Jamming on NYC Amateur Radio Rptrs

[Jimru]

It may be that most of my ham "career" has been on repeaters and on directed nets (ARES and clubs), where most everything has been cordial.

In NYC, where I used to live, there was (and is) jamming involved, but we moved to other repeaters and it wasn't a problem after a while.

Here on Cape Cod (where I've lived since Feb. of this year), I have not encountered ANY jamming, cursing or other untoward behavior on the air.

I have not been on HF much at all, but I have monitored some awful stuff on 80/75M. However, most QSO's I've heard have been proper.

Youse guys may have more experience on HF than I do, so I defer to your opinions in that area.

Having said that, again, most of my exchanges over the years on the repeaters have been cordial, not only in NYC, but wherever I have travelled and brought my HT with me, including Washington, DC; Richmond, VA, Oakland, CA and many more.

I still disagree that "ham radio is just like CB"!

I will add that in general, public discourse has become more "crude 'n rude", so in as much as ham radio is a reflection of the general population, it could be said that the ham population, especially new hams, may just be "ruder and cruder" in general anyway. Especially those that have come from the ranks of CB. They are used to a looser set of rules (there are none, it seems) and they bring this mentality often (but not always, of course) to amateur radio.

But, that's just my two cents.

 

[rapidcharger]

Going digital may not completely remove the lids from the ham bands but it will make it so you don't have to be effected by it. No lids, no static, no beeps and bops and westminster chimes and speak and spells and CW iders and all that migraine-inducing garbage.

If I want to have a conversation with my Pal Jimru up in Falmouth, MA that is as simple as changing a channel. No elaborate antenna systems, high power amps or band openings required.

 

[JustLou]

I have listened all over and i know what you are talking about. this thread is about activity on ham radio and there to post that disagree. maybe they read what they want to but i stand by what i said. the main reason i left the cb is the same thing that is going on on ham.

K3CFC

There's good and bad on both the ham bands and CB. Amateur Radio for the most part is not nearly as bad as 11 meters though. I talked on 11 meters for years to the same people. They were friendly and had more respect for others than a lot of hams do on their bands. As others pointed out, you have a some bad eggs on the 75/70 meter band. Mostly they just sound like grumpy old men trying to have a pi$$ing contest. 90% of the VHF/UHF repeaters are run well, and people follow the rules, but you'll find a rogue repeater where nobody follows the rules and/or most don't have licenses.

 

[namhcor]

As an update to the original topic, the UHF repeater jamming has shifted back to analog repeaters like WB2HWW on 440.700 and KB2HRA on 449.925. It sounds like the same idiots that used to jam K2MAK 448.275 before it went TRBO. On 2 meters, regular jamming on 146.955 in Alpine NJ giving the after midnight crew a hard time.

 

[namhcor]

More updated info regarding the jammer on Alpine 146.955. I heard that the jammer was identified by Rocky and Charlie of the after midnight crew.

 

[giguchan]

Speaking of alpine... that has got to be the oddest Tower I have ever seen. I used to go there to drop off parts for repair(CATV) stood at the base and looked up! very odd indeed. I remember something on that tower years ago was causing some kind of Intermod on a cell site waaaay out on Long island and could not believe that when the issue was found how far away it was... great site though!

 

[902]

Speaking of alpine... that has got to be the oddest Tower I have ever seen. I used to go there to drop off parts for repair(CATV) stood at the base and looked up! very odd indeed. I remember something on that tower years ago was causing some kind of Intermod on a cell site waaaay out on Long island and could not believe that when the issue was found how far away it was... great site though!

I climbed that tower in 1988 as a guest of Charlie Sackermann, Sr., the owner at the time. Charlie was a good friend to ham radio operators.

I don't know if you're aware of the history of that site, or how important it became to the NY metro area. Maj. Edwin H. Armstrong, the inventor of FM radio and the reason why scanners can do what they do today both analog and digital, built that tower in 1938 as part of his W2XMN experimental FM broadcast station. On April 10, 1938, a frequency of used was 43.7 MHz, in VHF low band, to transmit Armstrong's first FM broadcast at 600W. The tower was built by the American Bridge Company. The antenna was vertically suspended between the arms. Later on, Armstrong significantly increased the power and frequencies were changed.

There is tragic irony in E.H. Armstrong's story. He was hounded by former colleague turned rival David Sarnoff in intense patent disputes. Armstrong committed suicide over the matter. His wife ultimately won the patent war. Decades later, it was Armstrong who came to Sarnoff's rescue when NBC went off the air due to the World Trade Center tragedy. All of NYC's television stations were temporarily moved to the Armstrong tower while Empire was prepped.

 

[giguchan]

Hey there,
funny that you mention the History of the tower. I did some research and found out some interesting stuff.. I also saw that there are Do gooder civil groups whining about the tower site. It's very interesting... and yes it did come in handy during the Attack's.
thanks for the reply.

 

[902]

Hey there,
funny that you mention the History of the tower. I did some research and found out some interesting stuff.. I also saw that there are Do gooder civil groups whining about the tower site. It's very interesting... and yes it did come in handy during the Attack's.
thanks for the reply.

Yeah, Alpine used to be mostly woods and then high dollar homes. Once those big lots were subdivided all the new residents thought they could "will the tower away" with their home owners' associations, because, don't you know, it's ghastly. And it's radiating the children. And killing migratory birds that have gone blind and can't see big red and white things with lights on them. It's a lot like some women who marry bad guys because they can "change" them. PROTIP: It doesn't work. And it's a good thing, because the region needs that tower.

Hey - I used to work EMS with a guy from out your way a long time ago. I'm struggling to remember his name. But that's a good thing, you got the synapses firing again. When I find him, I'll drop him a line. Haven't talked to the guy in like 29 years. Thanks!

 

[giguchan]

EMS in the city? or out on Long Island?

There is a Trap/skeet range out here- it's been here for ages. A few of the folks put up big expensive houses and all of a sudden it's a nuisance. They succeeded in shutting it down for a while but I think that someone with a clear head had it re opened. I just don't get it. Kind of like building a house on Popsicle sticks and then complain then the water gets too close..

The Bit of marrying someone and hopefully changing them? is spot on... I used to be one of those guys... I let the woman know from the word go that I am me- so don't try it.

 

[peterwo2e]

I’m the last on the totem pole so far. But my experience so far that goes back 30 years. And back on the topic. Repeater jammers were always a problem from day one. It will get worse now that entry level into ham radio ticket is a lot easier. And we are going to have the not so desirable coming on board also. VHF is the new cb radio. So hang on tight. Is going to get very interesting.

 

[902]

EMS in the city? or out on Long Island?

There is a Trap/skeet range out here- it's been here for ages. A few of the folks put up big expensive houses and all of a sudden it's a nuisance. They succeeded in shutting it down for a while but I think that someone with a clear head had it re opened. I just don't get it. Kind of like building a house on Popsicle sticks and then complain then the water gets too close..

The Bit of marrying someone and hopefully changing them? is spot on... I used to be one of those guys... I let the woman know from the word go that I am me- so don't try it.

It was NYC. Lots of guys rode in from Long Island. They still do.

Out in the Midwest there was the same issue with "meat shoots." You go to the VFW on Sunday mornings, take your shotgun, and get a custom load. Shoot the best at the target and you win a ham or turkey or something like that. Been going on for decades but then they put subdivisions around and all of a sudden, *gasp* it's a menace.

Eh, whaddayagonnado?

 

[radioman2001]

If you are smart you do what a lifetime member and his family of our FD did. His family has been here farming for about 10 generations, and when a new development was proposed near his farm he erected a full size billboard with the following " This is a farming community if you don't like the sounds or smells DON"T MOVE HERE". The development hasn't been built, don't know if it was the billboard or the economy.

 

[APX8000]

Keep it on topic...please and thank you....

 

[namhcor]

Thanks for that moderator. Another annoying and possibly illegal operation is emanating from the infamous WB2HWW 440.700 MHz repeater. Repeater owner Howie is constantly clogging up the 2 meter, 6 meter and 10 meter simplex national calling frequencies with crossbanding his repeater and stepping all over anyone operating simplex. This moron has got to stop!

 

[62Truck]

Thanks for that moderator. Another annoying and possibly illegal operation is emanating from the infamous WB2HWW 440.700 MHz repeater. Repeater owner Howie is constantly clogging up the 2 meter, 6 meter and 10 meter simplex national calling frequencies with crossbanding his repeater and stepping all over anyone operating simplex. This moron has got to stop!

Here is what I was able to pull off the arrl website.

97
.205 Repeater station.
(a) Any amateur station licensed to a holder of a Technician,
General, Advanced or Amateur Ex
tra Class operator license may be
a
repeater. A holder of a Technician, General,
Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operator li
cense may be the cont
rol operator of a
repeater, subject to the privileges of
the class of operator license held.
(b) A repeater may receive and retransmit only on the 10 m and
shorter wavelength frequency bands
except the 28.0–29.5 MHz, 50.
0–
51.0 MHz, 144.0–144.5 MHz, 145.
5–146.0 MHz, 222.00–222.15 MHz, 431.0–433.
0 Mhz, and 435.0–438.0 Mhz segments

 

[namhcor]

Thanks for the part 97 posting OBW. Howard regularly sets up his repeater in "remote base" mode on the national simplex frequencies on 2, 6, and 10 meters as well as 223.500. He doesn't listen before transmitting via his repeater and regularly will step over an QSO in progress and monopolize what is supposed to be strictly a "call frequency" not a QSO frequency! He operates like a real LID!

 

[62Truck]

Thanks for the part 97 posting OBW. Howard regularly sets up his repeater in "remote base" mode on the national simplex frequencies on 2, 6, and 10 meters as well as 223.500. He doesn't listen before transmitting via his repeater and regularly will step over an QSO in progress and monopolize what is supposed to be strictly a "call frequency" not a QSO frequency! He operates like a real LID!

I just wanted to post the rules before others started going back and forth with speculation.

We have our fair share of lids here in "upstate" but luckily nothing like what is happening in NYC.

Even though the rules doesn't say anything about remoteing on national calling frequency however it is bad practice. I've always treated them as calling frequencies and always moved over to a simplex freq that wasn't in use.


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[902]

Thanks for the part 97 posting OBW. [redacted] regularly sets up his repeater in "remote base" mode on the national simplex frequencies on 2, 6, and 10 meters as well as 223.500. He doesn't listen before transmitting via his repeater and regularly will step over an QSO in progress and monopolize what is supposed to be strictly a "call frequency" not a QSO frequency! He operates like a real LID!

Omigosh, all you had to do is say that name and I had a flashback to 1987 when my friend Barry (SK) asked me if I could take a ride to Queens with him to help someone. Turns out I ended up retuning Howie's 440 Motrac repeater. I was somehow compelled to run away from this guy, LOL!

In 1992, I had a Syntor-X on low band in my car and I kept hearing him coming through 52.525. It's 22 years later and I haven't heard him lately, but seriously, I used to work 52.525 MHz a lot. Running a "remote base" through a repeater and leaving the thing connected so I could hear how congested the LIE is while I'm in Kansas (and them retaining their hang-times and not leaving pauses) is not a service, it's a menace. It's as bad as having an Echolink repeater and having someone from Los Angeles dial in at random then leave the patch connected while 14 guys talk to each other in a round table (with hang-times and without ever pausing to let their repeater drop... and imagine your electric meter spinning like a gyroscope and all those extra hours burning up your PA transistors... I had nightmares of PA transistors screaming "Change me! Change me!").

Remote bases belong on other frequencies, then publish it so that travelling buddies can get in without having to destroy a band opening for half a nation.

 

[namhcor]

Yep 902, some things just never change. His 440.700 repeater is still active mostly with LID type of operators who quick key, hardly ever ID and sound like they just came on from the CB good buddy band. I can fully understand why you felt compelled to run away from Howie!