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That Frequency
17 April 2014 | by We’ve all come across that frequency. You know the one I mean. People on there all hours of the day and night saying and doing nasty things. It’s been going on for a long time and no one in any regulatory agency seems to do anything about it. There are websites devoted to that frequency and the people who are on it. People post things on Facebook and those two websites here in the US about it all the time. New radio amateurs ask about it and wonder what it’s about. Old ones complain about it or get outraged. Some amateurs laugh about it. Various people theorize about the mental health of the participants on that frequency. Some waste hours of their lives listening to it, many trying to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. Some people have wasted months and years out of their pathetic, useless lives making that frequency what it is.
Here’s the kicker. There are no good guys on this frequency. None. Not one of them. Especially not the ones who claim they are against the bad guys and are merely trying to make the frequency better by contending with the so-called bad guys. Even you, listening there. Perhaps you just listen, or maybe you decide to fire up your linear amp and drop a carrier in there for a while, perhaps to punish them, maybe just to stir the pot, or give yourself a chuckle. Acknowledge it. You’ve done it.
No government agency is going to fix that frequency, or perhaps better worded, fix or punish those people on that frequency. You’re not going to stop what’s been going on, not directly, at least. Here’s what you, me, and everyone with a brain can do to fix this problem: stop listening to it, stop talking about it, don’t even acknowledge it. From this day forward, that frequency doesn’t exist. If you see someone posting about that frequency on a social media website or an amateur radio forum, you say we don’t talk about that. If someone mentions it on the air in a QSO, in a roundtable, or on a net, talk about something else, like the weather. That frequency is what it is because we listen to it and we talk about it. We have the power to make it whither and die.
12 Responses to “That Frequency”
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As a newly-licensed ham as of early 2014, I will admit that when first licensed, I did tune in to “that frequency” to find out what I had heard discussed elsewhere. Although there was activity on the frequency, it became a non-issue for me in a matter of just a few minutes. Nothing happening there is worth going back and I haven’t been back since.
Thanks for this post; I really enjoyed it.
It can be fixed by enforcing the law. Right now , the government is only interested in enforcing the laws they pick and choose too. Chaos is never acceptable. That particular bandwidth is a valuable asset and worth cleaning up. Pick 25 law breakers, fine, confiscate, and 90 days in prison, and you would be surprised what would happen to the bandwidth.
Like the old saying goes, “God ain’t making anymore bandwidth” , we better take care of what we got.
What frequency?? I guess in 24 years I have never landed on “that frequency”.
Right, David, but in the meantime, Anthony is right. People with these particular mental disorders are seeking attention of any kind. That is what feeds their sickness. Deny them that sustenance and they go somewhere else and do something else to draw attention.
Turn your amp up to 11 and QRM them or try to let them know your feelings about the mess with which they infest our precious bands and you only contribute to the situation. As my mom always said, “If you lie down with pigs…”
73,
Don N4KC
http://www.n4kc.com
http://www.donkeith.com
I am disgusted with what I hear on the frequency.
It makes me mad. I have even recorded the worst and sent the CD to the FCC with a letter. I have this fear that the ham bands will turn into what CB went to many years ago. Then the FCC just gave up on CB.
If the FCC is understaffed or under budgeted to the extent they can’t spend time with it, then we hams can. We can do coordinated fox hunts mostly from our homes, then a little foot work and get evidence for the FCC.
I just don’t think we should take a “That’s just the way it is” attitude.
The main problem with the CB band, all the way back to the early 60’s when I first encountered it, was no regulation. The band had not International regulation, no real national regulation. You signed a paper, paid a fee and got a license call sign that was rarely used. You have a lot of business traffic, kids with $10 walkie-talkies, and 23 channel radios that truckers found were useful. No ARRL or a similar CB organization. No tests..forget the code, there was no written test of any kind. The FCC set themselves up for a disaster just waiting to happen and it did. To such an extent that they finally dropped all licenses and just let it be a open band. Thus the mess we see today, started in the early 60’s, when we hams had to past a code and written exam. If the ham band were to even get close to that mess, the international community would cut our heads off using the FCC ax and sell all the bands off to the highest bidders. I for one do not see that ever happening. Even being 66 and not very open to things at time, I do not see us even close. In 1963 when I got my novice license and CB had not taken off, we had a mess on 80 and a small part of 40 meters. As in cussing hams out, pushing them off the band by following them up and down the band and tuning up on them or playing music. We had cussing and cursing and belittling other for no running the latest radio with the biggest amp….Kind of like a typical evening 80 meter roundtable we can hear tonight with little effort finding it. Call signs…we don’t do no stinking call signs. We know each other by our voice and their staked out 3.xxxx mhz frequency.
Sorry about the rant. Too many folks still think CW makes a polite and professional ham. Pure BS. It was bad in the 60’s when it was required and it is bad now with guys, most who did pass the code requirement, today…
I operate CW. I am polite and professional.
I love CW and this is NOT BS.
🙂
DF them and take ’em out! Whatever happened to “self policing”? Or we can wait…….
Peter..I am sure you are polite and professional. My experiences over 50 yrs of being on and off air and back on the air is 99% of hams, be they no code or not. love the hobby and are good people. I have had only a few bad experiences. I have had a whole lot more the past 8 yrs as a Pharmacy Tech and dealing with the public. Sorry if the BS came across wrong. Too many people live in a fantasy world thinking the only good ham was one who had to learn code, like I did, to be a real ham. Bugs the hell out of me and I am not a P.C. person. I call it like I see it. If someone thinks I am right or wrong that is their opinion and I respect that and I agree to disagree if that is where it ends up and get on with life…
I agree, there is some individual on or around 7.153MHz that loves to “tune up” his rig…for 15-20 minutes at a time. This Tommy Tuner upper we have come to call him is now ignored. Has been for some time now, ocassionally when he starts we may ask if he would like to join our net. By occasionally asking him to join is merely a formality, we do it because we are having our daily net.
That said, there is another individual on 7.150MHz that is running some power, probably a gallon or more. He is extremely wide,some mornings depending on where one is located, he will wipe out any one’s chance to join in the net. Especially so if one is running a rig that doesn’t have all the latest and greatest noise canceling options that are mostly standard on the newer rigs. This person, we know who he is, where he lives, refuses in any way shape or form to even acknowledge that there is a problems. Our net manager has gracefully a number of times contacted this person by email, and by phone, only to be abruptly told its not me, its your equipment that is faulty. So..we try and ignore this person as well, his information has been forwarded on to the local OO in his area, also the FCC has been notified as well. What good if any will it do…probably none, at least this information is on record, in such event that this person decides to get nasty about the whole thing. Our net manager and our web manager continue to keep records and pass along additional information from time to time.
It is frustrating, annoying, and it pisses a lot of our net participants notify myself, our net manager and our web manager about this character, I tell them to just try and ignore it as best ya can and continue on. But when you have a TS-430, TS-440, and to some extent the TS-450, and rigs of this era don’t have the noise canceling capabilities like my 756 Pro III. But do the best ya can with what ya have and continue to march. Ignore these people…great advice, don’t, please don’t stoop to their level. Great read, thank you.
God Bless, Happy Easter to all!
I am by no means advocating any airwave retaliation, just the opposite. I am saying that if we (government) don’t enforce the laws, then chaos will follow.
If any type of infractions happened between 108mhz and 130mhz I can tell you all heck would break loose and the nonsense would stop immediately. We Amateur
Radio operators as a group need to demand action to our politicians, the problem would be greatly improved upon. I just think personally that the FCC does not perceive this as an issue. The ARRL is our spokes person in the government representing many of us. Good discussion by all my friends. 73
I still believe that we as amateurs can help the FCC, (which is most likely under staffed) set up coordinated DF, record and submit the findings to the FCC. It is legal, positive, logical and progressive.