This comes from the ARRL Letter concerning the presence of "freebanders" on the 10 Meter band. There is a huge discussion about it in several threads on other Amateur forums as it seems (we hope) hams are becoming more and more stirred up and upset about it!
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THAT FINAL ITEM: FIGHTING THE 10 METER "FREEBAND" INVASION
And finally this week, if you are wondering what all those conversations without call signs are on 28.085 MHz, well it appears to be a small invasion of unlicensed truckers and so called Freeband operators of our 10 meter band. We have more in this report:
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Originally confined to portions of the mid-West, the pirate trucker and Freeband epidemic appears to be spreading nationwide. This, as more and more of these illegal operators are making their unauthorized home on 28.085 Megahertz and several other 10 meter frequencies.
And what is the Amateur Radio community doing about this invasion? On the surface at least, very little. With the upper High frequency bands not offering very much D-X these days, the majority of hams are sticking to 20, 40 and 80 meters with few stations heard in the 15, 12 and 10 meter spectrum. So the truckers and Freebanders see this is fair game for their unlawful operations and are busy establishing squatters rights in these bands.
What about the FCC? Well its doing what it can. There have been several well publicized violation notices sent to trucking firms. They request owners to instruct their drivers to curtail any operations for which they are not licensed and threatening punitive action such as fines. But that’s about it. With the FCC enforcement folks stretched thin and Freeband operations being among the lowest of priorities on the enforcement agenda, there is no reason to believe that there is going to be any sort of massive sweep by the Federal government to clear these pirate operators out of the ham radio bands.
In the end, it will be the ham radio community that will have to defend these frequencies. And it does that by using them. If hams load up 10 meters or any band with legitimate Amateur Radio operations, there will be no place for the illegals to play and they will go elsewhere.
In the case of 28.085, there have been suggestions that this frequency become a national C-W or RTTY Calling Channel. That’s a pretty good approach. Another is for every ham with the capability of operating 10 meters to start holding QSO's on that frequency. As any Morse enthusiast will tell you, C-W can get through even when faced with all sorts of QRM including pirate operators using voice.
The bottom line. if licensed radio amateurs fill up 10 meters even for local chats, the truckers and Frreebanders will soon be looking elsewhere for a new home.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Evi Simons, in New York.
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(quote)
THAT FINAL ITEM: FIGHTING THE 10 METER "FREEBAND" INVASION
And finally this week, if you are wondering what all those conversations without call signs are on 28.085 MHz, well it appears to be a small invasion of unlicensed truckers and so called Freeband operators of our 10 meter band. We have more in this report:
--
Originally confined to portions of the mid-West, the pirate trucker and Freeband epidemic appears to be spreading nationwide. This, as more and more of these illegal operators are making their unauthorized home on 28.085 Megahertz and several other 10 meter frequencies.
And what is the Amateur Radio community doing about this invasion? On the surface at least, very little. With the upper High frequency bands not offering very much D-X these days, the majority of hams are sticking to 20, 40 and 80 meters with few stations heard in the 15, 12 and 10 meter spectrum. So the truckers and Freebanders see this is fair game for their unlawful operations and are busy establishing squatters rights in these bands.
What about the FCC? Well its doing what it can. There have been several well publicized violation notices sent to trucking firms. They request owners to instruct their drivers to curtail any operations for which they are not licensed and threatening punitive action such as fines. But that’s about it. With the FCC enforcement folks stretched thin and Freeband operations being among the lowest of priorities on the enforcement agenda, there is no reason to believe that there is going to be any sort of massive sweep by the Federal government to clear these pirate operators out of the ham radio bands.
In the end, it will be the ham radio community that will have to defend these frequencies. And it does that by using them. If hams load up 10 meters or any band with legitimate Amateur Radio operations, there will be no place for the illegals to play and they will go elsewhere.
In the case of 28.085, there have been suggestions that this frequency become a national C-W or RTTY Calling Channel. That’s a pretty good approach. Another is for every ham with the capability of operating 10 meters to start holding QSO's on that frequency. As any Morse enthusiast will tell you, C-W can get through even when faced with all sorts of QRM including pirate operators using voice.
The bottom line. if licensed radio amateurs fill up 10 meters even for local chats, the truckers and Frreebanders will soon be looking elsewhere for a new home.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Evi Simons, in New York.
(unquote)
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