Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: rogwar on December 24, 2008, 04:25:59 PM
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Have to relate a story in order to help you avoid a similar incident in the future. While on a recent camping trip to Ray Roberts lake we decided to try out some 2 way radios we had bought at Cabelas as an early family Christmas present. After setting up camp we decided to experiment a little with the radios. Little did we know that a license was required for something called GMRS.
Anyhow, my wife and daughter were playing around with and communicating over the radios for about ten minutes when a Blackhawk helicopter came right over our camp at fairly high speed executing a sharp, steep turn, almost like a chandelle, and then proceeded to hover right adjacent to our camp. The rotor wash was somewhat fierce. I am thinking what is this, that's different?
Almost immediately after coming to a hover, six US Marshals in full assault gear and one FCC agent fast roped out of the Blackhawk to the ground and then yelled at us to drop the radios and put our hands over our heads. At this point my daughter is crying and our camping gear is being blown to kingdom come from the rotor wash.
After a couple of hours of intense questioning, the FCC agent told us that most likely we would receive an official warning for the first time although we could all be put in jail and receive hefty fines. They subsequently confiscated our radios to turn over to the US district attorney along with a recording of the communication. My wife and daughter's words will always stick in my mind when we reviewed their evidence:
"Hi mom"
"Hi Audrey"
"Can you hear me momma?"
"Yes I can hear you fine"
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Always gotta be careful with that kinda thing, research is your friend. ;)
Although, I find the blackhawk and the assault gear complete overreaction, and with that evidence I'm sure that an official warning would, or at least should be givin.
Good luck to you, and merry christams. :salute
Here's a great page on GMRS/Short Wave Radio usage rules for the FCC.
http://www.provide.net/~prsg/part95ae.htm
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Are you serious?
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Federal Gov over reacting.
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Were you close to any military installations?
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Did any official "spooning" happened during this incident?
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Federal Gov over reacting.
Yup, don't see why they'd bring in the military for a Class A Citizen Radio.
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BS!!! LOL!!!
I ran a 10,000 watt ILLEGAL radio station for YEARS...
Bleeding all over the airwaves... Complaints from local
airtraffic control, Police, EMS... Could hear them complaining
to dispatch on my illegal scanner too... LOL
People couldn't drive by without my bleedover shutting
their engine down... 5 miles away, my neighbors toaster
was talking in my voice... And his acoustic guitar strings
would vibrate, making him walk around his house looking,
for who was talking.....
Never had the black helicopters come for me..
Even tho the State Police academy was 10 miles away...
RC
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Here are the radios we bought....
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/michael144/IMG_0311_1.jpg)
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GMRS stands for?
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I'll admit rogwar, you had me for a second.
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GMRS stands for?
Gonna Make up a Ridiculous Story involving fedeal agents assaulting my camp for using Hello Kitty radios? :D
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Damn rogwar, you exceeded your "catch limit". Nice.
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:rofl
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BS...gotta love the dramatization though.
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:rofl
I feel for it.
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wtf, those things are bad now? I assume those are more than line of sight radios, but wow, i have a handful of similar ones, guess I shouldnt use them
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guy 1 :deploy the chopper they've got hello kitty radios
guy 2 : those sick terrorist bastards
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Have to relate a story in order to help you avoid a similar incident in the future. While on a recent camping trip to Ray Roberts lake we decided to try out some 2 way radios we had bought at Cabelas as an early family Christmas present. After setting up camp we decided to experiment a little with the radios. Little did we know that a license was required for something called GMRS.
Anyhow, my wife and daughter were playing around with and communicating over the radios for about ten minutes when a Blackhawk helicopter came right over our camp at fairly high speed executing a sharp, steep turn, almost like a chandelle, and then proceeded to hover right adjacent to our camp. The rotor wash was somewhat fierce. I am thinking what is this, that's different?
Almost immediately after coming to a hover, six US Marshals in full assault gear and one FCC agent fast roped out of the Blackhawk to the ground and then yelled at us to drop the radios and put our hands over our heads. At this point my daughter is crying and our camping gear is being blown to kingdom come from the rotor wash.
After a couple of hours of intense questioning, the FCC agent told us that most likely we would receive an official warning for the first time although we could all be put in jail and receive hefty fines. They subsequently confiscated our radios to turn over to the US district attorney along with a recording of the communication. My wife and daughter's words will always stick in my mind when we reviewed their evidence:
"Hi mom"
"Hi Audrey"
"Can you hear me momma?"
"Yes I can hear you fine"
Whatever you're on...pass it around . :rolleyes:
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BS!!! LOL!!!
I ran a 10,000 watt ILLEGAL radio station for YEARS...
Bleeding all over the airwaves... Complaints from local
airtraffic control, Police, EMS... Could hear them complaining
to dispatch on my illegal scanner too... LOL
People couldn't drive by without my bleedover shutting
their engine down... 5 miles away, my neighbors toaster
was talking in my voice... And his acoustic guitar strings
would vibrate, making him walk around his house looking,
for who was talking.....
Never had the black helicopters come for me..
Even tho the State Police academy was 10 miles away...
RC
:rofl :rofl :aok
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:furious I was ready to go to war with these Gmen! :rolleyes:
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5 miles away, my neighbors toaster
was talking in my voice...
:rofl awesome.
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Have to relate a story in order to help you avoid a similar incident in the future. While on a recent camping trip to Ray Roberts lake we decided to try out some 2 way radios we had bought at Cabelas as an early family Christmas present. After setting up camp we decided to experiment a little with the radios. Little did we know that a license was required for something called GMRS.
Anyhow, my wife and daughter were playing around with and communicating over the radios for about ten minutes when a Blackhawk helicopter came right over our camp at fairly high speed executing a sharp, steep turn, almost like a chandelle, and then proceeded to hover right adjacent to our camp. The rotor wash was somewhat fierce. I am thinking what is this, that's different?
Almost immediately after coming to a hover, six US Marshals in full assault gear and one FCC agent fast roped out of the Blackhawk to the ground and then yelled at us to drop the radios and put our hands over our heads. At this point my daughter is crying and our camping gear is being blown to kingdom come from the rotor wash.
After a couple of hours of intense questioning, the FCC agent told us that most likely we would receive an official warning for the first time although we could all be put in jail and receive hefty fines. They subsequently confiscated our radios to turn over to the US district attorney along with a recording of the communication. My wife and daughter's words will always stick in my mind when we reviewed their evidence:
"Hi mom"
"Hi Audrey"
"Can you hear me momma?"
"Yes I can hear you fine"
these are the same as the ones you can buy at any store....like we use at the race tracks? i think they call em "family" radios?
a friend of mine, that has 2 stores in philly, approx 1.5 blocks apart uses these all the time. so far no probs.....but if this is truely a prob, i think i might need to warn her.
<<S>>
dammit!!!! :furious
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GMRS stands for?
The General Mobile Radio Service... used to be called Class A Civilian Radio.
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these are the same as the ones you can buy at any store....like we use at the race tracks? i think they call em "family" radios?
a friend of mine, that has 2 stores in philly, approx 1.5 blocks apart uses these all the time. so far no probs.....but if this is truely a prob, i think i might need to warn her.
<<S>>
dammit!!!! :furious
No, family radio's are different. A family radio shares a few channels in common with GMRS, but they're perfectly legal to transmit on. :)
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Well you ARE supposed to register GMRS radios (says so inside package) but of course, no one ever does. Serious radio people disdain them as trash ('blister pack' radios, etc)
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BS!!! LOL!!!
I ran a 10,000 watt ILLEGAL radio station for YEARS...
Bleeding all over the airwaves... Complaints from local
airtraffic control, Police, EMS... Could hear them complaining
to dispatch on my illegal scanner too... LOL
People couldn't drive by without my bleedover shutting
their engine down... 5 miles away, my neighbors toaster
was talking in my voice... And his acoustic guitar strings
would vibrate, making him walk around his house looking,
for who was talking.....
Never had the black helicopters come for me..
Even tho the State Police academy was 10 miles away...
RC
There a BS story for ya
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Federal Gov over reacting.
Think it was bad in the 90's? Wait and see how bad it gets in the next 4 years. Hopefully it won't be 8.
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There a BS story for ya
No BS, Just da FAX!!!
My brother lived 62miles out, as the crow flies..
I turned my cophased 4element Yagi Beam antenae
toward his house, Switch to the vertical plane, KEY UP,
and bleed ALL over his cable TV... 62 MILES OUT LOL!!!!
Along with sat dishes, Broadcast radio and TV...
RMS 10k watts, spiking to 17k, with Vert or Horizontally
cophased Moonraker4's, (sitting in the 4th ground wave),
Will definately do it... LOL!!!
LOL, this wasn't no dinky little CB radio, LOL...
On another occasion, just for kicks. I used my
Bi/axial Yeasu rotor motor to point my beams at
the moon... Made a 60db direct AM voice contact in
Auckland New Zealand, No SKIP, by bouncing my signal
OFF THE MOON!!!
Still have everything, except the antennae, and rotor motor..
Still have the Kenwood Tranciever/VFO...
60amp regulated/shielded power supply..
2 linear step up Amps, 500watt and 1000watt (transistor)...
and the 220volt/27tube linear main amp, (3 drivin 24)...
Full set of meters, Transmit power/SWR/Modulation..
Antenna switch box, and load matcher...
And the 30db recieve preamp...
Used to fry the recieve in alot of muddubbers radios
when in the vert plane.. They used to hate
the big strappin radios, LOL... Had envious little twerps
try to sabotage my equipment too... The old needle
thru the coax cable routine... Ran'em off with
a shotgun more than once...LOL!!!
That was my hobby at the time!!!
Lots of ppl had BIG strappin radios back then..
No BS
RC
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riiiiiiiiiiiiiight
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LOL, something else that it would do that was kinda funny..
The electromagnetic radiation that it generated would make
all the streetlights come on, and peoples flourescent garage
and shoplights would come on too.. LOL!!!
Just a empty carrier wave, would excite the gas in the
flourescent tubes or mercury vapor lights around the
area.. making the lights come on.. Too funny LOL!!!
RC
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riiiiiiiiiiiiiight
I can testify to the validity of this story. I lived in the Pacific Northwest and often experienced the talking toaster phenomenon. It also hit frequencies that would shiver my undies to the point of climax. Often these two happened so close to each other that I believe it's had a Pavlovian effect on me. To this day I can't even reach for butter and jam without creaming the jeans.
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Always the biggest mouth has the biggest radio. Don't hate the equipment just the dweeb abusing the airwaves.
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I can testify to the validity of this story. I lived in the Pacific Northwest and often experienced the talking toaster phenomenon. It also hit frequencies that would shiver my undies to the point of climax. Often these two happened so close to each other that I believe it's had a Pavlovian effect on me. To this day I can't even reach for butter and jam without creaming the jeans.
LOL!
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Always the biggest mouth has the biggest radio. Don't hate the equipment just the dweeb abusing the airwaves.
That was often true.. And I could be guilty of that on occasion...
For example.. Back in 91 or 92 it was a bad skip cycle.. Lots of solar
activity energizing the ionosphere, so all the radio bands were really
crowded with random signals being bounced back down to the surface..
Sounds like a huge auditorium, packed with people, all talkin at once, LOL!!!
I had my beams pointed south, was chattin with a CQ buddy in Killeen Texas...
He was a RTO in a Cavalry Regiment at Ft. Hood.. Messin around with civvie
radio as a hobby... We were both DX'ing on the flat side, (Horizontal plane), so
we had a super clear copy on eachother... But the background skip from
South America was just insanely deafening... He coudn't hear it because his
antenna was pointed NW, with his reflector blocking the spurious signals..
But it was really drivin me crazy... Just a tidal wave of spanish blabbery in
the background... About then, I decided to tell them ALL to shut up.. LOL!!!
I threw the main switch, loaded the plates, and started warmin up the tubes
on the big amp.. My buddy could hear the big amp start buzzin in the
background, so he says, "Wait a minute man.. While I turn my antenna!!!" LOL!!!
It took a few minutes to set the step up amps to their proper output settings
so I didn't catch my equipment on fire... Switch to vertical, get a clean match
on my antennae, max out my modulation, and turn on the endless echo/reverb..
After everything was warmed up and ready, I tweaked the angle and direction
on my beams, so the skip was at its loudest.. Then I keyed up, and let rip with
the foulest 30 second diatribe of obcenity that I could muster in my rudimentary spanish..
Questioning the worthyness of the latino race to exist.. The ancestry of their
mothers and fathers.. And what part of the human anatomy they were born from...
Then I let it repeat on endless/echo about 4 times...
When I unkeyed the Mic... It was ABSOLUTELY QUIET!!!!
My CQ buddy and I got a good laugh out of that one... And many DX stations chimed
in from all over the the southern US, sayin THANKS!!!! LOL!!!
Nothing like Hackin off a whole continent, LOL!!! For the BIGMOUTH award, HUH!!!!
And by the way.. The talkin toaster phenomenon in not unusual in the presence
of a high powered RF signal.. The straight heating fillaments in the toaser vibrate
with The modulation in an AM (amplitude modulation) signal.. When those fillaments
are encased in a metal box, with an opening at the top, they work like a crude speaker...
:salute
RC
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i used to shoot skip, along time ago, still have all the stuff to do it except the aerial,
a golden eagle with twin 5000 tube amps and a directional will do alot of strange things to anything electric within say 5 miles or so
as for the feds i would have shot at them with my nephews Nerf gun but i doubt they had the Velcro patch attached to the bottom of there chopper
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Serious radio people disdain them as trash ('blister pack' radios, etc)
HEHE Them serious radio guys are funny, they should meet the RC plane safety guys at the toy plane flying fields.
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While driving around town in me little dump truck chatting with the operators here we can hear those fools from El Paso all the way up here in the Springs. Just a little 148GTL with good antennas. God those guys can be annoying. I have started to really dislike spanish.
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Complaints from local
airtraffic control, Police, EMS... Could hear them complaining
to dispatch on my illegal scanner too... LOL
People couldn't drive by without my bleedover shutting
their engine down...
Yeah, that's hilarious
:huh
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We had a CB clown with a dirty amp in the neighborhood. pinhead made the mistake of screwing with us while a football game was on. We rode over to his house, hooked a cable to his coax and went for a little drive. His Texas star amp, Galaxy radio, D104 mic and 4 element maco beam antenna made a nice parade behind the truck. The hole in his house that used to be a window was patched by a piece of plywood the next day, so we waited till it was replaced with glass before we returned his equipment.
:D
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The radio wars were nothing new to me...
Especially when you have a huge antenna array, live on top
of a big hill outside of town.. And EVERYBODY knows were you live..
Back when I was runnin that radio, I even had some poor
misguided idiots try to shut me down... Mostly they would just show
up in front of the house, and run their flappin mouth... Wouldn't
get out of their rig when they saw the big bald guy with an
10shot 1187 standing at the gate... Waitin to make an example!!!
Although ONE time, a truckload of bozos, with a bad case of brown
bottle body armor, did come thru the gate and up my driveway..
The driver was well known "Hash and trasher" on the radio.. Always
Razin drunken hell with people with a pumped up mobile radio, from a
local hilltop.. A REAL radio love muffin!!! He was a squeeker signal until some
fool clipped his mod limiter, sold him an amp, and a magmount Wilson 1000
antenna.. Geez!!! Instant wannabe Radio god!!! LOL...
So, one saturday night, my son and I were in the shop, dinkin around
with my 67 Olds 442, yakkin with friends on the radio a little bit.. I
could hear the jughead's bleedover buzzin from a couple Freqs away..
Apparently noone would give him any attn on the blather channel..
So he shows up up on the "grownup" channel, doing the "squishdummy
routine", blocking ppls commo, pickin a fight, blah blah... Playin the
drunken juvie part to a tee... Unfortunately, the jerk had his amp goin
so I couldn't squelch him, without losin comms with the more distant
friends that I was talking to.. I had the biggest signal in his radio, so
naturally I became the target for his drunken BS.. I called a friend who
had a beam antenna with flatside capability.. He got on freq, and we
started teasin the guy.. Talkin straight thru his signal.. So he started
pumpin it harder, and HARDER.. LOL!!! We could hear his modulation
start splattering and blistering as the pills, (transistors) in his amp got
Hotter and HOTTER.. The Idiot didn't know that his massive vertically
oriented signal, had virtually no effect on even a small Horizontal signal,
LOL!!! Finally, all of a sudden, in mid transmission, his amp blew.. LOL!!!
He was back to his little squeeker signal again...
To rub it in, I pointed the beams at him, switched back to vertical,
told him, "This is the last thing you will ever hear out of THAT radio"...
Then I pumped it up massively, Keyed up, and burned his recieve...
AAggHHHHH HaHaHaHa!!!!
About an hour later, the love muffin comes screamin up my driveway..
He and his drunk buddies jumped out of his nice shiney new Ford 4x4 PU,
with baseball bats etc, all yammerin some kind of drunken,
"We're gonna teach you a lesson" BS... And BOOM, I put 1 load of
000 buckshot right into his radiator... And another about 3ft
over the love muffines head... Then my son set his German Sheppard
loose on em... LOL, you never seen a bunch of guys run SO fast...
He jumped back in has truck, burnin rubber in reverse, back down the hill
smashed the gate and gatepost.. Flattened his buddy trying to jump
in the open passenger door... He went Tearin off down the road,
with his buddies runnin behind him... My son and I, after our short hairs
went back down, were gutbusted laughing, when the cops showed up...
Now this is the Kicker.. The guy called the cops... They showed up,
and wanted to know what happened, so I showed them the Video
Tape from the CCD camera above the garage door... Holy Smokes..
They started laughing too!!! I could have easily pressed trespass
and assault charges.. I didn't, cuz I'm not a cruel guy..
But the Cops DID press, DWI, Hit and run, Reckless Driving, and
Vehicular Assault, for him hittin his own buddy with the truck door, LOL!!!
The love muffin ended up pleading guilty to DWI/H&R and Reckless, spent
90days and made restitution for my smashed gate...
In case ya wanna say BS?
All this is verifiable in WA state, Pierce County, Superior Court records...
Don't mess with the local boys!!! LOL!!!
:salute
RC
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A hillbilly with a radio fetish, now i've seen it all.
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A hillbilly with a radio fetish, now i've seen it all.
I was thinking the same thing.
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Certainly reads like a bunch of "Mud Ducks. :t
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A hillbilly with a radio fetish, now i've seen it all.
:rofl
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The radio wars were nothing new to me...
Especially when you have a huge antenna array, live on top
of a big hill outside of town.. And EVERYBODY knows were you live..
Back when I was runnin that radio, I even had some poor
misguided idiots try to shut me down... Mostly they would just show
up in front of the house, and run their flappin mouth... Wouldn't
get out of their rig when they saw the big bald guy with an
10shot 1187 standing at the gate... Waitin to make an example!!!
Although ONE time, a truckload of bozos, with a bad case of brown
bottle body armor, did come thru the gate and up my driveway..
The driver was well known "Hash and trasher" on the radio.. Always
Razin drunken hell with people with a pumped up mobile radio, from a
local hilltop.. A REAL radio love muffin!!! He was a squeeker signal until some
fool clipped his mod limiter, sold him an amp, and a magmount Wilson 1000
antenna.. Geez!!! Instant wannabe Radio god!!! LOL...
So, one saturday night, my son and I were in the shop, dinkin around
with my 67 Olds 442, yakkin with friends on the radio a little bit.. I
could hear the jughead's bleedover buzzin from a couple Freqs away..
Apparently noone would give him any attn on the blather channel..
So he shows up up on the "grownup" channel, doing the "squishdummy
routine", blocking ppls commo, pickin a fight, blah blah... Playin the
drunken juvie part to a tee... Unfortunately, the jerk had his amp goin
so I couldn't squelch him, without losin comms with the more distant
friends that I was talking to.. I had the biggest signal in his radio, so
naturally I became the target for his drunken BS.. I called a friend who
had a beam antenna with flatside capability.. He got on freq, and we
started teasin the guy.. Talkin straight thru his signal.. So he started
pumpin it harder, and HARDER.. LOL!!! We could hear his modulation
start splattering and blistering as the pills, (transistors) in his amp got
Hotter and HOTTER.. The Idiot didn't know that his massive vertically
oriented signal, had virtually no effect on even a small Horizontal signal,
LOL!!! Finally, all of a sudden, in mid transmission, his amp blew.. LOL!!!
He was back to his little squeeker signal again...
To rub it in, I pointed the beams at him, switched back to vertical,
told him, "This is the last thing you will ever hear out of THAT radio"...
Then I pumped it up massively, Keyed up, and burned his recieve...
AAggHHHHH HaHaHaHa!!!!
About an hour later, the love muffin comes screamin up my driveway..
He and his drunk buddies jumped out of his nice shiney new Ford 4x4 PU,
with baseball bats etc, all yammerin some kind of drunken,
"We're gonna teach you a lesson" BS... And BOOM, I put 1 load of
000 buckshot right into his radiator... And another about 3ft
over the love muffines head... Then my son set his German Sheppard
loose on em... LOL, you never seen a bunch of guys run SO fast...
He jumped back in has truck, burnin rubber in reverse, back down the hill
smashed the gate and gatepost.. Flattened his buddy trying to jump
in the open passenger door... He went Tearin off down the road,
with his buddies runnin behind him... My son and I, after our short hairs
went back down, were gutbusted laughing, when the cops showed up...
Now this is the Kicker.. The guy called the cops... They showed up,
and wanted to know what happened, so I showed them the Video
Tape from the CCD camera above the garage door... Holy Smokes..
They started laughing too!!! I could have easily pressed trespass
and assault charges.. I didn't, cuz I'm not a cruel guy..
But the Cops DID press, DWI, Hit and run, Reckless Driving, and
Vehicular Assault, for him hittin his own buddy with the truck door, LOL!!!
The love muffin ended up pleading guilty to DWI/H&R and Reckless, spent
90days and made restitution for my smashed gate...
In case ya wanna say BS?
All this is verifiable in WA state, Pierce County, Superior Court records...
Don't mess with the local boys!!! LOL!!!
:salute
RC
they were amatures.
you'd never know who did what otherwise.
trust me...i've helped a few new neighbors "decide" this wasn't the neighborhood for them. :devil
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they were amateurs.
you'd never know who did what otherwise.
trust me...i've helped a few new neighbors "decide" this wasn't the neighborhood for them. :devil
QFT... yah nailed that one square, Cap.
Correctly implemented malevolence and retaliation never has a return address, yet the recipient always knows what he's paying for.
Redneck CB wars and dick measuring contests are amusing.. real radio operators (licensed hams) are significantly more circumspect and in the end, far more dangerous as a result. I could post a few examples, but the statute of limitations on some 'enforcement' actions undertaken by that august group to have yet to run out.
Meanwhile... well, may I say that RipChord's chest thumping is certainly amusing and entertaining.
:D
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QFT... yah nailed that one square, Cap.
Correctly implemented malevolence and retaliation never has a return address, yet the recipient always knows what he's paying for.
Redneck CB wars and dick measuring contests are amusing.. real radio operators (licensed hams) are significantly more circumspect and in the end, far more dangerous as a result. I could post a few examples, but the statute of limitations on some 'enforcement' actions undertaken by that august group to have yet to run out.
Meanwhile... well, may I say that RipChord's chest thumping is certainly amusing and entertaining.
:D
yes, it is...and you seem to be the only one to get my point. :D
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LOL, yup.
:aok
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Way back I tested for an amateur license and used them for years chatting with neighbors I only saw at the coffee shop once a month or less. The last license I held was amateur extra but I havent kept up. I understand you dont even need to know the code anymore. I remember working on my 'fist' for months.
My reason for posting is to pass on a rule/law you may not know. In case of emergency (especially life threatening emergency) you can build any radio you want and with any power you want without restrictions. If you have a flat tire on the side of the road (considered a possibly life-threatening situation) and you need help you can hook that amp up to your CB and broadcast for help. You dont need to use much power in reality. I can reach Arizona from here in South Alabama with 2.5 watts as long as the sun is down.
In case of radio violators it wont be U.S. Marshalls that take your equipment. Just saying.
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QFT... yah nailed that one square, Cap.
Correctly implemented malevolence and retaliation never has a return address, yet the recipient always knows what he's paying for.
Redneck CB wars and dick measuring contests are amusing.. real radio operators (licensed hams) are significantly more circumspect and in the end, far more dangerous as a result. I could post a few examples, but the statute of limitations on some 'enforcement' actions undertaken by that august group to have yet to run out.
Meanwhile... well, may I say that RipChord's chest thumping is certainly amusing and entertaining.
:D
:rofl :rofl :rofl Ahhhh, and now we see the last refuge of the completely impotent...
Like I've never heard that BS before!!!
RC
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lolz :rofl
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Way back I tested for an amateur license and used them for years chatting with neighbors I only saw at the coffee shop once a month or less. The last license I held was amateur extra but I havent kept up. I understand you dont even need to know the code anymore. I remember working on my 'fist' for months.
My reason for posting is to pass on a rule/law you may not know. In case of emergency (especially life threatening emergency) you can build any radio you want and with any power you want without restrictions. If you have a flat tire on the side of the road (considered a possibly life-threatening situation) and you need help you can hook that amp up to your CB and broadcast for help. You dont need to use much power in reality. I can reach Arizona from here in South Alabama with 2.5 watts as long as the sun is down.
In case of radio violators it wont be U.S. Marshalls that take your equipment. Just saying.
Yes I passed the test as well, thats how I gained access to all that high powered
equipment.. Back in those days, ya had to have a licence before anyone would sell
the heavy duty equipment to you.. Although there was a black market for the stuff...
Don't know about now, havent messed around with it in years.. Just because you were
licenced and legal, in one band.. Doesn't mean you (or your equipment) was legal to roam
ALL the bands... But cell phones have pretty much ended the need for all that anyway...
And yes, on SSB it doesn't take a whole lot of power to reach distant stations as long as
the conditions are right... More power, allows you to reach out, DESPITE conditions...
If it is only good occasionally, it isn't much good at all... That was my way of thinking...
Often I would establish contact with a station in CW mode, (Key).. So we could line
everything up, and then see if we could, (or how hard) we could hit eachother with
a voice signal.. Just to see if we could do it... Lots of fun...
95% of the time my amps were idle.. Mostly I used them for experimentation.. The behavior
of RF signals is a mysterious thing.. Mapping the lobes of a Yagi beam antenna, adjusting
the reflector and director elements, Tuning it for different wavelengths, just to see how it
changed performance.. It was very interesting, noting all the oddities, that occur around
High Powered RF as well... Like the talking toaster, LOL!!!
Yep, in an emergency, or when doing a public service, I didn't matter HOW much power you used..
I was the local REACT operator as well... With gigantic ears, I could hear the smallest signal,
and zero in on it, even in the deepest valleys at the foot of Mt Rainier.. Always did radio relay work
for Explorer Search and Rescue... Because the power would allow me to drive a signal into those
same deep valleys... Many a stuck 4x4, lost hunters, or injured backpackers, made it
out of there, because of my radio station.. And/or, a phone call to the State Patrol...
Of course there were always the RF love muffines..
The truly impotent ones, are the ones who feel the need to force their will upon others...
That was never my "Thing"... People can do as they wish... None of my biz...
But when ppl have tried to do that with me, they've always ended up with my boot on their neck...
I don't tolerate that, Just the way it is!!!
RC
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There IS a licencing requirement in Part 95 of the FCC GMRS rules, but as a triple FCC licencee, seriously doubt in any degree, the integrity of the initial poster's post. There is no requirement that the licencee must have in thier possession or post their licence in a conspicious place near the transmitting equipment--as it is in other radio services. I have not seen public access to the FCC national database of GRMS licencees.
While the FCC lent use of some of it's direction finding and "Monitoring Stations" to intelligence services for a period of time after 09/11, it's Monitoring Stations, monitoring satallites, and mobile monitoring units are in full service--contrary to what some illegal operators are telling people.
A couple of weeks ago on country text, (I won't give the in-game ID) a guy was trying to tell everyone that it was perfectly legal to operate not only illegal power on CB, but to operate anywhere they wish in the "freeband" frequencies above and below CB because "the FCC doesn't have any budget anymore, and they only bust those who operate in the ham bands".
I got a huge laugh out of that, because his whole premise was that it's not illegal unless you get caught. Well...I guess it's not illegal to drive down the road with a pund of weed in your trunk...until the moment you actually get caught.
Back when Riley Hollingsworth was in charge of the FCC Enforcement Division, he had a policy that a percentage of the enforcement announcments were to be made public on the internet. Since he retired, the new agent in charge has decided to not make very many public access (many included the name, address, and other information that the Commission decided may not be a good idea to post in public). So YES, there are still FCC enforcements happening--their just not made public as often as in the past.
The CB'er with a dirty amplifier who screws up 3 neighborhood's cable reception isn't getting away with anything. You can bet your sweet bacon the cable company is out there with a spectrum analyzer pinpointing the house, and that the complaint with the FCC is made that day. The FCC doesn't even have to be the ones making the report. The Amateur Radio Auxiliary, consisting of licenced hams who take special FCC approved training can DF (direction find) the offender and make a report (usually signed by three licencees who conducted the search) and the FCC will act on that.
The offenders just think it's a victimless crime, but if you were trying to watch the Super Bowl and some moron keyed up with a linear and wrecked your party--you'd want the guy hung on a scaffold. The FCC doesn't do that. They simply send out a NAAL (Notice of Apparent Liability) for between $1,000 and $10,500 and expects payment in full. If no payment is made, the matter is turned over to the local federal court and the IRS. Worst case scenerios, the FCC shows up with a warrant and a deputy sheriff to deliver the NAAL in person, and confiscate the equipment...but that's only for the worst offenders.
CB'ers who run illegal power stick out like a sore thumb on a spectrum analyzer. CB'ers who run illegal power outside of the CB channels stick out like a 400lb naked woman in a Walmart. It's so easy to DF them it's almost funny.
All we can do is HIGHLY encourage them to get rid of the illegal equipment and get licenced and stay legal. Thank goodness, most have just left the airwaves...especially after someone they knew got pinched. I used DF and report 3 or 4 "freebanders" a year locally, but now (with the lack of sunspots) it's usually a ghost town down there.
Outside of that, it's "legal"--until you get that $10,000 fine.
ROX
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There are some high power stations around here that annoy constantly. Are they really that dense when it comes to being able to locate them? We have used our CB radios to find one of them. We closed in on the signal and looked for his antenna.
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pretty easy to find yet when they are 5 miles out of town and on top of a big hill 5500 feet above sea level, and 1 mile off the main road, and the people living there are very good with long rifles, sometimes it is better to just say you did not find them!
besides we kept our antenae aimed at Calif , the opposite direction of town, so nobody was bothered by us, unless we wanted them to be :D
btw we used to talk to a guy naamed "phanton 250" he lived a few miles off LAX one day he said the doorbell rang, he would be right back,,, we got a card from him, 3 months later, seems he was blanking out the screens at the tower when he keyed up, feds where not amused :huh
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LOL ~ look at all these pages! :lol :aok