History Of The California Repeater Wars - Part 1

Shortwave America was listening to the Los Angeles "Renegade Repeater" 147.435, on 10-10-2010. Given the date and the history of this repeater, it was no surprise to hear the group ripping on some younger guy named "Danny". One man in the conversation kept referencing how illegal it is to threaten a "County Employee" and accused "Danny" of threatening him. It is important that this author say that no threats were made during the time spent listening. The only thing heard was lots of unorthodox operation, swearing, and jamming.

This whole mess continued on into the early morning hours of 10-11-2010.

The funniest part of this whole skirmish was when they questioned "Danny's" food certification for working at Red Robin. At 5:03AM Central time, a jammer was heard playing a 435 user in a repeating loop recording saying "Yeah, I don't think Danny's ever heard of Homeland Security, everyone's connected to that, he'll learn."

It needs to be said that SWA is a stern advocate for professional operation, and has also learned that some repeater owners/trustees in the U.S. allow unorthodox operation to occur which doesn't always mean that an FCC violation is occurring because no one is truly being offended by the on-air antics of the repeater users. 
It's all just one big act to be honest. Shortwave America became curious about how this group of amateurs came to be. A nice thread at QRZ was found:

WA6ITF quoted from a QRZ thread on the subject:

"The rules violations began back in 1978 on the .435 repeater (when it was still reversed channel from today) with the formation of the now long defunct ham radio political movement known as "Underground Radio." The stated purpose of "UGR" as it called itself was: "...to free repeater users from the totalitarian rules imposed by repeater owner operators using any means at its disposal..."

Since there were few rules on the .435 repeater nobody ever figured out why it began there -- but it did. And from a small central core of a dozen or so whose calls are long forgotten -- there began an all-out war against every 2 meter repeater within the LA - San Diego RF corridor that lasted close to 4 years.

UGR formed "attack squads" that would show up on repeaters, jam out QSO's with high power mobile or remote base radios and leave as suddenly as they appeared.

One repeater -- the old K6MYK machine owned by the late Art Gentry (W6MEP) -- the person generally credited with inventing the first practical ham radio repeater -- converted his machine from a repeater to a 24 / 7 code practice channel. Others fought back in kind by invading .435 and jamming the stations who had jammed their repeaters.

By '82 many of us had simply abandoned 2 meter FM -- going to 222 or 440. 222 was of little interest to UGR and they seemed to be scared to try to tangle with those on 440. In that day and age a ham did not dare to show up on a 440 repeater without a specific invitation to use the band as issued by its then inhabitants. In fact, the local retailers were quite reticent to sell the average ham a 70cm radio for fear of reprisal from the 440 community. Actually, its a lot more complex than that -- but it would take pages to go into full detail.

So UGR stayed on 2 meters and harassed any group it pleased. But one day they made the mistake of taking on the '76'ers -- the group that had for decades kept repeaters off of 146.76 MHz simplex-only and considered it their own private channel. When the UGR folks showed up on .76 they were literally met with what one could equate as an organized military response. UGR never again showed up on 146.76 -- likely in fear of their personal safety. (.76 was a closed community detailed in "The Chronicles of .76" as authored by the late Kendal Webster Sessions, K6MVH. It had its own society, its own rules and even its own police force known as the Seven Six Secret Service or SSSS.)

But the real downfall of the UGR movement was when it went up against the DX Club repeater. A group of very wealthy doctors, lawyers, bankers, film industry executives and the like who had the "connections" to force the issue. It also had a hard-bitten attorney, the late Joseph Merdler, N6AHU, who had personal contacts at the level of the U.S. Congress. Within weeks of UGR's assault on the DX Club repeater, Merdler made a trip to Washington to meet with Rep, Jim Corman. Within a month of that meeting the local LA FCC office had begun targeting hams breaking the rules -- especially those identified as members of UGR. I still recall being at the ARRL SW Division Banquet in 1980 when the then ARRL Division Director introduced two Federal agents who in turn announced the arrest earlier that day of one of the most blatant violators. By late 1982 UGR was gone but the toll it took on 2 meter FM operation likely will never be accurately assessed.

But the remnants of UGR hung around on .435 but as long as they stayed there nobody cared. Just as long as they stayed off everyone else's repeater -- all was well in the world. Those there now -- whomever they are -- are there because they cannot operate elsewhere in the unorthodox style -- the dame as their predecessors. To out of town'ers who hear it on the Internet and to newcomers who hear it for the first time -- live -- it tends to be upsetting. But once people understand the "unofficial truce" that exists, it just becomes a way of life.

In the end I think its safe to say that its there because the overall SoCal ham community might consider it an eyesore; might in public demand it be taken off the air -- but in reality would rather have it in one place rather than all across the 2 meter band.

Oh yes: Hundreds of hours of tape exist from this period. I have several dozen hours here -- somewhere. Maybe one day Ill try to find the box with the cassettes. I suspect that the voices will be different but the conversations will be about the same."

Shortwave America spoke with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF after viewing this comment and asked him to dig up the tapes. The following transcript was the result of an E-Mail reply sent to Shortwave America by Bill Pasternak:

"Most of the story of .435 -- Underground Radio and its followers is what was posted.  More detail can be found in late 1979 and early to mid 1980's issues of 73 Magazine which I wrote for back then.  Look for the column titled "Looking West."

One thing not mentioned in the posting was the work of the late attorney Joseph Merdler, N6AHU, in trying to stem the tide of this organized interference and through him the involvement of former US Congressman James Corman (D. Cal) that forced the issue with the FCC.  (When a US Congressman demands a meeting with an agency, his wants become an urgent priority.)  For his work, Merdler was awarded

As Ive said before:  The real downfall of the UGR movement was when it went up against the DX Club repeater. A group of very wealthy doctors, lawyers, bankers, film industry executives and the like who had the "connections" to force the issue. It also had a hard-bitten attorney, the late Joseph Merdler, N6AHU, who had personal contacts at the level of the U.S. Congress.

Within weeks of UGR's assault on the DX Club repeater, Merdler made a trip to Washington to meet with Rep, Jim Corman. Within a month of that meeting the local LA FCC office had begun targeting hams breaking the rules -- especially those identified as members of UGR. I still recall being at the ARRL SW Division Banquet in 1980 when the then ARRL Division Director introduced two Federal agents who in turn announced the arrest earlier that day of one of the most blatant violators.

But the UGR fought back -- and did so with overt violence.  As noted above, Joe Merdler was both an attorney and ham radio activist leading the fight against UGR and other copycat groups that had formed.  One morning he was awoken by the fire department responding to a report of a lawn fire at his North Hollywood home. What was burning were three foot high crosses on his lawn The incident made national news on all 3 TV networks. It was widely believed that the crosses were a warning from Underground Radio to Merdler to "..back away or else..." Merdler would not back away but did take the precaution of getting a permit to carry a concealed weapon and never left home without it after that incident.

A few weeks later, another person believed to be a UGR member attempted to force Joe off the road and into the barrier of the Hollywood Freeway.  The antenna-laden pick-up truck with no license plates (as described to me by Joe) was going to try to do whats now called a PIT maneuver and force Joe to crash.  Joe was driving a full sized Cadillac with a "big ass" engine.  As the guy tried to ram Joe, he simply accelerated (again -- that big V8) and the pick-up was what hit the separator.  There were no cellphones back then so Joe asked another ham to call thew CHP to report the incident, but by the time the CHP arrived, the pick-up and its occupant were gone.  Joe said he stopped on his way home at the North Hollywood PD Station and filed a report.

In addition to fighting jamming, Joe was an avid DXer, has also been practicing law for 16 years, and combines his profession and hobby well. He is President of the Personal Communications Foundation, Legal Advisor to the Two Meter Spectrum Management Association, an Assistant Director for the ARRL Southwestern Division, and an Advanced Class licensee. My take is that Joe would likely still be leading the fight against jammers if he had not suffered a fatal heart attack in January of 1996.

By late 1982 UGR was gone but the toll it took on 2 meter FM operation likely will never be accurately assessed. But the remnants of UGR hung around on .435 and as long as they stayed there nobody cared. Just as long as they stayed off everyone else's repeater -- all was well in the world.

Those there now -- whomever they are -- are there because they cannot operate elsewhere in the unorthodox style -- the same as their predecessors. To out of town'ers who hear it on the Internet and to newcomers who hear it  live for the first time, it tends to be upsetting. But once people understand the "unofficial truce" that exists, it just becomes a way of life. And that in essence is the reason its still there.  And I seriously doubt that its user base today even remembers Underground Radio, Joe Merdler, or even the generation of hams that preceeded them on that repeater."

Bill has promised to send Shortwave America MP3 files from these old days of the "435" machine, and in the meantime, to keep the great, loyal, readers here informed and entertained, Shortwave America has a recent recording of 10-10-10 from the Renegade Repeater, humorously called "Background Checks"! Note that this video is rated "R" for use of adult language, and coarse behavior.

This publication will seek out the articles referenced by Mr. Pasternak, as well as the book about the "76'ers" and attempt to bring you a series on what we all know as the California Repeater Wars. Shortwave America thanks Bill Pasternak for his gracious reply and the time he took out of his schedule to give everyone more insight into what those old days were like.