The FCC's Technological Advisory Council (TAC) has issued a set of recommendations for reducing and/or tolerating interference, with a subtle suggestion that the FCC needs to consider placing more responsibility for interference reduction with receiver designers.
According to the ARRL Letter,
the TAC asserted several "interference realities," specifically that
harmful interference "is affected by the characteristics of both a
transmitting service and a nearby receiving service in frequency, space or
time," and that stations "should expect occasional service
degradation or interruption." The council also proposed certain
responsibilities of radio services, including that "transmitters are
responsible for minimizing the amount of their transmitted energy that appears
outside their assigned frequencies and licensed areas," and that
"receivers are responsible for mitigating interference outside their
assigned channels." The group accompanied this statement with an
acknowledgment that the FCC generally does not regulate receiving systems. The TAC also proposed that the FCC "apply interference limits to quantify rights of protection from harmful interference," using these limits as a means to reduce interference in receivers "without mandating receiver performance specifications."
Comments are being accepted on ET Docket 17-340 through January 31, 2018.
