[Paham] REPEATER PROBLEMS PERSIST

[WORKSNTV@aol.com]

After reading this you've got to wonder what jackasses these guys 
are---Publicity like this is not what ham radio needs--especially now with 
commerical interests looking for expansion room.

Bob 
WB3DYE
=====================================




==>NEW OWNER, CALL SIGN, BUT LA-AREA 



The former W6NUT repeater in the Los Angeles area has a new owner and a
new call sign, N6SAP. Nonetheless, complaints of the same sort of
on-the-air behavior that inspired an FCC inquiry of the previous trustee
more than a year ago have occurred under the new regime. The new owner
says he's in the process of changing things for the better, however. A
November 5 letter from FCC Special Counsel for Enforcement Riley
Hollingsworth publicly put the machine's new trustee, Scott A. Press,
N6SAP, on the spot because of allegations that some users had interfered
with attempts to pass emergency traffic. Two users identified as having
caused the interference also received inquiries from Hollingsworth.

"We view these allegations as extremely serious," Hollingsworth told
Press--the repeater trustee--and those said to have been involved in the
October 2 incident. He also cautioned those accused of perpetrating the
problem against retaliating in any matter toward the complainants.

A League member, Press told ARRL this week that he's been working hard to
turn around the repeater's past reputation but change will not happen
overnight. "I knew what I was getting into when I bought the system and
have made some strong progress with the exception of a few bad apples who
have not seen the light yet," he said. "They are being shaken from the
tree one by one."

Press purchased the former W6NUT repeater, once owned by Kathryn Tucker,
AA6TK. According to FCC records, the trusteeship formally transferred
September 3. At one point in 2001, the FCC terminated authority to operate
the repeater under automatic control. An earlier FCC review into the
repeater's operation followed allegations that the licensee or control
operator failed to address incessant jamming, broadcasting, the playing of
music and other potential violations.

An N6SAP repeater user, Anthony Cardenas, WA6IGJ, complained to the FCC
that he was jammed October 2 after attempting to use the repeater to
report a motorist stranded in the midst of freeway traffic. Cardenas
alleged that Ledge Musselman, KC6NCN, and Anton Johnson, N6OAY, blocked
his efforts to alert the California Highway Patrol to the potentially
hazardous situation via ham radio. Hollingsworth included the allegations
in essentially identical letters to Musselman and Johnson, also sent
November 5.

Information from Press and others who monitored the incident indicated
that Press did just that. He shut down the N6SAP repeater for 20 minutes
after other operators were unsuccessful in efforts to convince the
interfering stations to let Cardenas pass his traffic. Transcripts of the
recordings indicate that the interference consisted mostly of disparaging
remarks, unmodulated carriers and singing. Cardenas says he was able to
contact the police via another repeater.

Press has told the FCC that Cardenas' account of the incident was
"accurate and true." He told ARRL that he'd been promptly in touch with
the complainant and with an ARRL Official Observer who forwarded the
complaint to the League.

According to the FCC, Press has told Johnson and Musselman to stay off the
N6SAP repeater at least until the current dispute is resolved. "We expect
that request to be honored," Hollingsworth said, "and if it is not, we
will immediately institute license revocation proceedings," he wrote.
Press has since also banned Cardenas from the N6SAP repeater.

Press said he's been working closely with the FCC to "clear up many things
that are just out of my reach." Hollingsworth this week commended Press
for "trying very hard to change what was a disgrace to Amateur Radio into
a viable Amateur repeater" and said the FCC supports his efforts.