Ladies and Gentleman. After long debate with myself I decided to open this thread and thinking to the public opinion.

One week ago on Friday when I came home form work I had the unplesant surprise to open a Fedex envelope with an FCC LOI (Letter of Invitation) in it.

I heard about these things before last year when Rangevideo got investigated. My knees were kind of shaking again as I read through the letter, but later comparing it to the other letters available to public I can see that this is not a presonalized thing - it is a template the use - it sounds very similar for everybody. Also they must be missled because they are out of their authority to send this to me to Canada...

At that point I did not suspect anything. I thought it was my turn. Later this week I learned that 2 more FPV manufacturers and resellers are under the radar as well, and during my research I found one more...

I will not tell the names, they can present themselvs in this thread if they wish - or they can stay away - if they would like - in light of the current - or recent investigation.

I am no conspiracy theorist - but my discussion with some of the other store owners led me to suspect faul play here. Is it a coincidence? One person I talked to tells me that FCC does not pick up their victims from the internet by search but they act on complaints and reporting.

Does anybody have any other idea?

Thanks to you dear reporter, you just committed all US FPV customers to operate on a single locked down 2.4Ghz channel. What would you think will be the chance of interference with another FPV craft from here on?

Lets see the letter. You are right about the FCC have no jurisdiction in Canada, something like that has to come from the DOC.

Oxxyfx,

If you are in Canada, I hope you can just ignore it. They have no jurisdiction in Canada as far as I know. I would ask a lawyer to make sure, but I hope you dont just close your store based on something that most likely has no jurisdiction over you. Maybe next week one of the Venors in Eurpoe or China might get an FCC voilation letter Im glad you opened this thread, the people should know whats going on.

Mike

Originally Posted by JettPilot

Oxxyfx,

If you are in Canada, I hope you can just ignore it. They have no jurisdiction in Canada as far as I know. I would ask a lawyer to make sure, but I hope you dont just close your store based on something that most likely has no jurisdiction over you. Maybe next week one of the Venors in Eurpoe or China might get an FCC voilation letter .

Mike

Are you sure about that?
If he is shipping items to the US he might get into trouble:

http://www.cannabisculture.com/noextradition

Pat MacKenzie

Pat,

No I am not sure, which is why I said I hope and " I would ask a lawyer to make sure ". Being a business, he need to make sure. But it seems wrong for an american agency telling a Canadian what he can sell. But this is obviously is not even in the same leauge as shipping Marijuana and drugs to the US, which is illegal all over the world...

Mike

Very dissapointing.

Originally Posted by JettPilot

Pat,

No I am not sure, which is why I said I hope and " I would ask a lawyer to make sure ". Being a business, he need to make sure. But it seems wrong for an american agency telling a Canadian what he can sell. But this is obviously is not even in the same leauge as shipping Marijuana and drugs to the US, which is illegal all over the world...

Mike

Not exactly "illegal all over the world". Laws vary quite a bit.
And (if it makes any difference) he was only shipping seeds.

I only posted that link because it is a high profile example of the US extending its legal sytem across into Canada.
There is little chance that a few non-compliant video sytems would attract quite the same amount of attention.

Pat MacKenzie

Originally Posted by pmackenzie

I only posted that link because it is a high profile example of the US extending its legal sytem across into Canada.

The Canadian provences will be US states 51-60, its only a matter of time ! You guys will love being a part of the US, we will even let the provences and cities keep their current names, of course the name canada will have to go

Mike

Well,

I am not pledging here for myself. I will do the best I can to cooperate with FCC - but within the boundaries of the Canadian Laws and Privacy regulations. I believe that cooerating with them will make things less harmful for everybody.

My concern is about the consumers. Many of the consumers use these transmitters as they should - within the legal boundaries and they have the necessary licensing. Some don't but hey is their choice.

Since many of the transmitters will probably be required to be locked down on one frequency from here on - the consumer who used it legally will be the one who will suffer - instead of having 3 available channels - it will have only one.

Originally Posted by Martin Y

Lets see the letter. You are right about the FCC have no jurisdiction in Canada, something like that has to come from the DOC.

There are several similar letters available online - at this point I am not yet prepared to publish mine.

Originally Posted by JettPilot

The Canadian provences will be US states 51-60, its only a matter of time ! You guys will love being a part of the US, we will even let the provences and cities keep their current names, of course the name canada will have to go

Mike

You know something Mike ? I liked your LIPO jokes better . On a serious note , however , I do agree that what happened with the FCC sounds pretty sneaky to me . Your right that it sure sounds like some other company using dirty tactics to get the FCC to eliminate their competition . Sad .

Keep in mind doesn't have to be someone on the forum reporting you. It could be some cowboy Amateur Operator reporting everyone. I'm assuming this has to deal with the 2.4ghz radio equipment. If it is you're not the only one out there selling this stuff. There are more applications for it other than FPV.

Originally Posted by typicalaimster

Keep in mind doesn't have to be someone on the forum reporting you. It could be some cowboy Amateur Operator reporting everyone. I'm assuming this has to deal with the 2.4ghz radio equipment. If it is you're not the only one out there selling this stuff. There are more applications for it other than FPV.

Of course, that I agree with. I should have stated in my original post that I do not blame anybody - but as I stated I suspect faul play.

I've visited a couple of canadian security stores and I fould that they without restriction sell 1W, 1.5W and even more powerful 1.2 and 2.4Ghz stationary transmitters for their customers all over urban environment. These can trasmit on the same frequencies as ours. So I am aware of other applications very well, but those could cause much more interference than we will ever do....

It could also be one of the anti-FPV safety (oh no...) nuts out there that hate what we do. I can say this much though, whoever it is should get a life outside their bubble and find something else productive to do with their time.

The ARRL has mentioned its concern about the illegal unlicensed use of these non type accepted devices for years. The FCC and the DOC cooperate together. Their rules and regulations are very similar. If someone has violated an FCC regulation it is likely the equivalent DOC reg has been broken too.
If you fly FPV in the US and your video range exceeds 30 feet and you do not have a valid Amateur Radio License you are most likely breaking FCC regulations.
de WA8ZAH
P.S.
Any Ham op with with a sense of reality realizes the 2.4ghz band is worthless to us for communications with all the WiFi/ portable phones ect..
These "Long Range" 433mhz adapters are another story. Your likelyhood of getting busted without a license is excellent..