“We are pleased that this FCC action was reversed.”
So says Bob Cauthen, president of equipment distributor SCMS, in an open letter to clients and other U.S. radio broadcasters.
This is an update to a story we reported recently. The Federal Communications Commission had startled SCMS and others who follow the RF hardware business with a citation from the Enforcement Bureau’s Spectrum Enforcement Division telling the dealer to stop marketing certain models of LPFM transmitters and power amps made by BW Broadcast, which is based in the United Kingdom. The FCC said it had received a complaint about this in 2013.
The citation involved no fine, and SCMS was given 30 days to respond. Cauthen said it arrived unexpectedly and some three years after SCMS and BW Broadcast had responded in detail to a commission inquiry that they thought had been settled satisfactorily.
The central issue in the case, Cauthen said, is the sale of BW’s model TX300V2 to the U.S. low-power FM market, one he said had in fact been approved by the FCC, a model that the manufacturer and dealer describe as “the most popular 300-watt FM transmitter in the world.” Cauthen said other models mentioned in the citation were not marketed to the U.S. or the LPFM markets.
“SCMS immediately responded to the FCC citation in detail and provided a copy of the FCC’s own grant to BW Broadcast for the TX300V2, which was also available on the FCC’s website,” Cauthen writes in the company’s open letter, a copy of which was provided to Radio World.
Cauthen says the FCC Enforcement Bureau now has sent him this written assurance: “The TX300V2 is certified with FCC ID 2ABPH-TX300V2. Therefore, the transmitter is acceptable,” as long as LPFM users operate within the legal ERP limit of 100 watts at 30 meters HAAT. Read Cauthen’s letter including the text of the FCC reply. An FCC spokesperson subsequently confirmed to Radio World that the information quoted in the letter is accurate.
Cauthen also stated, “SCMS has always followed the FCC rules and the law in general with the utmost respect and diligence.”
Radio World sought comment from BW Broadcast and will report any received.
