This morning, I got the following email from a former student:
I’m looking for some wisdom. If I’m communicating over amateur radio channels with a couple groups of people who are using radios without licenses, should I use my call sign? I’m wondering if by doing so, I make myself a target. The groups I’m dealing with are two militia groups and one RV campground, all three using Baofengs. I cannot stop the usage. So do you think it’s wiser to just hide in the group and not identify myself, or always identify myself so I am legal?
Thanks for your wisdom.
Wow. What a question, eh? My initial reaction was that this is really a no-win situation, if you want to be strictly legal. It’s a rules violation to not properly identify, but it’s also a violation to communicate as an amateur radio operator with other stations not operating in the Amateur Radio Service (except, of course, in emergencies).
I asked Dan Henderson, N1ND, the ARRL “rules guy” about this, and he replied,
The FCC doesn’t require amateur licensees to verify whether the other station is licensed before the are allowed to communicate with them – but upon determining that the other station is not one with which you are permitted to communicate, then the burden falls to the licensed amateur to follow the rules and cease communication with the unlicensed station.
I also suggested that he consider reporting the illegal operation to the ARRL. The ARRL Volunteer Monitor Program is supposed to work with the FCC on these types of issues, but I didn’t find any way to do this on the ARRL website. I emailed Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, who’s heading up the program, about this, and he replied that you can report this activity directly to him. His email address is [email protected].
If it were me, I might politely advise them that it’s not really legal to use amateur radio frequencies, and that they might want to use the Family Radio Service (FRS) or General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) frequencies instead.
FRS is license-free, but radios used on FRS frequencies are supposed to be limited to 2 W output. I’m guessing, though, that they could use their Baofengs on FRS frequencies at the 5 W or even 8 W level, without serious repercussions, even though it’s technically illegal.
GMRS would really be the way to go. Legally using GMRS radios does require paying for a license—which some preppers would be hesitant to do—but you can use higher power radios (up to 50 W!) and even set up repeaters.
Anyway, my question to you is what advice would you give my student?
There’s probably a government agency already aware of the militia groups and the frequencies they are using. So, no need to identify. They already know who you are.
I assume these guys have no interest in operating legally. If that’s the case, the best bet is to fly under the radar as much as possible, and operating illegally on the amateur bands, in my opinion, is too apparent. In addition to the proposed FRS/GMRS frequencies, MURS and color dot should not attract too much attention.
The Baofengs are too easy to get, and they are very cheap. I even saw them being sold at the local Micro Center, mixed up with other consumer goods. A pair of them for $20, if I recall.
Even though the Baofengs can operate on FRS frequencies, they aren’t certified for there aside from the power issues, so it’s a double-whammy to use them there. Chirp, the favorite frequency programmer for them, has built-in FRS/GMRS frequencies to add to the download. Easy, peasy.
The preppers seem determined to use frequencies they feel belong ‘to the people’ and to heck with the FCC or any other authority figures. I’ve run across a couple on Twitter, and they are very mouthy about their ‘rights’.
I give them a wide berth.
Recently I saw where a militia group mentioned a specific amateur radio repeater that they intended to use during an event. I suggest that if you become aware of a looming situation like this, you monitor your repeater for unauthorized access. If you hear it, either shut off the repeater or change the PL. Or you may choose to take such an action proactively and then restore the repeater to normalcy after the event.
There’s not much we can do about unauthorized simplex, but we don’t have to accommodate militia on our repeaters.
Dan
Your advice is similar to what I’ve given to folks who have decided to use BaoFengs because they’re cheaper than local blister pack FRS radios. I have offered to program their radios with FRS frequencies at the low power setting and some have taken me up on that. It’s a convenience for them and an opportunity for me to have a discussion about the legal license process Ana’s why it’s important to follow the rules. Win-win situation.
Technically 1 watt and removable antenna is still breaking the rules. It’s less likely to cause problems than random frequency use at the Radios default 5 watts.
John:
What you are saying also goes along with what I was thinking when I read Dan’s post.
I would politely explain that they are operating on frequencies that require a license. It’s possible they don’t realize it. I’d give a quick explanation of the license free frequencies available, and offer to program their radios to those frequencies.
Myself, I’d suggest programming FRS for them. Program the Baofeng radios channels 1-14 as FRS 1-14. That way others with FRS radios would be able to communicate with the Beofengs. And the Beofengs would stay on FRS and off of frequencies that require a license.
As far as the Beofengs being illegal on FRS, it’s something I would not mention to them. I’m fairly certain a ham isn’t obligated to explain so why do it? Just program the Beofengs and get them out of your hair.
Another option, and this would involve a bit of nefarious action on the hams part, would to get on the radio, say something along the line of “This is Mayberry DPW, who is using our backup channel?”. It’s possible that may make them vacate the licensed frequencies.
I might be hesitant to make contact with the militia group unless you are aware of the players and can make a polite face to face meeting. Sometimes it’s just ignorance, not intentional interference that has put them on amateur frequencies. If you know someone from the militia group, or from the RV Park, beyond offering the programming option, you could direct them to a Tech class to get licensed. We have helped several prepper groups get licensed, AND open their eyes to HF comms to find out what’s going on other places than just close by.