Posted on 10/13/2019 12:46:12 AM PDT by ransomnote
California Officials declare Ham Radio no longer a benefit; Demands Ham radio repeater infrastructure to be Removed
The People’s Republic of California is at it again; through unelected state officials, California is severing ties to ham radio repeater owners throughout the state, jeopardizing the lives of millions of Californians who depend on these repeaters to operate during emergencies.
Last month, repeater operators were sent emails telling them the State would no longer allow them to operate repeaters on public land without paying substantial rental fees. In the letter sent by CAL FIRE, the state claims Ham operators no longer provide a benefit to the state or public safety. They claimed that “constantly changing technological advances” has made Ham radio obsolete during an emergency.
Keep in mind; this is a state that is currently shutting power down in 34 of its counties because its infrastructure cannot handle 20-30 mph winds without risking wildfire breakouts throughout the state.
An amateur radio repeater system is a two-way radio system that takes weaker or low-level amateur radio signals and retransmits them at a higher level or higher power so that the radio signal can cover longer distances without degradation. It is a vital part of the local emergency communications system, and Ham Radio operators have been using them for decades to provide support during disasters that take out local communication infrastructure.
What is infuriating here is people are going to die because of this decision. It costs the State of California nothing to allow these repeaters on public land; in fact, Ham Radio Operators pay for the equipment and maintain the equipment at their own cost. Ham Radio operators also make nothing from running these radio repeaters; they do so as a service to the public to help ensure the public’s safety during natural disasters and emergencies.
While paying billions of dollars a year to cater to illegal immigrants and welfare bums, California is now targeting hard-working Ham operators who provide critical and vital Disaster Emergency Communications. These people have absolutely lost their minds!
MORE AT LINK
Talked to a local club member yesterday morning over breakfast - as indicated in a forum linked later in this thread, it’s all a nothing burger brought forth by someone who does sensational youtube videos.
It affects a few sites in NorCal, all folks who set up repeaters off books and don’t like that they’ll have to pay to stay.
“It would be curious to know who brought this up as a political agenda item, and how it relates to the Democratic Party of California. “
It was PETA. They want a vegan radio repeater.
The best place to put a repeater is on the highest point in the area.
As vikingd00d says “FedGov owns something like 43% of the land in Kali.” and much of that land comprises the land with highest elevation.
California is a mountainous state. Travel the state and you will see antenna on mountain tops. And you can bet that those mountains are owned by either the state or the Federal Government. Those Antennae are on leased land.
One of two things are going on here.
The state is scrounging for money. Let’s face it Californistan is going broke.
Or, a HAM radio operator offended a petty California functionary.
It’s all about taxes. Some friends of ours from California said the state government is taxing everything. The state is grasping for any revenue they can get their grubby mitts on.
Their true concern is that the communication network will be used to organize resistance to their tyranny. That is the real reason they’re doing this.
BTW, I am an Extra Class Ham Radio operator. I don’t believe the government should be restricting Ham Radio operations. Ham Radio operators have not caused problems for government. It is a self-governing organization of people who don’t allow misconduct to persist.
California has lots of hills and valleys that will block radio transmissions. Repeaters need to be up high so they can be line-of-site to other repeaters.
Many of the hilltops have been acquired by the state or county as state or regional parks, making suitable locations for repeaters hard to find.
-PJ
Vegan? Or just Kosher radio?
When the time comes that they need Ham radio support charge the hell out of them. No money, no emergency service support. Insist on being paid before providing support.
Most of the Ham clubs have their own Portable towers on trucks. Hubby has been a Ham Extra and teaches the math part for the class for over 30 yrs. He finally broke down and bought a new one last year. Has a new pole to put up as soon as he can get some help, his shoulders are bad.
Just part of the left’s systematic destruction of California which damages a huge portion of the U.S. economy.
Not only that.
The Obama administration’s Highway funds REMOVED almost 1/3 to 1/2 of the route signs all across the country and tied it to federal dollars.
I am trying to find the link....
Remember talking about it with a military guy who said countries do that when they are invaded to confuse the enemy.
methinks we are the enemy
What is infuriating here is people are going to die because of this decision. It costs the State of California nothing to allow these repeaters on public land; in fact, Ham Radio
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When is it going become clear that they do not care. It is about control.
When something is functioning well, that’s when the left steps in to tax it, control it, or destroy it.
The $hit-eating left has destroyed many great American institutions. It’s aiming at this one too.
Commiefornia is taking actions that would prepare it to secede from the United States of America.
Wait... wasn’t this tried a while back?!?
And all 3 California boys in moms basement cry. I can’t imagine this being a big deal except for a few geeks. Time to grow up and put away the toys.
This is so off the mark.
Some nasty woman at Cal Fire sent a poorly worded email that was completely out of turn.
The bottom line; there are repeaters on Cal Fire towers, government towers, and government property. The sites are not secure. Practically anyone has access to them and security is a huge concern. Someone who knows what they are doing could knock out comms for emergency services rather easily. They want to make the sites more secure.
The other issue is some towers are becoming over crowded. As this happens, there is not space for various agency’s equipment. The towers are primarily for their own use. Also, too much equipment or the wrong type of equipment may cause interference or diminished performance of existing equipment.
It is the government’s property and they may restrict access as they do with any other government site.
You may still put equipment on private sites or use mobile equipment as we often do.
So weird. One minute they have a 2 billion dollar surplus and 5th largest economy in the world. The next they are broke with a third world economy. Can’t be both.
Is it true that Ham radio transmissions are not susceptible to automated monitoring systems or digital storage algorithms? This may account for Big Brother’s lack of interest in encouraging its continued use as a medium of communication between ordinary citizens (i.e. non-Nellie Ohr types).
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I doubt if that is true. Any RF signal can be received, digitized (A to D conversion) and stored. There is nothing special about HF except that is a relatively low frequency band.
And I believe, but can’t guarantee, that by one means or another, NSA collects EVERYTHING. If you need automation/signal identification they would have it built in.
But ... the idea that we should get rid of our amateur HF infrastructure is absurd. In a pinch you can run an HF system using a portable generator when, for example there are fires burning and PG&E has decided to cut off electricity for a week or so.
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