READ THE article BY WB6NOA IN CQ PAGE 46

I'm with you. I, too, fail to see *why* the amateur service should be used as the FCC's "Whipping Boy" instead of addressing the root cause of the real problem.

Businesses and local governments, via some of their employees, are the problem. Not the whole of amateur radio.

Instead of adding words to Part 97, put them where they belong. In Part 90.

Businesses and government entities should be prosecuted under Part 90, for transmissions made using unauthorized, non-type accepted equipment in conjunction with their business activities without proper licensure. For those that are licensed, yet still misuse amateur radio and other personal radio equipment, a simple revocation of their Part 90 licenses. For particularly egregious examples like the Indianapolis PD, Forfeiture Orders as well. Perhaps, after a $20-50K fine, they might find it more economical to have purchased and licensed commercial equipment.

Sadly, most of the FCC's recent pronouncements were little more than crude attempts to obfuscate Ms. Smith's non-prosecution of the City of Indianapolis Police Department and the fifty or so officers using 2M transceivers in their cruisers.

 

Sounds just like a local repeater around here, you never hardly hear anybody talking "ham radio" like building your own antennas, amps, dxing, ect. its almost all EMCOMM and boring! Barney Fife just won't do it when it comes to attracting new blood. Besides it's AMATEUR RADIO!

 

just say no to FD ham stations

I don't have a fire department radio in my house....I don't want a ham radio at the fire department.....Thats what 911 is for!

 

My county is in a hurricane zone and it's the same here. Hams provide support assistance only. The part 90 systems here are pretty robust and rarely go down.

Agreed. I am a trained, certified public safety dispatcher with a local police dept. I dispatched in a 9-1-1 center here for 7 years and it's a very rewarding job. I moved to a local PD to get away from some of the stress. Unless you are employed there and are trained/certified, most dispatch centers will not even let you on the dispatch floor. I am the only amateur in my county that is also a public safety dispatcher. I enjoy my dispatching job immensely and I enjoy my "amateur radio hobby" just as much...but I know they are two VERY different things and I keep them separated.

A~

 

Another voice of reason from the public safety world. Thank you, KG4CNA, for your post.