HF becoming like CB
- Thread starter K6GBW
- Start date
AC9KH
Member
Ham radio is supposed to be self-enforced, or self-policed, or whatever you want to call it. Tonight I got 30-40 over RTTY signals. The local 3,000 watt AM radio station only 9 miles away is not that strong. These RTTY contesters are not supposed to be on 160, but guess what? They're on there anyway. Was having a QSO with another station on 160 with JS8Call when suddenly got walked on by 30-over RTTY. Moved up the band a bit off the normal JS8Call frequency and more of 'em appeared and walked on us. Switched to 80 meters and it's worse.
Switched the radio off and forget it. They'll go away by tomorrow night but they definitely do not care about who was using the frequency first, didn't even bother to check. And you think the CB guys are bad?
WX9RLT
Top Dawg
I was under the impression the FCC enforced the rules...
K3YGX
Member
It starts with you......hence self policing
AC9KH
Member
The FCC does not actively enforce ham radio rules. If they get a whole bunch of complaints about one operator maybe running an unlicensed station or something, and the ham radio guys can identify who it is, they might send out a letter, but that's about it.
WX9RLT
Top Dawg
What's the point of the FCC and ham then?
What is the money going towards, that we pay for our license?
What is the money going towards, that we pay for our license?
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
You are paying for the 40 year old computer that keeps the database running, as well as the people that keep it humming along 4 days a week, 13 hours a day. Vacuum tubes and paper punch cards are not cheap. (that's a joke…)
FCC -does- enforce the rules, and there are records of that. The FCC is responsible for a lot of communications services, not just RF, and they don't have enough staff to focus on every little piddly ham complaints/pissing contest.
Unfortunately some hams expect the FCC to be monitoring every frequency, every mode, every repeater. Some poor ham says "booger" on the radio and they expect the FCC to come swooping in with a SWAT team to haul them off to jail. It doesn't work that way.
As for hams "self policing", that's not an ideal term. The idea is that ham radio operators are supposed to take pride in their skills and abide by the rules that they were supposed to study and understand. If it gets to be a blatant problem, hams can file a complaint with the FCC. If it's a real issue, the FCC can and will step in, but it usually involves a verbal warning, then a written warning. If the ham in question doesn't get the hint, they do apply fines and can revoke their license. Usually it takes a pretty high level of stupidity for that to happen. But there are those that are up to the challenge.
The ARRL/FCC Volunteer Monitor program is the first step in amateur radio rules enforcement in the U.S. The program was developed and is managed by Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH, an attorney who retired from the FCC's Enforcement Division. The Volunteer Monitor program consists of a team of amateur radio operators who monitor and investigate problems with rules enforcement on the bands. This team reports directly to Mr. Hollingsworth who may try to contact the people involved with the transgressions or he may turn the matter over to the FCC. It's a slow process as it takes some time to "make a case" that can hold up if the matter goes before an administrative law judge.
Here is the Volunteer Monitor program report from the October 2024 issue of QST:
Here is the Volunteer Monitor program report from the October 2024 issue of QST:
AC9KH
Member
Frankly, and I'm not afraid to say it, those guys are as much of a joke as the FCC. Like the one a few years ago where they issue an "advisory" to a guy running on 7300KHz suppressed carrier with LSB. His emissions were NOT outside the band and yet they issue this "advisory" for operating too close to the band edge.
Meanwhile, the guys on 7200 are playing music and having a high old time breaking every rule imaginable, they don't even ID for hours at a time, and these "volunteers" don't do anything about it.
That's the purpose of an advisory. "Hey, you're operating close to the edge. You might wanna keep an eye on your signal."
The Volunteer Monitors do not have enforcement powers. They monitor and report to Riley Hollingsworth and eventually to the FCC. The FCC is the only part of this chain that has enforcement powers.
AC9KH
Member
That's my point. Why waste time issuing "advisories" to people who aren't breaking any rules? The last thing we need is volunteer band cops issuing an "advisory" to somebody who's well aware of where his emissions are. If the guy was running 7297 with a 6KHz AM signal then I could maybe see it IF they had actual proof that his modulation envelope was going outside the band. But not with sideband where most radios won't even modulate the first 100Hz of the audio spectrum. To me that's just petty stupidity on the part of the volunteer band cops.
Lets say this guy had a problem with his radio and he did have some spurious emissions on the upper sideband. All it takes is for somebody to notice and say, "hey, I noticed you're putting out some spurs above the suppressed carrier, might want to take a look at your radio gear there......" That's what self-policing, or self-enforcement, or whatever you want to call it, is all about. Not volunteer band cops issuing written "advisories" when no rules are being broken.
I remember back when this whole fiasco was being discussed on a couple HF nets and the general consensus was, "what a buncha LID's trying to act like Big Stuff when they don't even know how sideband modulation works"
Why? Because these are the same types of folks who run HOAs and write you an advisory because your grass is 1/16 of an inch too long. I think they were bullied as children or something, or wanted to be cops but couldn't. I'm not really sure what's going on, but they can take their advisories and stick them where the sun don't shine.
AC9KH
Member
Yeah, they even got into a spat with WA0RCR a few years ago over broadcasting on ham radio. It was like, for pete's sake, Vern has been running the Gateway 160 broadcast for over 40 years, started as the Gateway 160 net back in 1979. It has some really interesting stuff on it, is a landmark in ham radio, and is (as far as I know) the last remaining defacto clear channel medium wave AM broadcast in North America. People who operate on 160 politely back away from the frequency when Vern is scheduled to come on the air. The volunteer band cops didn't know any of this. They obviously haven't been around long enough to know what's going on, which to me makes your analogy with folks who run HOA's pretty accurate. And that is the LAST thing we need in ham radio.