Ham explains why he's quitting emcomm at work

A ham who posted on an Internet website that he had assisted in an emergency communications drill at work has come forward to explain why he was contacted about his action by FCC ham radio rules enforcer Laura Smith.

Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has more:

In his posting to the QRZ.com website, Jeffery Casselberry W0WLS, says that last July he volunteered to take part in a state sanctioned communication drill which was backed by the Missouri Hospital Association. At that time he was the only licensed amateur in the facility, so he said yes.

According to Casselberry this drill took place during business hours while he was on the clock. He explained that he had built the amateur station for the hospital and with it a facility better than most in communicating locally and to the state capital.

W0WLS went on to say that he was so thrilled about the drill's success that he made what he terms as the mistake of posting his excitement on the QRZ website.

Someone who read it decided to cut and paste his comments and send them off to the FCC. As a result, W0WLS says that he received an informal email from the FCC's Smith acknowledging his violation and requesting a response.

Casselberry says that he responded to Smith and explained in detail the events of his alleged violation. Smith responded with the following e-mail which reads as follows and we quote:

"Jeff: Again, just so we are clear, Section 97.113 (a)(3) of the Commission's rules specifically states that "no amateur station shall transmit: communications in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer." This means that if you are an employee of the hospital you may not operate the amateur equipment on their behalf even after hours or while you are on a break. The operation of the amateur equipment must be conducted strictly by volunteers."
-- end quote.

Casselberry went on to say that he does not want to become a poster child for some emergency communications cause on QRZ.com. He says that he is done with this type of ham radio activity and it will never happen again.
He's even gone so far as to tell his employer that he is done with this type of radio activity and will take no further part in its emergency communications program.

W0WLS ends by noting that he is a hobbyist and don't need this sort of turmoil in my life. As such, he will make no further comments on this issue.

Norm Seeley, KI7UP
Amateur Radio Newsline.

A link to the complete on-line discussion about this topic can be found at
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=216670

(QRZ)