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Build Your Own Cell tower
BlakeCaldwell writes "If you're the type who dreads being dragged kicking and screaming into the use of a cell phone, Samsung sells their Long Range Cordless Phone. With an incredible (for landlines) 30-mile range, the set includes a caller ID-capable LCD and is able to communicate with the base-station, acting as an intercom."
It's not so much that I don't want a cell phone, it's more that I don't see any use paying $40-50 a month for something I don't use more than 100 minutes a month. Even if I only got five miles of range out of it, it would easily cover 99% of my needs.
How am I supposed to fit a pithy, relevant quote into 120 characters?
This sounds to me like it'll be short-lived. More than ten people in your neighborhood get one and it's all over.
Could these be adapted for slow (modem speed) wifi?
Why stop there! I'll build my own power source, my own security service, my own medical facility...ahhh...why the hell do I need government now?
$0.02,
ptd
I'm an animal lover -- they're delicious!
FWIW I avoid cell phones because the cost is just too damn high for what little I need one for. I'd consider pay-as-you-go without some stupid limit placed upon how soon I need to use up my time or artificial wallet robbing schemes
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Most of these things are illegal in the US. They use frequecies assigned to other services, and power that far exceeds limits in FCC part 15.
I don't know about other places, but using that in the US risks huge fines ($10,000).
If God had meant for man to see the sunrise, He would have scheduled it later in the day.
I live downtown in a *small* rural community. I can take my 900Mhz cordless to the corner store, the parks, and a couple of restaurants without it dropping calls. Plus, I have bonus of looking like Zack Morris as I stroll around with my big-ass phone.
You create your own reality - Leave mine to me.
Only friends and family know my cellphone number and perhaps my car garage.
I've never been bothered by telemarketers on my cell phone yet. With this, you can get harrassed by them all day long.
With this, you'll need to leave town to get peace and quiet.
now I can have fake "cell phone" conversations with my "girlfriend" on my own network, with no chance of that phone ringing halfway through to give me away...
I read slashdot for the sigs...
I have a hard enough time finding my portable phone in my house. Now it can get lost within 30 miles? Eep.
...one wonders about security. I used to have a friend who listened in on local cordless phone calls years ago. How long till there's an exploit and people start getting their lines listened in on? Also, with this, forget about calling the home phone and trusting that because your kid answers it that they are actually at home. "Sure mom. No, I'm no three towns over at the park with my friends. I'm doing homework in my room." If it works, fabulous. I just have minor nitpicking concerns about it.
If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
These are very popular in other countries, but because of power and frequency restrictions are illegal in the US.
Ham radio operators have been doing this for a long time. And they can get more distance, and they aren't annoying the FCC.
Anyone have any idea about the security of these things?
I think this would be good for the 50 and up crowd who would like the convience of a Cell phone for emergency use but cant justify a monthly bill or minutes that expire of 90 days (pre-pay). For $300 you can get a quality cordless phone with a distance wide enough for everyday needs like shopping, walks etc.
How bout a few people in every city buy a base station. I wonder if the phones will hop between cells??? We could create an open source cell phone network with no monthly charges across the world. Just need a little Internet bandwidth, and some VOIP...
These have been around for years. Why is this news? They are not legal for general use in the US.
*Pages 1--4 from Microsoft Word - 45968.doc* Federal Communications Commission DA 05- 336 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D. C. 20554 In the Matter of Pang Cheng, d/ b as Best Wok 1 Westville, New Jersey File No. EB- 03- PA- 029 NAL/ Acct. No. 200432400001 FRN: 0009- 3455- 62 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: February 7, 2005 Released: February 9, 2005 By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order (" Order"), we deny a petition for reconsideration filed by Pang Cheng, d/ b as Best Wok (" Best Wok"), and we affirm the Forfeiture Order issued May 21, 2004, in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($ 10,000) for willful violation of Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (" Act"). 2 At the time of the noted violation Best Wok owned a restaurant located at 1070 Delsea Drive, Westville, New Jersey. The noted violation involves Best Wok's operation of radio transmitting equipment on the frequency 145.8376 MHz without a license issued by the Commission. II. BACKGROUND 2. The Enforcement Bureau (" Bureau') received a complaint alleging that Best Wok was operating radio transmitting equipment on the two meter amateur frequency 145.835 MHz without a license. On October 16, 2001, and January 22, 2003, the Bureau sent Best Wok letters warning that operation of radio transmitting equipment without a license is in violation of Section 301 of the Act and could subject it to penalties. The certified mail return receipts indicate that Best Wok received the warning letters on October 25, 2001, and January 27, 2003, respectively. 3. On February 28, 2003, an agent from the Commission's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, field office (" Philadelphia Office") drove to the Westville, New Jersey, area to determine whether Best Wok was operating radio transmitting equipment without a license. At approximately 10: 45 a. m., the agent began monitoring a constant radio signal on or near 145.835 MHz. At 11: 10 a. m., the agent used direction finding techniques to determine that the source of the transmissions was the Best Wok restaurant 1 The Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture(" NAL"), NAL/ Acct No. 200432400001 (Enf. Bur., Philadelphia Office, released February 26, 2004) and the Forfeiture Order, 19 FCC Rcd 8939 (Enf. Bur. 2004), were captioned "Best Wok." Information submitted with the petition for reconsideration indicates that Best Wok is a sole proprietorship business owned by Pang Cheng. According, we have recaptioned this matter as "Pang Cheng, d/ b as Best Wok." 2 47 U. S. C. 301. 1 Federal Communications Commission DA 05- 336 2 at 1070 Delsea Drive, Westville, New Jersey. 4. At 11: 30 a. m. on February 28, 2003, the agent entered the Best Wok restaurant and inspected the radio transmitting equipment in the presence of the restaurant manager, Mr. Sae C. Hauwo, who admitted that Best Wok was operating a long range cordless telephone system. The system included a base unit at the restaurant and a mobile unit in Mr. Hauwo's vehicle. The agent used frequency-measuring equipment to determine that the base unit was transmitting on 145.8376 MHz. Mr. Hauwo stated that neither Best Wok nor any of its employees had a license to operate the radio transmitting equipment. Additionally, Mr. Hauwo asserted that, when Best Wok received the October 16, 2001, warning letter, it ceased operation of the lon
Bruce Perens.
So, what I would like to know is: why is there no cell phone specifically designed for home use? If the cellphone companies want us to get rid of landlines why have they not designed phones that can actually be used in a home environment?
I was a sucker for car phones: much better reception, easier to hold and work with than those tiny cellphones.
I want a 'stationary' cellphone for the house with an antenna on the roof for excellent reception so I don't have to use my tiny little cell phone.
...would be awesome -- and cheap!
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
All I have to say is that I want it, imagine, you own a bussiness where you really dont go much more than 10 miles from your office, this makes it so you never miss a call... I want it.
Hello brain cancer! And you thought cell phones were zapping your brain...
One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.
:)
a smiley is a perfectly fine form of communication.
I hate cat-biting-tongue ASCII art.
According to TFA, this is just a cordless phone, which means you would have to carry around both this handset as well as your regular cellphone unless you know you won't be out of range on a given day. You still have to pay for your landline. More appealing to me would be if somebody made a high performance tabletop cellphone (with external antenna) so I could ditch the landline altogether.
Nexsan Technologies SATA RAID
Line of sight is an issue here. The general formula for line of sight to the horizon takes the square root of the antenna height in feet and multiplies by a factor (which changes depending on frequency and stuff; but it's always less than 2) to get the range in miles. Thirty miles sounds a tad optimistic.
More like you'll have people get these, in a neighborhood a Ham, like my father lives in, and the amature radio blows the phone out of the water. Next thing you know the neighbors are whining about how the amature radio operator is wrecking things for everyone, in something they didn't even use before, but he's been using for 40+ years.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
From TFA:
Either way, if you want to use your landline anywhere in town (mountains and buildings aside)
That means it doesn't work inside any building, including your own apartment. Sorry, doesn't work for me.
Except that this phone doesnt exist. Its not on the Samsung website. hmmmmmm
This is not a Samsung model. In fact it is made by several Chinese factories as fakes of Samsung, SENAO, etc. They normally use HAM radio frequencies or comercial VHF/UHF. Due to the fact that they are only certified in China it is illegal to use in most countries.
Duh :)
If you operate one of these devices in the U.S., and it operates on ANY frequency used by the military, government, business, or amateur radio, you will be hunted down and taken out--by the FCC.
The price of the unit may be cheaper than cell phone bills, but add on that $10,000 fine and seizure of the equipment and it gets real expensive real quick.
And in case you think you're safe because it's in an amateur band, you should note that amateur radio operators practice RDF (Radio Direction Finding) or "Foxhunting" for fun. They will hunt you down, and the FCC accepts evidence from licensed operators in cases against violators.
Jim
It didn't seem to go into enough detail on that regard. What frequencies does it use, how many channels are available, etc.
My 900MHz phone works ok within 30ft of the base and starts to pickup all sorts of RFI as I get further away. I suppose in a rural area I could get double the range.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Does anyone know how many channels this device is capable of?
What frequencies does it run on?
I see it highly likely that if this thing gets popular, it will end up similar to the original wireless phones in the early 80's with one antenna on a high tower that covers an entire city. Unfortunately, only 30 people would be able to use it in a city at one time.
Please read these before buying/using these phones...
l m l
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2002/DA-02-453A1.htm
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2002/DA-02-2474A1.ht
4. On July 27, 2001, agents from the Miami Office visited Lightning's retail store located at 231 E. Flagler Street, Unit #1, Miami, Florida. The agents saw several long-range, cordless telephones on display at the store, including a Super Phone CT-9000, a Prolink CT-6000CID, and an Optima OP8810. A salesperson
offered to sell one of the units to the agents. The long-range cordless telephones displayed at the store were capable of causing serious interference to aviation communications and were
not approved6 by the Commission for use in the United States.
Toil is Stupid. Don't be Stupid.
i am not joking. In asia, people used to use/stll use these things and you could pick up tons of phone calls on FM radios. Was funny to listen to but certainly not something i would use.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Thats your brain cooking from the cordless phone radiation ...
---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
I was wondering the same.
Why not just get Vonage, if the money is the only concern ($14.99 plan comes with 500 minutes)?
Cmon guys - embrace new technology. You remember what it was like without electricity? :)
I think a lot of it is to do with the pricing plans in the US - don't you guys sometimes pay for incoming calls? That's just bizarre
Get your own free personal location tracker
I saw nothing in the article that specifically states that, but apparently so, by that FCC complaint.
From TFA:
Update: Keep in mind, this sort of power may be violating FCC regulation.
My understanding is that transmitting ANY radiated power in that (2-meter) band (or most other bands) that can be detected by others is illegal without an amateur radio license, and the way this thing operates, I'm not sure it would be legal WITH a license.
TFA didn't say, but I'd hope this thing is not being sold in the US.
Tag lost or not installed.
think of the brain damage this could cause. it would be cool to answer the phone while im out. "hello" "hi" "can i come over?" "no, im not home" "but im calling your home number" "yup" "...so where are you?" "the next town over" "..."
And just in time, as well.
Some guy invented magnetic paint.
Although not an intended purpose, I assume it will work just like anti-cellular wood panels.
And it might even free you from having to wear a tinfoil hat indoors.
I know a guy who knows a guy, but he's not exactly a member of the Better Business Bureau. /me runs away...fast
"These people look deep within my soul and assign me a number based on the order in which I joined" --Homer re:
Thats what I get for posting directly and not previewing. I meant $6.
I had a long-term girlfriend in High School that lived DIRECTLY across the street from me. Once in a while, we'd both pretend to be sick to stay home from school, and then proceed to basically have sex all day while both our sets of parents were at work...
Now, the POINT is that I would take our crappy early-90s portable phone across the street with me to her house, and with the basestation properly set up in my house, when my Mom called to check up on me (because I was 'untrustworthy'...ha!), I'd be there...good times.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
I looked a bit farther on the site and found a spec page for the phones. It says they run in the 240-450Mhz range. And it says the transmit power is 1500mA??? That would mean the unit would be in UHF channels and something in the order of 30x more transmit power then the typical "legal" non-licensed deviced in that band. (correct me if I'm wrong on the 30x more powerful part but it's certainly alot more powerful than your typical comsumer or even pro-sumer wireless gear in that range)
I'm not certain, but in Mexico these things are probably legal. Mexico has much higher caps on max transmit power for certain things.
Hell the old original '74 Volks Rabbit (the first small car to have electronic ignition) could have a spark failure caused by strong high frequency rf. A cop friend of mine showed me how he could crap one out by just keying his mike.
Somehow I have a feeling this device is big time vapourware.
There is no way, even if this works for 30 miles, and they fix interference problems, and it is declared safe for use; there is no way the cell phone companies will alow people to own them. They will use thier lobbys to outlaw cordless phones with a long range. If my phone worked 30 miles from the home, I would not need my cell phone. Cell phone companies will do the same thing telcom companies do, when they lobby to make it illegal for small towns to provide free internet access. Life is all about money, and the big corporations will not allow for anyone to take away from their profits.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
It's a cordless phone. An extremely powerful one, but still just a cordless phone. The basestation isn't a "cell tower" just because it's big.
i'd still prefer my cell phone... more handy for travelling and such (and i dont sleepwalk anymore)
Three rings for the Elven-kings in the sky
So Whats more important? Allowing people to have another choice besides cell phones? Or allowing some Ham radio guy to talk some other guy accross the country?
Back in the 1980s when cordless phones just started to reach mass appeal, a guy in my dorm had one and had figured out how to adjust the internals to maximize the power of the base and handset and would often show up at a bar that was within a block or so of our dorm with his cordless phone, and it worked there. It was pretty impressive in 1986 to see someone with a cordless phone in a non-residential setting that actually worked.
I seem to also recall the same individual had a scanner and I seem to remember(1) us using the scanner to find other cordless phones within our dorm complex and, once we figured out what channel they were on (trivial in the days of all-analog 49Mhz phones), being able to make calls on their lines or answer their phones.
(1) Disclaimer: I know we went through the technical exercise of finding out what channel one person's phone was to the extent of getting rogue dialtone. I may be misremembering the level of pranksterism we were willing to engage in.
I guess you guys and gals have totally lost contact with your amateur radio skills. Never heard of an autopatch? I would dare say in most rural and non rurual places there are phone lines attached to repeater networks, in Maine for example. I could be in Lincoln and carry a phone conversation all the way to the southern parts of Portland no problem. DTMF powered, 30 miles is for people who don't have a ham license. Ohms law + basic rf = ham license. 25 questions. Oh Did I mention free text messaging too? :D (APRS).
Cheers,
KB1IKN
You probably have read that some irreputable source claimed cell phones cause brain cancer. Sure I've heard stories about that kind of thing. What evidence did they offer? That the cell phone put out a magnetic field. What does that have to do with it? We're in the middle of a magnetic field all the time. The worst I foresee happening is a loss of sense of direction.
He said multiple devices lit up from the ham operators output. Quit trying to downplay it.
Obviously rude and invading someone elses space but your trying to overlook it from an apparent partiality to ham radios. My suggestestion would be he do some of his own broadcasting, like really obnoxiously loud rap music, to see how the ham likes obtrusive broadcasts. I have no problem with people doing their own thing as long as it stays in their own bubble but you cross that boundary and I'll vote against you every time.
Folks, read the last entry at
1 ~m ode=flat~days=9999~start=20
http://www2.dslreports.com/forum/remark,1241943
These phones are illegally transmitting on liscensed bands and are not legal in the USA. The handset transmitter is in the Aircraft band 230mhz. Base unit is in private liscensed 450+ mhz band.
Become a Technician HAM operator and do it legally.
I've setup a legal long range cordless alternative to the Samsung using Yaesu dual band (2meter - 144mhz and 70cm - 430mhz) base and handheld radios with a full duplex autopatch. In the SF-Bay Area, I use a discontinued Yaesu FT-8500 mobile for base and FT-51R handhelds, a Connect Systems Inc C800 Full Duplex Autopatch and a Diamond high gain dual band base antenna. With the base antenna mounted at the top of a hill on a tower with no hills in between, 30 miles or more is common.
The bottom line is these cordless phones are transmitting on bands which will cause interference and possible FCC and other legal actions. PLEASE DON'T TRANSMIT ON ILLEGAL FREQUENCIES.
Skype anyone?
Wonderful, yet another product placement ad. This was very annoying because, this being slashdot, I was actually curious about building my own cell tower.
Yes, I know the phone as currenly configured violates FCC regulations and a bunch of Ham Radio enthusiasts would hunt me down and kill me if I used one.
However, if one was configured to work within FCC standards, paired with VOIP and a PBX this would be a godsend for a lot of companies and universities that have employees that are far-flung and travel a lot.
My company has a campus with 5,000 employees served by a large number of desktop support technicians weilding pagers and cell phones. With devices like this, the technicians could call each other or anyone in the company over the radio waves for free instead of using cell phones.
I imagine such an application would face strong resistance from the cellular providers, who would resist in the form of dollars into the campaign accounts of politicians responsible for oversight of the FCC.
bun-fhuinneog agam!
There's no way that works? I work 14 miles away from where I live (Cheltenham, UK). If it gets that far then i'm having one. And there was me thinking me being able to use my cordless phone in the pub across the road was amazing :D
Mind you i'd better watch out. I live about 1/2 mile away from GCHQ http://www.gchq.gov.uk//, and I wouldn't want them mistaking my phone calls for Saddam Husseins bat-signal.
Freebanders out number hams by a huge margin, and most freebanders don't take kindly to meddling old hams.
Dang, here I was hoping to read an article about what I needed to learn to build my own celltower... Yet neither in teh blurb nor in the article does it mention anything about building a tower for cellphones... This is a landbased phone, as properly pointed out in the article, and the blurb... Why the misleading title?
Oh I say Curse You, vile slashdot, that wasted thirty seconds of my time, got my hopes up, and then wasted another minute because I of course had to spill my upset-ness into a string of words suitable for slashdotposting.
Now my own celltower... THAT would be cool. hook it up to the landline, configure the cellphone to use my own network when in reach, and bingo.. close to free cellphone calls. Make a few buddyes put up their own stuff, get roaming contracts written out, and all of a sudden any slashdotter in the vicinity can call for close to landline costs on their cells.
Something that I find surprising in some slashdotters is the fascination for wireless technology. Charming as it is, wireless is just another type of technology having its own benefits and hurdles. In general it is not the 'being wireless' part that is difficult: transmitters have existed for over 100 years.
I understand other people's fascination, but anyone can have his own transmitter, given that you can pass the HAM exam (if not you shouldn't be fooling around with wireless equipment anyway). Wireless links can be bought almost off-the-shelf.
IMHO the communication scheme itself is a lot more difficult. This can be understood easily by looking at the evolution of wireline modems: they started at 150 (or so) bps and worked their way up to 33kbps (higher rates use special tricks). All the time the medium remained the same, only progress was in the digital layers. For the same reason, I don't think it is fair to say 'wireless problem solved, halfway there'.
Just my 2ct...
Here in EU, 200-400 MHz band is allocated mostly to NATO. Don't try to use this phone here... 73 de sq8jiv.
Do a little reading for a weekend; take a simple test and you could have access to various segments of spectrum from 50MHz to 300GHz.
You can: make phone calls using your radio, use more power for your WiFi, use various digital modes to access your home PC, track your car's location from the web. etc (Check out www.ARRL.org for more info) - have lots of fun.
Paul
I agree completely, BUT a lot of devices I have (in Europe) have tags saying something like 'FCC-xxx: device should handle any interference present'. A HAM radio amateur has priority in (some of) his transmitting bands. He should take care not to splatter into other bands (for which he is not licensed). If your TV picks up radiation from a radio amateur band, the problem is indeed in the TV, not in the transmitter. Although I agree that people should resolce these problems, and usually radio amateurs will cooperate on this.
Your TV can't cause interferance, and you have to accept what interferance your TV picks up, but he/she is a licensed user of that spectrum and you're not.
He's got all the rights and you've got none.
Just installed a Wilson Electronics cell phone amplier http://wilsonelectronics.com/amps/wcamps.htm for a customer that has really sucky service inside his steel office building. An external antenna brings the signal into an amplifier. Inside cell phone connect to a small ceiling mounted antenna. See images of the install here: http://www.stoneflytech.com/gallery/Cellular-Wirel ess-Amplifier-82
Jim Dixon, the creator of the Zaptel open source telephony interface used by Asterisk, is a licensed radio ham and he has created a PCI Radio Interface card and drivers for the Asterisk PBX.
http://www.zapatatelephony.org/app_rpt.html
This turns an Asterisk server into a radio repeater and radio/voip/pots gateway. In other words, you could build a radio network similar to the way you suggested (a base in every city) and hook them all up over VOIP.
However, you need to be a licensed radio ham to operate the transmitters.
the macintosh asterisk mailing list http://www.astm
Don't pass by this one. Simple spread-spectrum without decent encryption would make it like a Goatse phone; I don't know if Korean holes get as big as French ones, though. I'll wait until someone actually posts some specs on their site.
In other news, there's 400mhz phones that pull 30 mile ranges, but the frequency and power is "outlawed" by the FCC. You can buy them, just not use them in the US.
Surely Samsung saw a market for these things ... somewhere.
our written thoughts are gifts to our future selves
Forgot to mention, such a network already exists
http://www.allstarlink.org
the macintosh asterisk mailing list http://www.astm
Regardless of the evil cell phone companies, the RF spectrum is a limited resource. The widespread use of high-power cordless phones would quickly exhaust that resource, and far fewer people would be served than with a well-designed cellular system. Cellular radio technology was developed because the existing technology (high-power VHF/UHF FM) did not have the capacity to support more than a very limited number of mobile phone subscribers.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
"10. Best Wok asserts that it has no prior voilations of the Act. However, we can not find that Best Wok has a history of overall compliance because Best Wok is not a Commission licensee, and, therefore, has no history with the Commission upon which a history of overall compliance can be based."
So, in other words," they're not a licensee, so we don't have any information on them, therefore their claim that they have no previous violations is ignored.". I don't know, but I think if one asserts their innocence in a matter, it's up to the government to prove they're not. This is a weak point in the FCC's response in my opinion, and it makes me kind of sympathetic to the operator of Best Wok as a result.
Someone has a great post on: http://www2.dslreports.com/forum/remark,12419431~m ode=flat~days=9999~start=20
The phones are shipped from the Philipines and are 220v. They are OEM models and not at all intended for the US market... for good reason. The poster dgc3154, checked the actual frequencies and they are transmitting - base at 450 Mhz (Private frequencies - FCC violation) and the phones at 230MHz (Aircraft frequencies - big FCC violation)
They do supposedly work as advertised. The poster was able to use them at over 10 miles on an improper mount with excellent quality and full Caller ID data.
This would be great if you were in an area where the said frequencies were unregulated. Given that we're in the US, it might be ... uh... better buy a cell phone and not have the FCC knocking on your door category.
Finally, bait for my HAM Radio Enthusiasts trap.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
5 years from now, we'll be reading up on how these things produce F.L.K.'s (Funny Looking Kids).
-Lokatana
Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference and
(2) This device must accept any interference received, including interferences that may cause undesired operation.
I think I see those on stuff like TV, and other electronics that are not radio broadcasting related. While on things with a HAM radio, is not subject to the same rules... though I can't be sure, can someone check?
all these nOObs, well, i had a 2 Meter handheld, autopatch with the local ham club, and all when i was in 9th grade.. that was 1995, shoot most people didn't have pagers yet.
This is non-news to me! And, your right, don't screw with my 2M reception..
cell phones are still more convienant then this thing.
Of course, they would be fighting a HUGE multinational corporation as well.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
this site http://www.goodbyelongdistance.com/specs.html shows the specs, and includes two instances where the 'range of the maximum range' is 36-NINETYsix miles. Does one need a 12 cyl diesel generator on one's back to power such a device?? ;)
current output seems to be 1500 ma , if i read it correctly.
"There are 11 kinds of people: those who know binary, those who don't, and those who could not care less!"
Not a word from this ex-Greenpeace slashdotter.
So long and thanks for all the fish . . . !!!
Another form of the digital leash...
when come back bring pie
Since it works, apparently not.
Most of these devices operate in the 144 Mhz ham band, and hams love a challenge - you WILL be hunted down, and FCC will eventually prevail.
Best Wok case:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/03/26/1/
Even on slashdot, you might be pushing it with the obscurity of that reference. hehehe.
The worst I foresee happening is a loss of sense of direction.
Only when you're migrating, in which case you'll probably be out of range of the base station
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
The freebanders out number licensed Hams in the USA and worldwide. Freeband gear is sold openly all over the USA in nearly every truck stop. The FCC and the old-fart Hams are utterly powerless to stop the freeband between 26Mhz-29Mhz.
All kinds of people make portable VOIP phones, you just connect to your VOIP-enabled router or tunnel to a PC. Cisco, for starters, at the high-end:
s 37 9/ps5056/index.html
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/phones/p
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
I misread this as "Build your own Bell Tower". To be followed shortly by "Build your own Sniper Rifle".
It's been one of those years.
fcc rules state that voice channels on unliscenced bands, and most liscenced bands must be in the clear, this is why Pay boradcast TV has clear audio, and a scrabled picture.
I guess you can call it an art colony. Isn't it right by SUNY/Dutchess? That's the reason why it's changed, if anything.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Don't have any links handy, but equipment like this is illegal to import into the EU, or buy or sell here, let alone operate. (IANAH, but I've play with comms electronics enough to know...)
This type of phone has been outlawed in the US for a long time, in a number of ways.
(It's not a Samsung by the way. The name is being used without permission by just another Chinese knock-off company.)
So, let's see... How illegal is this thing? VERY illegal.
1. Interfering with Aircraft Communications
2. Interfering with Amateur radio Communications
3. Interfering with Public Safety Communications
4. Interfering with Federally Licensed Radio Communications
5. Interfering with television reception
6. Unlawful importation of an FCC unapproved consumer radio device
7. Civil trademark infringement against the Samsung brand name.
8. Operation of radio transmitter in aviation, amateur, and/or commercial band without a license
9. Exceeding FCC Part-15 power limits for unlicensed operation
10. Exceeding RF exposure safety limits (For example, just one watt next to your head with the "key down" would be a Bad Idea for long or frequent conversations)
The title is misleading and this is quite likely illegal in the US.
I got to thinking though, what kind of cross-town networks can people really build for themselves? Some kind of old-fashioned 2-way pager network perhaps? Of course wifi with pringles cans but the power there is too low to go omnidirectional, so that is only practical for fixed links. Likewise a lot of other technologies can be pressed into that kind of service but aren't really good enough to replace your phone or pager. I sure am sick of paying $80 a month for a few minutes per month of voice usage on cell phones for me and my wife. (We just don't use them that much, but she's giving me a lot of flak when I threaten to just get rid of them.) Something like a city-wide instant messaging system using portable devices would be ideal. It has to be unobtrusive when you aren't using it, not like a walkie-talkie that you have to listen to all the time in order to know when somebody is calling you.
Of course a ham radio license opens up a lot of opportunities, but it isn't universal enough. (I've got one but too few others do.)
These phones usually violate FCC regulations. Most phones are licensed under part 15 rules, which limits power output, antenna size, etc, with the idea being to limit range and therefore inference. I doubt that any phone claiming more than a hundred meters could pass FCC muster.
Others of these phones are black market imports. THey operate outside of the FCC entirely, often in public safety or ham radio bands. Senao makes some of these phones. These cause a large amount of interference and many people have been caught and fined for their use. But the manufacturers don't seem to be doing enough to keep them from coming into the U.S.
There are actually a few military channels in the so-called "free band" you mention; and yes, people have been busted for repeatedly transmitting on them.
Like anywhere else, there are certainly some old farts in the ham community, but I guarantee... these are the smartest old farts you'll meet anywhere... and since many are WWII vets, you should give them a double-dose of respect.
This device, if it is the one I have heard about, is not legal. And in fact, the FCC has bee ntriangulating any calls that are picked up on its frequencies which are in the HF band [allowing it to travel so far]. It has been heard in airplanes and across cities and is cause for alarm not only for the FCC, but the military which has frequencies around there, amateur radio operators, aviators, and more. I know the device was imported from asia, thus Samsung could fit the bill. All in all, I would not advise buying this without checking to see if it is legit, because the FCC will come knocking sooner or later and people, not only the FCC, are helping trianglulated these types of devices. Otherwise, it would be a great idea, but it causes interference and is not very helpful to most of us...
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my cordless could probably reach the whole town i live in, cept my wife just gives a yell if the calls for me.
When the mayor of the town gives your wife the key to the fire station to use the stairmaster there you know its a small town.
give the man a gold star!
I already sleep with a clock radio under my pillow, do I need 100 miligauss (or so..I didn't rtfa) driving whatever electromagnetic danger through my skull?
Oh, never mind, it comes with a headset...
Legal limit in the U.S. is 1.5 kW. Chances are the ham in question is operating legally.
On the other hand, many ham radio operators prefer to be good citizens. Our license gives us a right to transmit, and legally there is nothing you can do if your part 15 device gets FUBARed by us. But most operators don't WANT to cause interference, and if you POLITELY let them know of the issue, they may likely try to assist you in preventing the interference, possibly by installing RFI filters in various places. I know of numerous stories of hardcore HFers who know their legal-limit amp with massive antenna has the potential to cause interference, and will not only provide free technical consulting to anyone they might wind up interfering with, but in some cases will even buy any filters necessary. (This isn't guaranteed, but most hams do believe in being good citizens, it's in the general spirit of the hobby.)
Now, if this guy is a CBer with a high-power amp, then the local hams in your neighborhood will probably assist you in tracking him down if they find out about his existence. Hams hate illegal-amp CBers. Not only do they give us a bad rep, but they often clutter our bands.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
What I really need is a personal cell repeater. My T-Mobile phone gets really good coverage all around Cincinnati, except inside my apartment. A small repeater cell to cover the inside would be perfect.
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