The bad news is that Ofcom, despite receiving 52 complaints about the programme which I suspect now that all of them relate to the offending segment relating to an Amateur radio operator, have decided not to investigate as per information I gathered from broadcast bulletin #317.
Apparently this did not raise issues warranting investigation but yet it was assessed, if this is so then what are the people at Ofcom smoking? 52 complaints is going to set a lot of alarm bells ringing straight away.
This is a massive blow to Amateur radio and the content in the programme was terribly misleading, and as a result could mean that Amateur radio operators across the UK could now suffer simply by erecting an antenna, even with the right planning permission to do so.
Ofcom have a duty to ensure that misleading content is not broadcast by setting strict rules for broadcasters (which it has done) and if it is it is duty bound to investigate if sufficient complaints are received, 1 complaint would not warrant an investigation as one complaint could be someone being offended by something that clearly is not offensive to everyone else, but 52 complaints, that warrants investigation, and as Ofcom also issue Amateur radio licences then I would imagine that they would want to protect that side of things.
Why ignore 52 complaints, would it take twice as many complaints? 10 times as many? 100 times as many? 1000 times as many, or for every single Amateur radio licence holder to complain before Ofcom investigates? Seriously, this cannot be ignored, misrepresentation of the hobby is damaging to it, Amateur radio is often where radio innovations come from, destroy the hobby and any progress in radio communications can be kissed goodbye.
As I am proud to be an Amateur radio operator I am outraged that Ofcom have just sat back and done nothing, if it's all to do with political correctness, racism, sex and nudity and bad language before 9pm, or a broadcaster breaching the conditions of their license they are quick to act, but with this they have ignored it, it occurred on Channel 5 for goodness sake, which is part of their remit
I can safely say I am very angry about this.
73 de M6RSQ
Ban PLT
Showing posts with label Ofcom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ofcom. Show all posts
Sunday, 27 November 2016
Saturday, 1 October 2016
National Hamfest 2016... post Hamfest
So the National Hamfest is done for another year, and I did not come back empty handed, to replace my Baofeng UV-5RC Plus (as the battery keeps falling off it and for that reason I'm converting it to be used as an APRS radio as I can simply strap the battery on with a rubber band and deactivate the keypad) I picked up another Baofeng, this time a Pofung (Baofeng's newer name) GT-5, a radio that has a unique feature, two PTT buttons, one for each frequency/preset displayed), the RSGB Radio Communications Handbook for £20 with a free backpack, the last one they had too, a free cap off Yaesu (who were in attendance and me being me forgot to ask them about any upcoming improvements to System Fusion, and a LED badge (with blue LEDs) that I programmed with my callsign initially by hand, but since returning home I've managed to program it using the computer so it shows my callsign and name.
The GT-5 radio had charge in it out of the box, it did also come with a 2-pin EU plug rather than a 3-pin UK charger plug but there was an adaptor provided to allow it to plug in, though I've not connected the charger up.
What I did note is that the ARRL (the American Amateur radio organisation) were there, their membership was £60 for one year, and being an American organisation I'd have had to pay that out in one go if I were to join them, trouble is is that Chance Callahan KD0MXN is a member of ARRL and thus receives their QST magazine, which I suspect they publish a list of new joining members in much like RSGB do in RadCom, and if my callsign appeared in there then he would again accuse me of stalking owing to his delusional beliefs about me and possibly attempt to have me ousted from the hobby as soon as possible, it is for this reason and the £60 fee that put me off signing up for a membership of the ARRL, though I may consider it if the FCC finally revoke KD0MXN once and for all after my reports to them earlier this year and several reports to them since then.
Also in attendance were Ofcom, much to my surprise, I decided not to bother them and keep out of their way, perhaps they wanted to advise on their new licencing portal, which I am not a big fan of but find it works OK.
The traders present were otherwise consistent with last year, the GT-5 was purchased from Moonraker as they had them and several other Baofeng radios (including the Intek brand one that can do 8 watts) for a reduced price, I picked the GT-5 as it seemed rugged over the GT-3 and most other UV-5R derivatives.
So, what else to report? Nothing really, another great Hamfest and I plan to do it again next year, perhaps with a little more money to spend
73 de M6RSQ
The GT-5 radio had charge in it out of the box, it did also come with a 2-pin EU plug rather than a 3-pin UK charger plug but there was an adaptor provided to allow it to plug in, though I've not connected the charger up.
What I did note is that the ARRL (the American Amateur radio organisation) were there, their membership was £60 for one year, and being an American organisation I'd have had to pay that out in one go if I were to join them, trouble is is that Chance Callahan KD0MXN is a member of ARRL and thus receives their QST magazine, which I suspect they publish a list of new joining members in much like RSGB do in RadCom, and if my callsign appeared in there then he would again accuse me of stalking owing to his delusional beliefs about me and possibly attempt to have me ousted from the hobby as soon as possible, it is for this reason and the £60 fee that put me off signing up for a membership of the ARRL, though I may consider it if the FCC finally revoke KD0MXN once and for all after my reports to them earlier this year and several reports to them since then.
Also in attendance were Ofcom, much to my surprise, I decided not to bother them and keep out of their way, perhaps they wanted to advise on their new licencing portal, which I am not a big fan of but find it works OK.
The traders present were otherwise consistent with last year, the GT-5 was purchased from Moonraker as they had them and several other Baofeng radios (including the Intek brand one that can do 8 watts) for a reduced price, I picked the GT-5 as it seemed rugged over the GT-3 and most other UV-5R derivatives.
So, what else to report? Nothing really, another great Hamfest and I plan to do it again next year, perhaps with a little more money to spend
73 de M6RSQ
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
AM and SSB CB legal on 27th June (and a Scooter CB update)
The good news is that Ofcom have made their decision and have given a date for legal AM and SSB CB, 27th June, earlier than the expected July but in time for it.
The regulations have specified 4 watts on both AM and FM, current multi-standard sets have both AM and FM modes of operation, the President Grant II is the ONLY current mobile radio on the market that meets the legal standard for SSB operation on the CEPT (midband) frequencies, pre-legalisation sets will still remain illegal, as will "export" radios, for use on these bands.
The UK only band with it's horrific offset will remain in use and FM only for the foreseeable future.
SSB operation is set at 12 Watts PEP
This is 30+ years in the making, with me not having a proper CB station as yet (my antenna is in the loft) using AM and SSB may cause massive problems to both me and my neighbours, using FM is fine, I also tend to use the antenna for the gateway, though I have transmitted by plugging the supplied mic into the gateway radio, though this has normally been for SWR adjustments so they don't really count, so my first legal AM and SSB call may not be for a while just yet.
The scooter CB project is taking shape, yesterday was it's first outing and run as a CB radio, the main problem I identified was QRM from the engine, possibly the ignition coil or sparkplug given the sound of the interference, the only other issue was difficulty pulling in the gateway from a distance but that could be down to the gateway itself, it could also be down to the testing on the radio's rubber-duck antenna, a full mobile antenna will be fitted in due course, I couldn't do a proper inaugural mobile call to the CB gateway, as by the time I was in range to actually here it others on the FRN came over but it was nice to hear the "k" and the morse code idents.
So, I'll be on air mobile soon, and CB radio operators all over the country (the serious ones at least) will be celebrating the introduction of AM and SSB CB radio on the 27th June, and with the band opening some I can imagine contacts to the US will be possible, we can legally talk to them but they may not legally be able to talk to us because of some rule the FCC impose, I for one look forward to it
73 de 26CT730
The regulations have specified 4 watts on both AM and FM, current multi-standard sets have both AM and FM modes of operation, the President Grant II is the ONLY current mobile radio on the market that meets the legal standard for SSB operation on the CEPT (midband) frequencies, pre-legalisation sets will still remain illegal, as will "export" radios, for use on these bands.
The UK only band with it's horrific offset will remain in use and FM only for the foreseeable future.
SSB operation is set at 12 Watts PEP
This is 30+ years in the making, with me not having a proper CB station as yet (my antenna is in the loft) using AM and SSB may cause massive problems to both me and my neighbours, using FM is fine, I also tend to use the antenna for the gateway, though I have transmitted by plugging the supplied mic into the gateway radio, though this has normally been for SWR adjustments so they don't really count, so my first legal AM and SSB call may not be for a while just yet.
The scooter CB project is taking shape, yesterday was it's first outing and run as a CB radio, the main problem I identified was QRM from the engine, possibly the ignition coil or sparkplug given the sound of the interference, the only other issue was difficulty pulling in the gateway from a distance but that could be down to the gateway itself, it could also be down to the testing on the radio's rubber-duck antenna, a full mobile antenna will be fitted in due course, I couldn't do a proper inaugural mobile call to the CB gateway, as by the time I was in range to actually here it others on the FRN came over but it was nice to hear the "k" and the morse code idents.
So, I'll be on air mobile soon, and CB radio operators all over the country (the serious ones at least) will be celebrating the introduction of AM and SSB CB radio on the 27th June, and with the band opening some I can imagine contacts to the US will be possible, we can legally talk to them but they may not legally be able to talk to us because of some rule the FCC impose, I for one look forward to it
73 de 26CT730
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Closer to legal AM and SSB CB.
Ofcom, the regulator of all things radio and television here in the UK, have released a draft interface requirement document suggesting that AM and SSB will become legal on CB in the UK in July as planned, this can be found here and outlines what will be allowed if this document moves beyond draft status in July.
Of course as I like to keep a copy should this become law I will need to take a printout of it.
So, we are almost there and we will have legally what the CB lobby in the late 70s and early 80s wanted, the American system or as close to it as possible, this is almost 33 years too late though, but at least someone somewhere decided that there was nothing wrong with AM and SSB.
73 de 26CT730
Of course as I like to keep a copy should this become law I will need to take a printout of it.
So, we are almost there and we will have legally what the CB lobby in the late 70s and early 80s wanted, the American system or as close to it as possible, this is almost 33 years too late though, but at least someone somewhere decided that there was nothing wrong with AM and SSB.
73 de 26CT730
Sunday, 27 April 2014
VHF CB coming to the UK... maybe? hopefully
After doing a check to find out if AM/SSB has been legalised or not yet (that is in July still as has always been the case) I discovered that we may get a VHF CB allocation and the radio community are very keen on this idea.
From what I can tell, an idea being put forward is a block of 20 channels, and because VHF equipment already exists for Amateur use it could in theory be modified for use here, however Ofcom may stipulate a that equipment has to be type approved in line with other license-free radio such as the existing CB allocation on 27MHz or the PMR446 service should this be approved, hopefully if this is given the green light and approved, it means the more civilised and serious CB operators, including myself, have further channels to use, and the antenna lengths are more practical for mobile use, also VHF would be immune from the Russian taxi drivers that currently plague the 11m band.
I say UK operators push for this allocation, the frequencies are being made available so why not put this across to Ofcom before they give them to something else, I like the idea of a VHF allocation, shorter antennas and more suited to handhelds, the consultation document can be found here, as well as a means to respond, please do so, you will be helping make VHF CB a reality in the UK.
73 de 26CT730
From what I can tell, an idea being put forward is a block of 20 channels, and because VHF equipment already exists for Amateur use it could in theory be modified for use here, however Ofcom may stipulate a that equipment has to be type approved in line with other license-free radio such as the existing CB allocation on 27MHz or the PMR446 service should this be approved, hopefully if this is given the green light and approved, it means the more civilised and serious CB operators, including myself, have further channels to use, and the antenna lengths are more practical for mobile use, also VHF would be immune from the Russian taxi drivers that currently plague the 11m band.
I say UK operators push for this allocation, the frequencies are being made available so why not put this across to Ofcom before they give them to something else, I like the idea of a VHF allocation, shorter antennas and more suited to handhelds, the consultation document can be found here, as well as a means to respond, please do so, you will be helping make VHF CB a reality in the UK.
73 de 26CT730
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