I love a good story. There are many speculative ideas being touted about
"what happened, whodunnit, and why". But I have a hard time believing that
one of our own would knowingly do what so many seem to be saying was done.
Since nearly every scenario I've seen so far casts some poor ham as a pariah
and a disgrace to the hobby, here's another imaginary but possible version
to keep everyone occupied whilst we all wait for "the trooth" to come
out....
Suppose there was a legitimate...but not ham-radiotion-related...reason for
our heroes to be on the island? Something like work having to do with
environmental research or study of the native flora and fauna or something
similar. That would explain how they got permission from FWS to be there.
However... unbeknownst to FWS....our intrepid adventurers are also hams,
they know this is a DX plum, so they decide to take along some gear to use
in their spare time. As far as I know, US licensed hams can operate from
any US possession without a special license... so as long as they have
permission to BE there, I don't know of anything that would keep them from
operating a radio there. And I don't know of anything that would necessarily
require them to announce their intentions to the permission-granting
authority.
However, as I'd bet our heros must have known... after all, they didn't
publicize in advance, did they?....there's a lawsuit pending between a group
of hams and the FWS, suing for the right to visit and operate on these
islands, a right which has been denied by the FWS for some time. Does it not
make sense that the FWS may have somehow become aware that some hams were
operating out there and that... believing this could have had some impact on
their position in the lawsuit... the FWS may have decided to withdraw the
permission, requiring our guys to leave the island?
Under circumstances like that, the operation might very well be considered
legal and OK for DXCC.
Now of course we are all still wondering how the FWS could have become aware
of the operation, and this will eventually become known, but under
circumstances as concocted here, it could have been from many different
sources, some of which might have nothing to do with amateur radio. Perhaps
the crew of the boat that took the guys out there returns and mentions to
their supervisors that they noticed some radio equipment among the stuff
they transported, and it takes a few days for the word to filter up to
someone in FWS who decides to pull the plug and terminates the
authorization. There could be lots of other explanations.
So, before we go too far down the slippery slope of suspecting and accusing
one of our own, wouldn't it be better to simply hold off on the "innuendo"
or "rhetoric" and simply be patient and wait for some substantiated facts?
Respectfully submitted, Jerry K3BZ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Zack Widup" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <dx-chat@njdxa.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 11:58 PM
Subject: RE: [DX-CHAT] KP5 ?
On Tue, 14 Mar 2006, Dave AA6YQ wrote:
Another question: how does a random licensed amateur cause the operation
to
be prematurely terminated? A Freedom of Information Act query into the
agency that implemented the termination might yield a clue or two.
73,
Dave, AA6YQ
I don't think it was a "random radio amateur". I'm guessing it was a
person in one of two categories - (1) Someone who on his own has been
trying to get to Desecheo and was turned down, and held a grudge when
someone else got to go there and operate; or (2) a radio amateur who is
also a fanatic on protecting wildlife who couldn't stand to see someone
get permission from the F&WS.
I operated the June VHF QSO Party last year from Bald Knob, Illinois. It
is the highest point in southern Illinois. The hill is owned by a
religious organization and has a gigantic 110-foot cross on the top. The
group that owns the hill has always had a rapport with radio amateurs.
In fact, they fed us dinner Saturday night! But I was told by someone
who has operated from there in the past that there was some HAM sentiment
against their using this religious site for ham radio purposes. This
seems rather kooky to me, since the religious group themselves and the
local people were more than happy to have us up there.
Just shows to go you ...
73, Zack W9SZ
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