FCC AFFIRMS $11,000 FINE FOR
CALIFORNIAN AMATEUR
The FCC has ordered Daniel Granda, KA6VHC, to pay an $11,000
fine for alleged "willful and repeated" violations of the Communications
Act of 1934 and Amateur Service (Part 97) rules. The Commission's July
9 Forfeiture Order followed a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) issued
March 31.
Granda did not respond to the NAL nor to earlier FCC
correspondence, and the FCC said it was affirming the forfeiture based
on the information it had before it.
"The noted violation involves Mr Granda's failure to respond to
official Commission correspondence and causing intentional interference
to Amateur Radio communications," the FCC Order said.
In its earlier NAL, the FCC asserted that on at least eight occasions,
Granda, 58, "willfully and maliciously caused interference to other
stations and conducted activity in an effort to obtain exclusive use"
of a 1.25 meter repeater pair.
The Whittier, California, licensee was the recipient of a December 2002
Warning Notice from the FCC Enforcement
Bureau alleging that he deliberately interfered with two repeaters, KD6ZLZ
and WA6NJJ, and requiring him to provide a detailed plan to prevent interference.
Granda failed to respond to that and to subsequent notices, the FCC said.
In late 2002, the FCC dismissed Granda's complaint against the KD6ZLZ
and WA6NJJ repeaters. Granda had told the FCC that he'd been using the
two frequencies "continuously for over 25 years." In January
2003, the FCC's Los Angeles Field Office issued a Warning Notice to Granda
alleging that his station was transmitting improperly and causing interference
to other stations. It ordered Granda to cease automatic control of his
repeater.
Agents from the Los Angeles field office used direction-finding techniques
to track interfering signals to Granda's residence and inspected his station,
the FCC said.
According to the NAL, Granda "orally admitted" that he had
received the warning notices, and he told the FCC agents that he was "trying
to prevent anyone from using 'his' frequency by re-transmitting 147.49
MHz signals on 222.24/223.84 MHz to 'keep the channel occupied.'"
Last August, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau set aside the renewal
of Granda's Amateur Extra class license, which expired last November.
His renewal application has reverted to "pending" status.
Granda has 30 days to pay the fine. If he fails to do so, the case could
be referred to the US Department of Justice for collection.
Sorce: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The
American Radio Relay League
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