FCC Upholds $17,000 Forfeiture Order to Tennessee Ham

Ham radio is one of the more diverse groups in any hobby. From janitors to jockeys, most anyone and everyone can be a ham operator. Among the ranks you will often find the most courteous and polite and respectful operators around.

And then, there's this guy...

In March 2009, the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) in the amount of $17,000 to David Edward Perka, KA3PRB, of Lewisburg, Tennessee. The FCC alleges that Perka "willfully and repeatedly violat[ed] section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, by operating without a license in the Maritime Radio Service and willfully violat[ed] Section 333 of the Act by maliciously interfering with the United States Coast Guard on the International Distress, Safety and Calling Channel in Annapolis, Maryland" Perka, who admitted to the findings, requested a reduction in the forfeiture amount, based on his inability to pay, but in a Forfeiture Order released by the FCC on September 21, 2011, the Commission refused to lower the amount.

New religion?

I found this amusing:

Resistance is futile.

W2XOY recounts his 9/11 experience

Like many old enough to remember, we know where we were when we first heard about the horrible events of 9/11 as they unfolded.

Bill Continelli, W2XOY, one of the contributors to This Week in Amateur Radio (TWIAR) was in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001. He was south of the World Trade Center and heard the 2nd plane as it flew over and slammed into Tower #2.

He gives his recollection of how he used his communications equipment to safely evacuate Manhattan on that horrible day.

Click here to listen to his story, recorded in 2001 (MP3)

Hearing Voices: 9/11 and the Ham Radio Renaissance

As the world remembers and pays tribute to the nearly 3000 victims of the September 11 terrorists attacks a decade ago, I thought I would reference this article from 2003 on how 9/11 brought a "renaissance" to ham radio:

...Sept. 11, 2001, marked a quiet renaissance in the world of amateur radio, after years of declining membership and relative obscurity. Over the past couple of decades, amateur radio operators have witnessed their beloved pastime lose much of its luster. In the early part of the 20th century, hams, as amateur radio operators are also known, were a rogue band of technology buffs who were quick to pick up on Guglielmo Marconi's experiments with then-new wireless technology. They for the most part defied government regulation of the airwaves until World War I, when the U.S. Navy shut down all non-military radio operations.

The full article can be found here.