On August 16, ReconRobotics -- in response to the ARRL’s Petition to Deny Applications, filed with the FCC on August 4 -- filed an Opposition to Petition to Deny with the FCC, arguing that the ARRL’s Petition is “frivolous.” The ARRL’s Petition asked the FCC to deny 68 pending Public Safety Pool license applications associated with the ReconRobotics Video and Audio Surveillance System, specifically the Recon Scout device.

Calling the “frivolous” contention “somewhat amusing, given what the FCC had done three days earlier,” ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, pointed out that on August 13, the FCC returned the first application -- submitted by the City of Salina, Kansas. The Salina Police Department had asked the FCC for a waiver to operate the Recon Scout in the band 433-445 MHz. The FCC returned the waiver request to Salina, noting that the frequency band requested was not consistent with the waiver Order (Docket 08-63/DA-291) which requires that the first unit licensed to an eligible entity operate in the band 436-442 MHz. “We expect that the application will be corrected and resubmitted,” Sumner said, “but it is encouraging to see that the FCC agrees with us that the applications -- this and all of the subsequent ones filed -- are defective in this respect.”

The ARRL’s Petition noted these and other incorrect technical parameters in each filed application, stemming from errors in the grant of equipment authorization for the ReconRobotics device, as well as inconsistencies between the applications and the FCC waiver grant for the device in Docket 08-63. Since the August 4 filing, the ARRL has noted another 16 applications have been filed with the FCC, requesting a waiver to be able to use the Recon Scout in the incorrect frequency band. On August 17 the ARRL amended its original Petition to Deny Applications to include these 16 additional applications.