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Ham Radio Still Growing In the iStuff Age
vhfer writes "From NPR comes this story about old-school communications in the age of Twitter: 'Only a few years ago, blogs listed ham radio alongside 35 mm film and VHS tape as technologies slated to disappear. They were wrong. Nearly 700,000 Americans have ham radio licenses — up 60 percent from 1981, a generation ago. And the number is growing.' The article goes on to say that while there's plenty of 60-plus year old hams, there's also a growing contingent of teens. I just met a 14-year-old, licensed in 2009. Getting rid of the Morse Code requirement sure helped in that regard. So does the fact that the test questions (and the answers) are freely available, legally, on the Internet. Study, take the test, hang the license certificate on the wall. Your geek cred gets an immediate boost. And who knows? Maybe the next time there's a Haiti-earthquake-sized disaster, you'll be one of the thousands of ham volunteers who provided the only communications in/out of Haiti for weeks following the quake, not to mention all of the tactical comms the country had for nearly a month."
..de KB0HAW
... and if nothing else, you'll get a great unique ID to use online!
Man, I wish I had a link to that Dilbert where he is worried about going into management ruining his geek cred with his girlfriend.
"What if I got a Ham Radio license to compensate?"
What is the draw and use of this stuff? Not in a snarky sense, just that I'm half-way curious and ready to be pulled in.
Here in Nebraska just last week we had a need for Ham radios when our telephones went dead. No problem for cell phone users until they tried to dial 911. Out came the Ham radio operators using the contingency plans for y2K parked at major intersections where people could get a hold of them and contact authorities. There are just some technologies that are just too useful to get rid of.
CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
Ham radio ftw!
I'm considering getting my ham operators license, though first I would like to purchase the equipment.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25 (NKJV)
There is still a rather active market for CB radios as well. I went to eBay to put my Uniden PC78LTW up for sale, and I couldn't believe how many CB radios there were available on there. I know truckers still use them, but I was certainly not expecting the industry to still have THAT many buyers out there...not anymore, but when I first put that auction up, there were thirty two active auctions for that one model alone!
Living With a Nerd
I thought at 23 I'd be the youngest guy in my local radio club.. Turned out that the youngest was a 17 year old Girl.
during the haiti earthquake via a satellite phone and the guy's voice sounded like one of the prawnies in District 9. My father-in-law's ham voice is at least recognizable, even with the static, because it's analog.
Friends of mine in Finland and the region talk about a resurgence in CB usage as of late. Apparently it is becoming a big thing to have a ham license as well....
If only the same interest came back to America! A little over 15 years ago my CB was constantly amusing, filled with plenty of discussions. Now I rarely get anything, even after hours of listening/scanning.
I'm not sure you're actually correct that thousands of hams provided the only communications out of Haiti after the earthquake and all fo the tactical coms. While there were a few messages coming out of Haiti over amateur radio there wasn't much. Cell phones were brought back up pretty quickly and a friend of mine who was in Haiti doing relief work after the quake (Specifically as a comms officer for a relief org) said that he had very little use for HF as satellite connections were brought up pretty quickly. He did say there was some use of VHF to establish local communications between relief orgs and various med stations etc but that other communications came up quickly enough that amateur radio didn't play as big of a role as many would like us to believe. If you want a great technical hobby where there's a lot to learn and an opportunity to make friends all over the world become a ham. You might get an opportunity to help out in a disaster, but if your main goal is to help out in emergencies, get trained in CPR, Search and Rescue and other such, but don't count on being a ham to put you in the "Most needed" category. There is a place for amateur radio in disaster relief, but it's as a backup, not a primary communications method. The fact is the pros can do a better job than we can.
Never mind Haiti, kids these days are getting out to more movies that older people, and they know they have to be prepared for the coming Zombie Apocalypse.
Talk with people around the world by bouncing signals off the moon
On "HF" or shortwave radio, you can talk to people around the world with 100watts of RF power. 100w is probably 1/3 or less of the power used to run your desktop computer.
It's probably one of the geekiest of the geek hobbies. You can play with electronics and build and repair radios. You can interface radios with computers and send and receive messages over radio. You can play with RF and antenna theory, flexing those math muscles to enhance your signal.
You get to talk without infrastructure
Cool people from around the world to talk with, and you never know who you're going to talk to next. Kind of like fishing
AX.25 is looking better and better... At least until Sandvine builds AX.25 support into their next product generation...
I remember when I got my license when I was about 14-15 and was damn proud to get it. I had learned morse code in the Boy Scouts so that test was fairly easy. I remember going to "Ham Fests" where you could buy any sort of electronic gizmo, whether for your ham radio, a box of floppies, home grown software, etc. I even bought a fairly powerful FM transmitter. Taking the morse code out of it takes away the learning and the challenge, and also the feeling of accomplishment.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Are you adequate?
so, why would anybody need any other possible means of communication? or broadcast tv? or neighbors?
you call this weather?
never a better time to reconnect with your spirit @creators.oxygen.eternity.infinity.cosmos.stillhere/alive/manual
I know several Ham operators and most of them are First Responders of one sort or another, helping out here - helping out there. One went to assist after Katrina. I love the mentality too - when something wrong - they are looking to run towards the problem (and address it) rather than follow the crowd running away from it. Sure - you can call it a "nerdy" hobby but so is D&D. The difference is that a Ham is more useful than *20-sided dice in times of communication failures. So - if you know a Ham - tell them you appreciate what they represent ... event Radio Knights need the thanks while they sit and wait to help.
* D&D Warning: I don't know if they really use 20-sided dice and before you think of responding and correcting me - think about it - think about how stupid that move would be. If you still can't see it - go for it.
L'esperienza de questa dolce vita (The experience of this sweet life) - Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
Why ham radio?
I'm back into Ham Radio after a 20 year lapse.
I got my license back when you had to travel to an FCC office for the test and pass a 5, 13, or 20 word per minute listening test for morse-code.
It is a great nerd hobby, especially if you get into the do-it-yourself aspect, digital modes, or especially software defined radio.
I can buy a SoftRock kit (google it) for less than $15 that does the initial downconversion and lets me use my soundcard+computer to visualize a large chunk of a single band, decode CW (morse), various digital modes and SSB voice.
WSPR mode allows you to put your computer to work sending and decoding ultra low power (milliwatts) + ultra low bandwidth (seconds per bit) to communicate around the world on battery power.
Ham Radio definitely took a hit from the internet and cellphones providing cheap and easy worldwide communications. Removing the morse code proficiency requirement and volunteer examimations has helped bring it back somewhat (I never minded the morse part, but it was a stumbling block for some who where in all other respects a perfect fit for the hobby).
If I was just interested in communicationI probably would not have come back to the hobby, but the nerd part is just too fun.
I'm currently using a cheap Direct Digital Synthesis chip (google DDS) interfaced with an Atmel microcontroller (google Arduino) as the basis of a do-it-yourself low power transceiver for digital modes.
Nerd heaven...
73 - Paul - K0EET
castration, DRM, the british (hi there!) DEB, net neutrality, smartphone bandwidth redux.... Is HAM radio the new internet?
-- what geeks of old were into, as far as building radio equipment, upgrading it, etc. before computers came to the fore.
It's popularity, IMHO, can be explained by it being sort of unique in today's computer age. Additionally, long time radio talk show host, Art Bell, is and has been a long time avid fan and operator. Many of the people that listened to his show "Coast to Coast AM" (he is mostly retired now) were and are HAMs as well. His show lives on with others hosting, George Noory (most of the time) plus Ian Punnett and George Knapp. Art occasionally still hosts a Sunday show, when there is a fifth Sunday in a month. And, from recent listenting, Art is still active as a HAM.
The show, I believe, is the most popular late night radio show of all time, currently with over 500 U.S. affiliates.
What helped me personally to get back into this hobby after a long break is the proliferation of SDR (Software Defined Radio). You can buy a $60 kit, assemble a decent RF front-end and attach it to your laptop (and a good antenna, which is the hard part). Or buy a nice SDR receiver from RFSystems or FlexRadio for around $500. Free (both closed and open source) software is available.
Google for Softrock40 of SDR-IQ or WebSDR for a start.
Now you can monitor shortwave communications with capabilities that just a few years ago were only available to professionals in three-letter agencies. I know this is not ham radio (strictly speaking), but isn't this geek's heaven?
Sometimes you also get fun stuff like what's coming up in a week. The Arecibo radio astronomy antenna (huge white dish) is bouncing signals off the moon and listening for ham radio operators in a week or two
Granted, it takes a fairly big antenna and lots of power to bounce signals off the moon. However, there are computer programs that allow for slow text transmission (think really slow modem) via moonbounce, reducing the antenna and power requirements.
Once the Morse code requirement was dumped, the sex appeal of being a HAM operator greatly diminished IMO. Kind of like the new rules for Scrabble. Anymore it seems like 'introducing to a new generation' = 'dumbing it down'
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
Let's not forget about how darn cool a ham transceiver on your belt will make you look... Anybody who would rather carry an iPhone instead of one of these obviously does not care about being cool.
Still, when the shit hits the fan, it IS important to have a backup.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
http://k0lee.com/images/dilbham.gif
Sure its monitored just like all the other stuff, but its a way to communicate around the traditional government-controlled channels.
personally, I wouldn't go out and get a big fancy certificate, why not just tell the government 'please track me?'
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Nothing like a rig full of tubes cookin' away. Not to mention the stuff will still work post apocalypse.
Man I need to get an old mechanical TTY while I'm at it.
Sent from my PDP-11
[...] you'll be one of the thousands of ham volunteers who provided the only communications in/out of Haiti for weeks following the quake, not to mention all of the tactical comms the country had for nearly a month.
You forgot to mention the exciting possibility of getting shot at while you attempt to do it!
Both got people into communication more, in more places, and with folks who they didn't know. People became more interested in new (or old!) technologies that they could fiddle around with.
Ham radio? No carrier contract? No monthly flat rate? Can choose whatever equipment you want, not whatever cell phone model that your carrier shoves in your face?
Where's the catch?
I'll bet that the Telcom Titans really feel like Ham has stuck a weed up their asses. "Curses, those damn meddling kids! Communicating through the airwaves, without us being able to charge them for it!"
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
My 4x4 group (hot4x4.ca) uses VHF almost exclusively due to its reach above and beyond CB. Cell phones usually don't work where we travel either. Depending on the terrain, we can reach over 75kms from each other on just the 2m band w/o a repeater. This only requires a technician (basic) license as well.
Add in the APRS + Garmin GPS, and your rig turns into a mobile GPS transmitter. We then can track each other, which makes it really easy to find each other. APRS also allows us to send text messages via a p2p network of Ham Radios. Example: we had guys in Reno who we needed to contact because we broke a part on the Rubicon. Couldn't reach them via radio, but with APRS, our txt msgs could be relayed.
None of this requires anything but the first class license. Its an awesome hobby and there is a lot you can do with it, in addition to Geek cred and ecomm or search/rescue.
...by the author of the article is that LF/MF/HF radio is used on boats. There isn't a yacht, small or large, on the planet, not equipped with at least a VHF radio - and LF/HF as well for those going far out on the sea. That's right, radio communication is the primary means on the seas.
> ...blogs listed ham radio alongside 35 mm film and VHS tape as technologies
> slated to disappear.
But blogs have never been wrong about anything else!
> Getting rid of the Morse Code requirement... ...was a mistake.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
The Amateur Radio Relay League is a great spot to start. They are the largest Ham Radio organization in the country.
Another good site with basic info is the How Stuff Works page
These links will give you a good spot to start. Best of luck!
I was asleep (off watch) at night on a small sailing yacht crossing the North Sea. The guy on watch woke me and asked what it means when a ship flashes a light three times. After asking him a few sleepy questions I figured out that the ship was flashing dot-dot-dash with a signaling lamp, the Morse letter "U" which, at sea, means "you are proceeding into danger". After going on deck and confirming that, I helped him tack the yacht and avoid passing between the ship and the oil drilling platform that it was towing. Morse is still used on HF and with Aldis lamps as a backup when more modern modes fail.
In 1981 the population in the US was 229,465,714. In 2009 it was 305,529,237. With 437,500 Ham Operators in 1981 that meant 0.191% of the population were licensed operators. In 2009 700,000 meant 0.229% of the population were licensed. It would be more accurate to say that the gain is closer to 20% than 60%. But in the iStuff age for something that been around 100+ years a gain of 20% isn't bad at all.
Up until the 80s, ham radio was about doing something that there was no other way to do. Talk to people around the world "for free", without depending on any one else (like the phone company) to make it possible. It really was a magical thing.
But then the internet came along and ham radio started to die because the internet completely replaced a major part of what made ham radio cool. And so for the last 20 years or so ham radio has been in a sort of limbo and decline due to the rise of computers and the internet.
But now we're entering a new era, one where "well, duh, of course I could just twitter to people around the world, but communicating via radio is actually more fun". It's now interesting because it's sort of an antique rather than in spite of it.
There's a progression where things go from "valuable" to "junk" to "collectible". The trick is to avoid throwing them away during the "junk" phase, because eventually they get old enough that they become interesting again.
G.
I can't believe I mis-typed that - ARRL is American Radio Relay League!
There are a lot of tech hobbies that disappeared when personal computers arrived on the scene. That's a problem that's been around for some 20 years now.
... that for many people they have become downright boring.
But we're now at the point where computers are so ubiquitous, so commoditized, so commonplace
So it's no surprise that there could be a resurgence of interest in other tech hobbies. Ham radio, building simple electronic devices from discrete components, etc.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
Ham radio operators recently stepped in to assist in Lincoln, NE after a failure of Windstream's 911 service.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
I'm studying right now for my Technician license. I plan on taking the exam next week. There's a great little app on the android market that has helped a lot called "Ham Radio Study". I'm interested in packet radio and D-STAR. I thought it was interesting that if your view a webpage over ham radio via a D-STAR gateway, it can't have third party ads, since that's a commercial activity. The user needs to be careful what they pull from the internet across d-star. I wonder if this could end up spawning an 'amature internet'. Yeah, it's way slower than your 20Mbps FiOS, but it has no monthly fees, no overage charges, no 2 year contracts, and comercial advertising is illegal. Sounds good to me!
Don't fall for the ham scam!
BEWARE .... radio is *not* made of Ham, but rather made of plastic.
This review is from: Galaxy DX2517 10 Meter Base Ham Radio
I had wanted to get a radio made of ham for an anniversary present, but unfortunately I didn't read the product description properly. This also isn't actually 10 meters big, I was hoping for an approx. 30 foot in circumference radio made of ham. It's much smaller than that and fits on a small desk.
You might get an opportunity to help out in a disaster, but if your main goal is to help out in emergencies, get trained in CPR, Search and Rescue and other such, but don't count on being a ham to put you in the "Most needed" category.
Here's another thing to think about: In the U.S., RACES is the de facto organization within the amateur radio community for providing disaster relief and emergency services. In addition, Federal law prohibits RACES stations (or those stations performing RACES duties) from contacting non-RACES stations (97.407). Most government agencies require extensive background checks, including disclosure of your SSN and other personally-identifiable information, to participate in RACES, and your appointment is at the whim of the RACES coordinator. So in effect, you're asked to give up quite a bit of personal information if you want to contribute your efforts to disaster relief. (In fact, in most areas of the country, to participate in WX nets you must have a RACES appointment.)
but i cant really put a big antenna on my apartment building.
Judging by that story learning Morse code should be a requirement to purchase boat not to operate a radio.
That was some effeminate dork. Oh wait, that's redundant.
Just what we need - a bunch of slashbots on HF. FP over PSK, Goatse on 14.235... Dogs and Cats, living together, mass hysteria!
de N0YKG.
www.eFax.com are spammers
I am rather New to the Ham thing, I thought about it 20 years ago and never did anything about it.
Last year I took the plunge found a local club that was running a course and took it.
In the past year I have encountered a new group of friends now granted most of the club has hit the retirement age, but still new people are being added to the ranks.
It isn't all just boring RF communications, and me being somewhat young compared to the demographic of our club, have shaken things up a bit.
Modernizing some services, in the past 12 months I have added EchoLink and I.R.L.P. (Internet Radio Linking Protocols) to the clubs repeaters, now these guys can talk to the world just with simple VHF and UHF radios there is a Echolink software which is available even on a Iphone now that can link your Iphone via IP to another EchoLink Station/repeater and you can use it as a Two way radio.
Many members do not have the facility to put up large HF antenna's to communicate around the world anymore. However now they can simply key up the mike dial some DTMF tones and our repeater is linked another one or conferenced with many around the world.
Its really helped to get a lot of members active again who can no longer run HF radio's or living in apartments. Talk to the world on a simple hand held radio. And those members that can't run Radio's where they reside can use ECHOlink on a PC to connect them to the clubs repeater.
I don't believe the Internet has ever put a dent in HAM, HAM has been dieing out for a lot of reasons, technology changes times change think about it, HAM came from the do it your self era. Some of you may remember say the first computers from the late 70's (TRS-80 and all), you had a have a good idea how to fix it and put it together.
Now a day...well not so much if its broken they buy a new one. I would say most of modern communication systems found a birth place in Ham radio, cellular, mobile broad band for example.
My concern these days is that kind Innovation is dead.
HAM old days. two guys wanted to send a data message to each other, they had to figure out how to make it happen in Radio.
Modern Day those two same guys would send a text message, saying "Wazup!" neither one of the cares why or how it works only that it does, and they care when it doesn't work but don't know why it doesn't work.
I have rambled on enough!
73's
Craig VA3DTF
Contact Via
Repeater VE3WOM 147.150+ 103.5
IRLP 2255 Echolink VA3DTF-L #490033
... N3QEH
Which may just have something to do with the fact that you might be privy to personal identifying information of other people, have access to knowledge of abandoned areas, areas where there is no law enforcement presence (and, by virtue of your presence, no ability for them to be easily contacted), health information on individuals...
Speaking as someone who works in EMS (Emergency Medical Services), I say "Yes. And ... ?"
Still, when the 10-200 hits the fan, it IS important to have a backup.
FTFY
I am a 32 year old Ham Operator (from India), live in the SF Bay Area (large urban area with a big geek population) and I am a member of some of the biggest radio clubs around here - PAARA, SFARC, FARC. I call BS on this idea that ham radio is still growing. Yes, it might be growing but amongst the retirees not young people. Every visit to any of the club meetings, field events or local nets shows only old retirees. I will be more specific - old white men. With so much ethnic diversity in the SF Bay Area one would expect to see asians, hispanics, blacks etc. None!! Go to the local HRO and it's all old people including the sales staff. This hobby is headed for death. Why? Because not many young people are joining it and the old members aren't very welcoming of the new/younger ones. It feels more like an exclusive club. Ask some old guy a question and you get the look did-you-not-know-this-from-birth or i-cant-believe-you-are-asking-such-a-stupid-question.
I live in a townhouse/condo so obviously I can't put an antenna outside, but my attic is just big enough for a 2/6/23cm vertical and a 20m dipole. I haven't been on the air in a great long time though...
I'm interested in learning more. Mostly for the geek-cred, but also because it seems like a good way to entertain myself during my daily commute. Can anyone point me in the right direction to get started and find local testing? ( I'm located in NE AR if it helps.)
No, you cannot access the internet over ham radio, not legally. The internet is a commercial infrastructure, and commercial use of Amateur Radio frequencies is illegal.
While it is widely believed that no commercial traffic is allowed on the amateur bands, this is incorrect. In 1993 the FCC issued a report significantly broadening what is allowed in terms of commercial traffic. These changes are reflected in the current regs. Please see Part 97.113. Commercial traffic which benefits either the operator or his employer are prohibited. Requesting a web page which contains advertisements is just fine. Ordering a pizza online is just fine too (although using SSL is not). You can even email some friends about that old rig you are selling for $50 due to an exemption in Part 97.113(a)(3). Sending instructions to your stock broker or notifying a business client you'll be late, on the other hand, clearly are not OK.
From what I've read actually a good chunk of messages via amateur radio were passed by hams via Cuba over vhf/uhf, but alas - that wasn't reported anywhere but various ham radio blogs.
WA9SDJ
Yes know I tried it in 1961, but couldn't afford the equipment - so I built my own.
...
Somehow I kept coming back until I moved onto a sailboat to sail around the world in 1994 and I am still going.
Every year there seems to be something new that I haven't tried
de AA4MW, former WB4YKO, former VE3BYO and about 20 others!
The resurgence of American amateur radio equipment companies is one of the great untold stories recently. I mean, one still has Japanese industry stalwarts Icom and Kenwood, who led the Japanese domination of the industry in the 1970s, but even Yaesu was bought by Motorola a few years back. The real news, though, is the new, innovative startups, doing state-of-the-art, truly wonderful designs, with simultaneous high performance, high quality, and reasonable prices. Companies like Elecraft and software-defined radio pioneer FlexRadio Systems come to mind, producing products unmatched by any of the mainstream companies.
It's a refreshing change.
but ALL of the state can use 2M!
...
I regularly help stranded motorists who have a problem but whose cell phone doesn't work
It is not just the Haiti/Alaska Earthquakes that need "emergency" communications!
In much of the world Ham Pactor (Winlink) is the ONLY way to communicate. Try 2 days to get a phone line to the USA, or 9600 baud "Internet" shared with 4 other users! (Bali, Indonesia)
Congratulations and don't forget to have fun!
Hope to see you on the air sometime soon!
de AA4MW
For instance:
Building a rig that fits into an Altoids tin. talking around the world on 5 watts power, for for a real challenge, just one watt.
This pretty much requires Morse Code, but if you can key out enough to tell people you just picked this up and are learning code on the fly, you will get postcards from all over the world from people who also communicated with you using barely enough power to give you a mild tingle. Morse Code is essential because you can make out chirps and tones from the static, where voice would just be a waste of time. The way the FCC is letting things go, I would not be surprised if they let you use a keyboard and forget paddling entirely.
Hey, simple codes were good enough for Pioneer, Mariner, etc. That's geek cred - talking around the world with less power than you would need to read the postcard with...
I got my First Class for a job fixing CB radios, and got hooked a little bit back when code was required. I hated code. Helped a college FM station stay on the air for a little while. Being able to solder well got me into several circles, and I was building Heathkit rigs for people for a little while, cause they liked the perfect joints and wire ties I learned in the Air Force, when whire ties were waxed cord. I still think they are pretty, and I did a cabling job with about 200 drops once all in flat nylon lace, just to show the guys how nice exposed cabling could look. But that was then. Now there are so many great kits out there, Amazing. I really ought to get back into it. Oh yeah, I let my ticket lapse when I got sidetracked by soccer and girls. Feh.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
I wonder how many of the new ham users are of the survivalist variety. Ham radio is viewed by many proponents of preparedness as the end-all, be-all in cellular communication: when the lights go out, and the infrastructure by which all of our modern toys communicate, ham will be the ultimate communication tool: you can tunnel any number of communication protocols over it, it's versatile (long and short range) and has the spectrum to allow for a fairly large (compared to CB and FRS) number of users at any one time.
I suspect that a large part of the adoption is due to concerns over centralized government and its apparent increasing encroachment upon our freedoms. These weren't such dire concerns 30 years ago, and there wasn't the glaring example of it being done successfully (China) as there is now. Ten years ago, it was thought "there's no way the government could sensor the Internet"; well, things are starting to change...
The "last time" we had a strong surge in survivalist mentality was during the late 1970s when CBs were the hot new thing (within people's price range) - so that's what they got. But CBs are horribly limited compared to ham.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
But I let it expire when I started to use Slashdot instead :)
Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
Now I am in the market for a new radio. Tri-band VHF, maybe.
Anyone have recommendations for a base, mobile, and/or handheld?
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
Ham radio has gotten me into running Rallies. Turns out that International Rally New York needs hams to help stage the event. Fellow Rallyists will understand that Car 0 is a great ride, and ham radio got me there. Talk to a lot of folks who have interesting jobs and lives in the morning on 2 meters (VHF like your local PD and Fire). Without even trying hard, have worked most of Europe and much of South America. This with a modest 100 watt HF radio and a wire in the back yard. No huge amps, no tower, no beam. Makes Wifi real easy....just really, really short waves. Saw someone in Brooklyn today, who had a home made Yagi antenna. Was impressed till I figured out he was just using it to steal bandwidth from a nearby building. Unlike the digital world, ham radio does not have DRM, a DMCA, or any of the other crap that interferes with a hobbyist/hacker. OK, some of the individual hams are funny in a pathetic sort of way, but that's no different than a lot of the guys still stuck in mom's basement. Ham radio gives me the ability to run a scanner in my car, have full communications on VHF with a huge network of repeaters, and an understanding of RF that translates into any other aspect of TV, radio, wifi, etc. I'm sure you all have a dual band, spread spectrum, frequency hopping full duplex radio...er, cell phone.
I am not trying to be a snarky person - but this is my observation. I'm certain there are the odd folks spread across doing a few cool things, but not enough of them to really notice.
Other problem is there are a lot of 'uncool' old farts on the air. I don't mean anyone who happens to be well seasoned or older, I mean folks who are downright nasty and don't encourage the young to experiment. They have this elitest attitute which keeps people uninterested in participating - or when people are 'rag chewing' it's always incredibly boring. Nothing of interest, if you start you own conversation you inevitably get someone on the air breaking in, giving you a hard time about whatever they can think of.
I love the idea of HAM radio, and I really hope the FCC doesn't get any ideas to release airspace for commercial interest, but we need more innovation and more lax attitudes about protocol to keep things social and to keep things growing.
There are just so many useful, fun and interesting things that can be done with the spectrum, and the amateur community has had years to work on things, but nothing materializes. Reminds me of open source projects that get abondoned. Very sad. Internet definately was a major blow to HAM radio. I remember witnessing (didn't have the license then) accessing HAM BBS's over the airwaves at 9600 baud - was so cool. I eventually got the license and there was only one reachable HAM BBS and it was about 80 kms away - then it went off the air forever.
By the way, I just purchased an ICOM IC-7000 - awesome radio, just wish a TNC was built into it!
When the shit hits the fan, how are you going to power your radio? How are you going to fuel that generator? And if the infrastructure to do those things exists, how long is it going to be before cell coverage is re-established?
How can you use my intestines as a gift? -Actual Hong Kong subtitle.
In the U.S., RACES is the de facto organization within the amateur radio community for providing disaster relief and emergency services.
ARES [Amateur Radio Emergency Service] is another, and in many areas the two have a unified command structure for ease of organization. i.e., you register as an ARES station, and you are also registered as a RACES station. For example, this is the case in my home state of North Carolina.
In addition, Federal law prohibits RACES stations (or those stations performing RACES duties) from contacting non-RACES stations (97.407).
During periods when RACES has been activated (i.e. during an emergency). Stations participating in RACES may not contact stations not participating in RACES. This is because during a declared emergency when the airwaves become restricted, the only stations that may operate are those participating in RACES or ARES activities in coordination with their local emergency organizations. This should not be interpreted to mean that during non-emergency periods, stations that are registered in ARES/RACES may only communicate with other stations registered in ARES/RACES. That's simply not the case. Except during a declared emergency, any licensed amateur operator may communicate with any other licensed amateur operator within their respective authorized bands and modes. However, if an amateur operator wants to operate during such times that RACES is in effect, they must register as an ARES/RACES station. In North Carolina, all amateur operators are encouraged to register in ARES/RACES.
Most government agencies require extensive background checks, including disclosure of your SSN and other personally-identifiable information, to participate in RACES, and your appointment is at the whim of the RACES coordinator. So in effect, you're asked to give up quite a bit of personal information if you want to contribute your efforts to disaster relief. (In fact, in most areas of the country, to participate in WX nets you must have a RACES appointment.)
I don't know what area you're in, but that is not the case across the board. The NC ARES registration form asks for name and contact info, call sign, class, operating bands and modes, EMCOM classes taken, and whether or not your station can operate without commercial power. No SSN or background check required. And as I said before, registration in ARES is registration in RACES, in North Carolina. As a licensed operator, you've already given personally-identifiable information to the FCC to obtain your license. The ARES registration form doesn't ask for much beyond that.
In recent years, the Department of Homeland Security has instituted a requirement for all amateur operators participating in ARES/RACES, to have completed some EMCOM courses - namely, IS-100, IS-200, and IS-700. These are all available for free online, but registering for them does require the submission of your SSN, as that is how the DHA keeps their records. However, the SSN is not shared with your local EC or ARES/RACES chain of command.
I don't have the figures for the US, but check out this graph of the number of licensed hams in Japan from 1953 to 2006:
http://www.k0nr.com/blog/uploaded_images/Japan-radio-license-chart-710990.jpg
So yes, maybe up a bit from the early 1980s, but down by more than half from 1995. I suspect you'd see the same trend elsewhere.
I don't mean to be discouraging about the hobby - in fact, I make a living in large part from designing and producing ham related equipment. And really, I think it's possible that the hobby as a whole is getting more technical and more experimentation-oriented again. Short-range VHF/UHF voice communications and long-range HF voice and Morse code were the main reasons many people got into the hobby in the past, and now ubiquitous cell phones, email, and cheap long distance calling have eliminated most of the draw for the sort of ham who might be pejoratively described as an 'appliance operator'. Those who bother to get licensed these days are more likely to be geeks and DIYers.
If you use the FCC spectrum auctions of recent years as a yardstick, then the spectrum hams have available to them for free is worth billions of dollars. If you have any interest at all in hardware hacking or emergency preparedness, it's well worth the trouble to get your ham license.
RACES is for governmental communications performed by amateur volunteers. ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) and SKYWARN in most areas have nothing to do with RACES. And, I am a Deputy RACES officer here in the Pittsburgh, PA area and never had to submit to any extensive background checks or disclosure of any of my personal information. It's up to the served agency who appoints their RACES officers... and if they require what an individual beleives is too much, you simply say no thanks and volunteer for another service like amateur radio comms for the Salvation Army, Red Cross, your local municipality, the National Weather Service or the National Traffic System where volunteers practice in the art of receiving, relaying and delivering health and welfare messages.
-Dave, KB3FXI
You might get an opportunity to help out in a disaster, but if your main goal is to help out in emergencies, get trained in CPR, Search and Rescue and other such, but don't count on being a ham to put you in the "Most needed" category.
Here's another thing to think about: In the U.S., RACES is the de facto organization within the amateur radio community for providing disaster relief and emergency services. In addition, Federal law prohibits RACES stations (or those stations performing RACES duties) from contacting non-RACES stations (97.407). Most government agencies require extensive background checks, including disclosure of your SSN and other personally-identifiable information, to participate in RACES, and your appointment is at the whim of the RACES coordinator. So in effect, you're asked to give up quite a bit of personal information if you want to contribute your efforts to disaster relief. (In fact, in most areas of the country, to participate in WX nets you must have a RACES appointment.)
I did use Ham in Haiti for a couple of years. It was *ABSOLUTELY* necessary for security. The political violence is pretty much over, but when things were hot, you'd hear it go down on the Ham first. It was used to alert UN to firefights that popped up, and to everyone else to avoid the area. I'm not sure if it was used after the earthquake or not. I didn't ask when I was down there recently. But, it wasn't the only means of communication. Cell phones worked for most of the day of the quake, before they had to shutdown their data center due to overheating.
That may be the case in PA, but here in TX, background checks are extensive, and to participate in SKYWARN you must be a RACES station. So RACES standards differ from region to region. That's an interesting factoid.
This should not be interpreted to mean that during non-emergency periods, stations that are registered in ARES/RACES may only communicate with other stations registered in ARES/RACES. That's simply not the case. Except during a declared emergency, any licensed amateur operator may communicate with any other licensed amateur operator within their respective authorized bands and modes. However, if an amateur operator wants to operate during such times that RACES is in effect, they must register as an ARES/RACES station. In North Carolina, all amateur operators are encouraged to register in ARES/RACES.
Interesting...the interpretation in the area of the country I live in is that any RACES operation (SKYWARN, practice nets, etc.) fall under the "non-comm" rule. In fact, the local RACES coordinators seem to do what they can to discourage those who are interested in joining by instituting some rather onerous requirements, including submission of your SSN to the RACES organization.
All good info, but given the entrenched "good 'ol boy" network where I live, I doubt that the RACES folks would be interested in having the errors of their way pointed out to them.
Amateur radio + computers for the win! We can learn more about the hobby than ever before, when the webs are working, and replace them with soundcard digital modes when they're not. The best fun is field day. Setting up an emergency powered station in the park, or in the back country. A portable station can save your life, and cheaper than a sat radio too. Great fun on a fishing trip, when the fish, or the weather won't co-operate.
The absolute mecca of geekdom, IMHO is the Dayton Hamfest, this (and every) spring. More radio, and computer equipment than you can possibly imagine. Judging by what I hear on the bands, CW is alive and well, and becoming an art form for those who wish to use it. Even the computer software is learning to copy CW well, and it sends too. That great sounding OM might be a microprocessor.
One of the most crippling failures for the wire-line phone and data systems here in Canada is a cable cut in a suburban area. No landlines to 911, or back out to the responders, hospitals, police & civic authorities. A couple dozen ham operators can form a net around the area in a few minutes, and hold it together until the fiber is spliced. Usually no big emergencies, but the powers that be sure like to stay in touch.
Happy to be a ham. Glad to help where I can. Ready to serve my community. 73
Licensed a few years ago, upgraded to general last year, 40 years old.
In fact, in most areas of the country, to participate in WX nets you must have a RACES appointment.)
Define "most". It may be true in some areas but I have a hard time believing it's most. While in many areas you are encouraged to have taken (free) NWS training to become a Skywarn spotter, you aren't required to do so. As an example, the New York City metro area most certainly doesn't require RACES certification to participate in any of the nets, and as a former Skywarn Deputy Coordinator, I can tell you that such a thing was never even discussed.
That said, it is unfortunate that there are some people who seem to have a "control complex" and are more interested in being in control of others than they are of providing service to others.
As a no-code tech, I'm feeling a bit inadequate here, but be that as it may. My radio is with me when I'm at home and whenever I'm out doing something where it's more likely than usual that I'll be out of cell contact (think bike rides in the countryside), just in case. I started declaring I wanted a license back in the 1980's. For a long time, I held out because I wanted one of the "real" licenses that required Morse Code, and I was simply having a hard time learning it due to lack of time to obsessively devote to it until I'd "gotten it". I finally got my no-code tech 20 years later. What helped push me over the edge: I was in Seattle when we hard our earthquake. Cell phones were down for hours, and (back then) the laptop I was using to access the Internet only lasted an hour and a half without power. No one else was home when it happened. I decided that an extra bit of communication redundancy *NOW* was better than no license at all until I qualified for one of the higher classes.
I got my novice in 1964, when i was 9 years old, for about three months I was the youngest ham in the world, or so I was told by the hoary oldsters that helped me through. I worked on my general, but frankly i wasn't enough of a geek to figure out radio theory when i was ten, call me lame if you will. BUT, i still know the code and could, theoretically CQ on a key (one of the old up and downers, not one of the sexy "new" --1964 new that is-- sideshooters. I did build my own receiver and transmitter and strung a 10 meter antenna between a tree and the house. You don't even know what old school is nowadays kiddies.
Subversion of spatial scale luxury decoration ideas.
HR is really popular in Russia, where it is called Radiosport. It has a lot of geek-friendly sporting activities. For instance, DXing is trying to talk to as many countries (loosely defined!) as possible. Contests take place many weekends, to try to make as many contacts according to some set of rules (to a given place, to as many lat/long squares, to as many countries, on a certain band, etc.). Some people do fox hunts (hide a transmitter and try to find it with a portable radio and direction antenna).
And yes, there's the ability to just chat with fellow geeks, anywhere, without depending on somebody else's network.
I am in complete agreement with you on this sir. CPR, First Aid, and training with CERT, CAP, Red Cross, Salvation Army and others will be of great help in an emergency.
CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) is a volunteer system usually run by local fire departments to train civilians in basic emergency response. I found this training very interesting and it is designed for almost anyone to understand and complete - often over a few Saturdays. Best of all, it's sanctioned by the local Emergency Management Agencies and lets you become familiar with the local first responders.
CAP (Civil Air Patrol) has long been a great group to work with. The training is more involved and formal because of the military association, but the organization does a lot to build character in young people and assists citizens in being better prepared for emergencies.
Of course, Red Cross and Salvation Army are so well known, what more is there to say? They too offer great support services during disasters.
And Amateur Radio plays a part in every one of these organizations (but only a part and experience in it is not even remotely a requirement to be involved in any of these).
After September 11th there has been a push on for agencies to be able to "interop", communicate with each other using compatible radios. One of the biggest reasons for amateur radio in the past 20 years has been that local police couldn't communicate with the fire department or the state law enforcement people. Everyone was on their own frequencies and/or squelch systems. Amateur Radio operators were often the glue that allowed information to move from one level to the other since our gear was designed to communicate with as many people as possible. That's all changing now, as there is a big push for inter-agency communications.
Amateur Radio will ultimately be a third or fourth option for emergency management - but will always be useful to those groups I mentioned previously.
73 - KI4LZG
I have had my license for 15 years but I have used it more at work in the last year and a half. We started a project using WiFi and WiMax that I have contributed greatly to. It is amazing how much the principles I learned from the books and tapes I studied for the tests apply to what we are doing at work from antenna design, antenna radiation patterns and choosing cables to identifying sources of interference and signal loss.
I tested and passed general. Got the callsign and found out this really wasn't for me. Don't hate me. The homers and other hams were great. The equipment is still expensive. How many netbooks could I buy for the price of a $1000 flex - and that's without an antenna? and kits are very restricted. If you get a kit that normal people can assemble, it's usually on one band and cw mode. Other kits require surface mount soldering. This is not for a noob. But when you get on the air, there's the pay-off. It's like listening to a random facebook pages or twitter feeds. Mostly, all I heard was old guys talking about their medical problems, the weather, or younger hams bragging about their rig and how powerful or how much they spent. In fact, it really seems to be the originator of social networking. I'm anti-social. In fact, I'm only posting this as a warning to other anti-social geeks. I was really let down. Sold the ham stuff. On the bright side, I made a profit on my ham stuff. If you like ham, more power to you and 73's.
and still hamming it up
But you just gotta have another sigarette
You apparently have not spend a lot of time around Ham operators who have put a lot more thought into those questions than you can imagine. Believe it or not, it is possible to power electronic devices without electricity from the grid!
If you're interested enough to ask, you may find a passion in Ham radio if you investigate beyond a cursory look.
It's different reasons for everyone to be attracted, Amateur (Ham) Radio has so many interesting facets it's difficult to choose sometimes.
I live in a remote area, and mainly use the 2 meter vhf band for emergency communications, and participate in a county wide, weekly, emergency preparedness net via a linked repeater system (a kind of amplifier high on a mountain top to extend the radios range, each with emergency back-up power).
I also participate in a weekly simplex emergency preparedness net, which means we communicate person to person (radio to radio) without going through a repeater, in case that system goes down too.
Unfortunately, I'm the only one in my small town doing so, but I can talk to a few other Hams on ridges 15 or more miles away who can relay messages over the coast range to the Office of Emergency Services inland.
And I can tell you that during an extreme emergency like a severe storm or earthquake, when all the power is out for days at a time, it's quite likely I'll be the only communication link to the outside world for the first 2 or 3 days, with my portable 2 meter vhf station (50 watt 2 meter vhf transceiver, robust copper pipe J-pole antenna, 30 foot collapsible Fiberglas mast, 12 volt deep cycle battery, 4 solar panels.).
During an emergency where the power has gone down, my station can run for over 40 hours, at full power without the solar panels.
I'm seeing if I can hook up with Big Brothers/Big Sisters to start a Ham group to get some young blood into helping during an emergency.
73 (singular usage, means: "best wishes")
In our county we have emergency nets on a linked repeater system, and via simplex relays.
None of us are RACES and have no need for background checks etc., and we participate and interact with the County Sheriff and Office of Emergency Services without any issues during drills and actual emergencies.
We roll our own here.
I got interested because a couple of years ago I read a page about a steampunk morsecode clicker that got fed RSS feeds. Then I wanted to learn morse code. I practiced over IRC and TCP connections, but there's not a lot of users, so I got started with a reduced licence (10Watt) QRP CW. With this I can reach all of Europe, and sometimes other continents (only 10Wat!!).
The biggest problem ATM is intereference from neightbourhood ethernet-over-wire that plugs into peoples homes electrical grid.
Google "Field Day"...
Hams have turned "operating off the grid" into a nationwide contest, that serves multiple purposes:
1) Fun
2) A contest
3) Practicing offgrid operation and rapid deployment of antennas/gear
Ham emergency response organizations have standardized power connections to a greater degree than industry (Anderson PowerPoles rock!)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Anyone in the Worcester area who wants to get licensed can come by WPI's Slasibury Hall, Room 407, 1800 hours, Thursday, April 8th, for our next exam!
The fee is only $15, bring two forms of ID
73
KC2VCB
The more I learn about Windows the more I am surprised it runs at all
FYI, here's a nifty site with the semaphore and Morse signals the parent mentions. Here's the Dry, Boring Federal PDF.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
The thing you're missing is that intelligent people are all too often vulnerable to forms of stupidity that average people aren't, and libertarianism is one--it's a One Grand Theory That Explains Everything in a Nutshell(TM), and nerds tend to be suckers for that sort of stuff.
Are you adequate?
I'm curious, is this a requirement that the local NWS office has put in place or is it that the local RACES organization runs the net most people participate in and they won't let you play in their sandbox unless you're RACES? Nationally there is no requirement to be a member of RACES or even a HAM radio operator to act as a storm spotter. If it's just that the RACES folks won't let you play in their sandbox run your own Skywarn nets and make arrangements to relay info back to the NWS on your own. Around here our local ARES EC runs most of the Skywarn nets but any are welcome to check in if they have information to report although we do encourage the NWS Storm Spotter training it's not a requirement.
There's RACES, and then there's ARES. RACES I understand hardly ever gets activated and can only work with the government, for the government. However, there's ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) that seems to be much more active. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but in the Midwest, ARES seems to be the predominately active service providing emergency communications, even to the government.
73's, KD0INN
Well, a crystal radio doesn't require any more power than the radio waves being received themselves to work, so my crystal radio will work "forever" (sadly, it's only AM so no SSB capabilities) Otherwise, when the AA batteries fail there's always solar, or a dynamo. I have a SW receiver that (again, AM only) runs 30 minutes after cranking it 60 times. As to the transmitter.. if you're into the QRP thing, there's always the age old potato battery that might get you enough juice, if some other means of charging isn't available (solar being ideal).
This is good to know. I suspect it's a local RACES requirement, and they make you believe that you have to be part of their organization to run with SKYWARN. Your response has spurred me on to do some additional research. All I really want to do is participate in SKYWARN (lots of nasty weather here in the spring), but I don't have much of a desire to get caught up in RACES.
you might want to think about being able to communicate when King Obama shuts down american access to the internet, which he is now empowered to do, on his own initiative. He can shut down ALL American servers as a part of handling anything HE determines is a threat to American "national security," which of course would include his continued reign as "His Majesty the President Obama."
Is Poker included, or just horse racing, keno, and sports betting? What about state lottery tickets? Are they to be included too. Have we to go to the corner store to buy a lottery ticket?
Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada