Gents, Recently (May 2005) two young ham radio operators in my town, each of whom drove retired New York State Police cruisers they had purchased at state auction were questioned and given a hard time by both the local county Sheriff and several State Police officers.
Both are amateur radio operators and had numerous antennas for the ham bands. On occasion they also operated KR 10 SP 24 Ghz radar units. The Sheriff tried to tell them it was illegal for a non-police officer to have a radar unit in their car (which is not true at all). The New York State Police made an inquiry of the FCC regarding their operation of the radar units. As an ARRL Assistant Director and retired law enforcement officer who also taught radio communication in the academy, I became curious and involved as I mentored both hams helping them get their tickets. GRANTED, they are "wanna be's" and I in fact did suggest they fly under the radar (sic), but being young like we all were at one time, they flew above it a little. I knew they would most likely get stopped and questioned, however as long as they wee not stopping anyone, they were legal. On a hunch I called Riley Hollingsworth and you guessed it, the NYSP in fact did call him regarding the radar operation. I met with Riley at Dayton and we had a chat regarding the issues and after several weeks, I received an email with a copy to the Director of Communications of the New York State Police (who I know) that it is perfectly legal for a ham to run a radar unit in a motor vehicle or anywhere as long as the frequency it operates on is in the amateur band. NOW......X band is just outside the ham bands, but K band 24.150 Mhz if one checks, is a shared allocation by hams and police. The FCC confirmed that K band is not exclusive to the Police. I am aware of some X band units that in fact have been retuned into the 10 Ghz ham band by radar techs. What the real problem was here is the that two are 20 years old, they had cops toys and the cops did not like it. They got the usual treatment because they were young. The bottom line is that it is perfectly legal for a non-police officer to run a radar unit mobile AND if the 10 Ghz in not tuned for the ham bands, it is an FCC issue, NOT a POLICE issue. There is no probable cause to stop a motorist, just because there is a radar unit on the dash. Both have since sold their Crown Vics because they got tired of the unwanted attention by the Police who had nothing better to do with their time. I took it upon myself to email the Lt. in the Sheriff's Dept. who had been ordered to inspect the cars by the Sheriff and advise him of the FCC response. He never acknowledged my email. Guess I took away all of their fun. Fred WA2MMX -----Original Message----- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Frank R. Vondra Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2005 9:39 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: OT: NC man charged with 'driving a cop car' due to ham antennas As an amateur radio operator and 30 year law enforcement veteran, I agree with you Lance. After blowing up the photo of the 1995 Caprice displayed on the jars webpage, I'm somewhat curious to know why the defendant has an MPH K-55 mobile radar unit mounted on the dash? I'm sure it's not for chasing DX on 10,525 mHz. Seems to me that the police and prosecutor are probably on the same page with this case and the arrestee is trying to play the "ham card" as a defense. Frank - WB0QQK --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Captainlance [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: All too true, but being both a ham , and being in Law Enforcement, I cannot see an officer just giving a ticket for what he perceived as a " cop car"... this violates basic rights guaranteed to us all. Perception is not a basis for a violation, it would seem that there may be parts of the occurrence missing from the story. Lance N2HBA Yahoo! Groups Links Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
