• To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:

    Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.

    If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.

    To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.

    The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.

    For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).

    This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.

Trombone player busted by FCC

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
1,270
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-19-541A1.pdf

Mr. Larsen is an amateur radio licensee who operates under the call sign WS2L. On May
31, 2018, the Bureau received a complaint of unauthorized transmissions on the Highland Park Radio
System. Bureau agents traveled to Highland Park on numerous occasions to interview witnesses and to
observe the complained-of transmissions. Based on information provided by the complainant and direct
observations by the Bureau’s agents, the unauthorized transmissions on the Highland Park Radio System
largely consisted of brief, pre-recorded sounds (such as the Sad Trombone Sound). During this
preliminary investigation, individuals interviewed by the Bureau’s agents identified Mr. Larsen, a former
volunteer with the Highland Park First Aid Squad (an authorized user of the Highland Park Radio
System), as the person likely responsible for the unauthorized transmissions on the Highland Park Radio
System.
-------------------------------
If his trombone has been out of tune he might have had a second violation for being off frequency.
 
Last edited:

RFI-EMI-GUY

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Messages
6,859
What an idiot. He could have avoided this, but he kept on playing around. And guess what the idiot was an ''Amateur Extra". what a goof.
 

mmckenna

I ♥ Ø
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
23,617
Location
Hiding in a coffee shop.
I read through the FCC release. This guy is a dumb sack of rocks. The fines and loss of his amateur license don't seem like enough. Thanks to the internet, though, this will stick with him for the rest of his life.
 

jaspence

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
3,042
Location
Michigan
What exactly is the Sad Trombone Sound?

It is a glissando from a higher note to a lower note.
 

bharvey2

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Messages
1,842
I've never understood what drives these knuckleheads to get on the radio to jam transmissions and make stupid "fart noises" and such. If it's just to get attention, stocks or pillory in the town square could make a comeback.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RRR

RRR

OFFLINE
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
1,970
Location
USA
And yet there are some that say FCC has no agents out investigating
 

bharvey2

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Messages
1,842
Note that the interference was to a public safety frequency though! Those they do investigate and expend resources to bring to justice.

Amateur frequencies? Not so much as a peep most of the time. :(


That's about the size of it. I hear jammers almost daily on ham or GMRS repeaters. I have a good suspicion that they're often the same ones on both. Their activity seems to go unaddressed. {Hmmm, remember that TV program "The Equalizer" from the 80's ?)
 

KK4JUG

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 13, 2014
Messages
4,246
Location
GA
That's about the size of it. I hear jammers almost daily on ham or GMRS repeaters. I have a good suspicion that they're often the same ones on both. Their activity seems to go unaddressed. {Hmmm, remember that TV program "The Equalizer" from the 80's ?)
In terms of attention, I suspect the FCC considers GMRS only a step or two above CB.
 

bharvey2

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Messages
1,842
In terms of attention, I suspect the FCC considers GMRS only a step or two above CB.
You've got that right. I've heard the same guy get on one of the local GMRS repeaters and go on a drunken tirade for hours. I turn on a CB about once every 5 years for about 15 minutes and I've heard the same guy. He can't be too hard to find.
 

Craigmoe

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 21, 2004
Messages
173
Location
S.W. Michigan
Agree with above. Have been a licensed GMRS user (2 repeaters) and amateur for some time.
Nightly someone (I think I know who it is) 'ker-chunks' my 675 machine. Also, many are
interpreting the rules 'their way' to suit their own needs. We have 'linked' repeaters
over the internet, digital modulation, etc. All of which are not legal. And please, anyone who
responds to say all of this is legal most likely are breaking the rules yourselves.....
 

mmckenna

I ♥ Ø
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
23,617
Location
Hiding in a coffee shop.
The fact that he was an Extra, or even a ham at all, is irrelevant since the illegal operation did not occurred on amateur frequencies.

True, and I agree.

I also think it shows a couple of possible issues...
-This sack of doorknobs needs help. Psychiatric, or otherwise.
-As a volunteer in the "First Aid Squad", it indicates that maybe their standards are low, were low, or they need better filtering.
-Proof that having an Extra license doesn't prove any level of intelligence, knowledge or character. Being an amateur only means someone passed the multiple choice test with enough correct answers to not fail.
-Proof that radios in the wrong hands is a bad thing.
-Proof that some agencies see this as enough of an issue to go to trunked system, digital, encrypted, etc.
-Proof that the stupid walk amongst us, and sometimes they are "First Responders". Career, training, age mean nothing when it comes to emotional skills. Any responsible adult would know better.


As an amateur, I'd like to think somewhere in the back of his little pea brain there was something that told him what he was doing wasn't right. I suspect his admission to guilt shows that. Maybe there's hope for him after all, but maybe CB is the right radio service for him, then he can make all the stupid noises he wants and no one will care.

Unfortunately I doubt any amount of fines or losing his license will impact his intelligence. Sometimes people just go through life being stupid.
 

bharvey2

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Messages
1,842
"As a volunteer in the "First Aid Squad", it indicates that maybe their standards are low, were low, or they need better filtering. "


This really surprised me. He was involved with the group and I'm assuming it was something similar to a CERT group. I'm not involved n any such entities but is there no vetting involved? Maybe I misread something but wasn't he issued a radio as well?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top