[Lf] Where am I?

[Bob Bruhns]

Lat Lon accuracy in the US:

In the early 1980s, my Two-Way Radio shop manager said he just took
existing lat-lon from a known license, and fudged it to approximate
other tower locations.  But nowadays, we have inexpensive GPS
precision.

However, I tried to use a GPS receiver to help me find tower sites
when I was working in the paging business in the mid 1990s... what I
discovered was that the equipment had been shuffled around, and I
was going to the wrong sites, where the rates had climbed, and the
owners moved to cheaper sites, and the licenses never got updated.
Or, the license application was made, and then the location plan
changed before installation.  That got pretty common in the heyday
of paging, when there was no space on any of the towers.  They
licensed, and then they negotiated.  Site frequency coordination?
Often they sneaked the stuff in, maybe paying off the local site
supervisor, and waited to be caught and billed.  And I figure that
some operators deliberately fudged their lat-lon so the tower owners
would not discover the scams.

The field guys were never informed.  Right, tell the boss you won't
turn the transmitter on because there's no license...  Hello,
unemployment?  I saw another tech get a $600 fine because that same
lat-lon fudging Two-Way manager swore up and down that there was a
license for that new transmitter...  Guess what, there wasn't.  And
that was one of the more competent managers...  So, don't trust site
license lat-lons.  Go check them with a decent GPS unit.

  Bob, WA3WDR


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Frank Gentges" <fgentges at mindspring.com>
To: "LF List" <lf at amrad.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 6:00 PM
Subject: [Lf] Where am I?


>
> RSGB News Headlines email reports:
>
>
>       FCC Fine for WUFF Location Error
>
> It pays to know where you are, as radio station WUFF in the state
of
> Georgia found out recently. The Federal Communications Commission
> discovered that the actual location of the WUFF transmitting tower
> differed from the authorised coordinates by over one-third of a
mile. It
> initially levied a fine of $4,000 for the oversight, but this was
then
> reduced to $3,000 on reconsideration, based on the station's
> otherwise-excellent record of rule compliance. [Amateur Radio
Newsline]
>
> FCC order at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2003/DA-03-2616A1.html.
>
> The FCC is very serious about knowing your exact location.  This
may be
> a lesson for those of us applying for Part 5 experimental licenses
to
> double check your location in your application.
>
> Frank K0BRA
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> lf mailing list
> lf at amrad.org
> http://www.amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/lf