Racing pirates down-under

The amateur radio 2-metre band in Australia was the target of an unlicensed commercial operation about two weeks ago, but VK hams don't think it was an organized attempt on the band.

Instead, they think it was just a race crew trying to pinch a few pennies. WIA newsman Glenn Dunstan VK4DU is here with the rest of the story:

In Sydney, it appears that 2 metres was used as an illegal communications link between a Grand Prix racing car and pit crew. Sydney radio amateurs reported monitoring car-pit communications on 147.7 MHz, emanating from the
Eastern Creek racing circuit. No callsigns were used, and it was reported that the pit crew and driver had British accents.

The Eastern Creek circuit hosted the inaugural Australian round of the A1 Grand Prix. One can only surmise that the team in question was using ham radio 2 metre transceivers because of cost considerations. In other words, they were doing it on the cheap..

Of course, this is not the first time that our 2 meter band has been used by commercial pirates from overseas. 144 MHz was used extensively by hang glider pilots competing in an Australian competition a few years ago.

VK4DU says that it might be a good idea for radio hams anywhere to take their 2 metre hand held the next time they attend a motor race or other sporting event. You may be surprised what you find.

WIA News