running dogg wrote:

dxAce wrote:

HAM VS. SPY (RADIO)

...When a pair of New Mexico hams decided to
trace down some
interference on the 75 meter band, they had
no idea that they may
have been entering a world of spy versus spy.
Or should we say hams
versus spy. Here`s mo

On Wednesday, February 16th, Mike Stark,
WA5OIP and Mike Langner
K5MGR set out to locate some annoying
interference on 3.700 MHz, a
signal that had been on the band since last
December.

The interference manifested itself as a
digital data burst followed
by an audio clip from a Yosemite Sam cartoon. Nope. I am not kidding
you. Each transmission ended with the famous line where Sam says:

Actual interfereing audio: (data buss followed by) ``Varmint, I`m
agonna blow you to smithereenes...``

The interference came on for just a few seconds at intervals of just
under 2 minutes. The fact that Yosemite Sam was loud and clear told
the Stark and Langer that the interference was intentional and not
simply a transmitter gone bizzerk.

Using Stark`s mobile installation the pair quickly found that the
signal grew stronger as they headed West. They then shifted to a
Potomac Field Intensity Meter with a shielded loop antenna. Using
this gear they located the offending transmitter at the MATIC
facility on the Laguna Indian Reservation. MATIC is an acronym for
the Mobility Assessment Test and Integration Center. This is a
military facility used to develop advanced battlefield communications

systems and not generally known to the public.

The two hams dove up to the building. At no time did they leave the
public highway. Langer began taking pictures of the towers, antennas,

and building. Immediately a not-very-friendly guy started walking
towards their truck. He was yelling and gesturing for the hams to
stop taking pictures and go away. Langer and Stark beat a hasty
retreat.

Now here`s the real kicker. The ham radio T-hunters found the
interfering transmitter at about 2:30 in the afternoon. The signal
went off the air around 5:30 that evening and has not been heard
since. Langer suggests that the origin was a contractor`s employee
having having a little fun on the radio. Obviously his or her
superiors got the message that ham radio operators do not consider
interference to their spectrum to be something to enjoy.

For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Evi Simons, reporting.

A few other notes. Langer says that about 5 minutes before he and
Stark located the exact source of the interference, a pickup truck
had passed
them as they were parked and taking a bearing. He thinks that the
driver must have told someone at the facility that they were being
hunted. He also expresses his belief that the signal was from some
kind of automatic link radio. Also that the data burst was
information, and that someone had recorded the Yosemite Sam clip
where call letters would normally go.

You can take a look at what the two hams saw on the web site for the
project. It`s at
http://www.laguna-
industries.com/Lines_of_Business/MATIC_Center/matic_center.html
or at http://www.rdecom.army.mil/rdemagazi...tl_mosaic.html
(K5FSB via Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1438 - March 4, 2005 via
John Norfolk, dxldyg)

dxAce
Michigan
USA


Looks like Sam WAS a government operation after all. But I don't know
why the government put it in the middle of a ham band.

Well maybe not... read it again! It may have indeed come from a government site,
however, it may not have been run by the government itself.

dxAce
Michigan
USA