QTH.COM Swap Chat

I know this has been discussed before, and many others agreed with the concept of restricting ad postings to amateurs only. I am not about to open a can of worms regarding the credibility of hams vs non-hams, however, IMHO I feel a higher level of confidence in dealing with another amateur who has a call listed in the call book. We all take certain steps to ascertain our confidence level, when putting a deal together. Again, IMHO a valid call sign adds to that confidence level.
I am sure Scott has faced this question before, I wasn't around then, does anyone know why this change has not or can not be done

I agree. But........... Whats to stop someone from bootlegging someone elses call/ idendity. Seen it done plenty of times. Just a thought. Scott N2PET.

Hmmmm...I can (unfortunately) put down several valid callsigns, legally assigned to individuals who have screwed this pooch in the past.



I dunno...from my past experience, dealing with anyone who does not have any trackable feedback from others (callsign or not) is a crapshoot. You start out with 50/50 odds and go from there.

73!
Jim, K9FI

radioactive wrote:I agree. But........... Whats to stop someone from bootlegging someone elses call/ idendity. Seen it done plenty of times. Just a thought. Scott N2PET.

N8PQB you have a good point but so does Scott here. Point in case is just week before last I placed several adds and had several responses. Two responses came from guys claiming to be hams of certain call signs but their names didn't match the call sign name. In fact they weren't even close at all in either case. This through up a red flag to me immediately. I went to QRZ and checked the listed e-mail address of the call signs and neither matched. So I went a step farther and e-mailed the guys to let them know their call signs had been bootlegged. Guess what!! I got no reply from either. How about that!!!!!!!!!! Guess they either thought I was a nut or they didn't care. Oh well. I tried.

The class of license held by the persons we deal with should be an indication of the competency of that person to deal with the technical aspects of ham radio. When the person's behavior does not fit his license class, I get suspicious.

When I check callsigns, I go to the FCC database and determine the class of license the person has been granted. When I see a person with an Extra Class or Advanced license who declares he was not able to test the equipment he is selling, I immediately back off. A ham with so-called advanced license SHOULD know how to test any piece of equipment up for sale. If there is a valid reason he is unable to test it, that reason should be stated. Else, forget the deal.

Likewise, when I find hams holding any of class license not knowing how to do basic ham radio tasks like wiring a microphone or creating and installing a dipole antenna, I am immediately suspicious of the validity of his callsign.

I know this gotta-be-technical test is biased. There is no perfect way to quickly determine the character and honesty of the other party in our dealings. At the very lease, a ham ought be know what a ham ought to know about his hobby. When he/she shows ignorance of the very basics the hobby, I am always suspicious.

Bottom line -- learn as much as you can about the other party before you strike a deal.

Cheers,

AL

Also, do not forget the obvious. When a seller has a picture of a radio (or ham related item) on a site such as eBay or QTH and the description says “can not test, no antenna” or whatever, but in the background of the picture is a very well put together ham station, you can pretty much guess that the item you want is most likely non-working. I have seen this over and over again.

I do not mind buying something non-working if the description at least states that and why hide it? So they can make more money.

radioactive wrote:I agree. But........... Whats to stop someone from bootlegging someone elses call/ idendity. Seen it done plenty of times. Just a thought. Scott N2PET.

See the Safe Trading Tips link at the top of this (and every) page... that is one of the #1 rules... make sure the FCC database and the place you are sending money/equipment to match.

Then it doesn't matter if they bootleg a call... they can't bootleg the FCC database too!

- Scott