Unauthorized Use of Flex Radios

Jack6600

How can this guy, in Naperville Illinois, operate Flex Radio Equipment out side the Ham bands? He's licensed in the Bahamas and I don't think he has a MARS license.

NOTICE OF UNAUTHORIZED OPERATION FCC DOC-414652A1 091925.pdf

David Decoons, wo2x

I guess he bought a Flex second hand that was opened for MARS operation.

Jack6600

This guy (C6AND) was involved with HF Day Trading using Ham Radio for commercial use. The signal he was transmitting was a 25KHz wide digital burst. Unless it was a commercial version of a flex, I don't the 8000 series can transmit data that wide.

Here's an email from Joe K9UR that was shared with hams in the Chicago area.

My speculation is high frequency financial securities trading via hf radio. if you follow the high frequency financial securities HF trading activity   - likely conducting low latency trade arbitrage with the data centers  for CME in and around Aurora Illinois. Given proximity it makes much sense. To add, the  home address is not of any USA licensed ham. Corp structure of ownership reveals a well hidden series of LLC’s and an attorney copied on various documents who is specializing in telecommunications law      An Andrew Nathan Mart signed a quick claim property deeds for that address from Arrow LLC and light-stream  networks LLC.  Who ever did this went to some significant  measures to hide ownership.   C6AND is Bahamian callsign bearing same first name and initials.   Andrew M.      With the type and cost  of gear being used and cost of antennas including towers and log periodic (see google and bing street view) at that home,  consensus of web sleuthing  is no way this is some old ham playing on free-band or pirate radio for fun.   It’s a well hidden corporation skirting FCC rules for the name of arbitrage / financial securities trading profits.   At least that’s my solid bet.   Silly that it took so long for enforcement action with zero NAL or forfeiture. More of this to come- band incursion that is.  Pretty much impossible to stop.     Whack a mole begins …   Meanwhile. Hams will have HOA approved  antennas but with no bands left to use   

Just to add.  I’ve been following stuff like this for almost a decade. C6AND, the callsign registered address in Bahamas is to West Bay Street, P.O. Box AP 59233-280, Nassau, Bahamas is associated with Providence Advisors Limited, a Bahamian-owned financial services firm. They operate out of the Goodman's Bay Corporate Centre in Nassau. Providence Advisors reportedly manages over $300 million in assets and emphasizes customized strategies based on each client's goalsAndrew Nathan Mart is a Bahamas-based businessman who has been involved in international investment disputes. He was the majority owner of Luminastra Ltd., a Nevis-based entity, and a resident of the Bahamas during key events in a legal case brought by JTC Skywave Investments Ltd. and Harald McPike, an Austrian investor domiciled in the BahamasJTC Skywave is a private investment entity registered in the British **** Islands and controlled by Harald McPike, a Bahamas-based Austrian investor. Its known activities center around private equity-style investments, such as its $14 million stake in Luminastra Ltd., which led to litigation over alleged fraudQuantRes Founded by Harald McPike, QuantRes is a Bahamas-based quantitative investment manager. Its business model—“data-powered trading platform”—strongly implies algorithmic strategies that could include HFT and would benefit from ultra-low-latency links to CME Group facilities near Aurora, IL

Joe K9UR

Eric-KE5DTO

A few thoughts on this subject. FlexRadio has always taken the responsibility as a radio manufacturer to do our best to ensure our products are not used in ways contrary to local regulations. Rather than having a "don't cut this wire" approach, we have a process to adjust the region setting for a radio as well as a separate process for unlocking a radio. Both of these processes require submission of information that would give adequate reason for the additional capabilities such as a MARS license or a verified license in another region. The TURF file provided for such changes is specific to a serial number and cannot be used to unlock other radios.

As stated in the US amateur radio regulations, a transmission is the responsibility of the control operator. Ultimately, the responsibility lands there legally. But we have done a number of things to ensure that our products are not easily used nefariously.

Clearly it is the responsibility of the owner of an unlocked radio (for MARS, etc) to return the radio to the original locked state prior to selling the device. I believe this is part of the documented process for such groups.

While FlexRadio is committed to our customer's privacy, we will work with authorities to help identify our radio products that are being used for illegal transmission purposes.