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Not sure if its still true, but at point to have a ham radio license in Saudi Arabia you had to be a member of the royal family.

US State Dept has a list of countries your allowed to handle 3rd party traffic for as well that is kind of interesting:

http://www.arrl.org/third-part...

Before people start getting amateur licenses to transmit blockchain information, please note that doing so almost certainly violates FCC regulations in the U.S.

The FCC is very specific with respect to ham radio: transmissions must not involve "pecuniary interests" for any of the parties involved in the message. That includes parties that may indirectly benefit from the message.

Note the following from http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-s...:

Cross said that it does not matter what type of technology -- be it SSB, digital, slow scan TV or CW -- is used to transmit that communications: "It boils down to a simple four part test that you, as the control operator of the station, must ask yourself before you cause the station to transmit a message. One, is the communications expressly prohibited in the rules? For instance, is it music, is it obscenity, something like that. Two, is the communications transmitted for compensation? Whether it's paid or compensation in some other way, such as, 'If you get this message to a friend of mine who's on a sailboat in the middle of nowhere, I'll pay your light bill.' Or, 'Get this message to someplace and I'll buy you a new radio.' That's indirect compensation. Three, does the control operator have a pecuniary interest in the communications? That is, could he or she benefit financially? Stock trades on ham radio benefit you financially. And four, does the control operator's employer have an interest in the communications? If the answer to each of these questions is 'no,' then the communications is acceptable with the caveat that it is not on a regular basis, one which could be furnished alternatively through other radio services."

There are a very few instances where transmissions of "pecuniary interest" are permitted (e.g. teachers with ham licenses can demonstrate amateur radio to students while being paid their salaries, and hams can advertise sales of personal radio equipment on local nets), but I can just about guarantee that sending blockchain information would not be one of them.

No one is keeping anyone one from speaking. This isn't a 1A issue. An amateur radio license is a privilege, not a right. The FCC has ultimate control over the radio spectrum. If you do not have a license to operate in the ham bands then you are breaking the law. Pirate radio operators have been using the "free speech" argument for the last 70 years and have lost in court every single time.
There are plenty of rules that limit your speech over ham radio.
http://www.arrl.org/part-97-te...
In addtion to no commercial uses there are also rules against music, obscenity and encryption.

They'll take taxpayer money to fund their R&D without giving any of those developments back.

Interesting point, it seemed like back in the days of real space technology spinoffs that also included where individuals can get real techie information to do stuff. One example is Larry Baysinger W4EJA who built a VHF receiver to eavesdrop on Apollo 11 radio transmissions, http://www.arrl.org/eavesdropp... based on available information at the time. These days almost everything on the internet is generic illustrations from PPT presentations.

The ***good stuff*** is kept closely guarded by these private companies. i.e. nobody knows what SpaceX can do or what its plans are except what Elon says at press conferences.

It's ironic because these days people complain that the hobby is dying because there's mostly only old timers left; the old timers basically dug their own grave because of their clique-ish nature over morse code requirements, especially during the golden age of ham radio in the 90s before the Internet made a lot of people lose interest in radio. I suspect there would be a LOT more middle aged hams in the hobby right now if it hadn't been for that bullshit, and they could be getting their kids into radio too.

I disagree with that. There are a lot of middle aged and up people in ham radio...yes, but there are a lot of people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s in it too. It's growing among kids as well, though not as fast. A lot of them are using digital voice modes such as DMR or DStar and digital HF modes such as FT8. Satellite communications are popular among kids and people in those age groups as well as portable operating.

In the past decade, ham radio numbers in the US have actually grown 8.1% and the number of ham radio operators hit an all time high in 2015. Since then, we've added 20,000 licenses. There are almost 750,000 licensees in the US.

People think that the internet decreases interest in ham radio....but, just like cell phones didn't kill it, the internet doesn't. If anything, it adds to it. Digital voice modes like DMR and DStar are transported over the internet. Repeaters are linked to each other through internet connections... You can use psk reporter to see where in the world your signal is being heard using the internet... so on and so on. We don't need the internet to communicate, but it adds value when it is working.

20 percent of last years graduating class had Amateur tickets.

Graduating class? "What" graduating class. Ham radio doesn't have a "Graduating class" Do you mean new or upgrade licenses?

And why focus on the Amateur tickets, that's the highest level isn't it? Isn't the Technician license the one new hams would get?

And the ARRL itself says numbers are a problem, sure there's been some increase in new hams but the number of licenses going away via expiration or "Silent keys" is also going up.

Despite the optimistic influx of 32,196 newcomers last year, the net growth of 5,349 â" about 0.72% over December 2016 â" reflects some 27,000 expired or cancelled licenses in the FCC database over the past year. In making the case for changes to the entry-level license, the ARRL Boardâ(TM)s Entry-Level License Committee referred to âoethe large number of Baby Boomers (roughly born 1945 â" 65) [who] will soon be aging off the licensee rolls.â The committee predicted the likelihood of âoea significant decline in the number of hams, unless we take steps to reverse it.â

http://www.arrl.org/news/more-...

And I guess the hams on slashdot/websites/forums saying the hobby is graying and declining are wrong? I know someone who goes to Hamvention and has said themselves that the hobby is aging and in decline.

NO!!! Water molecule resonance is spread over a very large spectrum, ranging from microwaves till to infrared (just check a manual about molecular spectroscopy). This is due to the fact that there are many oscillation modes for H2O molecule (rotation, reciprocal vibration, etc.) . Just imagine having a system made of three weights connected by springs, and ask to yourself in how many modes it can oscillate. Then repeat the exercise replacing the springs with rigid bars, and ask yourself in how many modes you can rotate it.
The 2.4 GHz water resonance bogus claim appeared many years ago on QST and, like many urban legends spread by ham radio buffs, is misleading people from physical truth.

OSCAR-1 was launched in 1962 and all its design details were made public. Of course, it had no software. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... http://www.arrl.org/news/oscar...

Every consumer device with a radio is already tested and certified by the FCC and is guaranteed not to cause harmful interference

You are pathetically and arrogantly ignorant. Look up what Part 15 says about "unintentional radiators", and then think about what intentional radiators are allowed to do.

and is guaranteed to not block interference the FCC and their goons throw at it.

Very little of modern electronics is actually tested by the FCC directly. Most of it is based on manufacturer certifications -- and for a lot of Chinese electronics that certification is fudged or based on version 0.1 prototype of a device and not the current, shipping product.

ARRL did an amazing test of common amateur handhelds by setting up test gear at hamfests and examining the handhelds that attendees were carrying. They found that some models passed FCC standards only marginally. I've duplicated these tests with my own gear and found the same thing. These are the things that are "guaranteed not to cause harmful interference" or "not block interference" (whatever that means).

In fact, any device, even a certificated, legal transmitter, can cause harmful interference to another device. Ask anyone who works with radio systems in a close environment, like on a mountaintop repeater/communications site. I've already talked about a legal, unintentional radiator (GPS receiver) that causes harmful interference to a nearby radio system. That's just one example. Here's a second one: a receiver system in an aircraft generated a birdie that blanked out a New York Center ATC frequency. The pilot and co-pilot heard nothing from ATC, and only knew the channel was blocked and not just silent because the RX light with on saying something was being received. No audio at all.

Salvation Army? here you go:
http://www.arrl.org/news/salva...

If you would like to be a ham, go to this page and fill out the form. The folks at ARRL will send you information on becoming a ham. Also, read this part on getting licensed.

There is a lot more to it than CB, and a lot of the stuff you hear on CB shouldn't ever be done on ham radio. And ham radio is not a gift. Expect to do some work to become a ham.

If you would like to be a ham, go to this page and fill out the form. The folks at ARRL will send you information on becoming a ham. Also, read this part on getting licensed.

There is a lot more to it than CB, and a lot of the stuff you hear on CB shouldn't ever be done on ham radio. And ham radio is not a gift. Expect to do some work to become a ham.

To a great extent this is why ham radio is still around. I applaud folks good intentions to jump in and help, but counting on cell towers to stay up is courting a bigger disaster. There will be storms/earthquakes, etc that will take down the cell towers, the fiber that connects it, the electricity the supports it,and the diesel supply chain that keeps back-up generators running. Ham radio frequencies can reach hundreds and even thousands of miles to areas outside of an impacted area and are often the only line of communication in a disaster. We also need to enable the FM receivers that are built into modern cell to support broadcast of "critical, need to know information."

The FCC either farms out the enforcement (Amateur Radio is farmed out to the ARRL) or simply makes no enforcement action at all.

ARRL has no enforcement power. It does have an Official Observer program. These operators do look for improper operation and can document this behavior. They do send out notices of improper operation to ham operators (amateur radio is usually called ham radio). There are no teeth behind this notice. An important part of their role is sending out notices when hams operate particularly well.

Documentation of improper operating can end up being forwarded to the FCC in hopes that they will act on it. It is only the FCC that has actual enforcement power. Many submissions never get acted upon. The ones that seem to get immediate action are if you interfere with another licensed service (interfering with police, emergency medical, aviation, commercial broadcast).

Lack of enforcement by the FCC is a problem. Many field offices have been closed down. Lack of funding is definitely making the problem worse.

ARRL is a great organization. They do provide great training materials for proper operation. They do a lot of lobbying for the Amateur Radio Service. They work to protect the service from band encroachment. They watch for well intentioned but poorly worded legislation that impacts the service. For example: North Carolina has been considering legislation (SB 393) that would ban use of almost any electronic communication device in a vehicle. ARRL is organizing operators in the state to ask their representatives to amend the verbiage to exclude amateur radio. Mobile operation is an important part of the amateur radio service. Banning it would make much of the value that the amateur radio service provides impossible. In addition, amateur radio mobile operation has a stellar safety record.

ARRL cannot enforce, but it can educate and work to influence.

What you see in the above post is a mindless defense of an organization which I wasn't criticizing in the first place.

I'm a life member of the ARRL BTW. And still- the FCC has no budget to enforce. And the "Official Observers" send notices to stations who break the rules. That seems pretty "farmed out" to me.

What's next? If the FCC won't do enforcement maybe the ARRL should begin levying fines. It would be better than nothing at all being done.

The FCC either farms out the enforcement (Amateur Radio is farmed out to the ARRL) or simply makes no enforcement action at all.

ARRL has no enforcement power. It does have an Official Observer program. These operators do look for improper operation and can document this behavior. They do send out notices of improper operation to ham operators (amateur radio is usually called ham radio). There are no teeth behind this notice. An important part of their role is sending out notices when hams operate particularly well.

Documentation of improper operating can end up being forwarded to the FCC in hopes that they will act on it. It is only the FCC that has actual enforcement power. Many submissions never get acted upon. The ones that seem to get immediate action are if you interfere with another licensed service (interfering with police, emergency medical, aviation, commercial broadcast).

Lack of enforcement by the FCC is a problem. Many field offices have been closed down. Lack of funding is definitely making the problem worse.

ARRL is a great organization. They do provide great training materials for proper operation. They do a lot of lobbying for the Amateur Radio Service. They work to protect the service from band encroachment. They watch for well intentioned but poorly worded legislation that impacts the service. For example: North Carolina has been considering legislation (SB 393) that would ban use of almost any electronic communication device in a vehicle. ARRL is organizing operators in the state to ask their representatives to amend the verbiage to exclude amateur radio. Mobile operation is an important part of the amateur radio service. Banning it would make much of the value that the amateur radio service provides impossible. In addition, amateur radio mobile operation has a stellar safety record.

ARRL cannot enforce, but it can educate and work to influence.

What you see in the above post is a mindless defense of an organization which I wasn't criticizing in the first place.

I'm a life member of the ARRL BTW. And still- the FCC has no budget to enforce. And the "Official Observers" send notices to stations who break the rules. That seems pretty "farmed out" to me.

What's next? If the FCC won't do enforcement maybe the ARRL should begin levying fines. It would be better than nothing at all being done.

The FCC either farms out the enforcement (Amateur Radio is farmed out to the ARRL) or simply makes no enforcement action at all.

ARRL has no enforcement power. It does have an Official Observer program. These operators do look for improper operation and can document this behavior. They do send out notices of improper operation to ham operators (amateur radio is usually called ham radio). There are no teeth behind this notice. An important part of their role is sending out notices when hams operate particularly well.

Documentation of improper operating can end up being forwarded to the FCC in hopes that they will act on it. It is only the FCC that has actual enforcement power. Many submissions never get acted upon. The ones that seem to get immediate action are if you interfere with another licensed service (interfering with police, emergency medical, aviation, commercial broadcast).

Lack of enforcement by the FCC is a problem. Many field offices have been closed down. Lack of funding is definitely making the problem worse.

ARRL is a great organization. They do provide great training materials for proper operation. They do a lot of lobbying for the Amateur Radio Service. They work to protect the service from band encroachment. They watch for well intentioned but poorly worded legislation that impacts the service. For example: North Carolina has been considering legislation (SB 393) that would ban use of almost any electronic communication device in a vehicle. ARRL is organizing operators in the state to ask their representatives to amend the verbiage to exclude amateur radio. Mobile operation is an important part of the amateur radio service. Banning it would make much of the value that the amateur radio service provides impossible. In addition, amateur radio mobile operation has a stellar safety record.

ARRL cannot enforce, but it can educate and work to influence.

The FCC either farms out the enforcement (Amateur Radio is farmed out to the ARRL) or simply makes no enforcement action at all.

ARRL has no enforcement power. It does have an Official Observer program. These operators do look for improper operation and can document this behavior. They do send out notices of improper operation to ham operators (amateur radio is usually called ham radio). There are no teeth behind this notice. An important part of their role is sending out notices when hams operate particularly well.

Documentation of improper operating can end up being forwarded to the FCC in hopes that they will act on it. It is only the FCC that has actual enforcement power. Many submissions never get acted upon. The ones that seem to get immediate action are if you interfere with another licensed service (interfering with police, emergency medical, aviation, commercial broadcast).

Lack of enforcement by the FCC is a problem. Many field offices have been closed down. Lack of funding is definitely making the problem worse.

ARRL is a great organization. They do provide great training materials for proper operation. They do a lot of lobbying for the Amateur Radio Service. They work to protect the service from band encroachment. They watch for well intentioned but poorly worded legislation that impacts the service. For example: North Carolina has been considering legislation (SB 393) that would ban use of almost any electronic communication device in a vehicle. ARRL is organizing operators in the state to ask their representatives to amend the verbiage to exclude amateur radio. Mobile operation is an important part of the amateur radio service. Banning it would make much of the value that the amateur radio service provides impossible. In addition, amateur radio mobile operation has a stellar safety record.

ARRL cannot enforce, but it can educate and work to influence.

Current VHF distance records achieved by amateurs:

http://www.arrl.org/files/file...

The amateur 2 meter band, at 144 Mhz, is just above the commercial FM band. Note the distance record - 1,353 miles. Amateurs have a maximum power output of 1500w to a 200' tower where as your normal commercial broadcaster is running 50,000 watts or more to a 1,000 foot tower.

The word 'Ham' is known to come from a slang term used in the early days of radio and telegraphy.
See: http://www.arrl.org/ham-radio-...

The first wireless operators were landline telegraphers who left their offices to go to sea or to man the coastal stations. They brought with them their language and much of the tradition of their older profession. In those early days, every station occupied the whole spectrum with its broad spark signal. Government stations, ships, coastal stations and the increasingly numerous amateur operators all competed for time and signal supremacy in each other's receivers.
 
  Many of the amateur stations were very powerful. Two amateurs, working each other across town, could effectively jam all the other operations in the area. Frustrated commercial operators would refer to the ham radio interference by calling them "hams." Amateurs, possibly unfamiliar with the real meaning of the term, picked it up and applied it to themselves. As the years advanced, the original meaning has completely disappeared.

There is an entire body of stealth antennas that have been developed for legally and space-constrained homes, such as flagpole antennas, magnetic loops, folded attic dipoles, and even tuned metal gutters! Yet these are all compromise antennas due to their limited height from the ground , proximity to metal objects and wiring, and size (for the 40m band on HF, you need at least a 10m/33ft vertical plus one or more counterpoises of that length on the ground). Some HOAs are even more draconian and allow nothing outside of a strict approved list of items per the HOA contract. This means that even a 1/4 wavelength vertical wire antenna that is barely visible to the eye is disallowed. Ironically, it's these same antennas that contribute to RFI issues for neighbors, increase RF exposure and worsen problems that would not be present with a properly deployed non-compromise antenna. HOA agreements have a disproportionate impact on hams who tend to be older and often use ham radio to communicate with their friends. Some of these are ex-military and civilian volunteers who are part of the Military Auxiliary Radio System or Civil Air Patrol, or participate in volunteer civil safety services such as Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service and Skywarn that use HF frequencies as well.

The HOAs have been vociferously opposed to this act as an infringement of civil liberties and have written both to the FCC and to congress opposing this. Yet there are already FCC-mandated requirements for such things as satellite antennas on HOA-governed properties that supersede any restrictions that may be contained in HOA contracts on spectrum which is technically regulated by the FCC. The intent is not to replicated a nearly 200' tall antenna tower with stacked Yagis, but to provide reasonable accommodation. A 1/4 wavelength vertical wire antenna barely visible to the eye can literally communicate with the entire world, yet somehow the HOA board fanatics claim that even these should be restricted. Even one of the trapped multiband vertical antennas in a back yard can make a big difference in getting out and participating in radio, but they again want no part of it.

There is bias against what we don't know or don't want to know. Heck, people think that there is an environmental impact to these antennas. I'm hopeful this will get passed and withstand scrutiny in the inevitable court battle that will ensue over it. But in a country turning its back on science for sports, maybe even the discussion with the non-ham folks might actually activate a few brain cells.

"Researchers .. have created the WISP .. it sucks in radio waves emitted from a standard, off-the-shelf RFID reader .. and converts them into electricity.

Similarly to how a crystal set works, that uses the ambient RF field to power itself, as invented around 1900. And it doesn't 'suck' anything out of the air, it absorbs rf energy through electro-magnetic induction. ref

Oh no. Whatever shall I do?

Just go here: http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-p... Looks like the FCC is trying to protect operator license privacy.

All around the country, amateur radio operators hold HAMfests. http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-a... These too have been declining in numbers and they have less and less radio gear and more swap meet junk. But, I go to them and you will find old electronics, parts, computers, radios, and if course junk. The bigger events will have commercial booths as well selling electronic parts, radios, and computers. Most of the attendees are ham radio types. The events almost always offer radio license exams for a small fee. The FCC license is for transmission in the amateur frequencies. Modern amateur radios have digital interfaces and operating modes. There is an admission charge as these events are fund raisers for the radio club sponsors.

Yeah, I get that the name implies it operates at ham frequencies. However, the articles all say 900 Mhz.

From here, you will see that the 33cm amateur band runs from 902 to 928MHz, with all modes (except "pulse") authorized for all classes of amateur licensee except novice.

If you want to see what is allocated where, then this chart might be handy. Or this table may be more readable.

If the confusion is that you think a reference to "900 MHz" in marketing documents means 900.000 MHz only, then you should know that, in general, a reference like this means "an allocation somewhere around 900 MHz" and not the exact frequency. For example, when a ham says he's operating on "2 meters", he doesn't mean he's on 150.000 MHz (2 meter wavelength in free space), he's somewhere between 144 and 148 MHz. Likewise, when a public safety agency says they are operating on "700 MHz", they don't mean 700.000MHz, they mean in the allocation for public safety users up near 700 MHz (which actually extends into the 800's.)

Let's be real here. Radio waves _can_ be harmful. They may seem magical but they really can be damaging if they deposit too much energy into living tissue. For 2450 MHz into a 9 dBi antenna, the 'safe' distance for a controlled environment is 0.518 meters (1.700 feet) - that's an environment where everyone is aware of the radiation and the public is not allowed. In an uncontrolled environment (where the public may be exposed) the 'safe' distance is 1.140 meters (3.739 feet). I put safe in quotes because the existing FCC rules are very conservative.

If you're not familiar with MPE, there are interesting docs available:

http://www.arrl.org/fcc-rf-exp...
https://www.fcc.gov/encycloped...

Interestingly, the max power you can be exposed to is very frequency-dependent. Freqs that are closer to body-sized parts are more likely to couple to the RF and absorb more power so the max permissible power is lower.

The LF spectrum in question (135-137 and 472-479 KHz) is not used for BPL (broadband over power lines). The power line communication (PLC) on those frequencies is lower bandwidth data that is used by the utility itself, to control the grid and for the remotely readable power meters that many utilities have installed. Citation for the proposed band sharing: http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-p...

Now might be a good time to invest in CB Radios or a HAM license and station.

The only laws that would exist under that situation would be those that can be enforced at gunpoint. A license for HAM equipment would be the least of your worries.

Now might be a good time to invest in CB Radios or a HAM license and station.

I really don't get this - repeating your callsign every 15 minutes isn't particularly onerous. If it really bothers you, just set up your transmitter to kick it out in CW every so often. The encryption does makes sense for St. John's Ambulance (an emergency medical charity if I'm reading it right). US hams have asked for encryption for use in ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) so personal information can be transmitted appropriately. Perhaps the UK's experience with this will move the FCC to act on it. Or perhaps not, what the FCC needs right now is a giant enema - that's the only way I see it moving along.

Let's hope not. The ARRL has come out against a recent petition to allow encryption

The rejection article at arrl.org sums it up nicely:

In denying the petition, the FCC concluded, “Thus, while the proposal could advance one purpose of the Amateur Radio Service — value to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications — it would undermine other characteristics and purposes of the service. Therefore, we agree with the comments that say, in various ways, that amending the rules to allow encryption to obscure the meaning of messages transmitted during emergency services operations and related training exercises would not improve or enhance the operation of Amateur Service stations or otherwise be in the public interest.”

And that's really it. Fact is, ARS has handled info without encryption for a long itme now without issue, and the inclusion of encryption would change the nature of Ham radio forever, which might be nice for the emcomm people, but a disaster for the rest of us. We have remarkable access to radio, but it's because what we do is in the open, if we're doing encrypted work, a whole lot of that access, and who they allow to do that access will change. If you have to have encryption, go commercial.

I really don't get this - repeating your callsign every 15 minutes isn't particularly onerous. If it really bothers you, just set up your transmitter to kick it out in CW every so often. The encryption does makes sense for St. John's Ambulance (an emergency medical charity if I'm reading it right). US hams have asked for encryption for use in ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) so personal information can be transmitted appropriately. Perhaps the UK's experience with this will move the FCC to act on it. Or perhaps not, what the FCC needs right now is a giant enema - that's the only way I see it moving along.

Indeed.

I really don't get this - repeating your callsign every 15 minutes isn't particularly onerous. If it really bothers you, just set up your transmitter to kick it out in CW every so often. The encryption does makes sense for St. John's Ambulance (an emergency medical charity if I'm reading it right). US hams have asked for encryption for use in ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) so personal information can be transmitted appropriately. Perhaps the UK's experience with this will move the FCC to act on it. Or perhaps not, what the FCC needs right now is a giant enema - that's the only way I see it moving along.

Here's the problem I have with LED bulbs - Radio Frequency Interference. Many of the cheap bulbs imported do not meet FCC regulations for RF emissions and cause heaps of interference to broadcast AM radio and Amateur radio operations. A fellow ham did a little research, but we need a lot more data from the manufacturers regarding their Part 15 compliance and radiation levels before users of the radio spectrum can switch to LED bulbs.

If you think Morse sent over a Ham radio connection is equivalent to a telegram, then you're missing the point. It's only equivalent if someone prints it off at the far end and couriers it to the recipient.

There is a national traffic system through the ARRL that takes written messages, sends them (sometimes via CW), transcribes them at the far end, and delivers them. Maybe not courier, but at least by phone and usually with a followup delivery.

There are people who think this is the bee's knees and devote a large part of their life to doing it.

There are QRP versions of the regular DXCC/VUCC awards for working 100 countries on HF or 100 grid squares on VHF+. I usually run 100W or so, so the vast majority of my QSOs don't count. It's been hard enough getting 200 DXCC entities using 100W and a multiband dipole.

Just because you can build a jammer, doesn't mean it's legal to operate one. It's certainly not legal to import them, that's for damn certain. http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-i...

(assuming by 'regs' we are all talking about amateur radio specifically, because outside of that there certainly is encryption in use)

Lots of commentary here, but this is US FCC-centric. Probably the same lines of thinking.

Basically encryption (to a point) is makes it impossible to enforce... actually most of part 97 entirely... let alone detect that a violation has occurred. Keep in mind that we are (for the most part) self-policed which raises the burden even more. If the FCC couldn't decode it, you'd expect us to?

Example: how can you be sure a communication is noncommercial in nature if you cannot understand it? You can't... and that is the first requirement - at least on the US side.

97.1 Basis and purpose.

The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:

(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.

The full document is here, btw.

...because they're too greedy. Let's go down the list of what I've read here so far:

1a. CB radio: this band, 11 meters, was formerly an amateur radio band and was taken away to make the CB band. It became the total morass it is now when they stopped licensing it.

1b. This also shows what happens to a band in the absence of regulation and licensing. You can get away with this in the ISM portions of the microwave bands due to the massive propagation losses; this was originally the thought for using 11 meters for the CB band, but they didn't factor in amps. giant antennas, and especially ionospheric propagation: hence the need for "CB" bands up in the UHF range (aka GMRS/FRS/etc).

2. You "free band" too much and start interfering with people who actually care, and you'll find out how fast they come after you. This largely depends on what country you are in and what band. As an example, ask the Brazilian guy who was on US military frequencies in NYC, or the people regularly busted for jamming or at least operating on police frequencies.

3. As pointed out repeatedly, this has already been invented both by hams and commercially.

4. Encryption on amateur radio bands is explicitly banned in most countries including the USA and Canada; strangely, this doesn't seem to exist in the ITU regs. I'm sure the thought on this is that Amateur Radio must not be used for business or as a replacement for other communications except in emergencies; also Amateurs regularly communicate with foreign countries, so everyone wants to be able to listen to them. If you look at the preamble of the relevant section of the law, the part about "fostering goodwill" would be inherently violated with encryption. Remember, everyone getting so gung-ho with EMCOMM is a relatively recent phenomena, and the primary purposes have always been experimentation such. It's sad that newer people to the hobby and even the national organizations like ARRL/CRRL/JARL/RSGB/etc seem to have forgotten this.

5. All nations' regulations follow (more or less) the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) regulations as a guideline, though every nation usually makes changes. As long as these changes don't impact other countries, it doesn't matter much. I believe this is part of the reason the world is organized into 3 regions: Europe, Africa, and the old USSR and its satellites are Region 1, the New World including Greenland is Region 2, and the rest of Asia and Oceania is Region 3.

Oh, and just to drive home the interference point, I had to jump on ARRL's web site and these were on the front page:

http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/O...
http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-c...

We've had it for a long time, it's called Ham Radio. Sure you have to get a license but it's trivial nowadays.

The ARRL actually gives grants for this.

http://www.arrl.org/the-arrl-f...

So does FEMA, including to schools.

https://www.citizencorps.fema....

Although getting involved in something statewide might be biting off more than you can chew.

http://www.emergencymgmt.com/s...

Check to see if there's an ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) in your area.

They might have some useful contacts to get things moved, with the simple request that they be able to use your tower when there's an emergency. (I think they also like some inside space where they can set up their gear, but it doesn't have to be dedicated space ... they were looking at using our conference room 'til they determined that we didn't have good propagation from our town hall))

If they don't have the contacts, they might be able to help you raise funds ... like at their various hamfests or relay events. Cash might seem like the best thing to ask for, but in-kind donations go a hell of a lot further and can sometimes be easier to get ... it just requires having good contacts or lots of cold calls (trucking companies, crane companies, etc ... might also ask telecom companies)

Hell, get your ham licence and put up a 100' tower. They cannot regulate amateur radio antenna installations, either.

Was going to mod you up, but the ARRL only says they're working on it.

Perhaps you could clarify about being restricted from putting up an antenna:

http://www.arrl.org/restrictive-antenna-ordinances

Are you being prevented from putting up an antenna by ordinance or by covenants?

Clarification: Each leg of a dipole is 1/4 wave in length. I went ahead and linked an ARRL reference on how to make one.

For receiving, a random wire antenna works just as well. A proper dipole for 40m, for example, can be unwieldy.

Clarification: Each leg of a dipole is 1/4 wave in length. I went ahead and linked an ARRL reference on how to make one.

Write an article and submit to ARRL's QST and join and post to the AMSAT mailing lists as there are quite a few keys there as well. Talk to your local amateur radio club and get the word out and you might even talk to your area coordinator.

You can collect a lot of morse code traffic in the wild. Just get yourself a good HF receiver with some filtering (notch filter and a DSP). Set up a dipole as your receive antenna cut to 1/4 the wavelength of the band you will be monitoring. Here is a handy band plan to guide you to where you will be able to find morse code which is normally called CW for continuous wave communications.

I recommend this over any attempt to collect samples directly from hams. I know I do morse code differently when using the radio for casual contacts than I do making exam tapes back when I was a volunteer examiner.

Another attribute that will affect morse code transmission is the type of morse key being used. I use either a straight key which is completely manual and my dots and dashes do vary depending on fatigue, or a paddle key where one paddle makes a dot and the other key makes a dash. The dots and dashes are consistent in duration but the space between them will vary depending on fatigue. I did try using a vibroplex key. The dash will vary in duration but the dots are constant in both duration and time between each dot. Most of my friends still use them (A mutual acquaintance owns the company), but I found myself constantly having to slow down because I would let that pendulum swing speed up my keying.

Happy hunting and 73.

Using lasers for communications is not new. HAM Radio geeks have been experimenting with it for some time. The big problems seem to be maintaining the alignment of the laser, and atmospheric attenuation of the signal. That aside, the bandwidth of visible light signals will be awesome, compared to longer wavelengths.

Then this discussion might be the impetus for you to switch on and have a listen! There's still an awful lot of interesting-tending-to-weird stuff on HF these days. If you have an SSB-compatible receiver, you can listen in on amateur radio folks working the world. The US version of the bands we use are listed here in several formats - they're mostly representative of ham usage worldwide.

I've got my own impetus. It's Hurricane season! WX4NHC 14.325Mhz.

Then this discussion might be the impetus for you to switch on and have a listen! There's still an awful lot of interesting-tending-to-weird stuff on HF these days. If you have an SSB-compatible receiver, you can listen in on amateur radio folks working the world. The US version of the bands we use are listed here in several formats - they're mostly representative of ham usage worldwide.

Most of Europe bans the transmission of third party messages, perhaps because telecommunications was historically a government monopoly there. (The UK is a notable exception; third party messages are allowed.) Many European countries have now privatized telecom but the rules remain. Most countries in the Americas, and some in Africa and Asia, allow third party messages.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the major amateur radio organization in the US, has a page that lists the countries that have third party message agreements with the US. http://www.arrl.org/third-party-operating-agreements

The Technician license in the US is currently the entry level license. (At one time there was a lesser license, Novice; it is no longer issued but hams who already have them can continue to hold and renew them.) The "full license for everything" is Amateur Extra.