Our first IRLP ban!!!

What a great net tonight!! We had about 40 check-ins, and lasted close to an hour and ten minutes. It didn’t go QUITE as long as I thought it would, but it was still a good net.

The Net was not without it’s controversy, though. Despite the fact a lot of our check-ins from previous nets came from Halifax, Nova Scotia – it seems the Halifax Amateur Radio Club (which owns the IRLP node in Halifax) didn’t appreciate the fact that their node was being used to access the net, and decided to shut us down. As a result, many of our friends and net regulars from around Halifax were unable to check into the net.

We got this letter from a friend down east, who asked to remain anonymous:

I’m commenting on the Halifax club executives banning the Hamsexy net
from being aired. This information was heard on the local Halifax IRLP
repeater on 146.940 Mhz. I’d like to say that content on the repeaters
around here are pretty reserved and never controversial. As a matter
of fact, the repeaters are normally pretty quiet.

1) The first complaint the Halifax club executives had was, Echolink
and IRLP do not work together and should not work together because
echolink is an unsecured media to get on the air. Anyone could
download echolink and get on the air.

With a team headed by Dave VE7LTD (the inventor of IRLP) permanently
bridging IRLP with echolink, that was that. As with echolink not being
secure, this is not as true as they were intending because you need to
register with echolink.org with a valid callsign to enable the
software for use. A person could register the echolink software with a
callsign that’s not theirs and hasn’t been registered with
echolink.org but it was pointed out you can buy a radio without any
proof of licence.

2) The second complaint the Halifax club executives had was the net
being an hour in length was too long. Other nets here have lasted over
an hour, ie: the trans Canada Net on IRLP and echolink.

3) The Third and final complaint the Halifax club executives had that
I know of was content not suitable for the air. This is of course,
personal option. I think it’s the best stuff on the air.

“Not suitable for air”… Bullshit! Even though we might use some spicy language on this page, we are all professional, courteous and responsible ham radio operators on the air. We are hams first and foremost, and all operate within the bounds of regulations and good taste. We have several parent-supervised children that check into the net (Mark K8MHZ remarked during tonight’s net that he has no problem with his 12 year old daughter K0LEY listening to and checking in on the net (Shane W0NKA lets his 10 year old son Nicholas KC0UR check in too… no issues). Anyone who says that we’re “unsuitable for the air” is ignorant.

Feel free to let the Halifax Amateur Radio Club know how you feel: Send them a note at executive@halifax-arc.org (please be polite and courteous). CC us your letter to them (submissions@hamsexy.com) and forward us any replies you get. We’ll post them on this site.

Thanks again for checking in! I’ll post the call list tomorrow.. I’m going to go put a dent in my pillow.

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6 Responses to Our first IRLP ban!!!

  1. VE3SY says:

    MY EMAIL TO THE EXEC

    Hi Guys – and possibly gals

    In reading the story of the Executive deciding to ban the HamSexy net http://www.hamsexy.com/cms/?p=108 in Halifax – all I can say is lighten up and enjoy the fun.

    I expect it was banned without anyone listening to a complete net just like the Mayor of Toronto several years ago banning the Bare Naked Ladies from performing in the Big Smoke as he did not want any nudity. 🙂 And if I need to explain that paragraph then we are in worse trouble than I thought.

    Us folks “from away” here in Upper Canada enjoy poking fun at some of the more colourful members – and vehicles of members – in the Amateur Radio community.

    Listen in next week and then decide if in fact the net should be “Banned in Halifax”

    73 from Upper Canada

    Paul VE3SY

  2. VE9MP says:

    Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2005 11:53:28 -0400 (EDT)
    From: “Nick Robinson”
    Subject: The Hamsexy Net
    To: [email protected]
    CC: [email protected]

    Hello,
    My name is Nick, callsign VE9MP and this is in regards to the HARC’s executives decision to ban the Hamsexy IRLP net from the VE1HNS repeater. It is in my opinion that the wrong decision was made in this matter and not all relevent information was presented to make a good judgement in this matter.
    You say that an Echolink bridge into IRLP would not be “secure”. This is totally wrong, if anything Echolink is more “secure” than IRLP because your callsign has to be validated before you can have access to the Echolink system. With IRLP, no validation of any type is required, therefore, anyone can transmit on the system. Did you ever buy a radio off eBay? Did they ask you if you had a license? Probably not. Believe it or not anyone can get their hands on a two-way radio and transmit, if they so desired. No system can be “secure” as you say, unless you are running encryption, which you can’t under Canadian law on the Amateur Radio Service.
    As for the length of the net being deemed too long, I recall on many times hearing other nets lasting just as long being transmitted by VE1HNS (The Yarmouth Net, Trans-Canada Net come to mind) To keep the Hamsexy net from being allowed on your repeater for this reason is wrong, it seems as though HARC wants to “pick and choose” what is allowed on the repeater. When there are nets on the system that last longer than the Hamsexy net, and you say the Hamsexy net is too long, that is not right.
    You also say that the content is not suitable for the air, this is 100% not the case, I’ve listened in on the net on many occasions and everything I heard was fine (ie. no vulgar language, no improper operating practices). The point of Hamsexy is to poke fun at the hobby of amateur radio, is is obvious that some people cannot tolerate that, and therefore Hamsexy is not for them, but you shouldn’t be forcing your ideas upon other Radio Amateurs in the Halifax region. If someone doesn’t like what they hear, why don’t they simply turn off their radio and leave it at that?
    I myself, have only had the best of success using Amateur Radio on the Halifax region, and I have met many nice people with it, but if HARC wants to decide what is good and not good for amateur radio, I will be staying off of VE1HNS the next time I come to Nova Scotia.

    Thank you for your time.

    Nick Robinson
    VE9MP

  3. ve1vac says:

    The main reason for this “ban” appears to be telephone calls which the repeater trustee received complaining about the content of the net July 20th. Apparantly there were references to “crack whores” and “fudge packing” during that net.

    Can anyone comment on the truth or otherwise of that allegation? I missed that net but I have to say it suprised me as there has never been anything even vaguely distasteful on the previous nets which I listened to or took part in.

  4. n3toy says:

    Wasn’t Halifax the other group that had a large amount of check-in’s? I say “Good riddance!” Now the Las Vegas SuperStation can continue their reign of supremacy as the largest check-in group from a single area.

    (Of course, I am just kidding, eh. Hope to hear you back soon, eh.)

    Jamie

  5. VE9MP says:

    I sent them my letter on Thursday, now its Sunday and not even a hint of a reply [shocked]Me[/shocked]

  6. VE9MP says:

    Looks like [email protected] isn’t a valid email address (or atleast the one that it forwards to) So I guess our emails fell on deaf ears.

    -Nick

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