4 ms·
As an amateur extra I'm glad to see the enforcement. Most of these pirate stations are cobbled together from leaky baofeng trash, sizzly amps and random pot st
by nimbius 4y ago
As an amateur extra I'm glad to see the enforcement. Most of these pirate stations are cobbled together from leaky baofeng trash, sizzly amps and random pot steel masquerading as antenna. They're dangerous radiation hazards at worst, and almost always a nuisance to the airwaves operating as overpowered noise across the spectrum. This is a great way to wind up sending randos to the urgent care with rf burns.
To be clear I really hope for compliance here as many amateur hams are more than willing to help a nonprofit set up a commercial radio station to further their mission. Proper grounding, signage anchoring safe operation and maintenance are all things were well versed on and can lend a hand with, oftentimes free of charge
- jacquesm 4y ago> This is a great way to wind up sending randos to the urgent care with rf burns. In my - ahem - personal experience with RF burns that would require rather close contact at those frequencies. Though I have it from a reliable source that you should always first check if there are any pigeons sitting on your antenna before powering up anything over a few hundred Watts.
- codetrotter 4y ago> you should always first check if there are any pigeons sitting on your antenna before powering up anything over a few hundred Watts Portland Fried Pigeons o_O
- jacquesm 4y agoYou can make fluorescent tubes light up at considerable distance with a beefy enough transmitter.
- wil421 4y agoI went to a Tesla museum in Belgrade, Serbia. Towards the end they handed out fluorescent tubes and powered on a device that lit them up. I’m assuming it was a small Tesla coil but I’m no EE.
- fortran77 4y ago[flagged]
- gatekeepmuch 4y ago[flagged]
- freitzkriesler2 4y ago[flagged]
- StrangeATractor 4y agoThis attitude is the slow death of amateur radio.
- bmarquez 4y agoYep, every generation brings something new to the table and gatekeeping is going to kill the hobby. I can't do 20wpm, but the older hams around me can't figure out FT8.
- oceanplexian 4y agoI get it, that there are negative consequences that are sometimes disruptive to amateur radio. However, my counter point would be that it's really the FCC who should be blamed for what is obviously an unfair system where Clear Channel can basically "own" FM radio across the entire country. If a pirate wants to set up a micro transmitter to broadcast something cool, and doesn't interfere with anyone (obviously unlike this guy), I have a hard time seeing them as the villan.
- ThinkingGuy 4y agoThe US Congress loosened the restrictions on station ownership, enabling the dominance of companies like Clear Channel,with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The FCC is just enforcing the law.
- orhmeh09 4y agoThe FCC could take the example of law enforcement nationwide and understand that it doesn't have to enforce the law.
- Dalewyn 4y agoThe FCC, like the rest of the Executive Branch, is tasked with executing the law. Neither legislating nor judging the law is their job, nor should they engage in such behaviour. Two wrongs do not make a right.
- schiffern 4y ago>Two wrongs do not make a right On its face this looks like a neutral ethical stance, doesn't it? Behind the mask it's just a thinly-veiled defense of powerful corporate interests. Those are the parties who (in our modern political system) decide what "right" means, when it really counts. They make the rules. Predictably the rulebook, if read carefully (congratulations), favors their interests. They didn't leave any "holes" for us. That teaches us about power. It doesn't make it right.
- moremetadata 4y ago[dead]