G1E03: What is required to conduct communications with a digital station ope…

G1E03§ 97.221G1E →

What is required to conduct communications with a digital station operating under automatic control outside the automatic control band segments?

AThe station initiating the contact must be under local or remote control
BThe interrogating transmission must be made by another automatically controlled station
CNo third-party traffic may be transmitted
DThe control operator of the interrogating station must hold an Amateur Extra class license

Why Section 97.221 sets aside specific subbands where a digital station may transmit under automatic control on its own initiative. Outside those automatic control segments, an automatically controlled digital station may only transmit in response to being interrogated, and the station doing the interrogating must have a control operator present at the controls, that is, under local or remote control. This keeps a human responsible for starting any contact that occurs outside the designated automatic subbands.

Watch out The idea that the interrogating station must also be automatic is backwards: two unattended stations calling each other outside the automatic segments is exactly what the rule prevents. License class and third-party traffic are not what 97.221 addresses.

Outside the auto subbands, a human has to knock first: the interrogating station needs local or remote control.

HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.

47 CFR 97.221 Automatically controlled digital station.

(a) This rule section does not apply to an auxiliary station, a beacon station, a repeater station, an earth station, a space station, or a space telecommand station.

(b) A station may be automatically controlled while transmitting a RTTY or data emission on the 6 m or shorter wavelength bands, and on the 28.120-28.189 MHz, 24.925-24.930 MHz, 21.090-21.100 MHz, 18.105-18.110 MHz, 14.0950-14.0995 MHz, 14.1005-14.112 MHz, 10.140-10.150 MHz, 7.100-7.105 MHz, or 3.585-3.600 MHz segments.

(c) Except for channels specified in § 97.303(h), a station may be automatically controlled while transmitting a RTTY or data emission on any other frequency authorized for such emission types provided that:

(1) The station is responding to interrogation by a station under local or remote control; and

(2) No transmission from the automatically controlled station occupies a bandwidth of more than 500 Hz.

eCFR text as of 1 Sep 2026 · read on ecfr.gov

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