| April 26,
1999
In My View
Editorial Opinion
by Doug Smith
KAF9830
WA6GON
|
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An Eye Opener:
Amateur Radio on
Commercial Radio Sites
In the eight short months in which GMRS
Web has been growing I have learned some uncomfortable things about the Amateur
Radio Service. I take great pride in my ham license having held it since
December 1975. It seems Amateur Radio is earning a terrible reputation with
some owners of commercial radio hill-top repeater sites. Hams are quickly over
staying their welcome by ignoring good engineering practice, violating space
and antenna mounting agreements, and engaging in argumentative and
irresponsible behavior.
There are a number of very responsible
Amateurs in the professional two-way radio community who have built GMRS
repeaters. The Amateur and GMRS community are lucky to have these folks in our
midst. Their reputation is just as much at stake as the hams who are carelessly
taking advantage of a good thing. Other technically qualified Amateurs may wish
to migrate their own families to GMRS commercial radio frequencies. It won't
happen if a few unthinking Amateurs continue to do as they please giving us all
an undeserved reputation.
Some hams argue with commercial radio
technicians responsible for commercial mountain-top radio sites over serious
technical standards. The hams counter that the commercial technician is not
qualified to discuss amateur radio engineering standards. In point of fact, it
is the ham that needs a lesson in common sense, technical standards, and
politeness.
On one mountain top, Amateurs were
given specific instructions to mount their antennas on designated tower
brackets. The Amateurs instead climbed to the highest point on the tower and
stuffed a large section of tower sideways through the tower and mounted their
antennas. They were not satisfied with the tower space they obtained for free,
so they did what they pleased in violation of their agreement.
In another place, Amateurs drilled
holes in a building violating the agreement with the site owner and screwed
their antenna mounts onto a structure not intended for antennas.
In yet another tower location, Amateurs
TURNED OFF a commercial FM broadcast station transmitter while they climbed the
tower to do antenna work.
Amateur Radio clubs are frequently
given free rent, free electricity, and free access to prime radio real estate.
The Amateur community, and potentially the GMRS community, could lose these
benefits because of a few bad apples. It is a good thing the site owners
recognize the value of Amateur Radio. It is the Amateur Radio community's
responsibility to continue to earn a reputation for excellence as technicians
as well as emergency communicators .
If you are a repeater site owner and
want to support Amateur Radio, do so! Before you permit access to your site,
insist on the same safety standards, technical standards and professional
behavior you expect from commercial firms, GMRS licensees, and your own
employees. Insist on interference studies and the proper combiners, filters,
and antenna separation specifications. Establish by contract how all equipment
will be mounted, how cables will go through the buildings, and who pays for the
electricity. Make sure that no one visits your site that is not personally
known to you. Only qualified and insured tower climbers should be on your
tower. If you do not get cooperation end the relationship.
Amateur Radio clubs or enthusiasts
cannot expect to lash together a poorly engineered system for operation on
remote mountain tops. What might work in the backyard cannot be expected to
work where hundreds of commercial and public safety radios must coexist. Those
hams that are violating good engineering practice and common sense are not
living up to their obligations as Amateur Radio licensees.
Likewise, GMRS repeater licensees MUST
continue to use the same technical standards and commercial engineering
practices required of all commercial licensees. Keeping the GMRS as a viable
means of family communication through mountain-top repeaters depends upon
it.
 |
Doug Smith
KAF9830
WA6GON
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