Radio Technique
Equipment manufactured to a Type Acceptance certificate issued to the manufacturer by the FCC can be legally used for RC flying so long as it is on one of the 50 "Aircraft Only" 72 MHz channels or six "all models" 27 MHz channels approved for RC use by the FCC. If you have an Amateur Radio Operator's license, you can fly in the ten 50 MHz or eight 53 MHz channels. That's 74 channels available! You have a right to fly Type Accepted equipment until it either wears out or you dispose of it. So, you can fly what you have in 1991 and beyond.
Now you're Talking
I'VE BEEN ASKED several times why the message "Thanks, Bob" appears at the head of the fifty 72 MHz RC channels listed on our Membership Renewal Form. Well, you do realize that 50 exclusive, separated, license-free RC channels were not conferred on you by the FCC because you have a pretty face. It took hard work by AMA member volunteers, over a period of 10 years, to get them. This included face-to-face meetings with the FCC Commissioners in their own offices in Washington (at a time when AMA had Washington offices, too). It has taken another 15 years-long effort, by more AMA people (volunteers and employees), to keep those channels.
WRAM Show '89
THE FORECAST on Friday, February 24, was for 10 inches of snow by rush hour. Decision time. Should I go to the WRAM Show or wait out the snowfall? Since the van was equipped for the Alaska trip, I reasoned it should be ready for anything. I went to White Plains. This show was held in the renovated Westchester County Civic Center. The renovators did a fine job. There was more room for the show (150 booths), a nicer theater for the movies and for the District II meeting, and more room for the static displays and for the Swap Shop.
Radio Technique
FLIGHT PACKS: What are all of the manufacturers up to now? They have their engineers concentrating on top-of-the-line crystal-controlled transmitters (Tx) which feature computer memories that store the settings, servo directions, mixing, throws, etc. for a bunch of airplanes. But: WHAT GOOD ARE THEY, IF YOU CAN'T BUY FLIGHT PACKS FOR THE OTHER PLANES? (Editor's note: A flight pack is the part of your RC system which goes in your plane. RMcM) Many modelers have complained to me about the high cost and general unavailability of flight packs. They say that although you can buy servos, battery packs, and switch harnesses over the counter, it's the receivers (Rx's) which are hard to find. I gave some of my money to the phone companies to learn if that's true.
Radio Technique
IT AIN'T CHEAP, but it is cheaper. It used to be that all a Contest Director for an RC meet wanted was a scanner, in order to be able to verify that the flag on a contestant's transmitter matched the transmitter's operating frequency. Now he/she may want to verify transmitter power levels as well. The AMA rule book authorizes the Contest Director to make whatever measurements are necessary to insure that he/she is able to conduct a contest that doesn't create any unnecessary risks for the contestants. What tool makes these measurements possible? Section 3.4 of the "AMA Guidelines for Narrow-Band Operation of 72-75 MHz Radio Control Frequencies" (hereafter called the "AMA Guidelines"-which were published in the September and October 1987 editions of AMA News) calls for a transmitter frequency tolerance of ±1,500 cycles in the 72 MHz band.
