WX7G, don't let your self get baited into a pointless argument by Andrew.  He's a master at it.

Are you saying that manufacturers like Icom and Elecraft and DX Engineering and KLM are paying for the construction of contest stations?

There is something Darwinian about that, I like it.

Tisha

http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-05-03/news/police-san-jacinto-woman-arrested-after-making-threats-on-police-radio

Police: San Jacinto woman arrested after making threats on police radio

Authorities arrested a 29-year-old San Jacinto woman who investigators said interrupted police and fire radio communications and made threats over the air during a two-day period, said Hemet police Lt. Mark Richards in a news release.

Irene Marie Levy was taken into custody early Monday at her mobile home in the 900 block of South Grand Avenue, Richards said. Levy was booked at the Hemet Police Department Jail on suspicion of making terrorist threats; false report of a bomb threat; and maliciously interrupting, disrupting, impeding, or interfering with the transmission of a public safety radio frequency.

Levy’s bail is set at $50,000, Richards said.

The incident is not related to the recent attacks on Gang Task Force officers or other recent attacks on law enforcement officers in Hemet, Richards said.

According to Richards, Levy, who is an Amateur Radio technician, was randomly broadcasting on CalFire and Hemet Police radio frequencies from Saturday evening until moments before she was arrested at her residence.

In the 30 hours of radio frequency interruptions by Levy, she made at least one bomb threat and many references to the death of police officers and fire personnel, Richards said. Levy’s threats and antics interrupted radio communications during a CalFire search and rescue call, a vegetation fire, and a major traffic accident mutual aid scene in Hemet on Saturday evening, Richards said. The interruptions continued into the early morning hours of Sunday when Levy made the bomb threat. Levy continued making threats on Hemet Police and CalFire radio frequencies all of Sunday afternoon and evening.

CalFire and Riverside County Fire communications technicians started the task of trying to locate the source of the frequency interruptions on CalFire frequencies late Saturday evening. The communications technicians deployed Direction Finding equipment to triangulate Levy’s transmissions.

Levy expanded her threatening transmissions to the Hemet Police radio frequency on Sunday morning, Richards said, and later that evening Riverside police investigators were requested to assist because their investigators have had some experience in these types of investigations. Richards said Riverside has similar radio frequency direction finding equipment as the CalFire communications technicians.

On Sunday evening, Richards said, Levy boasted that the police would never find her and she disguised her voice as a male adult during all of her transmissions.

Late Sunday evening, Levy’s location was pinpointed to her mobile home. Just after midnight, law enforcement officers from Hemet Police, CalFire, and Riverside Police approached Levy’s mobile home just as she made one final transmission on the Hemet Police frequency, Richards said.

Investigators arrived at her front door just as she finished her last transmission. Hemet Police investigators seized 11 radios, seven radio frequency scanners, radio frequency lists, computer equipment, and other miscellaneous radio equipment from Levy’s home. Police also seized Levy’s Ham radio technician’s license issued to her by the FCC in September of 2009, Richards said.

What's scary is the number of ticking McVey's out there who have been turned away from other organizations and are now being recruited and embraced by the ARRL ecomm movement.  The ARRL is blind to the idea that its recruiting efforts might open the door to an element who has been turned away from other organizations due to undesirable qualities.

The ARRL will have to deal with this issue down the road, but by then the good people in ecomm will have left and situations like the McVey events will put anyone involved in ham radio, and weather spotting under a microscope.

 Last year it was the storm chaser arrested down in Texas.

I have experience with extensive government background checks as a condition of my employment. I would not agree to allow a private entity such as the Red Cross to have access to such information.

J.S. McVey, K8JSM, is a repubican, is a member of Skywarn, and as far as I can tell has no prior criminal history. It appears that he might easily pass a background check for disaster communications. 

Back to the original topic.....I don't think this
incident will have any backlash on ENCOMMS or hams.
He's just another "whack job wannabee with a gun"
who happened to have a ham license and lotsa radios......
and very poor judgement/possible mental disorder.

He'll never work in ENCOMMS again, probably will lose his
right to own, never mind carry, a firearm.

Reminds me of the title of one of Shakespeare's comedies:
"Much Ado About Nothing"

73, Ken  AD6KA

If we need to be precise.  I did find an error in my first post.  Original I totally missed Puerto Rico

That is part of my problem.  I don't want to define in too great of detail what it is I think I'm going to be doing and then end up restricted by equipment later.  I may think I'm going to be doing a lot of CW and then the more I learn I start off in another direction.  My thinking is if I get one rig that will do almost all of it then I can find out later what really drives my interest.  I am trying to get my list down to one radio and all the items on your list interest me except maybe the portable operations but that just might be because I don't know enough about that subject yet. 

Like everyone else, I'll learn though.

Thanks for the advice on the 7000 and 897 and I didn't realize the 706 dated back that far.  Looking at things like the Flex 5000c I'm just amazed at what has been done in this field since I dropped out a long time ago. 

Thanks again,

Harry