No good will come of this... Trust me!

About a year ago, I remember having a discussion with one of my radio club members about Internet auction site sales of VHF/UHF radios, how it was far too easy and that it would only be a matter of time before kids and the Muppets with the IQ of a daffodil got their hand on them.

Sure enough, it seems my words are coming true.

About four weeks ago, a pirate popped up on my frequency, while I was activating Shining Tor with G1STQ and started keying up when I refused to acknowledge him

This morning, I was listening to the Sausage and Scouse net being ruined by a dead keyer/DJ and then GB3VT suffering at the hands of some idiot

It’s crazy, that someone who is just out of nappies, can simply go online, shell out £35 and buy an Amateur rig, without so much as a by your leave.

It would appear that some repeaters are now becoming the VHF equivalent of 27.555mHz.

IMHO, it’s time this was looked into by OFCOM or the BBC or whoever has responsibility for Amateur Radio, this week.

Mike
2E0YYY

In reply to 2E0YYY:

Sorry is this something new? Been happening for the last 35 years at least. Writing about it on here will only make it worse for you. You can get OFCOM to work on this should you offer to pay the costs of investigating and prosecuting. About £100,000 will do for starters.

Learn to operate through deliberate QRM the way everyone else does.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to 2E0YYY:

It would appear that some repeaters are now becoming the VHF equivalent of
27.555mHz.

I have been saying this for over a decade on uk.radio.amateur, Mick, but I was written off as a dinosaur and an old fogey.

It is getting worse … if that’s possible. The simplest solution would be to withdraw the licences of ALL FM repeaters. That would kill off 90% of the abuse at a stroke.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

In reply to G3NYY:

Its rare to hear anything on repeaters around here, even a pirate would be light relief! I don’t see the point of them, anyway, they wouldn’t be missed.

As for pirates, we’ve always had them. Back in the late 50’s when I was a young SWL there were plenty of them with ex-WD equipment on the 6 megs band, the old GPO used to have a purge once in a while and a bunch of them would be fined and have their gear confiscated, but a couple of quid in Lyle St (Sp?) and they were back on the air. Come to think of it there was a “ham” the other side of town who had the best of commercial equipment, a rich daddy, and no license. He was a good operator and worked DX all over the world with his fake callsign, every so often he was busted and lost his gear, daddy would cough up for a new one, and off he went again!

Friends of mine tracked down one pirate with a taste for QRMing on 2 metres FM, one night a bunch of them including some big bikers in black leathers knocked at his door when he was having his usual fun. He cringed back when he saw the gang - but they didn’t say a word, they just handed him a copy of Foundation License Now and walked away. He behaved himself after that!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G3NYY:

It is getting worse … if that’s possible. The simplest solution
would be to withdraw the licences of ALL FM repeaters. That would
kill off 90% of the abuse at a stroke.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

Nooooo repeaters are a wonderful part of the hobby. Down here in the south the cber’s argue with the pirates on the repeaters and it keeps them off the other bands.

73,

James M0ZZO

In reply to 2E0YYY:
I fail to see why you can purchase a TX without having to produce your licence to transmit. In the good old days, Lowes in Matlock did just that and I thought then that is the right thing to do.
Try buying a 12 bore on ebay without a licence?

In reply to G1STQ:

In reply to 2E0YYY:
I fail to see why you can purchase a TX without having to produce your
licence to transmit. In the good old days, Lowes in Matlock did just
that and I thought then that is the right thing to do.

I wasn’t aware Lowes in Matlock dealt in CB radios, John?

Mike
2E0YYY

In reply to 2E0YYY:
You can take the boy out of the East End…

In reply to 2E0YYY:

I wasn’t aware Lowes in Matlock dealt in CB radios, John?

From what I remember of “Bandit Bill” he probably made them!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G1STQ:

I fail to see why you can purchase a TX without having to produce your
licence to transmit.

How do you police the 2nd hand market?? Pretty tricky i’d say!

No matter what hobby you are into there will always be a minority of individuals that try to spoil it for others, we just have to get on with it.

Adrian
MM0TAI

In reply to G8ADD:

From what I remember of “Bandit Bill” he probably made them!

Nah, he’ll have just stuck Trio labels on them then charged a lot more for them. Some of the drivel he came out with to damage sales of other dealers was just legendary.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to 2E0YYY:

Even if you could keep the radios out of the hands of the unlicensed lids it would not help. There are enough old timers who have lost their marbles who do the same and even knowing their callsigns and reporting them to Ofcom along with hours of recordings does not do any good. The chances are 50/50 on the two repeaters you mention GB3MP & GB3VT that one of said licensed loonies was stoned again. Apparently there is no legislation that bans people with mental problems from holding a licence and if when Ofcom visits and the person is both lucid and pleasant to talk to they believe the accusations made against them are mistaken. Maybe at least one of those persons to which I refer should hold more than one license.

Steve GW7AAV

In reply to GW7AAV:
That’s a good point you make Steve. Look at all the qrming that most DXpeditions face, the vast majority of those doing so will be licensed! With next to no chance of finding the people responsible, we should ignore it as much as possible. Writing about in forums and talking about it on air only adds fuel to the fire!

Adrian
Mm0tai

In reply to GW7AAV:
Hi Steve,

I seem to have misplaced one of my marbles, but I think I can locate the other one!
73,
G3RMD I think, or is it GRM3D?

In reply to G3RMD:

G3RMD I think, or is it GRM3D?

Since catching middle-aged spread I guess that I’m pretty grim in 3D too!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G3RMD:

I seem to have misplayed one of my marbles, but I think I can locate
the other one!

I can sympathise with that. When I was in school I accumulated a huge collection of marbles that filled two pump bags. One night I stayed up all night counting them but fell asleep and when I woke up I had forgotten how many I had counted. I never quite recovered from the trauma and in an effort to break the cycle of self pity I felt afterwards I hid them away and after a while I forgot about them and got better. As I got older I realised something was missing and I have been searching for them ever since. ;0)

Analyse that Mr Freud!

73 Steve GW7AAV

I would not be at all surprised if gov.uk had equipment that could pinpoint any transmission in the UK fairly accurately - I thought that QinetiQ were developing such a system?

Of course, it is for Anti-Terrorism but that’s a broad brush.

It is also entirely possible that ‘they’ can analyse every voice/carrier and compare them to a database for auto-recognition.

There is no anonymity these days.

Simon M0TGT

Just because you’re not paranoid doesn’t mean they are not out to get you :slight_smile:

In reply to M0TGT:
There are a few offences here prosecutable. You could look at ‘abstraction of electricity’ under the theft act for using a repeater or using a communications system to cause harrassment, alarm or distress. (harrassment being a course of conduct on two or more occassions that the person knows or ought to know causes harrassment to another) if you can DF them and have reasonable suspicion then either is an arrestable offence.

But then I also think using our skills to work round the problem like when I got jammed on Moel Famau gives a greater sense of acheivement. Q codes worked well for me to move on as the pirates didn’t seem in my case to have a scooby do and couldn’t follow!!

At risk of a slightly ironic post…

Always the best thing to do is ignore them. On the air. On message forums. Everywhere.

Carry on as normal. If they suspect they are not disrupting you, they go away to disrupt somebody else. Or just go away.

The most evil thing you can do to an attention-seeker is not give them any attention - simples!

Tom M1EYP

In reply to thread:

Look, guys, don’t take this badly, but I am closing this thread. Furthermore, any references to deliberate QRM in the Spots will vanish as soon as I see them. All we do by voicing our frustrations is provide feedback so that these parasites can preen themselves with perverted pride at a job well done. No doubt they read this site so I am cutting off their supply of signal reports. I can’t dictate to you but I most earnestly urge that you say nothing on the air that will let these loonies know how effective they are.

Remember: references to deliberate QRM will be removed from spots. This isn’t a discipline matter, nobody will be excluded for letting their outrage get the better of them and commenting, but these parasites will have to get their signal reports from somewhere else.

73

Brian G8ADD (wearing his Moderator hat)