An amateur station must always have a control operator who is responsible for the station’s transmissions. There is no situation in which an amateur station may transmit with no control operator at all.

Even when no one is physically next to the transmitting equipment, a control operator still exists in one of two ways:

• For remotely controlled stations, the control operator is located at the control point — the place from which the station is being controlled.
• For automatically controlled stations (for example, many repeaters), no one needs to be physically present at the control point while the station is transmitting, but a licensed control operator is still designated and remains responsible for the operation.

Because a control operator must always be identified and responsible for transmissions, an amateur station may never transmit without a control operator.

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There are no special licensing requirements for operating through an amateur satellite or space station. A satellite is treated like any other amateur station except that it is in space; if your license privileges allow you to transmit on the satellite uplink frequency (the frequency the satellite listens on), you may be the control operator and communicate through it.

Just remember: if you're permitted to transmit on the uplink, you may use the satellite.

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The station licensee is the person or entity that holds the station license and therefore is responsible for the station. Because it is their station, the licensee must designate who will serve as the station control operator. A licensee often allows another person (for example, someone with higher operator privileges) to be the control operator, but the licensee remains responsible for the station’s operation. When someone else is acting as control operator, that person’s license class determines what frequencies, power levels, and modes may be used while they are controlling the station.

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When operating, the privileges you may exercise are determined by the class of license held by the control operator. A higher-class operator can allow a lower-class operator to use higher privileges only if the higher-class operator is acting as the control operator for the station; in that case the control operator is responsible for the station’s transmissions.

The station licensee shares responsibility for how the station is used, but it is the control operator who determines which privileges may be exercised while the station is being operated. Simply having someone with a higher-class license on the premises is not enough to use their privileges — they must be the control operator and be supervising (controlling) the operation when those privileges are used.

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This is an important thing to understand; the control point is the location of the control operator when the station is in use. In some cases this may be the same location as the station (local control) or it could be across some sort of auxiliary link, such as a cross-band repeater, or by controlling through Echolink or IRLP across the internet from a computer or cellphone.

It does not matter where the station’s transmitting equipment or antenna are located — what determines the control point is the location at which the control operator function is performed.

Memory aids:

• Control point = where the person controlling the station is located.

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The control operator is the person responsible for the transmissions of a station. A licensee may only be the control operator on frequencies for which their license class grants privileges. A Technician class license does not grant privileges in Amateur Extra Class-only band segments, so a Technician may not serve as the control operator on those segments except in an actual emergency. Note that a Technician may still transmit on frequencies they are authorized for while an Amateur Extra class licensee serves as the control operator (for example at a special event or during a contest), but the Technician would not be the control operator for transmissions in Extra-only segments.

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The control operator is responsible for how the station is operated while they are acting as control operator — that includes making sure transmissions follow the rules. The station licensee is responsible for the station itself (the equipment and its proper use). Because each has distinct responsibilities that affect the station’s compliance, both the control operator and the station licensee share responsibility for proper operation.

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Automatic control means the station is operating without a control operator present at the control point — the station runs automatically or autonomously. Repeaters fit this definition because they normally retransmit signals on their own and do not have a control operator at a control point controlling every transmission.

By contrast, when a person uses a computer, internet link, or other device to cause a station to transmit, there is still a control operator directing the station from a (possibly remote) control point. Those arrangements are examples of remote control, not automatic control.

§97.3 Definitions

(a)(6) Automatic control. The use of devices and procedures for control of a station when it is transmitting so that compliance with the FCC Rules is achieved without the control operator being present at a control point.

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Remote control just means that the control point (the point where a control operator function is performed) is not at the same physical location as the transmitter, and there is no restriction on what kind of station you can do that with.

The most common example of this is probably having a radio connected to your computer and setting it up so you can control that over the internet, but there are many other types as well!

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Remote control in Part 97 means the control operator is not at the station and manipulates the station’s operating adjustments through a control link. Operating the station over the Internet is a clear example because the control operator is remote from the station and uses a control link (the Internet) to operate it.

A software defined radio (SDR) describes how a radio processes signals (in software), not where the control operator is located; an SDR can be locally operated and so is not inherently "remote control." Controlling a model aircraft, boat, or car by radio involves the operator directly operating a transmitter to control the model, not remotely manipulating the amateur station’s controls through a control link as defined in Part 97. Earth–Moon–Earth (EME) is a propagation mode (reflecting signals off the Moon) and does not by itself involve remote control of a station.

Memory aids / definitions to remember:

• §97.3(a)(13) Control operator — an amateur operator designated by the licensee to be responsible for station transmissions.
• §97.3(a)(14) Control point — the location at which the control operator function is performed.
• §97.3(a)(39) Remote control — the use of a control operator who indirectly manipulates the operating adjustments in the station through a control link to achieve compliance with the FCC Rules.

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Literal definition from part 97.3(a)(13):

Control operator: An amateur operator designated by the licensee of a station to be responsible for the transmissions from that station to assure compliance with the FCC Rules.`

That person may or may not be the same as the station licensee. The key point is:

• It’s not just “who is talking on the mic,” and
• It’s not automatically “who owns the callsign.”

Instead, it is who the licensee has designated to be in charge of control and compliance for that station at that time.

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