13/08/2026
Don't fall into the same trap!!
Make sure you talk to professional and licensed Radio Dealers, who are able to assist you and your business with reliable and licensed two-way radio equipment and systems!
STUTT TRONIX - "Powering your World with Information Technology and Communications!"
SUCCESS IN TRACKING DOWN ILLEGAL USE OF AMATEUR RADIO FREQUENCIES IN GERMISTON, GAUTENG.
Operators from SARL HAMNET Gauteng's self titled "Interference Investigation Unit" has successfully identified a company based in Germiston on the East Rand of Gauteng after many weeks of careful tracking, observation and intelligence gathering, after finding illegal transmissions observed on Amateur Radio repeater frequencies by other operators in the East Rand.
The operation was led by a investigating officer from ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) and after doing a interview and inspection of a few companies in the area of interest, the entity, providing services for the company on the premises, was identified after a short questioning.
The entity in question was illegally using the allocated Amateur Radio spectrum with illegal radio equipment between 430Mhz and 440Mhz for their commercial business and has been interfering with Ham Radio Repeaters all over Gauteng.
Details of the entity and company is withheld at this time since this is a ongoing legal process.
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IMPORTANT INFO!
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It is important to raise awareness that the use of Radio equipment, be it receivers or transmitters (or both) is regulated by law and ICASA. Most two-way radio equipment and the use on frequencies are subject to strict licensing control.
With the internet it is very easy to buy virtually anything online and unfortunately, two-way radio equipment, which is a controlled apparatus, is easily obtained and used in ways that infringes on other licensed users' spectrum / frequencies.
The purchase of Baofeng UV-5R radios over Temu, Bangood and other Chinese retailers, without the right license (Amateur Radio ONLY), is highly illegal and will land you a date with the men with cuffs. A R700 illegal radio will certainly lead to an expensive price to pay later on in Court if found in the hands of a person without the appropriate license. It is also illegal for any person / company to sell or program a two-way radio to anyone without the required ICASA dealers' license.
While most users we try and educate, insist they did not know, it only goes to show that there is a massive problem in South Africa regarding unregulated imports of controlled equipment that pose risks to other licensed users and who enable criminals and syndicates, as they can use Amateur Radio equipment to illegally jam or listen in on other people's radio networks.
We thank ICASA and the volunteers from the Amateur Radio fraternity and SARL HAMNET Gauteng who led the operation to crack down illegal use of Amateur Radio spectrum by commercial and private entities and who cause interference to other licensed users.
