[net.ham-radio] FCC catches bootleggers on 6.933 MHz

parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (08/02/85)

x
     Remember these postings from earlier this summer?

   6.9330    call?_____unidentified: bootleggers in 3 way CB-type conversation,
			one was	mobile,	at least one employed as a truck driver
		       , ids= "9", "10", and "13", used	Q signals but no call l
		       etters, lsb, 5/15/85 @0100Z
		       [location?] (B. Parnass)

	     call?_____unidentified: bootleggers in CB-type conversation, talke
		       d of mobile antennas and	nearby RTTY QRM, ids= "13", "33
		       " (Dave), lsb, 5/19/85 @0024Z
		       [location?] (B. Parnass)

     These stations were on almost daily, and often used the
     word "Oscar" before their numeric identifiers.

     Who are they?  What happened to them?   In	 the  August
     1985  issue  of  Monitoring Times,	Bob Grove sheds	some
     light on this group in the	following article:


			FCC Closes Illegal Net

	  "A nationwide	network	of illicit  radio  operators
	  using	lower sideband amateur equipment on 6933 kHz
	  has been nipped in the bud by	 Federal  Communica-
	  tions	Commission personnel coordinated through the
	  powder Springs, Georgia, monitoring station."

	  "Known as the	'Oscar'	group, the net members	used
	  unauthorized identifiers like	Oscar 1	(net control
	  station), Oscar  5  (North  Winchester,  Indiana),
	  Oscar	 10  (Ridgetop,	 Tennessee, near Nashville),
	  Oscar	13 (Groveland, Indiana), and Oscar 33  (also
	  near Groveland)."

	  "The operator	identifying himself as Oscar 10	 has
	  been	closed down and	the FCC	made an	announcement
	  over the air to other	net members  of	 that  fact.
	  Continued  violations	 will  result  in  continued
	  prosecutions."

	  "Upon	issuance of a Notice of	Apparent  Liability,
	  the  Ridgetop	 resident  faces  a fine of $700 for
	  unlicensed operation and an  additional  $300	 for
	  operation in an aviation band.  Depending upon the
	  disposition of the case by Washington	officials, a
	  maximum  fine	 of  $10,000 can be levied for unau-
	  thorized use of the airwaves."

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Bob Parnass,  Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414