> Hmmm... International Traffic in Arms Regulations, well I don't like > to poke holes in that excuse but unless the US customs are REALLY > paranoid, I can't see how most of the items I have tried to purchase > would be covered under this. But, I suppose you could poke someone in > the eye with a ball-point pen therefore it could be labled an an arm > but I'm sure there are other reasons for most of refusals to ship > outside the 48 States. It's not just a couple of dealers who take this > position, it seems to be the case with a number of sellers sadly.
I'm far from an expert on this area, but I can easily sympathize with anybody trying to avoid that layer of paperwork. I used to work for a small company that occasionally shipped equipment to our office in OZ. The paperwork was a pain in the ass. I like to think that I have a reasonable IQ, but I had troubles finding one of their code numbers that matched the gear we were shipping. I suspect anything a time-nut would be interested is likely to be suspicious. > I got a couple of Austron 2000 LORAN-C timing receivers from > Government Liquidation and they required an End Use Certification. > One was sold to someone on this list. Later a couple of > investigators showed up at my house (that required a long trip from > Sacramento and an overnight stay at a hotel, two agents = two rooms, > food, etc.). They wanted to see the two receivers or get the name > and address where they were. The cost to make this audit far > exceeded what I paid for the two receivers. Note these are commercial > items, not military specific, but I suspect they were purchased for > use on a military program and so have been tagged with that program's > restraints. Not the brightest thing to do, but something that does > not require anyone in the government to think. It may be like classified information. An individual piece of equipment isn't critical, but a collection of them is useful for something nasty. I could also imagine that they were checking you out to see if it was worth keeping an eye on you. -- These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.