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Field Day 2004
pa3gvr writes "This weekend many Amateur Radio operators (HAMs) throughout the US and Canada will take their equipment to public parks, campgrounds and Emergency Operation Centers. With all the coverage that BPL has gotten lately it might be interesting to see what this Amateur Radio thing actually is. Field Day is setup as an exercise for HAMs to test their readiness and ability to operate under less than ideal (emergency) conditions. Besides the training and exercise aspect, this is also a social event. Visitors are welcome to have a look and maybe even operate some of the equipment. K4FAU, Florida Atlantic University ARC and Boca Raton ARC will be setting up their Field Day station on the Boca Raton, FL FAU campus."
BPL= Broadband over Power Lines...
Which all users of RF technology of any kind consider a boogyman unknown because power lines weren't meant to carry any sort of signaling at all and therefore are completely unshielded. It's just plain a theoretical nightmare if this technology were to be widely deployed... nobody's quite sure how bad the problems for other applications would be.
This may be a nothingness, or it may be the death of ham radio depending on who you listen to.
A good line from ARRL is at:
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/
Seems wireless internet would be far cheaper and more effective. Plus, some BPL solutions rely on 802.11 for the last 25 feet or so.
I don't know, but it works for me.
I think I remember seeing articles about how people used HAM radio's during the 9/11 attacks to call for help, report situations, and communicate with others. Of course wi-fi wasn't as popular then, but I believe HAM radios would have the edge on distance. Some wi-fi access points don't have coverage more than a few hundred feet.
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I think it's been shown in an official comment or ruling by the FCC that encryption is not wholly illegal on ham radio. The wording of the rules states that amateurs aren't supposed to obscure the meaning of their communications.
;-) states that it's okay to use an encoding for authorization. So you could check your IMAP email over ham packet if you used the CRAM-MD5 method of authentication. You wouldn't currently be allowed to use SSL for the whole session, but CRAM-MD5 allows you to authenticate with a shared secret without exposing the secret over the air.
The specific ruling that I am too lazy to look up
I realize you're a troll, but...
The reason Ham radio has it ALL OVER any internet technology is that it requires exactly TWO pieces of equipment to communicate effectively across great distances.
When the 'net goes out, Ham radio will still work.
You know you're a geek if you've ever replied to a tagline.
Not to mention when the phone system and satellite phone goes down. Impossible you say? Recall the LA fires of last year: no cell (towers burned town), regular phone didn't work (switching stations burned, and overloaded) and overloaded satellites. What was left? Ah, the obsolete HAM radio.
I don't know, but it works for me.
I've been preaching the benefits of this for several years now and the local ham community is starting to come around. More and more local Amateur Radio Emergency Service / Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (ARES/RACES) groups are becoming involved. 802.11 networks linked via packet radio TCP/IP based networks, with gateways to the internet as well as radio links amongst themselves.
See http://wetnet.net for details about our local Field Day plans.
N7IPB
Sec. 97.113, paragrah (4):
(4) Music using a phone emission except as specifically provided elsewhere in this section; communications intended to facilitate a
criminal act; messages in codes or ciphers intended to obscure the meaning thereof, except as otherwise provided herein; obscene or indecent words or language; or false or deceptive messages, signals or identification
One-time passwords and challenge/response authentication are indeed used in some ham applications. Many hams have a knee-jerk reaction to any mention of cryptography, though, so be prepared to quote chapter and verse. The key phrase there is 'intended to obscure the meaning'. You're not obscuring any information, just proving who you are.
Amplifying on why some emergency services are staying with HF and are NOT moving to the newer UHF/Microwave stuff, and why high-frequency/shortwave communications are important:
A number of services use a technique known as NVIS (Near-Vertical-Incidence-Skywave.) NVIS is basically sending your signals nearly straight up, with a well-chosen frequency that gets reflected almost straight back down by the ionosphere. These frequencies are nearly always in the HF bands (~3-30 MHz).
This particular mode of communications is really helpful in situations where there is no infrastructure and no line of sight. A classic example is forest fires -- the fire often knocks out communications repeaters, and often mountains/hills isolate pockets of firefighters with no line of site communications; NVIS overcomes this as the signals are usually coming in from directly above. It also works well for islands or really any regional communications with limited support infrastructure.
As mentioned elsewhere, you can run pretty much any modulation scheme (digital data, voice, whatever) using NVIS. But both sides need to hear the signals, and the concern is that BPL could prevent one side (likely the home base/communications center side rather than those in the field) from being able to hear, thus preventing any useful communications.
I have to speak up in response to this. I'm proud to have been active in amateur radio for 27 years.
The Amateur Radio SERVICE was never intended (nor needed, IMO) as a path for checking one's E-mail. If you want to do that via radio link, you need only invest in a wireless network card for your laptop, and hook up with any WiFi hotspot in your part of the country.
Permit me to quote from a few of the sections of FCC Part 97, in response to your specific queries regarding the "outdated restrictions" you refer to.
More specifically, let's start by looking at Section 97.1, Paragraphs a through e. Pay particular attention to Paragraph 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."
While it is possible to extend the term 'Emergency communications' to include E-mail, keep in mind that this is amateur RADIO, not amateur E-mail. We already have a perfectly usable infrastructure in place for E-mail, and I don't see why amateur RADIO needs to supplement it.
As to encryption, yes, it is prohibited for use on amateur frequencies. That point has been debated many times in many places, and the reasoning is simple enough. Given the service's strong emphasis on support of volunteer communications assistance, in times of disaster or other emergencies, the FCC believes (rightly so, IMO) that the use of encryption in amateur radio is contrary to fulfilling that basic purpose.
In short: Encryption is simply not necessary for any part of amateur radio, with the single exception of satellite command and control signals transmitted from an earth station. The FCC allows encryption for that signal type alone for reasons which should be obvious.
If I may be so bold: You appear to be trying to fit amateur radio into the mold of something that it is not (wireless data networking, specifically Internet connectivity), and was never intended to be.
Also remember that another of the primary purposes for the existence of the service is to foster experimentation and ongoing learning in the realm of radio and communications theory (in short: a whole lot of tinkering with electronic goodies -- yes, that means learning how to solder), as spelled out in 97.1 paragraphs b, c, and d.
If you're going up for your Technician license exam, you should already be fairly familiar with Part 97, and have (hopefully) taken at least section 97.1 to heart. Based on your statements in your post, I get the distinct impression that you have not.
My questions to you are: Why did you decide to get your ham license? What do you expect to get out of the hobby? What are you planning to contribute to it?
Amateur radio, like any other hobby -- for that matter, like Life itself -- is a near-perfect mirror. You get out exactly what you put into it.
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies