The AM Forum

From the ARRL web site dated 1/26/09

Laura L. Smith of Pennsylvania has been named by the FCC to fill the vacancy created when Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, retired in 2008 as Special Counsel for the Spectrum Enforcement Division of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau.

For more of the story, go here:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/01/26/10587/?nc=1

...not a ham, not good.
...appointed under Martin, not good.
not good.

maybe we get lucky, doubtful.

              _-_-

PS. guess the ARRL forgot to suggest that the person appointed also already have a ham license? Hmmm...

does this mean I cant carry on like a loon anymore?

Not a ham, yes I agree this is not a good sign.
Riley was a ham, and as such he had the understanding as to the nature and mindset of the hobby.
Looks like she had it pretty good in the private sector, see CV below.
Wonder who she ticked off to get this gig?  ???

This new appointee's CV reads like big business, and I imagine she'll have a hard time
figuring out the like of "BHV" and K1MAN. Will seem like kids in a sandbox to her...oh wait,
they seem like kids in the sandbox to me too!  ;)

Here former gig as President and CEO -->> http://www.ita-relay.com/about/about.html


LAURA L. SMITH, serves as Of Counsel to Shulman Rogers on telecommunications matters and provides counsel to numerous entities in the private radio and public safety communities.  Ms. Smith began working for the Federal Communications Commission in 1990 and during her tenure there, worked in the Mass Media Bureau, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and served as Deputy Division Chief of the Public Safety and Private Wireless Division.

Ms. Smith joined the Industrial Telecommunications Association (ITA) as Executive Director of Governmental Affairs in 1998, monitoring FCC and legislative proceedings and participating in all regulatory proceedings relevant to the private wireless industry.  In 2001, she became President and CEO of ITA and during her tenure, was instrumental in the formation of the Consensus Group.  She is a fequent speaker at both private wireless and public safety trade shows and has served as column writer and industry consultant for a variety of trade publications such as Mobile Radio Technology Magazine and The Private Wireless Magazine.

I wonder if she'll become a no-code tech. OMG.  :o  The CW freaks will lose their minds.

Like they really have a say in a government appointment. Duh  ;D

All you have ta do is tell 'em you  have a special constitutional licence and its O.K.

If she listens to many on the phone bands(especially 75), she may think we are all "freaks". ::) 

Hmmm,
Perhaps I'll volunteer to become her 'liason' with the amateur community.
Go to all the festers on expense acct., smooze the ARRL, speak here and there, pretend to be a viscous scrote on the SSB freq's, apply for an OO job and other essential ham duties including hand holding when necessary.
Ought to be able to get some funding for that just like Acorn.

You're the "wrong" demographic to get that money. Seems you have to match the "victimhood" profile.
However, there is hope. You need only go out and sell drugs, get arrested a few times, don't work, and use illegal substances, oh, and bray loudly about being taken advantage of by "the man" and I'm sure the Acorn money will be overflowing. Having several children out of wedlock adds in bonus points. Few folks that work for a living have time to be "community organizers".

Close your eyes and put yourself in her shoes for a second.
I don't think its exactly a dream gig for her.   :-\  I think she will concentrate on enforcement
in the commercial side of her assignment.  (Land Mobile) I beleive this enforcement gig included (that Riley had )did LM service too.
1. Amateur radio is non-commercial.
2. She is not a Ham.   :o
3. She therefore has no clue to what the hobby is about, let alone a bunch of complaints from "cranky Ham Operators"
about frequency disputes, garbage on 20M, etc.  ???

More glory for her in her stepping stone position by going after the commercial aspects of
enforcement.

JMHO & <2 sense>

That should work for the CW weirdos. They've been victimized by the removal of the testing requirement and loss of exclusive frequencies. Oh the horror!

L. C. Smith is a better enforcer......

klc

Good Morning,

 I've been giving this some considerable thought, looking at the stats, the backround.

 All I can come up with is Somebody needs a position..., one which doesn't necessarily require a daily presence .. offers plenty of room to maneuver, still allowing the other interests to be pursued, all along collecting a stable check...I wonder....

73
Jack.

I have one of those  :o; 12 guage double, field grade, full & modified choke.  Came from my granddad who used to use it for grouse in uplands Pa.. It's fb except for a small ding in one barrel from my brother transporting it back from Alaska.  Also a small stress crack's starting to appear in the walnut behind the receiver so I stick with low brass, lighter load shells.

Best balance, swing and c.g. of any shotgun I've ever used.

I wonder if Ms. Smith is any relation to a certain T. Smith??

Maybe she knows how to make 'Piss-O-Line'! ;)

(http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?action=dlattach;attach=703;type=avatar)

I think that train has come and gone.

You're right. I made a BIG assumption that they actually had minds to lose.

 "What a terrible thing to have lost one's mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is."

Mr. Dan Quayle

I can see that this may be a new era, things may go the complete opposite direction from what they were.

I can image that she probably doesn't know the difference between hams and chicken banders.

Then it is up to us to be civil in our reporting of QRM, and c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y explain the nature of the problem, why it is a problem, and what action needs to be taken. I think Riley came into the role as an "enforcer", where as it seems that Ms. Smith have simply had it added to her plate, without any direct mandate to police and clean up the bands.

Already I've heard of SSB ops moving in on 3885, or intentionally causing malicious interference, with more than one comment made that "Riley is gone" to justify their actions.

Document, document, document. Recordings, specific notes as to call signs, date and time, frequencies affected, comments made, will all help in supporting your filing. Get your friendly neighborhood Official Observers (OO) involved as well, that is what they are there for. Most OOs are more than happy to assist if you can clearly state your case, and provide specific times to monitor.

Now is the time to hold fast, if we let things slip back to the way there were pre-Riley, its going to be near impossible to clean it back up again. The sheriff with the big stick has left town, and left it in much better order than when he came in, it is up to us to keep it that way.

I never had any problems preRiley. QRO and use a real receiver.

yeah like a flex 5000 and a henry 8k

Flex $5K no thanks..another spur generator.
8K no thanks

Yea, Mikey, your radios suck. Mine are the best.

yeah you know i throws you more pounds than you throws me.  my cobra 2000gtl walks the dog all over your realistic navaho.  I even gots the extra channels

Strap softly and turn up the wick.

BHV needs to be tamed.

That's what they make tasers for.  Walk past closely at Deerfield, reach out and touch him, have a cup of coffee while he does the Worm. ;D

A lot of hoopla over nothing, as usual. All the doom and gloom we heard about removing the CW requirement amounted to nothing. Expanding the phone bands in place of the disused CW sub bands has brought more activity, not less - and certainly hasn't caused the chaos we were all threatened with.

Enforcement of commercial services involving potential life and death situations as well as financial concerns will be enough to keep a cash-strapped gov't bureaucracy like the FCC entertained. Those who insist on drawing attention to themselves (on the air, not here) enough to get noticed will likely end up feeling the hammer dropped on them, as with Riley and before Riley. 

Seems simple enough?

Oh hey now don't belittle the Navaho! I love my 458. A finer CB base for SSB there never was. Mine has a selectable balanced 600 Ohm audio input, a better power supply regulator, an extra I.F stage, a T/R switch output for bypassing an external preamp/RX tuner during TX (helped with selectivity and spatter from those illegals running power on channel 15), and a little fan because the regulator gets too hot anyway. Alas the rig is no longer in use and the controls have all gone scratchy.

Except for the big Browning and Tram rigs of the 60s-70s from Laconia and Winnesquam NH, respectively. Top quality components, lotsa toobs, point-to-point hand wiring, topped off with a Collins 6 kHz mechanical filter. You gots ta hear yer good buddies before you can work 'em.  ;)