Ham Radio Ping ListPlease Freepmail me if you want to be added to or deleted from the list.
Posted on 03/11/2006 5:23:16 PM PST by Denver Ditdat
That seems a bit backwards to me. I'd think the actual act of interfering with the police comm system would be a more serious offense.
Ham Radio Ping ListPlease Freepmail me if you want to be added to or deleted from the list.
Typical small town police BS. You want to talk about where civil liberties are under attack and has real world consequencies this is typical
BTTT
I'd bet real money the police department has no idea what it's doing.
So9
Federal Law trumps State Law. Since his posession and use of the equipment was licensed by the Federal Government, I doubt the state law is valid.
Huh? No wonder I can't pickup WABC New York, there's too many people listening! (I'm in CA Sierra Nevada - buried in snow BTW)
Please add me to ping list? tnx & 73
"According to state law, owning any electronic communication device or equipment that is capable of interfering with emergency two-way radio communications is a class 6 felony. Actual interference is a class 1 misdemeanor."
I have a flash for the cops. Their law is superceded by Federal Law.
I've never interfered with any police transmissions. If I did, it was unintentional.
If he's never interfered then why make the second statement? He knows that he was transmitting on their frequency.
The interference contained audible clues that the transmissions were emanating from the Wytheville Wal-Mart.
In other words, he probably said "Wal-Mart" while he was talking on their frequency.
I had permission from management to use the Wal-Mart frequency
In other words, he modified his radio to transmit out of band and had a bunch of local frequencies stored in memory. He tried to talk to the Wal-Mart people and instead he transmitted on the PD frequency.
According to the search warrant, Alford's radio was capable of transmitting on the WPD system and thereby capable of interfering with law enforcement radio transmissions. It also states that Alford's equipment showed a transmission signature matching a signature from previous unlawful transmission recorded by the WPD.
"Transmitter fingerprinting" hasn't been around for a long time, but it works great.
The WPD and the WCSO (Wythe County Sheriff's Office) have investigated Mr. Alford's residence externally and found that radio transmissions are being emitted from the residence on the WPD and WCSO systems.
Busted!
Just listening on the frequency, he said, can cause static or squelch the signals.
Clueless non-ham for talking about static, clueless reporter for not knowing what squelch is. Yeah, receivers do emit a radio signal, but not on the receiving frequency and not powerful enough to interfere with anything beyond a few feet.
Lawdude,
Call me stupid, but why is owning equipment capable of interferring with LE transmissions a felony, and actually doing it a misdemeanor?
It has me in a WTF moment?
DK
"Just listening on the frequency, he said, can cause static or squelch the signals."
Idiots who know nothing about radios, scanners, receivers, etc., and how they work.
These "small town cops" make small town cops look bad.
"Yeah, receivers do emit a radio signal, but not on the receiving frequency and not powerful enough to interfere with anything beyond a few feet."
Yup, back when I was a kid we used to modify our scanners so we could FM modulate the 10.7 if transmission...when you got close to a cop car they would hear what you were transmitting :-) usually we had it broadcasting what the car radio was tuned to.
Commercial FM stations use the same technique to see how many people passing by on the freeway are tuned to their station...they just listen 10.7mhz away from their frequency and if they hear a carrier that means another radio is tuned to their signal.
You can hold 2 fm radios close to one another and pick up the IF output from one on the other....just tune around and you will find it.
You can take a scanner to work and tune 10.7 away from the freq the boss's pager is at and use it as a 'Boss detector' :-) you will pick him up from 100' or so away.
Dope dealers have used pocket scanners scanning all the IF offsets the local cops use....if some plain clothes man comes near their scanner will pick up the IF output if they have a 2-way on them in recieve mode.
Strange law anyway, if it's as represented. There should be an intent clause in it. Anything that radiates in police bands would fit under the described law, including a cable TV line with an open shield.
Those people with big screen TVs are sucking up all the signal, too. There's none left for the rest of us!
Is it possible that the AgencyPerson quoted about the alleged negative impact of scanners is simply trying to discourage scanner ownership?
As I remember, some of the Keystone Kops Kommunity don't want scanners in the hands of the public.
Tech Ping
Please add me to your ping list
Thanks
It's true, a real campaign could be launched by someone offering to repeal as many stupid laws as can be found during a term in office.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.