur station #1. It does not encompass broadcast transmissions
intended for reception by the general public, either direct or delayed. Section 97.3(a)(10) defines such transmissions as broadcasting, which is prohibited on amateur service frequencies by Section 97.113(b).
Section 97.5(a) says that the station apparatus must be under the physical control of a person
named in an amateur station license grant on the FCC ULS consolidated license database or a person authorized for alien reciprocal
operation before the station may transmit on any amateur service frequency. The FCC will presume that the
station licensee is also the SCO, unless documentation to the contrary is in the station records. Section 97.7 says that the SCO must be a person for whom an amateur operator/primary station
license grant appears on the ULS consolidated licensee database, or who is authorized for alien reciprocal
operation. Section 97.3(a)(13) says that the SCO is an amateur operator designated by the licensee of
the station to be responsible for the transmissions from that station to assure compliance with the FCC rules.
The class of operator license held by the SCO determines the transmitting frequency privileges of the station.
Section 97.301.
Should you feel an
uncontrollable urge to broadcast your messages, simply buy yourself a few broadcast stations or rent broadcasting time from
someone who has a license to broadcast. Don’t misuse the spectrum allocated to our amateur service! We
are obligated to use it for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by amateurs,
that is, duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.
Read SEC. 3. [47 USC 153](2) of the Communications Act of 1934; No. 1.56 of the international Radio Regulations (RR); and FCC rules 47 CFR Sections 2.1(c) and 97.3(a)(4).
TWO PARTY COMMUNICATIONS are the most common types of amateur station communication; ham-to-ham.
They are authorized by Section 97.111(a):
(1) Transmissions necessary to exchange messages with other stations in the amateur service, except those in any country
whose administration has given notice that it objects to such communications. The FCC will issue public notices of current
arrangements for international communications; (2)
Transmissions necessary to exchange messages with a station in another FCC-regulated service while providing emergency communications; (3) Transmissions
necessary to exchange messages with a United States government station, necessary to providing communications in RACES; and (4) Transmissions
necessary to exchange messages with a station in a service not regulated by the FCC, but authorized by the FCC to communicate
with amateur stations. An amateur station may exchange messages with a participating United States military station during
an Armed Forces Day Communications Test.
A two-party
communication, therefore, is a message from SCO A (first party) at the control point of amateur station
#1 to SCO B (second party) of amateur station #2. It is still a two-party communication when more than
two stations are taking turns transmitting. The SCO of the station that is transmitting is the first party.
The SCO(s) of the other station(s) is/are second parties.
 THIRD PARTY COMMUNICATIONS With that background, let’s have a go at third party communications. Class! Please direct your attention to the diagram below.
 There you have two typical ham stations engaged in intercommunications. At the exact instant depicted, a message from SCO A at the control point for station #1 is being transmitted to SCO B at station #2. Note that there is a third party at station #1, presumed by SCO A to be in total awe at what he or she observes as it takes place and pledging to study and become an amateur operator - someday. Third party communications are authorized by Section 97.115:
(a) An amateur station may transmit messages for a third party to:
(1) Any station within the jurisdiction of the United States.
(2) Any station within the jurisdiction of any foreign government
whose administration has made arrangements with the United States to allow amateur stations to be used for transmitting international
communications on behalf of third parties. No station shall transmit messages for a third party to any station within the
jurisdiction of any foreign government whose administration has not made such an arrangement. This prohibition does not apply
to a message for any third party who is eligible to be a control operator of the station.
(b) The third party may participate in stating the message where:
(1) The control operator is present at the control point and is
continuously monitoring and supervising the third party's participation; and (2)
The third party is not a prior amateur service licensee whose license was revoked; suspended for less than the balance of
the license term and the suspension is still in effect; suspended for the balance of the license term and relicensing has
not taken place; or surrendered for cancellation following notice of revocation, suspension or monetary forfeiture proceedings.
The third party may not be the subject of a cease and desist order which relates to amateur service operation and which is
still in effect. (c) At the end of an exchange of international third party communications, the station
must also transmit in the station identification procedure the call sign of the station with which a third party message was
exchanged.
The third party, therefore, may participate in stating the message where the SCO is present at the control point and is continuously monitoring and supervising the third party's participation in stating the third party’s message. Consider what might have happened right here in our community back when this all started about a century ago. After the second-ever amateur station in these parts (#2 in our diagram) got on the air, its SCO B most likely contacted, by raspy-sounding telegraphy, the first ever station to appear in our area (#1 on our diagram). It may have been located all the way across town. Wireless communications! Incredible! That must have been something to behold. Sometime after this sensational capability was digested, a neighbor (the third party in our diagram) asked SCO A to send a message for him to SCO B. The message – maybe a birthday greeting – was written on a piece of paper and handed to SCO A, who tapped it out on the Morse key. The recipient, SCO B, was delighted. When this occurred, the first amateur service third party communication in our city’s history took place and the third party saved ½ cent postage. Technology has largely superseded telegraphy as the primary media for our third party communications. It is now also carried out by voice, image, phone-patch, keyboards, etc. But the fundamental principle still applies: Ham operators can use their stations to transmit messages for third parties. Our diagram continues to be applicable today, except the third party is probably unimpressed by the novelty of radio. He or she is too busy trying to catch up on his or her growing backlog of e-mail. That is if he or she is not in the process of using some of his or her abundant cell phone minutes by chatting and texting messages and candid photos with friends practically everywhere. THE THREE PARTIES Section 97.3(a)(46) says that a third party communication is a message from the SCO (first
party) of an amateur station to another SCO (second party) on behalf of another person (third party). In
the context of Section 97.3(a)(46) , a party is a person. Our FCC rules
establish the operating privileges and duties for these three parties.
The FIRST
PARTY is the SCO of the transmitting station, shown in our diagram as SCO A. Section 97.7 says that the SCO must be a person for whom an amateur operator/primary station
license grant appears on the ULS consolidated licensee database, or who is authorized for alien reciprocal operation. Section 97.3(a)(13) says that the SCO is an amateur operator designated by the licensee of the station
to be responsible for the transmissions from that station to assure compliance with the FCC rules. The class of operator license held by the SCO determines
the transmitting frequency privileges of the station. Read Section 97.301.
Section 97.5(a) says that the station apparatus must be under the physical control of a person
named in an amateur station license grant on the FCC ULS consolidated license database or a person authorized for alien reciprocal operation before the station may transmit on any amateur service frequency.
The FCC will presume that the station licensee is also the SCO, unless documentation to the contrary is in the station
records. Read Section 97.103(b).
The SECOND PARTY is the SCO of the receiving station, depicted in the diagram as SCO B.
When and if station #2 transmits, this person becomes the first party.
The THIRD PARTY has no amateur station or amateur operator rights, privileges or duties.
Should the third party also hold an amateur operator license grant, he or she can be designated
by the station licensee as the SCO of the station. Unless and until that happens, however, that person
is a third party and, as such, has no station duties or operator privileges. With today’s technology, it is no longer necessary that the third
party’s message be written out for the SCO to tap out in telegraphy ciphers. Section 97.115(b) says that the third party may participate in stating the message where:
(1) The control operator is present at the control point and is continuously monitoring and supervising the third party's participation; and (2) The third party is not a prior amateur service licensee whose license was revoked; suspended for less than the balance of the license term and the suspension is still in effect; suspended for the balance of the license term and relicensing has not taken place; or surrendered for cancellation following notice of revocation, suspension or monetary forfeiture proceedings. The third party may not be the subject of a cease and desist order which relates to amateur service operation and which is still in effect. Undefined terms such as, third party operation and third party operator, have no rightful place in our amateur service lexicon. They only serve to confuse the issue sufficiently to encourage those who fail to respect and appreciate the very qualification and licensing requisites that legitimatize our radio service. Class dismissed.FAQ Q. While studying for the General Class exam, we were taught that it was permissible to send a third party message through a foreign station as long as the intended recipient of the third party message is a licensed amateur operator? Is this correct? A. No. Your instructor must have had Section 97.115(a)(2) in mind. It says that an amateur station may transmit messages for a third party to any station within the jurisdiction of any foreign government when transmitting emergency or disaster relief communications and any station within the jurisdiction of any foreign government whose administration has made arrangements with the United States to allow amateur stations to be used for transmitting international communications on behalf of third parties. No station shall transmit messages for a third party to any station within the jurisdiction of any foreign government whose administration has not made such an arrangement. This prohibition does not apply to a message for any third party who is eligible to be a SCO of the station. The term control operator, as defined in Section 97.3(a)(13), applies to Part 97. In places where the FCC regulates communications, the SCO is an amateur operator designated by the licensee of a station to be responsible for the transmissions from that station to assure compliance with the FCC Rules. That rule does not apply to stations in other countries. Allowable recipients of amateur service communications in some other country is a matter for that station’s regulatory agency to regulate. The last sentence in Section 97.115(a)(2) can only mean, therefore, that an FCC-licensed amateur station may transmit a third party message to any country – including those with which there is no third party arrangement - from a person who is eligible to be the SCO of that FCC-licensed station. Even then, Section 97.117 must be observed: Transmissions to a different country, where permitted, shall be limited to communications incidental to the purposes of the amateur service and to remarks of a personal character. Q. I was asked by a non-ham couple if they are permitted to converse in French over our repeater. Our concern is that none of our control operators speak French and therefore cannot maintain control. My understanding is that it is allowed so long as they ID every 10 minutes in English. I was then informed that this is correct only when communicating via simplex, but not if communicating via a repeater. Is this correct? A. The SCO of every station must have some way of determining that all communications being transmitted are compliant with those authorized in Section 97.111 and that they do not run afoul of the transmissions prohibited by Section 97.113. Making that determination for messages in a language that the SCO does not comprehend, therefore, may preclude such message transmissions. As for the station identification announcement, Section 97.119(b)(2) says that for any FCC-licensed amateur station being identified by a phone type emission, it must always be in the English language. Q. If this couple are non-hams, how can they talk on the repeater unless it is considered third party traffic? The only way they could talk on a repeater would be to use the station of another who would then be responsible for the message content. Am I missing something here? A. Possibly, the non-ham couple is contemplating obtaining amateur operator licenses. Or maybe they have a French-speaking ham friend who is willing to pass their third party messages for which they participate in stating. Read Section 97.115(b). In either scenario, the issue is that of the SCO operator of the repeater being able to determine that all communications transmitted by the repeater are fully compliant. Our U.S. amateur service community is currently pursuing a progressive licensee expansion initiative. For instance, our National Conference of Volunteer-Examiner Coordinators has petitioned the FCC to make our Amateur Radio Service accessible to as many citizens as possible (RM-10870 Section H, paragraph 31.) Moreover, persons are encouraged to experience firsthand actual amateur radio intercommunicating without licensure. For information on the use of our amateur service spectrum by non- and under-licensed persons, read BE Informed No. 25 Who Must Throw The Big Red Switch?, No. 33 Our TPMSP “Class,” and BE Informed No. 56 The VPOD Protocol. Q. How is a phone patch to a non-ham on an automatically controlled repeater permitted? A. It would somehow have to comply – and it is doubtful that such would be possible – with Section 97.115(b): The third party may participate in stating the message where: (1) The control operator is present at the control point and is continuously monitoring and supervising the third party's participation; and (2) The third party is not a prior amateur service licensee whose license was revoked or not renewed after hearing and re-licensing has not taken place; suspended for less than the balance of the license term and the suspension is still in effect; suspended for the balance of the license term and re-licensing has not taken place; or surrendered for cancellation following notice of revocation, suspension or monetary forfeiture proceedings. The third party may not be the subject of a cease and desist order which relates to amateur service operation and which is still in effect. Q. How can a non-ham initiate a third-party RTTY or Data type emission message transmitted by an automatically controlled station?
A. It would be initiated at a station participating in a message forwarding system.
Section 97.219(a) authorizes any amateur station to participate in such a system, subject
to the privileges of the class of operator license held. Section 97.221 says that a station may be automatically controlled while transmitting a RTTY or data emission on the certain bands
provided certain conditions are met. Section 97.219(b) says that, for stations participating in a message forwarding system, the
SCO of the station originating a message is primarily accountable for any violation of the rules in this part contained in
the message. Paragraph (d) says that for stations participating in a message forwarding system, the SCO
of the first forwarding station must:
(b)(1) Authenticate the identity of the station from which it accepts communications on behalf of the system; or
(2) Accept accountability for any violation of the rules in this part contained
in messages it retransmits to the system.
(c) Except as noted in (d), for stations participating in a message forwarding system, the control operators of forwarding
stations that retransmit inadvertently communications that violate the rules in this part are not accountable for the violative
communications. They are, however, responsible for discontinuing such communications once they become aware of their presence.
January 7, 2012 Supersedes all prior editions |