I don’t know anything about HAM radios. But I’ve heard that there are serious penalties if one for example grabs a HAM radio and starts saying all kinds of non-sense on all frequencies.
But if radio wave can bounce off the “I forgot what it’s called”-sphere. And can originate and travel all over the world. Then how on earth (pun intended) does the FCC find and give citations to people that are using HAM radios illegally or are not complying with HAM radio rules?
By the way. What are some of the fines the FCC can impose on someone other than revoking your license?
What about aliens? If signals are sent from another planet, does the FCC try to track them down to give them a citation too?!
Basically, BobbyP’s answer is correct, that the FCC can hone in on a radio’s signal by triangulation, and then, when they have the signal source found, they can obtain a search warrant and both confiscate the radio and arrest the users and owners of the radio and of the property it is located…
But, they don’t really care about illegal signals enough to begin searching for their locations until a signal begins to interfere with some other citizen’s legitimate lifestyle.
For example, if the signal generated by your radio produces enough interference to television reception, or produces ANY amount of interference near to a hospital or other EMI-sensitve, tax-paying, or tax-utilizing facility, then the FCC will be a lot more likely to start hunting you down than if you were transmitting from out in the middle of nowhere.
Or, if the contents of your transmission are considered by enough people to be intoloerable, then they will be more likely to start hunting you down.
Then, they simply find out what frequency your signal is, they await your next transmission, they find out in what direction your signal is originating, and then they move however many miles in that direction as they feel they need to, then they reawait your next transmission, and they move in on you in that fashion.
The fines that the FCC can impose on anyone can be astronomical — if they already have a license and don’t follow the rules.. BUT, if someone doesn’t already have a license, then the FCC cannot impose fines. Then, the fines have to be ordered by a court of law. The FCC can ASK you to pay those fines, but, if you don’t want to and if a jury can understand your need to have used your radio in the way you did, then you won’t have to pay a single thing, and you might even be able to sue the FCC and get money out of them.
This is because athough it is illegal to operate an amateur radio beyond the Citizen Band Range in an automobile, sometimes CB radios and cell phones cannot reach the proper authorities in emergency situations, so even the FCC has realized that not all unauthorized transmissions are in the slightest bit illegal.
And, yes: if the FCC could detect signals from another planet, you can bet that they would be amongst the MANY who were interested in tracking them down.. right alongside SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence).
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Waterproof synthetic paper accepts pencil, non-water soluble inks, normal ball point pens and permanent markers giving you a tear-resistant, waterproof record of all your contacts. Stains wipe off with a damp cloth. Ideal for harsh field conditions as well as regular Ham Shack use. Takes extreme variations in temperature and humidity in stride. Great for Amateur Radio Maritime use. The sturdy 3 by…
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