Re: Interference to the VK3RSE 70cm Repeater.

Dear Sir,
 on the 15th March 1999, a group of amateur radio operators set out to find the source of a signal that had jammed the VK3RSE repeater for several hours.

At approximately 10:30PM we located the source of the interference. It was caused by a pair of Sennheiser model RS6 cordless headphones located more than ½km away. This device had three channels of operation on 433.4, 434.13 and 434.5MHz. Although the owner of this device had selected the 434.5MHz channel, the device was transmitting well under this frequency and was emitting quite a healthy signal slightly below 434.375MHz. The owner of the headphones was quite apologetic and had absolutely no idea that the device was causing so much interference.

I recently learned that these and similar devices are being sold legally under the schedule of "Low Interference Potential Devices" which allows license free transmitters up to 25mW to transmit signals on the inputs of virtually any of our 70cm Repeaters. Such a power level can hardly be regarded as "Low Interference".

I am totally disgusted with this legislation and request that the schedule which allows this equipment to be legally sold to be revoked immediately.

I also request that in future any decisions regarding our frequencies be advised to all those affected directly in writing rather than having us discover by accident almost two years afterward that such frequencies have been allocated and that the majority of the users of the frequencies were given no reasonable notification about, or chance of defending, such legislation. As amateur radio operators we collectively pay something in the order of $0.8million dollars a year to use these frequencies and I am very disappointed that this money does not appear to be being used to administer the use of our frequencies properly.

I request your immediate attention to and resolution of this matter.

Yours Sincerely,