Mark Smith <@RUTGERS.EDU,@aramis.rutgers.edu:msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu> (02/22/90)
The following was received by the Rutgers Amateur Radio Club.
ARRL NNJ Section Notes
by Rich Moseson, NW2L
ARRL Section Mgr., NNJ
Now is the time for all good hams to come to the aid of ...
themselves. The bill to revise New Jersey's restrictive and
antiquated "scanner law" -- S.305 in the new Senate session -- is
making progress, and your help is needed to assure its passage. The
current law makes it illegal to have in your car any radio capable of
receiving on frequencies allocated by the FCC for police, fire,
municipal or "other government uses," without a permit from your local
police chief. This outlaws most 2-meter mobile rigs with extended
receive rigs, since RACES is an "other government use" and all ham
rigs are operational on RACES frequencies. In mid-January, the Senate
Committee on Law, Public Safety and Defense held a hearing on S.305,
at which NNJ Assistant Section Manager Frank Terranella, N2IGO,
testified. The committee unanimously voted to release the bill for
full Senate action. NOW IS THE TIME to write to your state senator,
urging his/her support for this bill. Perhaps the best idea is a QSL
card, asking for your senator's vote. Legislators get hundreds of
letters but very few QSLs. A few dozen will make quite an impression.
The wheels are moving more slowly in the Assembly, where at this
writing, the bill has been reintroduced but not yet assigned a number.
[NOTE: It has been assigned A-3044].
Until next time, 73 de Rich, NW2L.
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For rec.radio.shortwave folks - please write to your senators and
assembly-people as well. They need to be told that most scanner users
are not criminals. Include a story about a rescue or arrest resulting
from the use of a scanner by a concerned citizen, if you have one.
Mark
--
Mark Smith, KNJ2LH All Rights Reserved
RPO 1604 You may redistribute this article only if those who
P.O. Box 5063 receive it may do so freely.
New Brunswick, NJ 08903-5063 msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu