Aviation handheld radios, instructors, student solos...

[RyanShort1]

Ok, so this just became an issue for a group I work with, but I'm beginning to think it has a lot of implications for a lot more than this other group.

Some guy that scans lots of channels, and apparently looks for these kinds of things sent said group a letter pointing out that any ground based radios must be licensed with the FCC for use - even on a CTAF or Unicom frequency. So, I really didn't want to do this, but as a member of that group, I got assigned (why...?) the very unsavory task of researching this. So a few phone calls later I'm confused and annoyed. It seems that the FCC would require even a handheld, perhaps used by a CFI, to be licensed as a ground station in order to be legally used on CTAF. However, it looks to me like a CFI might not even meet the "eligibility" requirements for that license, and might be assigned a frequency that would be unhelpful for say a student solo...

Anyone here have more knowledge of the subject?

Oh, and we MAYBE use that frequency (which is published on the FAA charts...) for fly-ins or stuff maybe a total of 25 hours a year - if that!

 

[Jim Logajan]

If someone uses 123.3, which is not listed as either air-to-air or air-to-ground in AIM table 4-1-3 but is OK for "aviation instruction," s/he would have a clear conscience.

Bob Gardner

That assertion doesn't appear to be consistent with FCC enforcement procedures. According to http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=about&id=ground_stations
"Aviation support stations are airborne and ground stations used for pilot training, soaring (with gliders), or free ballooning."
Yet according to http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2009/DA-09-1258A1.html
a Texas soaring association was fined $9000 for willful violation of the regulations for using 123.3 from a ground station for a soaring activity without a station license. No mention in that order is made of any exceptions in the need for a station license.

So while the FCC seems to define the term "aviation support station," they still seem to expect such ground stations to be licensed.

 

[Jim Logajan]

Why mess with it, just get appropriately licensed, I say. It's relatively inexpensive, and the licenses last 10 years.

I'm probably looking at the wrong fee schedule (followed one of the links in a link we both posted here,) but I think you're mistaken in the "relatively inexpensive" aspect. At least according to http://wireless.fcc.gov/feesforms/feeguide/services/aviation.pdf the fee appears to be $220. That can roughly double the amount one needs to invest in a "cheap" hand-held. This would certainly explain why people are reluctant to follow through on licensing. Do hand-held aviation come with instructions on how to license them as ground stations? Lack of guidance probably yields another hurdle.