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Mixed Conclusions About Powerline Networking vs. Ham Radio
Barence writes "Since writing about the success he's had with powerline networking, a number of readers emailed PC Pro's Paul Ockendon to castigate him for recommending these products, such as HomePlug. They were all amateur radio enthusiasts, claiming the products affect their hobby in much the same way that urban lighting affects amateur astronomers, but rather than causing light pollution they claim powerline networking causes radio pollution in the HF band (otherwise known as shortwave). Paul's follow-up feature, 'Does powerline networking nuke radio hams?' documents his investigation into these claims, which found evidence to support both sides of an intriguing debate."
We push shitty shitty light bulbs down your throat when there's not a damned thing wrong with the current ones.
I think my power bill disagrees with you on that point.
On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
I am not sure how much a neighbor's power line network would affect my ham radio operation, but I had to stop using the devices in my home because the radio noise was awful. The problem is that the power grid wiring was not designed to carry RF, and very effectively radiates it across the line to any receiver nearby. In fact, some low power unlicensed broadcasters actually take advantage of this in what is called "carrier current" broadcasting where a signal is put into the electrical wiring of a building so that anyone inside with a radio can pick it up.
By law, the max you have to pay for the test to get a license is about $10, but it's supposed to be limited to cost of materials for the VEs, so it should be far less than that under normal circumstances.
Beyond that, you can get on HF with a radio you designed yourself to fit in a sardine tin, and work the world using morse code. As long as it doesn't give off out-of-band emissions, you can build it out of things you find after gently applying a hammer to a cheap drugstore radio.
You can also get plans or pre-built radios for a range of prices from $5 to $5k (and up, I suppose, but you're going to be hard pressed to get much additional value for the dollars over $5k.)
With a UHF handie and a hand-held yagi (total cost new well under $1k), you can talk to people using satellite repeaters. Add in a modem and you can download and share files (which might be images the satellite itself recorded).
For such a low price, and no real requirement of understanding (beyond knowing just enough to avoid violating regulations put in place for safety and interference reasons), I hardly think amateur radio can be considered an elitist hobby. The whole point is to chit chat with new and interesting people from as many places near and far as possible.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
For $15 to take the test, and then $200 or so for a decent radio you can have a hobby that is a blast. I regularly talk to people on radio nets (basically where a group of people get together at a desired time, and all talk about random subjects).
I am 21, and I am considered one of the young ones, even so it is interesting to see how much HAM radio in general is used in various situations to get information from one location to another quickly. HAM radio groups also tend to be available at all kinds of different events to help manage the crowd, do reporting of incidents. Just recently there was a biking event and we were present along the course to give status updates, get emergency help all by using our radio's.
Generally the HAM radio guys are older, and they can talk for hours on end, and some of it is boring, but I have met many people that have skill sets that I only wish I could have, I have talked to people in the industry (Moto, Intel, Microchip, and others) and it has been awesome to get contacts or leads for new projects and ideas as well as possible jobs coming out of college.
cat
I am sorry to hear that in your city they were not as interested in learning about the technologies in so much as buying it.
I am 21, so I am much younger than you, I got into HAM radio because of a project (http://nearspace.0x58.com) I did at school, having a license helped communicate between the teams while on the ground looking for the device, and helped us keep track of the APRS as it was being sent from the balloon.
HAM radio has been really interesting, I have met really great people at various different companies, and recently a hacker space (http://heatsynclabs.org/) has been starting up in Phoenix and there were quite a few HAM radio people there! You just need to find the group that is still willing to learn and find new innovative projects to work on.
cat
far less than 1 million worldwide have active licences
I would like to know where you come up with this figure. I have already pointed out that over 16,000 have active licenses in the state of Georgia alone. A quick search of the FCC ULS returns 726,015 amateurs with active licenses in the US alone, so I guess by your figure no other country counts into the worldwide average.
While comsats may be a common thing for first responders in the coastal area where you live, they are not in the coastal area where I live. You could be talking hours get one from the nearest larger city, much longer than the time required for me to get my kit and get on scene. Most HAM rigs will run off of a standard car battery, solar chargers are readily available so while it may not be as efficient as comsat it is doable. How is BoPL advancing the progression of first response technology? Also broadband is available in wireless and satellite forms, so wouldn't it make more sense to improve on those forms rather than "advance" to a technology that makes something that "just works" not work?
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If we're keeping HAM around for a few thousand (at most?) true hobbyists, using the excuse that it's a disaster tool, then that's a false need to support an old and dying hobby, and it's preventing rolling out commercial BoPL services to support millions of americans with a cheaper and more stable communications system, and holding back an economy worth billions of dollars for some 50+ year old tech. How stupid is that?
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This reply is very ignorant to all the hundreds of thousands of people in this world who has for decades used the HF bands for communication, shortwave broadcast listening etc. You must realize that BPL/PLC/PLT is intruding on an already occupied frequency area, that is simply an offense towards people that enjoy their radio hobby. What right do you have to do this, is your Internet surfing on Google etc. so much more important ? All around the world the protests against BPL/PLC/PLT are increasing rapidly, so I believe that we will see a change some time in the near future. Especially the HomePlug powerline adapters are unnescessary equipment, there exists no cases where either CAT-5, Wifi 2.4GHz or Wifi 900MHz will not work. That is why we do not need these HomePlug units. The industry must find new and better technology to replace the existing BPL/PLC/PLT technology, this is the only solution. We all want Internet access, but it is foolish to intrude on already occupied frequency bands.
Roar from Norway