§  90.425   Station identification.

   Stations licensed under this part shall transmit identification in
   accordance with the following provisions:

   (a) Identification procedure. Except as provided for in paragraphs (d)
   and (e) of this section, each station or system shall be identified by
   the transmission of the assigned call sign during each transmission or
   exchange of transmissions, or once each 15 minutes (30 minutes in the
   Public Safety Pool) during periods of continuous operation. The call
   sign shall be transmitted by voice in the English language or by
   International Morse Code in accordance with paragraph (b) of this
   section. If the station is employing either analog or digital voice
   scrambling, or non-voice emission, transmission of the required
   identification shall be in the unscrambled mode using A3E, F3E or G3E
   emission, or International Morse, with all encoding disabled.
   Permissible alternative identification procedures are as follows:

   (1) A mobile relay stations call sign may be used to identify the
   associated control and mobile stations, except in the Public Safety
   Pool where the stations operate on frequencies below 450 MHz.
   Alternatively, a base station (including a mobile relay station) which
   is controlled by radio may be identified by the transmission of the
   call sign of the station at which communications originate.

   (2) One or more fixed relay stations may be identified by the
   transmission of the call signs of the stations at which the
   communications originate.

   (3) When a mobile station transmits on a different frequency than its
   associated base station, the assigned call sign of either the mobile
   station or the base station may be transmitted. Further, a single
   mobile unit in the licensee's authorized geographic area of operation
   may transmit station identification on behalf of any other operating
   mobile units in the fleet.

   (4) Use of an identifier other than the assigned call sign. (i) In the
   Public Safety Pool, mobile units licensed to a governmental entity and
   which operate on frequencies above 30 MHz may use an identifier which
   contains, at a minimum, the name of the licensee if the licensee
   maintains at the station a list of the special identifiers to be used
   by the mobile units.

   (ii) In the Industrial/Business Pool, licensees may request the
   Commission's local Engineer-in-Charge to approve the use of special
   mobile unit identifiers in lieu of the assigned call sign. Such
   requests, however, will not be granted where it appears that harmful
   interference to international operations may be caused by stations
   below 50 MHz, or by stations operating in areas within 80 km (50 miles)
   of an international boundary, or where it appears that the proposed
   method of identification will not adequately distinguish the mobile
   units of the applicant from the mobile units of other licensees in the
   area.

   (iii) In the Industrial/Business Pool, railroad licensees (as defined
   in §  90.7) may identify stations by the name of the railroad and the
   train number, caboose number, engine number, or the name of the fixed
   wayside station. If none of these forms is practicable, any similar
   name or number may be designated by the railroad concerned for use by
   its employees in the identification of fixed points or mobile units,
   provided that a list of such identifiers is maintained by the railroad.
   An abbreviated name or the initials of the railroad may be used where
   such are in general usage. In those areas where it is shown that no
   difficulty would be encountered in identifying the transmission of a
   particular station (as, for example, where stations of one licensee are
   located in a yard isolated from other radio installations), approval
   may be given to a request from the licensee for permission to omit the
   station identification.

   (5) Use of identifiers in addition to assigned call signs. Nothing in
   this section shall be construed as prohibiting the transmission of
   station or unit identifiers which may be necessary or desirable for
   system operation, provided that they are transmitted in addition to the
   assigned station call sign or other permissible form of identification.

   (b) Use of automatic Morse code identification equipment. Automatically
   activated equipment may be used to transmit station identification in
   International Morse Code pursuant to the following conditions:

   (1) The signal output of the automatic identification equipment shall
   be connected to the transmitter at the microphone input or any other
   manufacturer-provided signal input terminal and shall be adjusted to
   produce 40 percent +-10 percent of the maximum permissible modulation
   or deviation level. This adjustment shall be performed when all other
   modulating signals are absent.

   (2) The Morse code transmission rate shall be maintained between 20 and
   25 words per minute.

   (3) The frequency of the keyed tone comprising the identification
   signal shall be 1200 +-800 Hz. A licensee may be required to change the
   frequency in order to prevent interference to the operations of another
   co-channel licensee.

   (4) Should activation of automatic Morse code identification equipment
   interrupt the communications of another co-channel licensee, the
   Commission may require the use of equipment which will delay automatic
   station identification until such co-channel communications are
   completed.

   (c) Special provisions for identification in the Radiolocation Service.
   (1) Stations in the Radiolocation Service are not required to identify
   except upon specific instruction from the Commission or as required by
   paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

   (2) Stations in the Radiolocation Service operating on frequencies
   above 3400 kHz that employ spread spectrum techniques shall transmit a
   two letter manufacturer's designator, authorized by the Commission on
   the station authorization, at the beginning and ending of each
   transmission and once every 15 minutes during periods of continuing
   operation. The designator shall be transmitted in International Morse
   Code at a speed not exceeding 25 words per minute, and the spread
   spectrum mode of operation shall be maintained while the designator is
   being transmitted. The identifying signal shall be clearly receivable
   in the demodulated audio of a narrow-band FM receiver.

   (d) General exemptions. A station need not transmit identification if:

   (1) It is a mobile station operating on the transmitting frequency of
   the associated base station.

   (2) It is a mobile station in the Public Safety Pool using F1E or G1E
   emission.

   (3) It is transmitting for telemetering purposes or for the activation
   of devices which are employed solely as a means of attracting
   attention, or for remote control purposes, or which is retransmitting
   by self-actuating means, a radio signal received from another radio
   station or stations.

   (4) It is any type of radiopositioning or radar station authorized in a
   service other than the Radiolocation Service.

   (5) It is used solely for automatic vehicle monitoring or location.

   (6) It is a paging station authorized in accordance with the provisions
   of §  90.20(a)(2)(v).

   (7) It is a mobile station employing non-voice emissions and the
   associated base station identifies on behalf of the mobile unit(s).

   (8) It is a base or mobile station in the 220-222 MHz band authorized
   to operate on a nationwide basis in accordance with subpart T of this
   part.

   (9) It is a wireless microphone station operating in accordance with
   the provisions of §  90.265(b).

   (10) It is a Roadside Unit in a DSRCS system.

   (e) Special provisions for stations licensed under this part that are
   classified as CMRS providers under part 20 of this chapter.

   (1) Station identification will not be required for 929-930 MHz
   nationwide paging licensees or MTA or EA-based SMR licensees. All other
   CMRS stations will be required to comply with the station
   identification requirements of this paragraph.

   (2) CMRS stations subject to a station identification requirement will
   be permitted to use a single call sign for commonly owned facilities
   that are operated as part of a single system. The call sign must be
   transmitted each hour within five minutes of the hour, or upon
   completion of the first transmission after the hour.

   (3) CMRS stations granted exclusive channels may transmit their call
   signs digitally. A licensee that identifies its call sign in this
   manner must provide the Commission, upon request, information
   sufficient to decode the digital transmission and ascertain the call
   sign transmitted.

   (f) Special provisions for stations licensed under this part that are
   not classified as CMRS providers under part 20 of this chapter.

   (1) Stations subject to a station identification requirement will be
   permitted to use a single call sign for commonly owned facilities that
   are operated as part of a single system.

   (2) Stations licensed on an exclusive basis in the bands between 150
   and 512 MHz that normally employ digital signals for the transmission
   of data, text, control codes, or digitized voice may be identified by
   digital transmission of the call sign. A licensee that identifies its
   call sign in this manner must provide the Commission, upon request,
   information sufficient to decode the digital transmission and ascertain
   the call sign transmitted.

   [ 43 FR 54791 , Nov. 22, 1978]

   Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting §  90.425, see
   the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids
   section of the printed volume and at www.fdsys.gov .

   Effective Date Note: At  78 FR 28754 , May 16, 2013, in §  90.425,
   paragraph (e)(3) was revised and paragraph (f) was added. These
   paragraph contain information collection and recordkeeping requirements
   and will not become effective until approval has been given by the
   Office of Management and Budget.

   return arrow Back to Top