[TWIAR] Ham operator fined for abuse

[Greg Williams]

Ham operator fined for abuse
Mount Seymour Repeater: Wash. man interrupted conversations
David Carrigg, The Province
Published: Friday, January 04, 2008
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=3efadc91-def6-4938-865d-deed51793312

A rogue ham-radio operator who interfered with the critical Mount 
Seymour repeater has been busted by U.S. authorities.

Onno Onneken, president of the B.C. FM Communications Association, said 
James Grinton of Bellingham, Wash., interfered with legitimate 
conversations hundreds of times over two years without giving his call 
signal.

"He would use very profane language, mostly directed at me," Onneken 
said. "It was a weak signal. He would say his piece and then disappear 
without giving his call signal.

Grinton was also accused by authorities of piping music through the 
Mount Seymour repeater, which is illegal.

The Mount Seymour repeater is essential in case of emergency and has a 
range between Vancouver Island, Hope and northwest Washington. Ham 
operators are not allowed to rebroadcast music or transmit one-way 
communications and must identify themselves.

According to association director Lee Woldanski, in early 2006, B.C. ham 
operators tracked Grinton's signal to south of the border.

"Once we realized it was coming from Washington, we contacted ham 
operators in Whatcom County and the county sheriff," he said.

"From there it was a co-ordinated effort. We needed them to know what we 
were up to, driving around with crazy antennas on our vehicles."

Onneken would not reveal how the hams pinpointed Grinton's residence. 
However, once they had, they gave the information to the U.S. Federal 
Communications Commission enforcement bureau.

Commission agents staked out Grinton's home and found he sent 59 
messages to the Mount Seymour repeater between Dec. 9, 2006, and Jan. 1, 
2007.

He did not use his call signal, which a ham must do at the beginning and 
end of each contact and every 10 minutes in between.

Grinton was issued a warning, which the commission says he ignored.

Agents continued monitoring Grinton's signal and again traced hundreds 
of unidentified communications from his home to the Mount Seymour repeater.

The commission recently fined Grinton $7,000 and told him to stop.

Contacted at his home in Bellingham, Grinton said he was aware of the 
fine but he would not pay it because he is "low-income."

Grinton denied piping music through the Mount Seymour repeater or 
interfering with the signal by issuing one-way abusive communications. 
He claims he was not using his ham radio during the times stated by the 
commission. He said he did not defend himself at the hearing when the 
commission issued the fine.

Onneken said the transmissions have stopped since the fine was issued.

Woldanski said none of the association members has met Grinton.

"The best we can tell, he was unhappy we put a repeater on his frequency 
25 years ago," he said.

"Why he suddenly decided to pick on Onno in the past couple of years, we 
don't know."

dcarrigg at png.canwest.com

-- 
Greg Williams
K4HSM
k4hsm at knology.net

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