Civillian Uses Slain Officer's Radio To Call For Help, The Crystal Ship Has Sunk

Quoting a quick snippet from NBC San Diego:
"SAN DIEGO (NBC San Diego) - Seconds after San Diego Police Officer Jeremy Henwood was shot in his patrol car Saturday, a citizen used his radio to call for help. Henwood, 36, was shot in the head at University Avenue and 45th Street. The 4-year veteran of the department and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves was pronounced dead Sunday morning."



Shortwave America would like to briefly say that this civillian should be held to the same standards as Licensed Amateur Radio Operators. Not very long ago, an amateur was hiking in the U.S. when he fell and broke his ankle. No other means of communications were available, and without help, this hiking radio amateur would have been in serious trouble. He used his modified amateur radio HT to call attention to his situation on a local Law Enforcement frequency and has seen legal consequences despite having fulfilled the legal burden for his actions, so what makes this civillian who rescued the cop any different??


Our next piece of radio related news says that a long running rivalry between John Poet and the crew of The Crystal Ship vs. WBNY also known as "Commander Bunny" has ended in the United States FCC shutting down the primary transmit site for the Crystal Ship after nearly twenty nine years to the day of its first transmission. See the official statement from the Crystal Ship

After examining all of the available data on this matter, Shortwave America can conclude objectively that the preponderance of the evidence shows that Commander Bunny is indeed the FCC SNITCH that did in the Crystal Ship. This was a great station while it lasted. TCS never interfered with broadcasts, never interfered with military radio traffic, never interfered with the amateur service, and had no prior complaints before the FCC took this action. Granted, it IS illegal to "broadcast" without a license, TCS proved over the past 29 years of its operation that low power broadcast without a license on unused frequencies and when practiced with technical proficiency, is absolutely not a threat to anyone or any radio service. The fact is that the FCC wasted time, money, and manpower to pursue TCS! 

 

New York Radio Regulation Pirate Bill Runs Afoul Of FCC Part 15 Rules

John Poet tells us about this ominous threat to unlicensed FCC Part 15 rules.

In all of this, one cannot help but smell the foul odor of big broadcasting companies such as WNBC, ABC, CNN, and others trying to silence everyone but their own interests. FCC rules always have and always will take precedence, even if New York has to learn the hard way about how radio communications laws actually work and who actually has sole authority over radio and TV communications.

Plenty of case law is out here to trump New York in an embarrassing manner. Are there are communications attorneys out here who would like to take a shot at a Federal lawsuit before this bill imprisons innocent people using FRS, CB, and local low power broadcast systems? Radio amateurs with proper licensing are also in the cross hairs of this legislation because none of these radio communications are mentioned in the bill!!! John makes a good point when he states that police and prosecutors have no way of differentiating between pirate radio and FCC allowed FM and AM operations with or without a license.

One mistake Shortwave America can see coming is that properly licensed radio operations can be legally pursued because an amateur radio license does not allow broadcasting and none of the city attorneys, state prosecutors, or police are trained to know the difference between a one way broadcast and a two way radio conversation regardless of whether the station is required to be licensed by the FCC or not.

Someone Stole Our Equipment!

The Radio Netherlands Media Network Blog has the story

It's too late for April fools tricks, and just before the holidays, so it must be those pesky radio pirates! Guess it's time to make sure everything is under more advanced security technology!

530AM - Chicago

Just two mornings ago while monitoring 530AM CW was actually heard just below the traffic advisory coming from the Lower Sideband. Due to difficulty copying, it's hard to say what the message was. If your state has an AM traffic advisory system, have you heard this as well? Were you actually able to confirm what the CW sent was? A beacon? Some other radio service also on the band? Maybe a station that drifted off frequency?

I'd like to hear your stories!