The real losers: the CA residents who may lose any emergency communications they have. ummm, that's the plan... don't want any pesky unauthorized comms after they shut off the cell towers
Posted on 10/15/2019 5:48:02 PM PDT by econjack
...the state (of CA) Fire District has decided that Ham radio equipment in remote areas must be removed unless radio operators cough up a big fee to lease the land from the government
Ham radio operator use station repeaters to relay emergency traffic, especially when cell towers and other means of communication are down. This is done free by the radio operators; they buy, maintain, and operate the service at no charge to the state. Their thanks for this service: $2500 application fee to lease a tiny piece of land, $3000-5000 admin fee, plus an annual rental fee. The real losers: the CA residents who may lose any emergency communications they have.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
I do understand and appreciate all of the service you have provided in the past. However, with constantly changing technological advances, there is no longer the same benefit to State as previously provided. Therefore, the Department no longer financially supports HAM operators radios or tenancy. If you desire to enter into a formal agreement to operate and maintain said equipment, you must complete and submit attached collocation application along with fee as outlined on page one of application. There is cost associated with getting an agreement in place. In addition to the technical analysis fee ($2500/application), there is DGS Lease admin cost associated (typically between $3000-$5000) with preparation of lease. Also, there will be an annual rent charge based upon equipment type/space.
Ham operators have been assisting fire and emergency services for free for years. Their contributions are well-documented. The equipment costs the state nothing, as it is operated by the owners. There is no benefit to removing it and, in fact, removing the only source of communication available when the power is out and the cell towers are down is downright criminal. Ham radio is a time-tested, low-cost, reliable means of communication when emergencies strike. OffGrid Survival reports, "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."
Instead of continuing to use a system that has worked for decades, the California government has instituted a cell communication plan that has already failed.
In 2012 the federal government launched FirstNet, a public safety nationwide broadband network that many in the government think will make Ham radio operators obsolete. In reality, its nothing more than a $47 Billion Federal Cell Phone Network that itself is already obsolete. In fact, it needs LOTS of infrastructure to function, and it creates multiple, single points of failure.
According to The Atlantic, "FirstNet is in such disarray that 15 years after the problem it is supposed to solve was identified, it is years from completion—and it may never get completed at all. According to the GAO, estimates of its cost range from $12 billion to $47 billion, even as advances in digital technology seem to have eliminated the need to spend any of it."
OffGrid Survival may have identified the actual issue:
The real story here is Ham Radio is a threat to the government. We make them look stupid! They spend billions on infrastructure that breaks down, while we can literally take a hundred bucks in equipment, some random wires, and in minutes set up a radio system that can communicate with anyone in the world. Hell, I’ve used my kid’s slinky, some Television Coax Cable, and a solar battery system to build a mobile rig that I’ve used to talk to people around the world — You can check out the Radio Rig Here. They don’t want the public to realize that we can take care of ourselves, and do a much better and cheaper job doing so!
They should also consider that the government hates watching anyone succeed at anything without the state getting its cut. Most likely, the fire district knows that Ham operators aren't going to watch their whole system dismantled and expects them to pay to keep it.
The list of emergencies where Ham operators have saved the day is extensive and can be read in this letter from operators to Pisi at the fire district.
Total insanity and damaging to people.
Gov Nuisance does something irrational every week.
Debunked days ago.
L
They're not starting to Calizuela for nothing.
Where?
By actual HAM operators who are actually in California. This case is about one guy who thinks he should be able to hang his repeaters on cell towers and not pay the fee.
I work for a company that owns and manages about 45,000 or so cell towers. Nobody puts anything on them without paying the fees.
No one. Not even the government.
L
Would be good to reaffirm if so with a link
ANYTHING good must be attacked and destroyed.
Another good reason for Californians support the recall of Newsom
The real losers: the CA residents who may lose any emergency communications they have. ummm, that's the plan... don't want any pesky unauthorized comms after they shut off the cell towers
They think that equipment might some day be used to coordinate right-wing militia attacks on politicians. The Left is just being proactive.
There were a couple on the threads from the other day. Maintaining cell towers on mountains ain’t cheap. Nobody gets to hang anything on them for free.
L
> constantly changing technological advances
spoken like a true leftist feminazi ignoramus!
For those not familiar, there was a phrase: “ As California goes, so goes the nation.” Whether this story has been beefed up for notoriety or not, look here: ‘They’ control how much power you consume, storm or not. ‘They’ attempt to control your viewing pleasure. ‘They’ don’t want don’t want news to spread , so they squelch your broadcasts and there is nothing you could do about it!
Of course they want to shut all the “Good ole’ Boys” up any way they can.
Welcome to fascist California. Now get your wallet out.
Sadly *not* satire.
You know what type of government controls your speech, work, actions, births, and religion?
Yep; communism. China and N. Korea are perfect examples of total government control; aka communism.
re: “I work for a company that owns and manages about 45,000 or so cell towers.”
Cell towers - wrong answer anyway.
They are too low to give wide area coverage.
After all, this is C-E-L-L-U-L-A-R meaning coverage is broken down into CELLS of specific size (8 miles used to be the norm) ...
Former AT&TWS RF eng here.
She will be eating crow when she finds out just how wrong she is about HAM operators no longer being essential in a disaster and prepping for one.
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