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Is Part 15 legal in NY state?

New York's law, S 190.72 UNAUTHORIZED RADIO TRANSMISSION, reads as follows:

A PERSON IS GUILTY OF AN UNAUTHORIZED RADIO TRANSMISSION WHEN SUCH PERSON KNOWINGLY MAKES OR CAUSES TO BE MADE A RADIO TRANSMISSION IN THIS STATE, ON A RADIO FREQUENCY ASSIGNED AND LICENSED BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FOR USE BY AMPLITUDE MODULATION (AM) RADIO STATIONS BETWEEN THE FREQUENCIES OF FIVE HUNDRED THIRTY KILOHERTZ (KHZ) TO SEVEN TEEN HUNDRED KILOHERTZ (KHZ), OR FREQUENCY MODULATION (FM) RADIO STATIONS BETWEEN THE FREQUENCIES OF EIGHTY-EIGHT MEGAHERTZ (MHZ) TO ONE HUNDRED EIGHT MEGAHERTZ (MHZ), WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION OR HAVING FIRST OBTAINED A LICENSE FROM THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION OR DULY AUTHORIZED FEDERAL AGENCY, IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW. UNAUTHORIZED RADIO TRANSMISSION IS A CLASS A MISDEMEANOR. [emphasis added by me.]

Unless I'm wrong, 47 C.F.R Part 15 of the FCC regulations allow the legal, license-free operation of certain radio apparatus in the AM and FM broadcast bands as long as they meet the requirements of the applicable Part 15 regulation. IMHO if you were indeed operating legally and had the unfortunate circumstance of having the NYPD come to your door you would have a very good case for legal action against the city.
 
Such (state) laws have never been tested to my knolwedge, but Federal (FCC) law
supesedes and may actually negate state laws ( and restrictive covenants) regarding radio/TV issues.

Only the FCC is duly constitutionally authorized to make any law regarding rf services in the entire US.
States have done this merely to empower state and local law enforcement to act "with authority" within their jurisdiction,
in the assistance of FCC agents, who otherwise must either have federal marshals or willing help of local mumicipal police.
Such a law makes law enforcement much more willing to assist.

Interstingly, these laws have shown up in states where the "market" (as defined by money) adamantly refuses to serve
some deeply felt need for a format or type of music.
 
Tom Wells said:
Such (state) laws have never been tested to my knolwedge, but Federal (FCC) law
supesedes and may actually negate state laws ( and restrictive covenants) regarding radio/TV issues.

Only the FCC is duly constitutionally authorized to make any law regarding rf services in the entire US.
States have done this merely to empower state and local law enforcement to act "with authority" within their jurisdiction,
in the assistance of FCC agents, who otherwise must either have federal marshals or willing help of local mumicipal police.
Such a law makes law enforcement much more willing to assist.

Interstingly, these laws have shown up in states where the "market" (as defined by money) adamantly refuses to serve
some deeply felt need for a format or type of music.
Click to expand...

This is correct. This was challenged in court by Monty Butterfield of Radio Free Vermont more than a decade ago. He was running a Pirate FM station in Rutland, VT and went to court against the FCC claiming he had a legal right to broadcast under some kind of intrastate regulation that was apparently in effect with the Federal Radio Commission existed and perhaps during a period of time after the FCC was created. But at some point decades ago, the FCC got the law changed and at that point local entities could no longer regulated on air signals originating and that stayed inside the borders of one state or possession. So in a nutshell, I suspect these state laws are not truly legal.

Something else to ponder. If these state laws regulating radio transmitters or transmissions are legal, then what would stop a state or even a city from legalizing broadcasting such as a 5 watt FM service without the need for FCC authorization? If they can pass their own laws against what they perceive as pirate broadcasting they could also legalize broadcast forms that currently are not legal.
 
William C. Walker said:
Something else to ponder. If these state laws regulating radio transmitters or transmissions are legal, then what would stop a state or even a city from legalizing broadcasting such as a 5 watt FM service without the need for FCC authorization? If they can pass their own laws against what they perceive as pirate broadcasting they could also legalize broadcast forms that currently are not legal.
Click to expand...

There are numerous 5 watt transmitters on eBay (Model CZH-5C) that say they can reach almost 1 mile
but I'm sure strong signals from such a transmitter about less than half that, and thats under optimum conditions.
How are they allowed to be sold in the US if the put out that much power?...
If you live in a city this definitely won't fly, but if you are the only house within range in such a rural area it shouldn't matter IMO,
as long as one doesn't cause interference of course, which is the biggest rule under part 15.
I just think the part 15 limit of a weak signal at 10 feet are really strict and not good for those
wanting to play good quality audio around their house.

Here's an example of the transmitter I'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anZoWAzO2hI
 
Bill DeFelice said:
Unless I'm wrong, 47 C.F.R Part 15 of the FCC regulations allow the legal, license-free operation of certain radio apparatus in the AM and FM broadcast bands as long as they meet the requirements of the applicable Part 15 regulation. IMHO if you were indeed operating legally and had the unfortunate circumstance of having the NYPD come to your door you would have a very good case for legal action against the city.
Click to expand...

The problem boils down to this: WE all see that regulation of radio transmissions in a FEDERAL issue. If you start up your Part 15 somewhere in New York and the local police come knocking at your door, "the very good case" that you have is the opportunity to spend a truckload of legal fees convincing them that you are right.

Tell me what law would grant to you the opportunity to milk "a very good case for legal action against the city".
 
@GoatRodeoCowboy: Think about it. If you were operating a Part 15 transmitter (for this case of argument, let's say it's certified) and not causing interference and the local PD came down on you for operating such there would be a very good case against them.

Would the local PD know the difference between a certified transmitter or not? Would they know about the limits allowed with the Part 15 regulations? Would they be able to even measure the field strength of a transmitter? Would they even know anything about the Part 15 regulations? This law was put on the books because the FCC is unable to do what our tax dollars are paying for them to do, attempting to dump this sort of enforcement on the local taxpayer (so in essence NY residents are paying TWICE for the same amount of enforcement).

All I'm saying is that a knowledgeable individual operating within the legal confines of Part 15 who had their equipment confiscated or served with a C&D by the local PD could very well make legal inroads with an accurate, well crafted lawsuit.

Besides, have you driven through Brooklyn or the Bronx lately? There are more pirates out there than you can shake a stick at and this useless law has done little to nothing to cure their activity! It's laws like the one we're discussing that are ridiculous for law abiding citizens and simply meaningless to those persons who are hell bent on breaking them anyways!
 
I think the issue you and I are discussing is this: The language you have used is a take-off from "lawyer talk". When you say that "I would have a good case against them" that makes it sound like I could sue them for damages and expect to win a monetary settlement from the Keystone Kops.

What I am suggesting is that if you live in New York and want to do a Part 15 station, it might be wise to have an informal chat with your local police and/or local prosecutor. Once you install the transmitter and the local police show up and present you with a ticket to appear in court... you are going to be paying a lawyer to defend your innocence. And if you are dealing with a local who is insulted that you would challenge his interpretation of the law, it could be a drawn out fight. (Drawn Out Fight is lawyer-talk for a big invoice from your attorney.)
 
@GoatRodeoCowboy: You bring up an excellent point - whether or not you'd be able to get a local police official or prosecutor make an informal visit to you and explain the allowances of Part 15 to them might be easier said than done.

If one were to take the path of pursuing an unjust violation through the legal systems there's no doubt it would be more costly than it's worth. The only justification would be to make a case that others could cite that the state law can not trump federal law. It would probably be dragged out to expend the most money for the person filing the action, likely done to make them drop it. A lawyer looking to make a name for himself might be interested in pursuing such a case just to get some cred - whether it would work to their advantage is another story.

Having a case is one thing, having the resources to pursue it until the end is something else altogether.
 
Well, I just ordered a Wild Planet Radio DJ off Amazon, where someone has eight (well, seven, now) new ones for sale. It's not the best
AM transmitter around but it's legal, I know how to get the best out of it from having owned one before, and it'll be here in 3-5 days. I will make copies of my broadcasts available by CD if anyone wants or I can also upload to Mixcloud at a bit rate of 320k for MP3s.

The set up will be as follows; MP3 player with pre-processed files (using Breakaway) into the transmitter, through an AM radio into a patch cord plugged into my laptop for direct recording in Audacity. Pretty basic, but workable and cheap. Format will be oldies from 1950-1985 or so. As I've detailed before on other boards here, I have gone to great lengths to obtain as many "correct" versions of songs as possible. That means original mixes, original edits, the whole enchilada. Further details will be shared in a new post as I feel that to be appropriate.
 
@Captainfirst: Best of luck with your Part 15 pursuits. I know after 8 years feeding the beast of streaming radio the only thing I can say is I'm glad I'm done with it. Between the expense and always worrying about the network collapses the fun disappeared fast.

Just an FYI: If you plan of sharing your broadcasts you'll either need to edit them (scope or telescope as radio folks refer to them as) or you'd have to host them on a site that manages royalties if you plan to keep the music intact. Maybe keep a cheapo Live365 account and stream them that way so you have royalty coverage.

I know it's taken years to amass the many original mixes and radio edits that I have spanning the 50's through the 80's. Many were restored off of original vinyl dubs while others were researched to find matching mixes. That can be the fun challenge for your station.
 
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