For information specifically for the neighbors of hams, see:
http://www.ce.org/tech_education_and_services/67-12005.cfm
73,
Ed Hare, W1RFI
ARRL Lab
225 Main St
Newington, CT 06111
Tel: 860-594-0318
Internet: w1rfi@arrl.org
Web: http://www.arrl.org/tis
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WD8ARZ [mailto:WD8ARZ@IX.NETCOM.COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 1:10 PM
> To: rfi@contesting.com
> Subject: [RFI] Helping Neighbors 101 - A True Story
>
>
>
> Due to the current nature of the messages on this reflector
> about Rfi and
> helping neighbors, maybe it is time for the sharing of an
> interesting story
> a friend of mine told me about that happened in a southern state.
>
> Seems a friend of hers was thinking about getting out of ham
> radio, when she
> asked why, he bemoaned about the technical void of the
> general public, and
> how tired he was of being blamed for issues he had no control
> over. Many
> were Rfi issues, but some were starting to do in the Elmer in
> him. Seems
> that the less some know about something, the stronger the
> opinion..... and
> there are a lot of strong opinions out there by those that
> think "we' are
> invading their privacy. Not just public individuals, but also law
> enforcement!
> Some even threatened him physically, and antenna cables had been cut.
>
> So before you educate others about how their wireless
> activities are really
> radio activities, make sure they don't know where you live.... hi hi
>
> 73 from Bill - WD8ARZ
> wd8arz@ix.netcom.com
> ===========================================
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> To:
> Sent:
> Subject: Privacy 101 - A True Story
>
> Beware of what you do about helping others be aware of
> wireless privacy
> issues. The following is a true story! This is the first time
> this has been
> shared over the internet. Because the transmission in
> question is now off
> the air, I feel more comfortable detailing the story.
>
> About two years ago I began to notice a carrier with a slight hum on
> 3.515Mhz. With all the digital stuff running in the house I
> have tons of
> carriers, some quiet, and some with various types of
> modulations (tones,
> hums, digital, etc), so did not pay it much attention,
> especially because
> it was there night and day, thus not propagation affected.
> Then one night
> while tuning around, I hear this phone conversation on that
> same frequency,
> in narrow fm! Two women were chatting and sounded like a
> normal wireless
> phone conversation connection, but on this frequency?!? I
> began monitoring,
> and over the next couple of weeks I noticed some odd things.
> I never heard
> an incoming ring, touch tone dialing, or pulse dialing. One
> moment it was a
> quite frequency (with a slight hum in a.m. or f.m. mode), and
> the next you
> heard the phone conversation. This told me this was no normal wireless
> phone, had to be professional. I was convinced that it was ac
> powered (the
> hum), was crystal controlled, with a very slight temp drift
> between the cool
> weather frequency and the warm weather frequency.
>
> Listening continued for a few months. Strange enough was that the
> conversations were all normal. No cussing, nothing illegal,
> almost always
> a mother and her daughter talking to friends, and family. At
> first I figured
> this is some legal bug, but I was not hearing conversation to
> justify that
> motive. Well, maybe it is an illegal bug. If so, what do I do
> about it? The
> family seemed nice enough.
>
> So I did a partial investigation. Took my hand held broadband
> receiver and
> went direction finding. Note that this is not a scanner, but
> much more, but
> it is about the typical size of hand held scanner made in the last few
> years. Fits in a shirt pocket easily. In a short time I had
> tracked down the
> house that the signal was coming from, just a couple miles
> from me. Nice
> home, small lot, typical block with houses close together on
> a paved road,
> much like any other subdivision from the 60's or 70's.
>
> I went home and pondered this situation for a long time. More
> weeks went
> by. Eventually I decided if this was a illegal bug, I was
> obligated to let
> them know. By this time this had become a kind of Carl and
> Jerry mystery, or
> a Hardy Boy's story of the typical kind, and I was hooked!! I
> wanted to know
> what was going on, and boy did I want to look at that bug!!!
> So I took the
> plunge.
>
> After talking to a friend about what I wanted to do, I went
> to the home in
> question (even though my friend thought that was a bad idea).
> Hey, come on,
> I am being a nice guy and want to help out if I can, right?
>
> I knocked on the door and the daughter answered, I asked to
> speak to her Dad
> or Mother. The Mother came to the door and I explained who I
> was, gave my
> name and showed my drivers license as proof. I was even wearing my ham
> jacket with my name and callsign on it. I wanted them to be
> relaxed and not
> think some scam was going on or some kook was bothering them. After
> explaining what I had been hearing she got very suspicious
> and wary. She was
> finding this difficult to believe and was not having any
> credibility in what
> I was explaining. I noticed by the front door a panel set in
> the brick wall
> with a cover on it. I opened it, and it was an electrical
> connection with
> about a dozen connections available. Now that was odd. She
> knew nothing
> about it, said it was there when she moved in. I asked if I could walk
> around the property and see if I could tell wither the bug
> was outside near
> a telephone or power line lead in..... she reluctantly
> agreed. At this point
> I
> decided maybe I would not ask about going into the home, though I was
> very disappointed to not see this bug.
>
> Walking around the outside of the home and property convinced
> me that the
> bug was inside the house and on the phone line system antenna
> wise. The
> signal was weaker at the power pole, the power box, and
> strongest at the
> phone line box AND the connector on the front of the house.
> But the phone
> line connector was the strongest. I explained all that to her.
>
> Next I explained to her and her daughter that I was puzzled,
> and did not
> know if this was a legal or illegal bug. Therefore I
> suggested that they NOT
> talk about this over the bugged phones, and to think about
> what their next
> step should be. I suggested the police, the Fbi and the Fcc.
> But I also
> suggested that anyone of them may be the source of the bug,
> and even the
> husband might. He ran his own business as a construction contractor
> they told me at this point. This bothered me as I thought, oh
> sh.t, maybe
> the mob is evolved. I didn't want to be anywhere around that
> issue, so I
> left wishing I had not been so open about who I was. Darn!
>
> When I got home, of course I went back to monitoring, just to
> see if I had
> any effect or not. Wouldn't you know it, there was the
> daughter on the phone
> telling her boy friend all about what had just happened!!!
> There was not a
> secret about the phone being bugged anymore. At this point I
> was not sure
> where to go with this any further. So I stayed away and
> continued to listen.
>
> Next thing I know the mother is complaining to others about me using a
> scanner to listen in on her phone conversations. Said a ham
> friend of hers
> told her that was how I was doing it, and it had nothing to
> do with a bug.
> So much for a our fraternity helping out. I had made it very
> clear in my
> visit that this was not a cell phone or wireless phone
> frequency, but a bug
> frequency inside the eighty meter amateur radio band. Further
> discussions by
> her to others over this bugged phone system made it clear
> that now she and
> her family were uneasy about some kook bothering them and
> listening in on
> their private phone calls and what she could she do about it.
> Now I was
> getting bugged. Here I was trying to help out and now this thing had
> taken an unexpected turn of events. I especially I was bothered about
> them being upset and genuinely concerned about what I had
> done to create
> the wrong impression.
>
> So, what I did next was to type up a one page memo explaining all that
> I had already told them, explained about the differences
> between cell phone,
> wireless phone, and bug frequencies, and of course amateur
> radio. I was
> clear in explaining that the information from their ham
> friend was well
> meaning, but wrong in this case, and to make sure he was told
> about the
> frequency this bug was on and he would be convinced of the
> problem and could
> help out. I further stated that I was bothered by how they
> were shooting the
> messenger, and I that I only had honorable intentions. That
> it was time for
> them to get professional help and to quit speculating about
> me or what I was
> doing. Also explained the need to have the telephone company
> to remove the
> bug if nothing else.
>
> Because it was clear at this point that she did not remember
> my name or call
> letters, I decided to play it safe this time. I did not let
> the two typed
> pages
> or the envelope I put them in get any of my finger prints on
> them. I used
> gloves and placed this information between the crack of her
> front door and
> door frame at a time when they were not home and I would not
> be noticed
> in the area. Even parked on a different block.
>
> Of course I went back to monitoring, convinced that now all
> would be well,
> as I had set the matter straight. Right! Wrong!!
>
> Now the conversations over the bugged line was really bad.
> She was angry,
> so angry that I was harassing them that she took the information I had
> given them to the police and filed harassment charges. But,
> they did not
> know who I was but she was going to find out!!!! I was
> breaking several
> laws in her eyes, and she was going to nail me. She said her
> ham friend
> said to check out the local couple of blocks looking for ham antennas
> and check that out. Fortunately I was much further away then
> that, and my
> ham jacket was a club group in the opposite direction of
> where I actually
> lived.
>
> Turned out she was also angry at the police. They had
> confiscated the two
> copies and the envelope to try for finger prints. She no
> longer had the
> information I had given her and they wanted her to pay for
> copies if she
> wanted them. Darned if she would do that she said!
>
> Now I was mad, frustrated and just a little bit worried. My
> friend said she
> told me so, I should have stayed out of it.
>
> Next the conversations changed to how they had called in the
> phone company
> and no bug was found. Still they had a new phone line and new
> phones to be
> put in the next day. Two days later the carrier was still
> there, but no more
> audio conversations were heard for the next several a weeks.
> Then the phone
> audio came back. Seems the daughter was complaining about not having a
> working phone in her room so they tied the old phone line in
> her room to the
> new phone line, and viola, they were back on the air again!
>
> Now I felt like I had some pirates in my ham band and I
> wanted them out!!
> One day when I knew only the daughter was home, I stopped by
> and explained
> to her that they were wrong, and they were back on the bug
> again and I would
> never be back.
>
> Now the conversations on their end was taunting and accusing
> me of being the
> source for the bug. Many things were being said that I began
> to think that
> the police felt that they had some sort of psychopath here
> and was trying to
> lure him back for entrapment. What a mess. I frankly felt
> self preservation
> was the best merit here and gave up.
>
> The bug was active for about another six months or so before
> it finally went
> off the air. That was about six months ago. I haven't gone
> back and wont.
> For awhile there I wished I had a untraceable internet
> account that would
> have let post information about this bug to some of the hobby
> sits on the
> internet. I was convinced that this signal could be heard out
> of state at
> night, especially in the winter time when there was no
> static. At one point
> they even put a computer on line and I was tempted to send email, but
> I had no way to do that with out being traced. Even the
> library computers
> would not let un-ided usage. I wanted to set the record
> straight and clear
> my self...... but now I have to live with things the way they are.
>
> Would I help out in this area again? NO WAY!
>
> Question? Am I a wanted man????
>
> (The preceding is a true story)
>
>
> --
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> Questions: owner-rfi@contesting.com
>
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