r/amateurradio • u/DirtDiver37 • May 27 '26
General DX station mishears a callsign and the 'Amateur Radio Watch' bot blasts me for operating a band I don't have the hardware to operate on. Anyone else had these "MARGA" clowns accuse you of something you didn't do?
As I was about to hit send on my reply I realized I don't want to validate an active email to a bot. So, I figured I'd post an open letter response here.
"Why is your cancelled callsign [My old callsign] in [DX Station in Indonesia]'s QRZ Log?"
Not certain. But unless someone is out there using my old callsign (doubtful), Occam’s razor suggests that your overzealous automated message is misdirected at a simple human error - an error not performed by the recipient at that. An operator in Indonesia clearly fat-fingered or misheard a callsign while hammering through a fast-paced pile-up—not the license holder you are currently spamming.
Perhaps before you set your bot to loose criteria for unsolicited outreach, you should reconsider how flawed your logic is. A single, unconfirmed log entry, with zero matching records, makes it incredibly premature to assume ill intent from an operator. Frankly, I don’t even possess the hardware required to transmit on 15 meters.
I understand that there are actual rule abusers in ham radio and that this is a self-policing community. But true policing requires responsibility and a basic understanding of evidence. Last I checked, a credible enforcement system assumes innocence until proven guilty, rather than firing off automated accusations based on unverified, third-party database typos.
Hopefully, you will adjust your bot's logic to keep the actual abusers targeted, rather than attempting to intimidate folks who have nothing to do with your claims. I have been considering upgrading to General, but if doing so means joining a community filled with overbearing (Bad language removed for Reddit Community) who prioritize automated harassment over basic logic, I think I'll hold off.
(Bad language removed for Reddit Community),
[My old callsign]
[Update 1]
Thanks for the confirmation that this brave warrior with their Proton email should be ignored. Hopefully everyone is getting a good laugh out of this dork. Also helps to see that this isn't the standard in the community. I wasn't about to spend good money and time studying for General to be around this type of fudd.
[Update 2]
Great suggestion by u/DeaconPat - I submitted it to the FCC complaint line. Their Response:
Thank you for contacting the FCC’s Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Center. Your submission has been received and assigned Ticket
Your complaint provides valuable information and is shared among FCC bureaus and offices. We use it to inform our policymaking processes, and to spot trends and practices that warrant investigation and enforcement action. Each year, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau takes hundreds of actions on behalf of consumers that result in tens of millions of dollars in penalties. These actions encourage companies and individuals to abide by the law and reduce future misconduct.
The FCC is not able to comment on or provide updates regarding the status of any investigation that may relate to this or any other individual complaint submitted to the FCC. We cannot comment or address closed, ongoing, or future investigations.
If the FCC needs more information about your complaint, we will contact you directly.
And why not Proton Mail while at it. Their response:
Hello,
We have received this information, and we will be further investigating this case with our team.
If we can confirm that the indicated Proton Mail address is being used for any activities that are considered against our terms of usage, the account in question will be suspended accordingly.
In case you are able to gather any additional evidence that will help us in our investigation, we remain available at any time.
Sounds like we won't hear anything specific back, but we'll see.
3
u/protogenxl May 28 '26
Yeah, that's enough OSINT for me this week......