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Qu: Why do HAMS police so much?

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SpugEddy

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Just out of curiosity, why do ham operators feel like they always need to police so much?
I'll explain: (in a nut shell) A friend bought a few 2 way radios that include the 2 meter and 70cm
ham bands. I was there the day after he received them and asked me to help test them. I drove
a few blocks away and we started to test. On one of the ham frequencies, he was answered by
an obvious ham operator. My friend heard him and instantly apologized but he hadn't heard anyone
transmitting and how he just bought them and this was just a test to see how they worked, but
he will move to another channel. The very next words from the ham were "what 's your callsign".
(I was going to try to explain this to my buddy in the beginning, but decided not to since he
is very stubborn and thickheaded) He told him he had no callsign and he was just testing his
radio. Again, he apologized and said he would move to another channel. That's when the tirade
started. The ham went on a rather arrogant, condescending, debasing, lengthy rant about using
ham channels without a license.
(I remained silent because I DO intend to become ham licensed very soon. Hopefully 1st week of Nov)
The ham also tole him that there are ways to find him and do "what is necessary" if he continues
to use these frequencies. After a few minutes of this, my friend tells him he is sorry and will move
on. The hams reply was "then I'll just follow you to whatever frequency you go to" and if I hear you
transmitting , you will be turned into the FCC.

Now, fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. I hear 2 guys talking on GMRS channels. They are
obviously in mobiles. Just from the conversation, they sounded very radio savy so I became more
interested in what they were saying. (truth is; I was learning something from them about antennas)
As it turns out, they were ham operators. So, I jumped into the conversation when I heard a long
pause and asked a few questions. After about 10-12 minutes of talking with them, I asked what
their callsign was. The one answered with a number that didn't seem right to me. So, I looked
it up and sure enough it was a ham callsign, but NOT GMRS. I said No, your GMRS callsign and
he repeated the same number. I told him that was a ham number not a GMRS number. His answer
was beautiful. Ready, "It's both" . Yes, that's right. He told me it covers both ham and GMRS. Now, I
wanted so bad to go ballistic on him the way the other ham did on my friend, but that's really not my
place, nor my job.

If it is so important to hams that everybody 100% legitimate, then why not them?
So, my question is: why do they feel the need to police everyone ALL the time? Is it because
they feel like there frequencies have been encroached upon? Self importance? Do they feel
like they have to protect what's left of their hobby? What?

Maybe someone can help me understand this since I'm soon to be ham'd.
 

paulears

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Two points from a UK perspective. Ham radio has always been a big club. Your license class denotes many things and your callsign another. It tells others how long you have held the license, and this even allows people to work out how knowledgeable you are. Not infallible, but it works. When I was newly licensed, I had a chat with JY1, me a newly licensed G4 with zero experience, but I passed the exam, passed the morse test and could legally press the button. He asked what I did, so I told him, I then asked what he did, and there was a pause and then he said, "I'm a king!" .

Ham radio is a bit like English class structure. Everyone looks down on those with newer or lower license classes. Stupid, but it's how it is. It's also quite understandable that as many people struggle to get a license and get the legal right to transmit on a band they will get upset with somebody who just uses a radio on a band they have no business using. This too has always been something that generates considerable Ill will. Indeed, it's not unknown for the licensed people to triangulate and find these illegal users, and report them to the FCC, Ofcom, in the UK. To be honest, that is a legal thing isn't it. You transmitting in a ham band without a license is hardly like murder, but both are illegal.

It is not a case of using an occupied channel, it's using ANY channel. If you intend getting a license, surely you understand this? There seems in the US much animosity between licensed hams and other legitimate radio users. I got abuse on one because my user name was my callsign, and when I answered a question in a listeners forum, I was told to take my superior views elsewhere.

If you are a member of a club, you are a member of a particular subset of the population, doesn't matter what the club is. Non-members cannot join in club activities. If they want to they join. Ham radio is a community world wide, and is very narrow minded and always has been. Some people are annoyingly superior. As experience grows, many hams become more expert and knowledgeable, which is how it should be. When I started the old ones grumbled at us new less good hams, now I'm old, I listen to some of the young ones and moan about them. EVERYONE grumbles about unlicensed ham band users.

You were technically pirating - operating outside the law. It doesn't matter, it didn't hurt anyone, but you got exactly what you would have got in the UK. No idea what GMRS requires so can't comment on that.


I would try to not get that cross about this, because I can almost guarantee that after having your ham license a year or two, you will almost certainly develop the same protective attitude.
 

mancow

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N5XTC

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Just out of curiosity, why do ham operators feel like they always need to police so much?
I'll explain: (in a nut shell) A friend bought a few 2 way radios that include the 2 meter and 70cm
ham bands. I was there the day after he received them and asked me to help test them. I drove
a few blocks away and we started to test. On one of the ham frequencies, he was answered by
an obvious ham operator. My friend heard him and instantly apologized but he hadn't heard anyone
transmitting and how he just bought them and this was just a test to see how they worked, but
he will move to another channel. The very next words from the ham were "what 's your callsign".
(I was going to try to explain this to my buddy in the beginning, but decided not to since he
is very stubborn and thickheaded) He told him he had no callsign and he was just testing his
radio. Again, he apologized and said he would move to another channel. That's when the tirade
started. The ham went on a rather arrogant, condescending, debasing, lengthy rant about using
ham channels without a license.
(I remained silent because I DO intend to become ham licensed very soon. Hopefully 1st week of Nov)
The ham also tole him that there are ways to find him and do "what is necessary" if he continues
to use these frequencies. After a few minutes of this, my friend tells him he is sorry and will move
on. The hams reply was "then I'll just follow you to whatever frequency you go to" and if I hear you
transmitting , you will be turned into the FCC.

Now, fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. I hear 2 guys talking on GMRS channels. They are
obviously in mobiles. Just from the conversation, they sounded very radio savy so I became more
interested in what they were saying. (truth is; I was learning something from them about antennas)
As it turns out, they were ham operators. So, I jumped into the conversation when I heard a long
pause and asked a few questions. After about 10-12 minutes of talking with them, I asked what
their callsign was. The one answered with a number that didn't seem right to me. So, I looked
it up and sure enough it was a ham callsign, but NOT GMRS. I said No, your GMRS callsign and
he repeated the same number. I told him that was a ham number not a GMRS number. His answer
was beautiful. Ready, "It's both" . Yes, that's right. He told me it covers both ham and GMRS. Now, I
wanted so bad to go ballistic on him the way the other ham did on my friend, but that's really not my
place, nor my job.

If it is so important to hams that everybody 100% legitimate, then why not them?
So, my question is: why do they feel the need to police everyone ALL the time? Is it because
they feel like there frequencies have been encroached upon? Self importance? Do they feel
like they have to protect what's left of their hobby? What?

Maybe someone can help me understand this since I'm soon to be ham'd.
HAM radio is more or less a self policing system. The FCC tends not to get involved anymore due to lack of personnel and resources, unless there is continued and serious malfeasance. The arrogant, self righteous, condescending part is not necessarily synonymous with HAM radio. You simply ran into those types of ops. I do know one ham like this and if you ran into him, you would conclude the same thing. IF nothing else, his voice would drive you crazy. lol. The guy has nothing else, so he is very defensive of ham radio. He polices 2 meters like a walmart security guard during black friday. However, you cannot generalize from one BAD ham like this to all ops. Sure, hams like the one i am describing are VERY BAD for ham radio and they discourage new ops and bring the hobby down. In fact, if ham radio was left in their hands, it would soon be dead in the water. This said, I do not blame the operator for getting upset if your friend were in the ham area of a band and transmitting without call signs/proper level license. This ham should have let your friend know, but been more explanatory and courteous. In addition to self policing, we are also a self teaching/mentoring group. Moral of the story, don't be discouraged by the few bad apples in the bushel. ham radio is an awesome hobby and there are many of us who also have other things to live for and treat the radio and other ops with the respect and encouragement. This is just my 2 cents.
 
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jaspence

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Hams police so much

The real questions is why do people insist on using a radio in a manner that could cause a serious problem. While "experimenting" with your new toy, it would be possible to get on an emergency frequency and cause interference. While many agencies have moved to the 800 and 700 bands to escape this, there are still many hospitals and ambulances in the UHF band. Some radios will even transmit in the AM air band, certainly not a good place to experiment.
 

Jimru

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Henrico County, VA
SpugEddy,

It's a little of everything mentioned by N5XTC as well as some the questions you mentioned in your post.

Most hams are nice people, although we are aware that there is encroachment upon our bands by all kinds of other radio services. What your friend did was also a big fear of hams these days; with the proliferation of the cheap Chinese radios, literally anyone can by them on Amazon (for example) and no one mentions that they need to be licensed. So what we have are more frequent episodes, particularly in urban areas of people buying these rigs and using them as toys or business handie talkies, etc. when I lived in Queens NYC, I heard what sounded for all the world like a drug dealer's lookout, telling them who was coming down the block, etc.

So, yes, we are sensitive to the issue, but as a group we are nice folks and if I had heard your friend I would have politely asked you to stop transmitting and perhaps ring your units back and exchange them for radios that you could operate without a license. Or, to invite you to visit our club and learn all about the ham radio hobby!
I hope you do get your ticket and join a club nearby.
73
Jim W4PKR
 

dsalomon

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Location
Brooks, GA
I'll throw in my 2 cents here as well. BTW, my callsign is AG4F, and my name is David. Nice to (virtually) meet you. As N5XTC said, many hams are polite, nice people. Just like you'd find anywhere in any hobby or any profession, there are going to be jerks. However, part of the reason we (the ham community) police ourselves is that we'll lose our frequencies if we abuse them. What you don't hear on the airwaves is the ever ongoing battle hams wage against others who are trying to get the FCC to take certain portions of frequencies that are allocated to ham use and allocate them for other use. Many hams get involved by writing letters and talking to our congresspeople to help keep frequency allocations that may be in danger of being reallocated via some bill that's currently in front of congress or planned to be in front of congress. The frequency spectrum that is useful for radios is very limited. There are always people trying to get the FCC to reallocate that spectrum. Believe me, they DO look at how we use it, and how much we use it, and if it's used appropriately as part of the decision making process for allocation of that spectrum. So, most of us do our best to self-police our allocated spectrum to ensure that it does get used, and that it gets used appropriately. Appropriately means. in part, that people with the correct licensing are using the allowable bands. If ham bands turn into CB-like communications, we can kiss them goodbye. Obviously, I'm generalizing, but I think everyone reading this gets the point (not all CB-ers are foul-mouthed jerks and I don't intend to say that they are). That's no excuse for rude or obnoxious behavior when we do police ourselves, but we DO need to police ourselves. And BTW, a ham license is NOT a license to use GMRS, as you already seem to know. So, if you can figure out the offending person's (or people's) ham callsigns, a call or note to the FCC is appropriate. Even though the FCC's policing arm has been severely reduced over the years, they DO take action when appropriate. That action can be anything from a warning letter to a huge fine and forfeiture of equipment.

Now, get the hell off my internet frequency. No one else is allowed to use it. (That WAS a joke, boys and girls).

73 - David, AG4F
 

blackbelt76

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Do they feel
like they have to protect what's left of their hobby? What?

Maybe someone can help me understand this since I'm soon to be ham'd.

1) Well sir, as far as "what's left" of this hobby, amateur radio license numbers have been on the increase..approx 700,000 U.S HAMS.

2) Repeaters are maintained at rather high costs incurred by club members. Encroachment or illegal operation here is usually not a problem as VHF/UHF freqs are easy to track down.

3) Sounds like you ran into a jerk. Being a ham does not make one immune to idiocy.

It is self policing. The FCC does not have the time nor the inclination to go after the "little guy".
They may and have investigated and prosecuted major infractions.

(HF) on the other hand is pretty much a free for all now. I sold all my HF transmitting equip years ago
 

N5XTC

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1) Well sir, as far as "what's left" of this hobby, amateur radio license numbers have been on the increase..approx 700,000 U.S HAMS.

2) Repeaters are maintained at rather high costs incurred by club members. Encroachment or illegal operation here is usually not a problem as VHF/UHF freqs are easy to track down.

3) Sounds like you ran into a jerk. Being a ham does not make one immune to idiocy.

It is self policing. The FCC does not have the time nor the inclination to go after the "little guy".
They may and have investigated and prosecuted major infractions.

(HF) on the other hand is pretty much a free for all now. I sold all my HF transmitting equip years ago

Overall HF seems ok, esp for being primarily self policed. the exception, of course, are freqs like 14.313 MHz, but at least the malfeasance is more or less concentrated. I know hams who never work HF and remain techs for 20 or more years. Never understood that. They think ham radio is only abour cheap chinese radios and hitting repeaters to talk from McDonalds to the guy up the street or contacts using Echolink. ham is much more than that, as you know. the other thing is mentoring. as hams we are open to mentoring each other, at least some of us are. again, i know hams with the "i have been doing this for over 20 years" attitude and thus unwilling to help new hams with radio protocol and procedure. they instead ridicule and poke fun of them on Youtube.
 
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MrGClips

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I know hams who never work HF, remain techs for 20 or more years. Never understood that. They think ham radio is cheap chinese radios and hitting repeaters to talk from McDonalds to the guy up the street. It is much more than that, as you know.

If their dual-band radios perfectly fit their needs and not interested in anything else, then why upgrade? They have exactly what they wanted; a good two-way communication solution with inexpensive devices that work. Most of the price in the 'brands' only go to the greedy pockets of stock-holders and overpaid CEOs anyhow.

So I guess it's individual choice. Hard-core HAMs will always pick the best equipment because they appreciate the highest quality tools for the hobby, and the average user will always go for the cheap radios, because their needs and interests are completely different. There is nothing wrong with that.
 

N5XTC

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If their dual-band radios perfectly fit their needs and not interested in anything else, then why upgrade? They have exactly what they wanted; a good two-way communication solution with inexpensive devices that work. Most of the price in the 'brands' only go to the greedy pockets of stock-holders and overpaid CEOs anyhow.

So I guess it's individual choice. Hard-core HAMs will always pick the best equipment because they appreciate the highest quality tools for the hobby, and the average user will always go for the cheap radios, because their needs and interests are completely different. There is nothing wrong with that.

never said there was anything wrong with it, merely that i never really understood it (understood here meaning "relate to") as it is not my thing. but, yes, i understand, we all can't wear black and ride the same motorcycle. different strokes for different folks. diverse hobby. i have TWO of those cheap Chinese radios myself, but they are not all I have.
 

kg4vdz

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Overall HF seems ok, esp for being primarily self policed. the exception, of course, are freqs like 14.313 MHz, but at least the malfeasance is more or less concentrated. I know hams who never work HF and remain techs for 20 or more years. Never understood that. They think ham radio is only abour cheap chinese radios and hitting repeaters to talk from McDonalds to the guy up the street or contacts using Echolink. ham is much more than that, as you know. the other thing is mentoring. as hams we are open to mentoring each other, at least some of us are. again, i know hams with the "i have been doing this for over 20 years" attitude and thus unwilling to help new hams with radio protocol and procedure. they instead ridicule and poke fun of them on Youtube.


Hf has tuned into a free for all 14.313 is just the start of it try 7.200 or 3.843 and several many more i hate to see it come to this on hf as i love this hobby it really is great its a awesome hobby with many great hams but one bad apple can spoil the basket get your ticket you"ll be glad you did :)
 

K7MEM

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SpugEddy,

I'm really not trying to get on your case on this, but you did ask. And, I do hope you get your ham license.

With the first part of your post, who's wrong here? Everybody involved.

You knew in advance that you were operating in a amateur band, yet you didn't inform your friend, just because he is "stubborn and thickheaded". But your friend should have know that the frequencies he was using required a license. It just means he didn't read any of the material supplied with the radio or he completely ignored it. Your friend apologized and agreed to change to a different channel. Was that to a channel where he was legal, or was he just going to cause interference on a different illegal channel?

The FCC rules say that, to use the 2 meter and 70 cm amateur bands, you need to be a licensed operator. There is no caveat that says "but unlicensed operators interfering with licensed operators on those bands is OK, as long as your just testing your new toy".

And, of course, the ham that responded to your "test" was totally out of line. There is absolutely no excuse for that kind of behaviour. Some hams get a sense of ownership when they get their license and forget that this is just a hobby. This happens with newly licensed hams and with hams that have been around for a long time, like myself. Ignore the threats about turning you into the FCC. He was just mad because you broke his squelch and he has to get out of his chair to reset it. The FCC doesn't have the staff to investigate every little transgression on the ham bands.

But in the second part, you wanted to do exactly the same thing the ham on the other instance did. Except you were trying to be the GMRS police. You didn't do it, which is a good thing. But will you be able to hold yourself back in the future? Why did you feel that way? What were you trying to protect?

You need to look into yourself for the answers. I do really hope you get your ham license. Why don't you encourage your friend to get a license also? It's really not that difficult. Then he could make good use of those 2 way radios.

Martin - K7MEM
 

prcguy

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Look at the situation this way, if you saw someone stealing your neighbors newspaper every morning then sitting down and reading it on their porch, would you let the person know they have no right to do that or would you look the other way? How bout if you saw your neighbors 13yr old kid driving around the neighborhood in dads car without a license, going up and down sidewalks and over lawns, would you keep it to yourself or would you tell dad or the police about it? One example is theft and the other is operating without a license.

Part of the hams reaction is from the person doing something illegal like stealing the airwaves and part from infringing on something the ham has worked for but the freeloader did not and that becomes personal. Why should they get something for free that I had to work hard for??

I'm completely with the hams that chewed out your friend for obviously having no clue about radios and transmitting indiscriminately without a license. Although hams are not supposed to talk to unlicensed stations.

It sounds like you ran across some other idiot hams on GMRS who are in exactly the same boat as your friend operating a radio without a license. Some hams are dumb and make mistakes, and if its intentional and they keep it up, they should receive the same legal treatment as your friend with no license.

On a similar note I owned and operated several GMRS repeaters years ago and a guy and his friends showed up one day and announced they didn't need a license because they were "state citizens" and therefore exempt plus they claimed I need to keep my repeaters signal off their property, otherwise they had rights to it.

This caused me to come completely unglued as it would many others and my life's focus over the next few months was to find an punish these idiots. This went a little beyond someone simply transmitting without a license as they were in effect stealing my personal property.

I eventually found the main culprits name, address and personal info and things were done that I'm a little ashamed of many years later, but it completely ended the problem. So I have a little sympathy for hams or other licensed radio people encountering a freeloader on the air.
prcguy
 

MrGClips

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SpugEddy - These guys are right, I'm sure you know that.

Just because there are people who violate the rules, it doesn't justify following their bad example.

Though I seriously doubt that anyone goes after GMRS abusers, and even HAM frequency pirates, unless the guys really tick-off some hard-core HAMs, or interfere with official channels like cops and such.

Just take some time off, read the FREE guides, go to the FREE exam sites, study, practice, prepare and just take the exam, like I just did!

I don't say it's easy, because you have to learn a lot of technical stuff, but the tests are EXTREMELY GENEROUS (!!!) with up to 9 chances to miss in your exam, and you still pass! Once you got it, you're ready to go and talk freely, enjoy the service and also, make HAM buddies everywhere.

Listen to these guys, they know what they're talking about!
 
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nd5y

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Some hams are dumb and make mistakes
It's the blind leading the blind. I have actually heard stupid hams telling newbies on the air that a ham license is also good for GMRS and a GROL allows you to operate on any frequency, and the newbies don't even question it.

A lot of people are misinformed and remain stupid because all they know about radio is what they learn fom internet forums and YouTube videos.
 

N5XTC

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It's the blind leading the blind. I have actually heard stupid hams telling newbies on the air that a ham license is also good for GMRS and a GROL allows you to operate on any frequency, and the newbies don't even question it.

A lot of people are misinformed and remain stupid because all they know about radio is what they learn fom internet forums and YouTube videos.

the bottom line is that it takes time to learn ham radio. the tests are not going to do it, experience is. yes, some hams make mistakes and/or do not know that much about radio, propagation, antennas, etc etc. but, over time, the dedicated ones will learn and advance. the license is just the ticket in if you ask me. i wish the technician level was more real world for hams of today. more about radio protocol and FCC regulations, how to properly make contacts, norms of talking on HF vs 2 meters, etc etc. Instead, full of stuff most hams will never use in today's world. my opinion is all.
 

paulears

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I suspect all this is simply because many people are protective of what they have, and what to took to get there.

I can only comment for the UK, but I think, from chats I have had, that it's the same worldwide. The callsign people have says a great deal. It says how long they have been on the air and what technical level they achieved. When I first started, the old lags who encouraged me were G2+2 letter callsigns and G3+3 letters, but near the beginning of the alphabet. G4's were the 'new' people. I had to study quite hard, starting from scratch, and had to travel a hundred miles to take the written exam. then I travelled two hundred miles the other way to take my Morse test. Then I got my license. Eventually the G4's were all filled up and it moved to a new sequence, and then eventually all the G's were used and we moved on to M and 2A, and then I got lost. This means that continually new people come into the hobby as old ones die, and every ten year group tend to think they had it tougher, or are perhaps better because the exams got easier. In reality - they just changed to reflect the times. So the whole world accidentally inherited the UK class system where class was a personal 'standard', and everyone looks down on the lower classes in England!

When somebody who has struggled to get their license hears unlicensed operation in "their" band, it's like having the local kids climbing into your back yard. They're doing no real harm, but it's YOUR back yard. Hence the chasing off and threats of the FCC (and our Ofcom). In truth, they're not really bothered. However, hams group together and actually enjoy tracking people down. If you plan on getting a license, you are going to join this club, and will be expected to follow the rules, and you will then expect others to do the same thing.

I remember chatting on an HF band to a person who's callsign was JY1 - meant nothing to me at the time, and he asked what I did, and I told him - then I asked what he did? "I'm a King was the response". I got laughed at for years because of that - JY=Jordan, and I really should have guessed that "1" was a pretty important person.

There are rules, codes of conduct and history. Hams are protective, and to outsiders come across poorly. I too have a business radio system and occasionally I hear people using it who I do not recognise. I track them down, and then invoice them 'for fun'. I don;t do the on air arguments any more - too old and fed up with it.

For years radio hams looked down on short wave listeners, when it was a genuine hobby of it's own, and just because a ham has a license doesn't make them a better person.

I even got slammed on a forum for attempting to give advice in a scanning section - simply because I had signed up with my callsign, rather than a user name, and this was seen as pompous, self-righteous behaviour.

I also hear people say they worked hard for their license and now they are given away free with breakfast cereal. It's just how it is - like being the member of some odd exclusive club. I was a member of a radio club for years, but after giving up ham radio for years and then starting again, I discovered I'd got very little in common with the current version of 'my' club. Life goes on!
 

KC8ESL

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This seems relevant. Let it be known that I am not a lawyer, nor do I claim to know what I'm actually talking about. However, being that the operators (SprugEddy and friend) were not licensed, and no licensed control operator was present, this would make it illegal for the ham to make a technically one-way communication to notify the non-hams that their actions were illegal. Specifically 97.115 (b), (1).

Right or wrong to inform the uninformed, the ham still screwed up by continuing to talk once he couldn't raise an FCC issued callsign from SprugEddy.

§97.115 Third party communications.
(a) An amateur station may transmit messages for a third party to:
(1) Any station within the jurisdiction of the United States.
(2) Any station within the jurisdiction of any foreign government when transmitting emergency or disaster relief communications and any station
within the jurisdiction of any foreign government whose administration has made arrangements with the United States to allow amateur stations to be
used for transmitting international communications on behalf of third parties. No station shall transmit messages for a third party to any station within the
jurisdiction of any foreign government whose administration has not made such an arrangement. This prohibition does not apply to a message for any
third party who is eligible to be a control operator of the station.
(b) The third party may participate in stating the message where:
(1) The control operator is present at the control point and is continuously monitoring and supervising the third party's participation; and
(2) The third party is not a prior amateur service licensee whose license was revoked or not renewed after hearing and re-licensing has not taken
place; suspended for less than the balance of the license term and the suspension is still in effect; suspended for the balance of the license term and relicensing
has not taken place; or surrendered for cancellation following notice of revocation, suspension or monetary forfeiture proceedings. The third
party may not be the subject of a cease and desist order which relates to amateur service operation and which is still in effect.
 

stmills

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,108
Location
Twin Cites Area MN
Operating on any frequency without the required license whether for "testing new radios" or just because the radio can is illegal. Now will you get an enforcement action from the FCC - not likely if you are not causing interference. A licensed user on the frequency has the right to ask your call sign- if on ham to confirm they are talking legally with a properly licensed user, On GMRS and part 90 to coordinate proper shared use of the frequency.
As a licensed GMRS repeater owner I have twice had instance where I was receiving interference from illegal business operations. The first time I requested license information from the business- the users responded to each other about my request but did not respond to me- they did switch channels and since they were not a fixed location business I dropped it since my issue was resolved. The second time I was receiving interference for about a month- by chance I came across the business one day- a tire shop operating on a GMRS high power channel for calls from the register to the shop floor- about 500 feet max. I requested the call sign and was told they didn't have or need one these were there business radios. I confirmed with them what business they were with, I then faxed the manager a letter explaining they were operating illegally and explained what channels on the GMRS/FRS radios they could use without a license and attached a copy of an FCC NAL from a business that was illegally using GMRS with out a licensed and offered to provide more assistance if they had questions. They were off GMRS the next day.
I am also a licensed ham and have run into many who believe that since they had to take a knowledge test not just apply for a license they are superior to other radio operators, and I am always amazed when these knowledge bases hams insist that the Part97 rule allowing any ham regardless of license class to operate on any part 97 frequency in an emergency means they can use any frequency -90, 95, marine in an emergency not just a 97. I was in a CERT communications class and had a group of emcom hams insist they could use my GMRS repeater for a CERT incident since it was an Emergency and they were licensed hams. I tried to educate and I know this one was a loosing battle.
 
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