The FCC is making an effort to modernize its rules governing remote pickup stations.
RPUs are a type of Broadcast Auxiliary station. Radio uses the BASes to transmit programming from studios to transmitter sites, for example, and RPUs are often used to support EAS activities, according to the agency.
The commission has begun a rulemaking to update its Part 74 rules concerning BASes and RPUs to eliminate what the agency calls “outdated barriers,” allow stations to use “modern, digital transmission technologies” and allow broadcasters to use such frequencies more efficiently.
The current rules date to 2002. There’s a lot of interest in this proceeding, for instance, from the SBE and the Engineers for the Integrity of Broadcast Auxiliary Services Spectrum.
Read the NPRM to see the exact frequencies and technical engineering data involved. Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth has a good summary concerning the complex engineering issues.
Public comments are due to WT Docket 15-36, RM-11648 or RM-11649, 30 days after Federal Register publication.
