Airport security

[JA Crux]

Interesting. It varies from place to place. I took my K2 to ZS6, on 12/11. Not
a good time to travel anywhere. The local airport was in total chaos ... NO
hand baggage allowed on most flights (but not all - why ?) except for plastic
carrier bags (MUST be see-thru)  and those were searched firstly by x-ray,
then again by hand in the boarding tunnel.  But nobody actually had any see
thru bags for us to use !    I managed to scrounge several regular
supermarket carrier bags and nested them together for added strength.
I wrapped the K2 in my newspaper and a shirt, stuck it in the bag and they
allowed me to carry it on board.
But at Amsterdam, nobody cared. Straight thru the x-ray machine, no questions
and I was on the way to ZS6.  Leaving ZS6 a week later I did have to explain
(briefly) what the K2 was, but it still went as carry-on baggage.

This year I brought home a load of suspicious looking stuff (another K2, and
miscellaneous goodies including 100 ft of ladderline, a reel of copper wire
etc)  from Dayton - with zero problems. My colleague was allowed to hand
carry a muti-section military whip antenna in a UPS mailing tube, even tho we
fully expected it to be a checked baggage item.  

I think the problems are over-stated. But I suggest you NEVER try to declare
up front that you have any specific electronic goodies with you. I did that
once with my TenTec OMNI-V (long before 9/11) and I was virtually arrested
(at Philly.)  I had to open the rig up in front of the captain of the 747 so
he could tell the airport guys that he was comfortable with having it on
board under my seat. Fortunately he had a screwdriver .....
In the meantime I watched other folk carrying ghetto blasters, tape recorders
and even a small TV set thru with no questions asked. I should have done the
same, just shoved it on the x-ray belt and walked thru.

Don't look for trouble. Wait till they ask. After all the hassle with the Omni
V,  I have always taken the low key approach. I even took a Hercules II
linear all the way from here to Tennessee and back, but only one person asked
me to open my carry on bag. The inspector took one look and then said OK.  I
did check with Customs, but they told me to just walk thru and say nothing
when I got back to UK..
 
John G3JAG

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[Jim Brown-10]

On Wed, 7 Jul 2004 09:12:27 +0100, JA Crux wrote:

>Interesting. It varies from place to place. I took my K2 to ZS6, on 12/11.

Yes. I took my FT100D through two airports last month (my K2/100 stays safe at home).
No problems with security either place. At O'Hare, an inspector asked what it was, but
only as a matter of curiosity.  "CB radio?" he asked. "No, ham radio," I replied. "Looks
like a real nice one."  "Yes, it is."  On the return trip, the crew at Sacramento didn't even
notice it.

Jim K9YC





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