RadioBanter - View Single Post

June 28th 05, 12:04 AM

From: on Mon 27 Jun 2005 03:19

Although several years ago, Riley's comments are worth a look:

"This Amateur Radio service is serious business."

From Riley Hollingsworth's position as Special Counsel to the
FCC Spectral Enforcement office of the Enforcement Bureau,
obeyance of federal law IS "serious business."

Not once in the speech is the word "hobby" used.

?

Hollingsworth is NOT in the FCC "Key People," "Division Chiefs,"
or "Regional Director" listings at the FCC of their Enforcement
Bureau. One has to go deeper into the Spectral office of the
Enforcement Bureau where Hollingsworth is listed as second from
bottom on that office's "key people" listing...as one of two who
are "Special Counsel."

Hollingsworth is NOT over at the Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau, the one that is immediately responsible for amateur radio
at the FCC.

It is true that nowhere in Title 47 C.F.R. are the words "hobby"
or "ham radio" given. On the other hand, Part 97 rather
specifically defines amateur radio as an activity done for a
NON-pecuniary reason. That doesn't even mention "money" though
it is obvious that it means that amateur radio CANNOT accept
money for doing any communications service for others.

Amateur radio in the USA is forbidden by law to engage in
broadcasting. Amateur radio in the USA is forbidden by law to
be a public communications common carrier...that is, specifically
as a provider of radio communications services. Amateur radio
regulations even state that amateur communications themselves
are to be of a trivial nature and amateurs themselves are
supposed to avail themselves of commercial communications
services for non-trivial communications.

Amateur radio in the USA is NOT a "national service." All
throughout Title 47 C.F.R. the word "service" is a regulatory
term denoting a type and kind of radio activity being regulated.

Is the Citizens Band Radio SERVICE a "national service?" No.
Is the Amateur Radio Service a "national service?" No.

There's a difference between words used "de jure" (by law as
stated) and "de facto" (what it really is in practice). Amateur
radio is a HOBBY...a recreational pursuit done for personal
pleasure, federally regulated only because of the physical nature
of radio wave propagation and possible interference with other
radio users. DE FACTO a HOBBY.

"...I know that when a natural disaster hits, they're [cell towers]
the first ones to go down. And the few that are remaining are jammed
and you can't get access."

Hollingsworth is "playing to his audience" (to use a show business
phrase).

Physically, the cellular telephone services, an adjunct to the
wired telephone infrastructure, does NOT "go down" either "first"
or last. TELEPHONE communications is "jammed" only by too many
panic-stricken subscribers trying to use it simultaneously at the
onset of some emergency. The TELEPHONE infrastructure would not
have survived as a communications service provider if "all"
subscribers were free to use it simultaneously.

" The people who are going to be taking care
of the real communications are sitting right here in this room. It's
the Amateur Radio service. And in the first few days, or the first few
hours of these multi-jurisdictional incidents, it's the amateurs who
keep things going."

In light of recent REAL EMERGENCIES, REAL HISTORY has shown
that the commercial services HAVE CONTINUED TO WORK despite
SOME of their facilities being "downed." Facilities are NOT
RESTRICTED to JUST telephones, wired and/or cellular. There
are, in this nation, literally, hundreds of thousands of OTHER
radios which can, and have, been used for two-way communications.
That is NOT counting CB or the approximately 100 million
cellular telephone radio handsets.

Eleven and a half years ago, during the Northridge Earthquake in
Los Angeles, NO amateur radio "emergency communications" were
working in the first hours of the earthquake-induced TOTAL AC
POWER OUTAGE. Public safety and utility radio services were
on the air and working despite the total electrical mains supply
being OFF. It took at least six hours for the Los Angeles area
power to BEGIN to be restored to subscribers on that necessary
BLACK START. Public safety and utility radios continued to
function, police and fire and paramedics rolled on calls,
hospitals were there with their own electric power and serving
patients. TEN MILLION residents were affected by that quake
and total power outage.

Hollingsworth is a special counsel to the Enforcement Bureau's
Spectral enforcers. He should KNOW BETTER than to perpetuate
such myths as he stated. But, Hollingsworth does NOT
specifically speak FOR amateur radio. He is little more than
a "radio cop in a suit."

"There was a big newspaper chain that had a reporter with headphones on
listening to the hurricane emergency net. That made us nervous. The
last thing we wanted was some bad publicity for the Amateur Radio
service anywhere."

"Our people that go to these ITU meetings will tell us that it's
often a personal embarassment to them when these countries play back
tapes of what they hear on 75 and 20 Meters in the American amateur
bands."

On the American 'phone subbands. Not CW/data subbands...

Oh, my, another MYTH. Simon Pure morseman "does not swear with
morse code!" He is "safe to be around the children?"

[how many children did you say you "parented?"]

"It puts them in a very difficult position when they have to defend
examples of conduct that other countries hear."

All those "75 and 20 Meters" radiotelephone users were
CODE TESTED (or had the equivalent of same).

The CODE TEST does NOT prevent verbal abuse via radio.

Should be "'nuff said".....

Here's another: David Sumner's editorial pieces in QST are done
by David Sumner. James Miccolis has not been invited to become
any "guest commentator" or "moral guardian" of U.S. amateur radio.
But, he has set himself out as the same sort of "moral guardian"
and "giver of ethos" as if he was "respresentative" of over
700 thousand U.S. amateur radio licensees.

Even then he perpetuates the past with parodic perfidy.