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And what of the FCC?
From: Geoff Schecht[SMTP:geoffs-at-onr-dot-com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 1997 12:46 PM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: And what of the FCC?
Hi Greg:
I was kind of wondering when somebody would bring this up...
Being an amateur radio operator, I can tell you that the FCC doesn't have
the teeth that it used to have due to various funding cutbacks over the
years. So, in general, if you aren't operating a TC as a spark gap
transmitter (illegal since the mid-1930's or as an otherwise intentional
electromagnetic radiator, the FCC probably has few concerns if "minor
amounts of non-malicious" radio interference are produced. I use the quotes
around "minor amounts" since there are no broadband emissions standards of
which I am aware for equipment like shielded gas/MIG/TIG welders,
arc-plasma cutters or any other broadband spark discharge devices
(presumably a generic TC falls into this category). Any emissions which can
be construed as malicious in nature are, of course, illegal by
international agreement.
I do know that commercial industrial equipment requiring the use of
coherent RF power (diathermy machines, induction heaters, ion implanters,
etc) has to operate in one of the the ISM (Industrial, Scientific and
Medical) bands set aside by the ITU specifically for that purpose. Here,
the key here is the word "commercial". Homebrew computers, for example, do
not require FCC type-approval since they're not being offered for
commercial sale. By similarity, I'd expect that the same thing holds true
for amateur TC's which are NOT being operated as an intentional radiator,
such as a spark-gap transmitter or broadcast power device would be.
To reiterate: home-built equipment certainly _can not_ create sufficient
interference to cause disruption of neighborhood computers, TV's, radios,
pacemakers, etc, regardless of the builder's intent. Even homebrew ham
transmitters and linears have to meet spectral purity requirements,
although the FCC doesn't require a formal certification for such gear
unless it's offered for commercial sale.
If they can track you down, chances are you'll hear from the person(s)
you're interfering with long before you hear from the FCC. An aggrieved
party can, however, pursue legal recourse by filing a formal complaint with
the FCC. Assuming that they even know enough to do that in the first place,
it will then take the FCC a long time to investigate the complaint due to a
chronic shortage in their manpower. Things will happen more swiftly if you
are unfortunate enough to be near one of the FCC's listening stations
situated around the US. If they can hear you all over the place on their
receivers or if they notice a lot of broadband anomalies on a spectrum
analyzer; you could be issued a warning or even be cited for producing
malicious interference. The burden of proof would then be upon you to show
the innocence of your intentions. (Of course, they'd have to find you first
and I don't know how RDF works for a signal from a TC!)
The FCC criminally prosecutes bootleg radio operators and errant (read:
jerk) hams when they catch them, but those people are quite aware of the
fact that they are intentionally radiating a signal and that they may also
be causing malicious interference. That makes it somewhat easier for the
FCC to argue its case in a court of law. With your TC not being operated as
an intentional radiator, it would be logical that the first actions to be
taken by the FCC would involve an order for you to either cease operation
or restrict the emissions of your TC within one of the ISM bands.
So, in the latter case, your spark gap would be history and you'd be stuck
with using a crystal-controlled, vacuum tube driven primary running in an
ISM band. Or, you'd have to move your operation far enough away from the
monitoring station to a place where they couldn't hear you :-) .
Since radio emissions don't recognize a country's borders, it takes
international agreements to make most of the rules regarding the operation
of RF equipment capable of producing interference. I don't believe that
I've ever heard of TC's being specifically mentioned in FCC documentation.
The FCC retains authority, however, to ban or restrict the operation of
Tesla coils or any other RF radiating devices if they start becoming a
nuisance or if they pose a threat to life or property due to EMI (HV safety
issues are a completely different issue here).
TC's have been around longer than radio has and since most of the amateur
coils produce insignificant amounts of radiated RF power for short periods
of time, time has proven them to be of little consequence. I don't dare
comment on some of the giant apparatus that I've been reading about in the
list, though ;-) .
As a design engineer, I have to deal with equipment EMI certification from
time to time. Most recently, I have been involved in some CE-mark
certification for the European market. The Europeans have quite different
and generally much more stringent standards from those in the US as far as
their definitions of an intentional radiator is concerned. From what I can
tell, it could be a lot harder to get away with operating a Tesla coil in
Europe than it would be here in the US. Any comments from non-US coilers on
this aspect?
As far as other government agencies are concerned: if your TC were to
interfere with the NSA or NRAO operations, you and your coil are likely
disappear without a trace....
Geoff Schecht (NQ7A) Austin, TX USA
>
>
> From: Greg Leyh[SMTP:lod-at-pacbell-dot-net]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 1997 6:35 AM
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: And what of the FCC?
>
> Hi All,
>
>
> Nowadays, I am finding myself increasingly concerned with
> the 'political' issues of operating TC's, and wondered if
> anyone has heard anything new on these topics:
>
> Has an operator of a TC ever actually been prosecuted for
> violating FCC regs?
>
> Does anyone know of a precedent where the FCC has granted
> a variance for a device that produces spurious emissions?
>
> Are there any other govm't agencies that would care about
> the various side effects of operating a coil?
>
>
> -GL
>
>
>