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Do You Still Find Amateur Radio Interesting?
Marcos Eliziario asks: "Soon, I'll be taking the exams for a Brazilian, Class-D, Ham Radio license (Equivalent to an American Technician License) and, as I was reading about the subject, I wondered what today's geek thinks about amateur radio. In the past, Ham Radio was very popular among nerds, however with the Internet boom it seems that interest on radio, among the younger generations, is becoming dimmer each day. A lot of cool things can be done with radio, like building your own equipment, digital modes (btw, few people know that Packet Radio was born on the amateur's rank), and long distance contacts. The gear is cool, there's a lot of things to be learned about propagation, and today's Hams even use satellites to talk. Do you think that we could see a renaissance of Ham Radio among 21st century techies?"
I'm studying for my amateur licence. It still has its uses in this day and age of the internet.
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Depends.... Some of us might find that stuff interesting, but don't know who to turn to to "try it out". That, and the cost of entry is so high (equipment, putting up an antenna [which you can't even do if you have an apt. probably]) that it really is hard to "get started". As unfortunate as it may be, Ham radio may be in a bit of a downward spiral unless it can figure out a way to make it accessible and seem relevant to the younger generation.
Yes I certainly do! It is still a sandbox for trying things out that will become either part of the common practice or a failed experiment to add to your experience! Right now hams are experimenting wioth new ways to communicate, satellites, digital modes, rig control, repeater stations and VoIP. there is lots of room for experimentation and in the upper levels of qualification you don;t have to buy type-approved equipment. You can experiment on the air without going through a commercial approval process, which can cost tens of thousands for a commefcial piece opf equipment. Amateur radio is the original open-source community, with a tradition of sharing techniques and technology dating back a century. With wireless becoming more important to the computer community, there is lots of room for people whpo pass the exams to do real and beneficial experimentation on the air, and maybe even invent something worthwile for humanity without a million-dollafr lab! Right now in Toronto we are working on a new generation of VHF/UHF repeater controller (search for TorontoRepeaterController on yahoo groups) which will be all open-source, hardware and software. It not only will congtrol repeaters, but link into VoIP nets, remote control rigs, and provide a gateway for analog radio users into the new digital voice modes. Even buying commercial off-the-shelf mobiles help the cause, because what is the use of developing stuff without intelligent users to test it! The next few years will see an multifold improvement in progagation as we reahc the peak of the sunspot cycle for those who just like to communicate. Two cycles ago I had no problem working Europe with ten watts from the mobile on 30MHz! Amateur radio is alive and well - but don;t tell too many people. We like to keep its wonders to ourselves! 73, Nigel, VE3ID and G4AJQ
Yes, amateur radio is still relevant. Where else do you get to play with satellites? Amateur radio is one of the few places (outside of NASA) where you can experiment with radio links through real satellites in orbit around the Earth. That's not something you can do over the Internet. The upcoming Phase 5A (P5A) launch will be a mission to Mars. You can't do *THAT* over the Internet. See http://www.go-mars.org/ (It's German. Use the fish!). More info on amateur radio and satellites is available at AMSAT's web site at http://www.amsat.org./
My friends and I use ham radio because our cell phones drop all the time. As long as we're a hundred miles or so from our local repeater we're good. The entry price wasn't too much for me. $180 for a 2-meter mobile and $170 for a dual-band ht.
Things are totally different now. Not only is the internet a free way to communicate (free as in zero dollars per minute), but you can actually communicate with people on the internet about -- get this -- anything you like! In other words, you're not just having these stilted, stylized conversations about what your rig is.
--KB6ZD
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One thing to keep in mind about geeks is that you can't pigeonhole them. Some like games and never bathe. Others like to program and stay up days consuming only Taco Bell and Mountain Dew. Others like to plug computers together and twiddle their fingers waiting for their kernels to finish compiling. Even others like to jack off to Sailor Moon and other Japanese cartoons.
On the outskirts of geekdom, you have people like yourself who are interested in ham radios or model trains or paper airplanes. These will pretty much always be niche geek markets because they just don't have the glamour that and visibility that the mainstream geek lifestyle provides.
Which is not to say that there aren't merits to these peripheral geek lifestyles. Ham radios, in particular, are very useful in times of crisis and crises rely on people with a sense of responsibility and social acuity. Typical geeks, if that is who you are trying to interest, are the exact opposite type of people to bring into the ham radio flock.
But be sure that what you are interested in is non-mainstream geekery. Just because something requires technical ability, it does not follow that it requires a geek to manage it. Somethings are just technically difficult and not geeky at all.
Ham radio is definitely geeky, though.
I wish i had the bankroll to get into HAM. I live in the woods and another way to communicate would be nice. Plus I predict that after the US government is done raping and pillaging the internet, IP over HAM might take off among those who know how, and want to keep a free internet.
That said, I've been learning morse code since Christmas and I intend to take the code test next month (the next time my local club offers the test). I'm going to order an Elecraft K2 and I'm quite excited. CW is so much more interesting than FM Voice. It takes skill, it has a challenge, and you I can hear letters and words in the series of beeps. Plus you can use it to talk to people all over the world. I'm especially excited because the K2 is a big electronics kit. The fact is once you get past a few blinking LED kits and such there are just no electronic kits to build that take any skill.
I find it kind of interesting, but I can see why some people don't think it's terribly interesting. Many of the things that used to make ham radio so interesting (being able to talk to people across the country or the world for free) are no longer unique (thanks to the internet and basically free long-distance calling).
It's too bad eHam has been down for 2 days (at least). I've wanted to post on their message board but I can't (since... it's down). I don't suppose anyone knows why?
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Wow, that sounds a lot like everyone's experience with Linux.
I hoping that gnuradio gets some more momentum. Think of all the possibilities! I think things could get very interesting with experimental digital modulation. I haven't played around much with gnuradio since I don't have a USRP. It seems to me that the software is a little hard to use. I keep my eye on the project hoping that things will continue to move along and get easier to use.
Once things move along it would be nice to have a portable gnuradio hardware that could interface to a PDA for HT uses.
As far as a serious hobby with real applicability? Probably not unless you are into emergency communication type stuff. I used to command a sheriff's office search and rescue team and got into ham radio then. Since I don't do that anymore (since moving, I'm probably going to get into it again some day), I do not really use ham radio for anything real other than just messing around. The Internet is a much better day to day long distance communication medium.
:)
Having said that, what keeps me involved is building my own gear. While you can spend thousands of dollars on stuff to get on the air, it is much more fun for me to grab the old soldering iron and make my own low power transmitters and receivers. Great way to keep up with electronics, radio theory, and all that fun stuff. There is even some neat work going on with software defined radios (mixing DIY radio building with Linux and programming
I find your average slashdotter tends to dislike ham radio as too old school and REALLY does not like the thought that ham radio is holding back BPL (along with a lot less vocal but more influential opponents like police, coast guard, FAA, etc). But hey, they also bought hook line and sinker into the hype that BPL is actually a viable broadband contender and not a snake-oil product.
Really though, if you get into it, and avoid (1) the elitist pricks who got their license back in the day and hate everyone newer then themselves, (2) the mindless cliques that form on most local repeaters (Pittsburgh being a nice exception), and (3) the losers who live on eham and qrz and attack basically everyone, you will enjoy it. I tend to stick with the build it yourself qrp stuff and the more interesting microwave band projects out there. There is a ton of non-obvious and not all that publicized things you can get into with ham radio that does not involve just trying to work all 50 states or 100 countries for no particular reason.
As a lot of people have mentioned (some more politely than others), ham radio's appeal as a general-purpose communications service is pretty limited these days due to the sheer number of alternatives. It's still unbeatable in emergencies, but if emergency support isn't your thing, you may be left wondering what the point is.
:-P
That's a shame, because there is still some really-interesting stuff happening on the fringes. For the technically inclined, eBay has made it possible to obtain equipment and components for Amateur "homebrewing" that major military/commercial labs were damned lucky to have in the 70s and 80s. It is hard to overemphasize how cool that is. Even most hams don't realize that they can own better RF equipment and components than NASA had when they launched Voyager and Pioneer.
Ham radio gives you a great framework for engagement with every technology from software-defined radio to microwave communications to precision timekeeping. Build that DC-to-daylight receiver you've always wanted... the one the Feds won't let you buy off the shelf. Run your own "Amateur Deep Space Network" receiver site, or communicate with other people all over the world by bouncing your signal off the Moon. There is still more cool stuff to learn and do in Amateur Radio than you will ever have time to tackle... if you don't fall into the trap of thinking it's all a bunch of old farts carrying walkie-talkies around for no good reason. Like lawyers, 98% of hams give the rest a bad name.
There are a few links on my site (in the comment header) to various homebrew/experimental projects, but most of them are broken at the moment due to a hosting move that's taking way longer than it was supposed to. Anyone interested in the technical side of things is welcome to email me for advice and indoctrination.
In short: some parts of ham radio have benefitted tremendously from the advent of the Internet; but yeah, it's also true that many of the other aspects are less relevant than ever. You get out of the hobby what you're willing to put into it.
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Of course, with an amateur licence, you can use an unholy EIRP on 2.4GHz - technically 2.4GHz wifi is in the ISM band *but* since that is slap bang in the middle of the UK 2.4GHz band, it's ok. You can use AO-40 antennas to seriously improve your wifi. That's a good thing, 'cos you sure as hell can't hear Oscar over the noise of all the cordless phones, baby alarms and misconfigured wifi networks any more...
An excellent point. Here are the rhetorical questions I use to try to explain the appeal of amateur radio to non-hams:
"Why does anyone spend huge amounts of money on a fishing boats and fishing equipment, when they can just buy a fish at the grocery store?"
"Why do people go horseback riding, when a car would get them where they want to go, faster and more comfortably?"
Amateur radio is a hobby. Like most hobbies, it's not meant to be practical (though it can sometimes come in handy during emergencies).
Personally, my main problem with Ham radio has been the "no commerce" and "no encryption" rules.
Even if you had the license and radio to make a call throught the "phone patch", you couldn't order a pizza, it would be technically illegal, along with anything that could be considered "commerce". And "no encryption" meant not being able to use "packet radio" for something as simple as personal email without literally broadcasting it publicly. No thanks.
If a few channels of Amateur bandwidth were liberated from these two regulatory relics, I think we would see see the same interest we see in WI-FI excite Amateur radio as well. A few small slivers of "long range wi-fi" bandwidth could spark an Amateur radio renaissance, and amazing tech advances, as in the past.
I'm not holding my breath, though. Giving Americans more freedom, especially for private long-distance communication, would probably not be too fashionable in Washington these days. Pray for peace, and better days to come.