Wayne Co, PA: Imposter 911 call raises questions about safeguarding radio system

[riflemin]

While I agree that personal inhibition is a huge factor, sites like RR remove the 'barrier to entry' in that regardless of ones intentions, RR makes it much easier to drop a bootleg radio onto a given system, regardless of system type.

I got into amateur radio in 1993, at that time there was no real listing for frequencies. Our local police were conventional analogue. It took weeks of scanning with 2 radios to figure out the input of the local repeater, now even knowing this frequency, I still never did TX on it. I simply wanted to listen to the units to see if I could hear them. It helped me to learn how simplex VHF propagated. Now, the input is simple to find. Our local police have their frequencies protected by IC and are not listed in spectrum direct, and it is because of this that I believe RR lowers the "barrier to entry"

I am not bashing RR in any way only stating an opinion.

I got into Amateur Radio and scanning in 1977 (living in Lackawanna Co, PA) and there WERE real listings for frequencies. I started with a tunable radio and accidentally found all the local public safety. Even with the limitations of crystal controlled 2m radios and scanners finding a frequency was often just a matter of asking a fellow ham or going to the local Radio Shack (back when they knew about radios!) They even sold crystals (about $5.00 each) Also long before RR was glimer in Lindsey Blanton's eye there were (gasp) printed radio directories. Some even had department codes, unit numbers and maps, no lie! Never heard of "Police Call?" The info was available, maybe not instantly.
And guess what? There were also incidents of malicious interferrence on PS freqs! The difference was that radios covered a narrow range so you could NOT just plug a crystal for a PD freq in your 2m rig and expect it to work. Before "real" ham rigs came on the market, hams that wanted to use 2M and 440mhz had to resort to converting commercial rigs, but until the programable synthesized rigs came out ham radios were not converted to Tx on PS freqs AFAIK.

The old directories didnt list PLs because scanners didnt have that feature and neither did most ham radios. But if someone wanted to get on a PS freq and was willing to pay for a commercial radio and recrystal it I'm sure they would have no trouble finding and setting the PL. And current radios and scanners can find the tone without having to look at RR.
Around 1990 the city where I live sold a stack of Moto Mitreks when they upgrade to new Motos. I bought a couple dirt cheap to convert to a 2M rpt, and they were still fully operational on a handful of PD FD and FIRE freqs! I imagine that this scenario was not unusual.
Before 1993 (and before cell phone prices became reasonble) I needed to buy a VHF and UHF HT for Security work and (authorized) interop with the local PD. I got these at HAMCOM (big Texas Hamfest) no questions asked. They were ICOM H16 and U16 programable from the keypad. I used them on PS and Ham freqs.

In short, the complaints I've read in this thread against the Chinese Radio makers are actually against the Technology that gives us our computer, mobile phones and smart phones, scanners, ham radios and btw, Chinese radios. Your complaint against RR is actually a complaint aginst the Internet. Using the internet to search the FCC DB is easy, and RR is not the only source.

Kinda reminds me of the anti-gun crowd that blame the internet, the NRA and the gun manufacturers for gun violence.

 

[riflemin]

I agree with the Luzerne Co 911 director that ANI should be mandatory, but I dont see that eliminating the problem. Frankly with the chronic QRM on ham freqs I often wish that ham rigs had ANI of some sort, But ANI could be counterfeited.
So far, whenever these incidents happen I never hear anybody mention technology available to track down offenders. I know that offenders on ham radio are sometimes located though DFing. Why is RDF (apparently) not used by PS agencies? We hear that "the government" is alledgedly spying on us and my ex-military friends assure me that the military has had equipment capable of locating RF sources for many years. Why is this alledged capability not applied when Public Safety is at risk? Hey this would be a great capability for future Law Enforcement Drones, Ya think?

 

[902]

I agree with the Luzerne Co 911 director that ANI should be mandatory, but I dont see that eliminating the problem. Frankly with the chronic QRM on ham freqs I often wish that ham rigs had ANI of some sort, But ANI could be counterfeited.
So far, whenever these incidents happen I never hear anybody mention technology available to track down offenders. I know that offenders on ham radio are sometimes located though DFing. Why is RDF (apparently) not used by PS agencies? We hear that "the government" is alledgedly spying on us and my ex-military friends assure me that the military has had equipment capable of locating RF sources for many years. Why is this alledged capability not applied when Public Safety is at risk? Hey this would be a great capability for future Law Enforcement Drones, Ya think?

No.

But there are some technologies available that would work very nicely and enhance responder safety. One of those is stationary Doppler units posted throughout town in addition to AVL. Key the mic and the system will draw lines to your location. It's not expensive and the technology has been there for at least 20 years.

Everyone should have ANI (unit ID), but only because it's a standard feature on just about every modern radio and it costs relatively little to nothing to implement (usually on the dispatch side, as the radios only need a competent programmer to implement the feature). It pays dividends when the little orange button needs to be pushed.

Thing is that there are a number of opportunists (as in the original article) that will flail their arms on top of a soapbox touting their solution as being the final, end-all solution... and it's not.

I love this hobby, and came up with it, but I see that industry is what is engineering it out of existence. They also heavily lobby the FCC and wear a shiny path in the carpet in Washington, DC, and have put charlatans and shills on the payroll (one of whom recently got professionally "whacked" in his day job, ruining his credibility for his national side-line gig and put in his papers for retirement... and sadly, it has gone completely without comment -- neither here nor in the industry). Some day in the future, when everyone is using subscription services to communicate (I've been saying this for years about paying a "radio bill"), some folks will be looking back at and remembering simple services, such as direct "me to you" communication from radio to radio with nothing in between.

There are more people who see dollar signs from radio service consumers today than ever before.