[aprssig] legality of aprs on balloons under Part 97

[Steve Noskowicz]

I see no issue here.

  You answered it for yourself by reading Part 97.  I'm very surprised that the regulatory Information Manager, Dan Henderson, N1ND, said that.  Part 97 is pretty clear that it is ok.  Otherwise any unmanned APRS tracked item and any unmanned home APRS station would also be illegal.
  However it appears telecommand is only legal for space stations...OOPS ...?
  I can't imagine what he could have been thinking. Part 97 is very clear that it is ok...not to mention that it is done very frequently as seen on this listserv.
  Call or email Dan directly.   He will return calls @ 1-860-594-0200 

Part 97 Excerpts:
Definitions
97.3 (a)
  (10)  Broadcasting. Transmissions intended for reception by the general public, either direct or relayed.

[[ Note the word "intended".  This one area where intensions are important. ]]

  (45) Telecommand station. An amateur station that transmits communications to initiate, modify or terminate functions of a space station.
  (46) Telemetry. A one-way transmission of measurements at a distance from the measuring instrument.

97.111  (b) In addition to one-way transmissions specifically authorized elsewhere in this part, an amateur station may transmit the following types of one-way communications:
  (3) Telecommand; 
  (7) Transmissions of telemetry.


Sent from my Knight-Kit Crystal Set.
-- 
 73, Steve, K9DCI   USN (Vet) MOT (Ret) Ham (Yet)

--- On Sun, 5/13/12, ak209 at lafn.org <ak209 at lafn.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> A friend of mine is a science teacher of high school
> students.  He
> wanted to launch a balloon with a scientific payload, having
> seen
> the ARRL promote student balloon launches that use APRS to
> transmit
> telemetry and balloon position at http://www.arrl.org/news .  So I
> contacted my local ARRL rep, Dick Norton N6AA, Director
> ARRL
> Southwestern Division, to find a local speaker on balloons
> and APRS.  Dick
> replied, CC'ing Din Henderson N1ND, the regulatory guy at
> ARRL
> http://www.arrl.org/regulatory-advocacy
> with
> "As Dan Henderson said, simply installing an APRS unit in a
> balloon as you
> suggested and turning it on would be considered
> broadcasting, which is
> not legal in Amateur Radio."
> 
> Dick Norton has been a ham for 50+ years I think, and Dan's
> position
> at ARRL is "Volunteer Counsel", which I think means
> 'attorney',
> and if they say something is not legal under Part 97, I
> assume
> they know what they're talking about.
> 
> So I looked at http://www.arrl.org/part-97-amateur-radio
> and found:
> Section 97.3(a)(45) Telemetry. A one-way transmission of
> measurements at a
> distance from the measuring instrument.
> Section 97.111(b) In addition to one-way transmissions
> specifically authorized
> elsewhere in this Part, an amateur station may transmit the
> following types of
> one-way communications:
>     (7) Transmissions of telemetry.
> 
> So my question is: Is APRS on balloons (sending its location
> via GPS)
> legal under Part 97?
> 
> Wouldn't telemetry cover APRS on balloons?  Or do I
> need a waiver or STA
> from the FCC?
> 
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