[SCCC] Kalifornia Kilowatts...

[Steve Harrison]

So.... Just what was the usual federal penalty for being found running
"over-power" (or even "out-of-band")?? $10,000 fine, $25,000... what? I
don't recall anyone being jailed. And that must not have been considered
a felony, or the ham would have been banned from life to ever hold
another license. I know several were convicted of misbehavior of one
sort or another such as deliberate interference and the like; Herb
Schoenbeck, KV4AA (long-ago SK), was notorious for that back in the '70s
or so; but that's another whole topic.

Was anybody ever actually banned from a contest for over-power, or
merely disqualified and perhaps "suspended" from the next contest?

Come to think of it... I've never heard any such similar stories of the
NCCC-area W6's; but surely, those guys were not all lily-white.... or
were they... I know of at least two of them with tubes with handles
today but don't know about back then.

Steve, K0XP


On 7/3/2024 9:54 AM, Tree wrote:
> A couple of things to add.
>
> Heard stories about a strategy to defeat the FCC field strength measurement
> which was to have a vertical handy that you could switch to and give a
> stronger FS reading with legal power.
>
> Back in the day of the 2M SCDXC repeater (1976?) - I once heard W6RW
> talking to someone who was asking him why his signal was so "effective".
> His answer was "DXers secret".
>
> Tree N6TR
>
> On Wed, Jul 3, 2024 at 9:27 AM Michael S. Mitchell W6RW<w6rw at earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
>> This is a quote from an article written by Harvey Laidman W8DX in 1997
>> entitled "Riders of the Purple Ionosphere" which was an article about the
>> history of the Southern California DX Club:
>>
>> Powerful transmitting tubes were readily available surplus and no
>> self-respecting California ham shack was without a huge cabinet adorned
>> with meters, a big Variac, and a pair of welding cables connecting a pole
>> pig transformer. "I had a coupl'a those big, beautiful jugs," muses Art
>> Enockson, W6EA (then W6MUB). During the 1952 World-Wide CW DX Contest, some
>> Owlahoot blew the whistle. The Federal Communications Commission parked a
>> panel truck a short distance from the unsuspecting operator. After taking a
>> field strength reading, an agent knocked on the door. If the reading in the
>> truck changed, they knew the operator had been cheating. "I was ready for
>> `em," said the late Roger Mace, W6RW, "it was just that I was so rattled
>> when they came to the door, I couldn't do anything!" Mace never got over
>> the intrusion.
>>
>> DE Mike W6RW
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Dino Darling<dino at kx6d.com>
>> Sent: Jul 2, 2024 6:52 PM
>> To: Glenn Rattmann<k6na at rattmann.digitalspacemail17.net>, reflector SCCC
>> <sccc at contesting.com>
>> Subject: [SCCC] Kalifornia Kilowatts...
>>
>> I'd love to hear the Goo stories from the 60's, 70's and 80's!
>>
>> I heard rumor there was a prominent radio operator around the corner from
>> Knott's Berry Farm that has some suds on reserve. If memory serves, a
>> single 4-1000 was mentioned. I would think it would take at least two to
>> make legend status. It was before my time but my curiosity still reigns.
>>
>> Some people look down on QRO amplifiers. I see it more as another way to
>> make gain...if you lack the room for a 100'+ boom or a rotating stack.
>>
>> If anyone has stories they want to share, you have a captive audience.
>> Just change the names to protect the innocent. 😁
>>
>> Dino - KX6D
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Glenn Rattmann
>>
>> ...Phil was known for using some serious Goo in those days; meaning "more"
>> than Bud. ;-)
>>
>> 73,
>> Glenn K6NA
>>
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