Restricted Hams

Of the 55,000 licensed radio amateurs in the U. S., some 5,000 regularly worked foreign stations. For the most part their conversations with alien hams consisted of trivia about the weather, eclectic gossip of tubes and frequencies. When war came, most amateurs subscribed to a self-imposed neutrality code, foreswore all contacts with hams in Europe. Last week FCC further restricted their activities, forbade them to signal any foreign hams at all. Prohibited also was the use of any portable transmitter capable of sending messages "farther than the line of sight." Violators face immediate loss of license and up to $500 fine.

FCC will enforce this new regulation through its 27 offices and seven monitor stations throughout the country. With no alien operator among the hams, and 7,500 of them in the Naval Communication Reserve and the Army Amateur Radio System, it is unlikely that FCC suspects any strong fifth-column virus in their ranks. Largely precautionary, FCC's new ruling is designed to make quisling hams stand out boldly if they attempt any aerial shenanigans with Governments abroad.

Still to be solved by FCC is the problem of preventing foreign hams from getting information through local amateurs. A seemingly innocent conversation from the mainland to Hawaii might conceivably contain a wealth of information for a listener in Tokyo.

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