QTH.COM Swap Chat

It seems to me there have been a bunch of things listed for sale lately by people with no call. These folks have every right to sell things, but I have to wonder how far we can trust these folks to fairly sell Ham gear. How do we know they haven't been twiddling the controls without an antenna connected, or otherwise abusing the gear? We don't. I would not feel comfortable buying a single thing from these people. I hate to be so negative, but I cannot help it. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Rick ... it's been my experience that having a callsign doesn't necessarily guarantee a safe deal ... true, a callsign can add a little comfort, you know his name, address etc, but it still doesn't guarantee anything.

But on the other hand, I tend to agree with you, if I purchase ham equipment from someone, I sure do wish they would use their callsign. Makes me feel better

Part of it originates in the SIGN UP process. The box asks for name. At least that's how I remember it. I saw what was happening and "fixed" it before completing the sign up. Some of the pseudo-names may have amateur radio licenses and been confused -- as I was. Others may have been pending new licenses and never updated. Some never have had and never will have one but enjoy other forms of radio (ie, SWL) that we all hope are legal.

Having a license does not prevent anyone from being a scum sucking, bottom dweller. It does provide a little warm fuzzy feeling though.

I guess I just don't like the idea of a non-Ham playing with a piece of equipment he doesn't understand and then trying to sell it to someone. Indeed, a license doesn't guarantee all will be on the money. This morning I was perusing the ads when I ran across a 2x3 trying to sell what appeared to be a VHF amp. He didn't describe the item very well, and it seemed to be an obscure piece of equipment anyway. That wasn't what really bothered me. Get this...he said, "I've never hooked it up, but it seems to work ok." What kind of baloney is that? I've gotten in the habit of reading ads very, very closely, checking the syntax, the grammar, everything, just to look for clues about the person selling something. There are a lot of old timers who I wouldn't even try to carry their soldering irons, and those guys don't always spell well, or even write complete sentences, but you'd be surprised how often a slip like the one above gets into an ad.

I tend not to want to buy ANY transmitting gear from non-licensed individuals. Not necessarily because the non-licensed seller may be unknowledgeable about transmitters, as is the case many times. There are a lot of very technically competent people who regularly get on the air using ham gear but are unlicensed. These are the so-called "freebanders."

There are hundreds of on-line sites that cater to freebanders. Just do a Google search for "CB Mods Amps" etc. to get a feel for the extent of this practice. And, not just in this country.

Unfortunately, the number of freebanders is growing, despite FCC attempted controls, including certification requirements for HF amps. Such attempts have not been enough to stem the tide of freeband activity. What may be needed is a FCC ruling that requires individuals buying, selling or trading an amateur transmitting device, MUST currently have, or have had in the last three years, a valid amateur license to use the equipment they are offering to sell or trade. This would restrict the sale or acquisition of transmitting capable gear to individuals ALREADY licensed to operate the gear they acquire. Like most, I intensely dislike government restrictions. However, remained unchecked, the proliferation of illegal operating freebanders will swell until the government levys restriction on ALL radio operators, licensed or not. If this happens, we all lose!

Then again, perhaps there are other approaches to solving the problem.

In the meantime, we should limit acquisition of transmitting gear to deals only with properly licensed individuals.

Cheers,

K4ICL