Thanks, John, for your comments. I hate to get involved in such disagreements, but, I wanted to let you know that I agree with you. Had I enough qualitative and accurate information, I would have gone to the commission, as well, at first probably through my local or NY field offices, since I have a relationship with the field engineers at those locations.
While as a dxer tracking such mysterious and unexplained signals is indeed fun and a challenge, as a broadcasters I also view it with serious concern. If, as is now thought, a company operating under an experimental license under a government contract that is one thing. But, none of us knew that. I suspected it was a government operation because of the scope, and I mentioned that on this and other DX lists. But, what if it had not been legitimate testing? Suppose it was someone who had just gotten hold of a high power transmitter, and was doing a little "non-legitimate" and illegal experimenting? That creates an entirely different set of dynamics. The best thing in a situation such as we have had in the past two weeks is to gather enough credible and accurate information as you can, and go to the Commission. If it's a large scale government or contractor experimental operation, they are going to know about it. (They may not tell you that, but they will know it.) If it is an overzealous person who got his hands on a high power AM transmitter and is doing some of his own "testing", the FCC is going to want to know about it. And, if it is some sleeper Al Qaeda cell, or other foreign or domestic terrorist group, who has plans on disrupting communications during an attack, then it becomes very serous business. This is not a matter of being a "tattle-tale" -- like ratting out a pirate who is running a 10 watt transmitter. This was a MAJOR disruption to several frequencies on the standard broadcast band over an extremely large segment of the nation. Whoever went to the commission had a legitimate reason to do so. With the FCC's limited financial resources, they often depend upon the public to be their eyes and ears. Complaints, especially complaints of this magnitude, are normally dealt with quickly by most field offices. Filing a complaint or placing an inquiry on something this vast in scope is not snitching, it is being a good citizen, especially in the climate which now exists. 73, Rene' Rene F. Tetro Lansdale, PA, USA W2FIL, WPXG816, WPXU288 Coordinates: 40D12'41"N 75D18'22"W Grid: FN20IF Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Moderator: www.radioveronica.us and www.dxhub.com >I was saddened, but not too surprised, to read this morning that >someone was denigrating whoever inquired of the FCC as to the source >of the tone testing that many of us have been monitoring. The >complainer's statements pretty well boiled down to the contention >that we shouldn't be tattle-tails to the authorities who were, by >definition, the bad guys, and that "anyway, no one was hurt by this." _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
