1. International phone patches must be conducted only where there is a special third-party agreement between the countries concerned. The only exceptions are when the immediate safety of life or property is endangered, or where the third-p arty is a licensed amateur eligible to be a control operator of the station.

 2. Phone patches or autopatches involving the business affairs of any party must not be conducted at any time. The content of any patch should be such that it is clear to any licensee that business communications are not involved. Particular c aution must be observed in calling any business telephone. Calls to place an order for a commercial product must not be made, nor may calls be made to one’s office to receive or leave business messages. However, calls may be made in the interests of highw ay safety, such as for the removal of a disabled vehicle from a hazardous location, are permitted.

 3. All interconnections must be made in accordance with telephone company tariffs. If you have trouble obtaining information about them from you telephone company representatives, the tariffs are available for public inspection at your telepho ne company office.

 4. Phone patches and autopatches should never be made soley to avoid telephone toll charges. Phone patches and autopatches should never be made when normal telephone service could just as easily be used.

 5. Third-parties should not be retransmitted until the responsible control operator has explained the nature of amateur radio to them. Control of the station must never be relinquished to an unlicensed person. Permitting a person you don’t kn ow very well to conduct a patch in a language you don’t understand amounts to relinquishing control.

6. Phone patches and autopatches must be terminated immediately in the even of any illegality or impropriety.

7. Autopatch facilities must not be used for broadcasting. If a repeater has the capability of transmitting information, such as weather reports, which is of interest to the general public, such transmissions must occur only when requested by a lice nsed amateur and must not conform to a specific time schedule. The retransmission of radio signals from other services is not permitted in the amateur radio service.

 8. Station identification must be strictly observed. In particular, U.S. stations conducting international phone patches must identify in English at least once every 10 minutes, and must also give their call sign at the end of the exchange of transmissions.

 9. In selecting frequencies for phone patch work, the rights of other amateurs must be considered. In particular, patching on 20 meters should be confined to the upper portion of the 14,200-14,350 kHz segment in accordance with the IARU Region 2 recommendation.

10. Phone patches and autopatches should be kept as brief as possible, as a courtesy to other amateurs; the amateur bands are intended to be used primarily for communication among radio amateurs.

11. If you have any double as to the legality or advisability of a patch, don’t make it.