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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Rama Communications, Inc. ) File No. EB-03-TP-
322
Licensee of Radio Station WTIR )
Facility ID # 55005 ) NOV No.
V20053270002
Cocoa Beach, FL )
)
)
NOTICE OF VIOLATION
Released: November 1, 2004
By the District Director, Tampa Office, Enforcement Bureau:
1. This is a Notice of Violation ("Notice") issued
pursuant to Section 1.89 of the Commission's Rules,1 to Rama
Communications, Inc., licensee of radio station WTIR-AM.
2. On May 6, 2004, agents of the Commission's Tampa Office
inspected radio station WTIR-AM located at 2365 Pluckebaum Road,
Cocoa Beach, FL 32926, and observed the following violation(s):
47 C.F.R. § 11.52 (d): EAS code and Attention Signal
Monitoring requirements. ``Broadcast stations and cable
systems and wireless cable systems must monitor two EAS
sources. The monitoring assignments of each broadcast
station and cable system and wireless cable system are
specified in the State EAS Plan and FCC Map book. At
the time of the inspection the station was not
monitoring the two assigned EAS sources.
47 C.F.R. § 11.61(a): Test of EAS Procedures: ``Tests
shall be made at regular intervals as indicated in
paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section.
Additional tests may be performed anytime. EAS
activations and special tests may be performed in lieu
of required tests as specified in paragraph (a)(4) of
this section. All tests will conform with the
procedures in the EAS Operating Handbook.'' There was
no evidence that the station was conducting the
required weekly and required monthly test prior to
March 10, 2004.
47 C.F.R. § 73.49: AM Transmission System Fencing
Requirements. ``Antenna Tower having radio frequency
potential at the base (Series Fed, Folded, unipole and
insulated base antennas) must be enclosed within
effective locked fences or other enclosures. Ready
access must be provided to each antenna tower base for
meter reading and maintenance purposes at all times.
However, individual tower fences need not be
installed if the towers are contained within a
protective property fence.'' An opening on the south
side of the protective property fence made the fence
ineffective.
47 C.F.R. § 73.1225 (d)(2): ``Commercial and
noncommercial AM stations must make the following
information also available upon request by
representatives of the FCC. ... (2) Copy of the most
recent field strength measurements made to establish
performance of directional antennas required by §
73.151.'' Copy of the most recent field strength
measurements were not available at the time of the
inspection.
47 C.F.R. § 73.1230 (a): ``Posting of station license.
The station license and any other instrument of station
authorization shall be posted in a conspicuous place
and in such a manner that all terms are visible at the
place the licensee considers to be the principal
control point of the transmitter.'' Most recent copy
of the station license and/or authorization was not
available at the time of the inspection. The license
had expired in February, 2004.
47 C.F.R. § 73.1400 (b): ``Unattended operation. ...A
station may also be monitored and controlled by an
automatic transmission system (ATS) that is configured
to contact a person designated by the licensee in the
event of a technical malfunction.'' At the time of the
inspection the station did not have direct supervision
or an operational remote control system to control the
transmission system parameters after 5:00 P.M.
47 C.F.R. § 73.1590 (a) (6): ``The licensee of each
AM, FM, TV and Class A TV station, except licensees of
Class D non-commercial educational FM stations
authorized to operate with 10 watts or less output
power, must make equipment performance measurements for
each main transmitter as follows: ... (6) Annually for
AM stations, with not more than 14 months between
measurements.'' Copy of the most recent equipment
performance measurements was not available at the time
of the inspection.
47 C.F.R. § 73.1745(a): ``No broadcast station shall
operate at times, or with
modes or power, other than those specified and made a
part of the license, unless otherwise provided in this
part.'' The station was not reducing power at night
time.
47 C.F.R. §73.1820(a)(1)(iii): Station Log: ``An entry
of each test and activation of the Emergency Alert
System (EAS) pursuant to the requirement of part 11 of
this chapter and the EAS operating Handbook must be
logged. Stations may keep EAS data in a special EAS
log which shall be maintained at a convenient location;
however, this log is considered a part of the station
log.'' No EAS logs were available prior to March 10,
2004.
47 C.F.R. §73.1840 (a): ``Any log required to be kept
by station licensees shall be retained by them for a
period of 2 years''. No station logs were available at
the time of the inspection.
47 C.F.R. §73.1870 (b)(3): ``The designation of the
chief operator must be in writing with a copy of the
designation posted with the station license.'' At the
time of the inspection, no chief operator designation
was posted with the license, or otherwise available for
review by the inspectors.
47 C.F.R. § 73.3526 (e)(8): ``The public and
Broadcasting. At all times, a copy of the most recent
version of the manual entitled ``The public and
broadcasting.'' At the time of inspection a copy of
the manual ``The Public and Broadcasting'' was not
available.
47 C.F.R. § 73.3526 (e)(12): ``Radio issues/programs
list. For commercial AM and FM broadcast stations,
every three months a list of programs that have
provided the station's most significant treatment of
community issues during the preceding three month
period.'' At the time of inspection a file containing
radio issues/programs list was not available.
3. Pursuant to Section 308(b) of the Communications Act of
1934, as amended,2 and Section 1.89 of the Commission's Rules,
Rama Communications, Inc., must submit a written statement
concerning this matter within 20 days of release of this Notice.
The response must fully explain each violation, must contain a
statement of the specific action(s) taken to correct each
violation and preclude recurrence, and should include a time line
for completion of pending corrective action(s). The response
must be complete in itself and signed by a principal or officer
of the licensee with personal knowledge of the matter. All
replies and documentation sent in response to this Notice should
be marked with the File No. and NOV No. specified above, and
mailed to the following address:
Federal Communications Commission
Tampa Office
2203 N. Lois Ave., Suite 1215
Tampa, FL 33607
4. This Notice shall be sent to Rama Communications, Inc.,
3765 N. John Young Parkway, Orlando, Florida 32804.
5. The Privacy Act of 19743 requires that we advise you
that the Commission will use all relevant material information
before it, including any information disclosed in your reply, to
determine what, if any, enforcement action is required to ensure
compliance. Any false statement made knowingly and willfully in
reply to this Notice is punishable by fine or imprisonment under
Title 18 of the U.S. Code.4
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Ralph M. Barlow
District Director
Tampa Office
cc: Rama Communications, Inc.
2365 Pluckebaum Road
Cocoa Beach, Florida 32926
_________________________
1 47 C.F.R. § 1.89.
2 47 U.S.C. § 308(b).
3 P.L. 93-579, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(3).
4 18 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.