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Ham Radio Licenses Top 700,000, An All-Time High
Velcroman1 writes "The newest trend in American communication isn't another smartphone from Apple or Google but one of the elder statesmen of communication: Ham radio licenses are at an all time high, with over 700,000 licenses in the United States, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Ham radio first took the nation by storm nearly a hundred years ago. Last month the FCC logged 700,314 licenses, with nearly 40,000 new ones in the last five years. Compare that with 2005, when only 662,600 people hammed it up and you'll see why the American Radio Relay League — the authority on all things ham — is calling it a 'golden age' for ham. 'Over the last five years we've had 20-25,000 new hams,' said Allen Pitts, a spokesman for the group."
The article indicates that there are 700,000 licensed radio amateurs. But how many of those that are licensed are alive? There is no provision for the FCC to investigate how many hams are alive -- and they expire only every 10 years. I've attended meetings of a number of local clubs and the average age has got to be 70 -- I would say that the count of living US radio amateurs is 3/5ths or even half that 700,000...
They need to stop pussyfoot'n around and release the Bacon Radio.
Then they'll see some real increase in numbers.
This is great. Ameatur radio is probably the last great geeky hobby.
I've kept current since the 70's
I know a couple of people who were really keen HAM enthusiasts in the UK who have virtually given up on it now. One of them told me the excitement of talking to people all over the world was dulled a bit now that anyone with an internet connection can do the same. I'd love to know whether the people I know are going against the trend and HAM radio is increasing in the UK too or whether we have somehow missed a trick that the American HAM societies are using.
I just logged on to burn some MOD points when I saw this posted. Just picked up my HAM Technician license last month (Grandad was a HAM back in the 60's/70's... should of earned it sooner!), and upgraded to General class this week. Aiming for Extra next year. Now I just need to convince the wife to let me spend $2K - $20K on fancy radio gear so I can talk further than the nearby 2M/70cm repeaters...
âoeAny society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
I got my license over 20 years when I started work at an RF engineering company (I was the accountant). I wanted to learn what we were building and the owner and most of the engineers were hams. I don't use my license much, but I learned a lot about technology. I learned to solder, built my own packet radio rig, and made the assemblers and techs laugh about my skills. I still am able to carry on a decent conversation about radio and it's served me well in all areas of technology.
Don't suppose this has anything to do with the removal of the Morse Code requirement in 2007
I think I still have my ham radio license somewhere from when I took a mini course in the subject back in middle school. We all got our licenses at the end of the course and I never did actually use a radio since. It's probably expired by now, though, or close to.
With the internet, and cell phones, and all; what is the HAM radio attraction?
Perhaps reading the news and realizing that the world is pretty much skrewed... That even if we elect the most qualified and selfless leaders that it may be too late to "fix things"? The number of folks planning for the worst is increasing at an exponetial level..
I got a license in 1995 and was active until 1999. Around that time, there was an early online database that would allow you to look up licensed hams in your neighbourhood. I found that several people on my street were listed, but when I asked them about it, they said they had given up on the hobby years before. My local club was mostly in their 60s and 70s, and I can't imagine it's any better now.
It's neat that amateur radio still has a niche in today's world, even though these figures are less impressive when you consider (1) population growth in the US over the last four decades and (2) getting a radio license now is much easier than it used to be.
These days, no Morse code knowledge is required for Tech level, and many clubs offer a "get your license in one day" class for cramming on the published question pool and then doing a brain dump into the exam before you forget everything.
Really, if you have a free Saturday and you've ever thought for more than 10 seconds about getting your radio license, there's no reason not to do it.
It helps when the sunspot cycle is on the upswing. During the CQWW last month it was almost no effort to work Australia and Japan from Texas.
In the past six years, the population of the United States has grown between five and six percent. These figures show that, in the same period, the number of ham licenses has increased by...between five and six percent.
I would imagine that FPV model plane flying has quite a bit to do with this. Most of the high-powered control systems you need to make FPV a reality require a HAM technician license. With the massive upswing in FPV flying I would expect to see a big boost in HAM license interest.
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
I'm a younger ham (22) and yes, there aren't too many of us, but we're certainly gaining numbers. What I've found, is that becoming a ham is getting to be very common amongst experimenters. The FCC allows us to design and construct our own equipment, not have to have it type certified, and use it on the air. We get to use higher powers than the unlicensed bands do, and we have a variety of modes to communicate our message. Sure I hop on a repeater once in a while, or I'll talk to Japan on a quiet Saturday, but what I use MY license for most is designing and constructing telemetry systems for high altitude balloons and high power amateur rocketry. It's a lot of fun, and having my license provides a lot of opportunities.
Also, basic radios are getting cheaper. You can certainly buy the multi-thousand dollar rigs, and they're certainly nice, but for less than $100 these days you can get a nice little handheld, dual band, and will cover most all your local repeaters. If you're at all interested, contact your local club, they would love to have you. In my experience, it's a very welcoming hobby.
Nigel
K7NVH
spin the dials, null out QRM if you have a bad case of neighbors with plasma TV using another antenna and a summation box, hear something interesting and just... talk.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
And the average age of those 700,000 license holders? Anybody?
I hold an extra class license, which I don't really use, and my impression was that the average age was around 65. If you want to tune in and chat with other oldsters about medical problems... then amateur radio is for you! Though some will treat you as a lower class of operator for not being a "brass pounder" (i.e. someone proficient in morse code). And you might feel unwelcome if you're LGBT; they're, um, a little on the conservative side.
On the other hand, the tech stuff is pretty cool, and if you're comfortable with algebra, trig, complex numbers, and memorizing some stuff, a good geek should be able to test all the way to extra class on the first try with some studying. I did, and my math skills were quite rusty. It just took a little practice.
And building radios is actually quite fun. I recommend:
http://www.elecraft.com/k2_page.htm
from
http://www.elecraft.com/
which is a nice blend of "the old days" and "somewhat modern stuff". Fancier radios are built by plugging the boards in, just like PC's. This one gets soldered together one part at a time.
There are also lots of plans for building radios from scratch that are drifting around the net. From a modern day perspective, it's fascinating how much you can do with a handful of discrete components.
So, in conclusion, if you're interested, amateur radio is worth checking out, just beware of the subtle demographic issues that might present themselves.
You can get on the HF bands for $500 with used equipment. I did it. If you want all new equipment, you can do it for around $1000. No need to spend $2k just to get on the air.
I've been a ham since a couple of months before my 11th birthday. It was my first truly geeky pursuit, and still holds a special place in my heart. I am still active here and there, though I had to sell my D-STAR system when the economy went sour.
There's still a place for ham radio, both in emergency communications and in experimentation. As Nigel said a post or three ago, it lets experimenters use higher power and different modes than the unlicensed services. While others theorize, hams build.
It's been that way for ages, and hams have contributed far more recently, as well. There's a reason the first popular free TCP/IP package for the PC was called KA9Q: Phil Karn hung his callsign on it.
(And please, folks, a couple of pet peeves: "ham" is not an acronym, and it's "ham radio", not just "ham".)
Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
Now I just need to convince the wife to let me spend $2K - $20K on fancy radio gear so I can talk further than the nearby 2M/70cm repeaters...
I hope you're kidding -- there is really no need to spend more than a few hundred bucks. From where I am on the West Coast, just last weekend I hit Japan and Hawaii with a cheap 10 meter dipole ($35 -- it would have been a third the cost if I built it myself) and a $650 used FT-897D.
Are there courses available to learn radio hamming?
If there was a gap year in the course, would it be called a ham sandwich course?
Keep in mind that technician class is limited to CW transmissions below 30MHz, so morse code is still somewhat required for shortwave.
Well, that's not true. From this chart, technician licensees have phone (SSB) privileges in the 10-meter band at 28.3-28.5 MHz.
Population in 2006, ~6.5 billion, population in 2011 ~7.0 billion, a gain of 7.69%. HAM radio's "gain" from 2005-2011? It was less, 5.69%.
"A golden age is a period in a field of endeavour when great tasks were accomplished. "
I would not consider this the golden age of ham.
Sure, more people are doing it, but I don't think that make sit a golden age. ALl it means is that it's easier to get into' which it is.
Back when we you pretty much had to build a radio to play was a golden age. Like building your own lightsaber.
No, I am not a HAM, but I built a HAM radio when I was 8.
Learning Morse Code was boring and stupid, so I never bothered to get my license' much to the disappointment to my grandfather.
Seriously, Where is the logical pattern on Morse Code? I would start practicing, but would inevitable invent my own. Something anyone could figures out with just basic introduction.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I got mine. As an old geek, I just challenged the exam and got it first try. My offroad club decided to switch away from CB towards HAM. It has improved our communications immensely as well as been useful in some remote medical and mechanical emergency situations. I also use an APRS transceiver to do some home automation type stuff at our cottage. I use my amateur license as a means to an end, not as an end itself. ie: I'm not interested in the hobby as it is, I'm interested in the benefits I can derive from having access to the equipment and spectrum.
I do support the local repeater society (financially) because I use their infrastructure.
As opposed to who/what - Martians? The Greys? X Factor viewers? Pigs with ham licenses (costs them an arm and leg aparently)?
I'd attribute growth to a renewed interest by people who were put off by the Morse code requirement to do HF. I've been licensed (beginning as a Technician) since 1997 and just do not have an ear for code. It's hard to say because I've learned a lot more and was pretty young when I got my license, but most people tell me that the tests for all classes have become substantially easier in in the past several years.
That limited my interest in the hobby and kept a lot of capable people from pursuing it. The cost has dropped somewhat too, and the internet has made it easier for the marginally interested and low-income enthusiast get a hold of used equipment... since a lot of HAMs buy new gear like most people change their underwear.
I work for a California county school agency and we pay for our employees training materials for their HAM license and keep a radio on every site that has an operator. We it because we have so many sites, many of which remote, that would be hard to reach should the telecom systems fail or reach overload. Each radio is programmed with the local repeater and 4-5 simplex channels. We've added 10 members who will probably do very little with it.
Katrina and other large scale disasters have shown people the fragility of the telecom infrastructure in a disaster. Cell phones hardly work in a crowded football stadium. I also think that a certain amount of survivalist folks are concerned about government lock-down of other communication resources during a man-made disaster or disturbance.
That said, I got a pacemaker in 2010, and have gotten mixed advice on how safe HAM is (most say well maintained base stations are OK, but avoid HTs given their proximity to the device and risk of unintentional grounding on the body.) Even if I don't use it again, I'll probably re-register "just in case" an emergency occurs or I get stranded on the roadside. So, the rolls might be more inflated.
Forgive my spelling from time to time. I'm often posting during short breaks.
This may be one of the reasons of the ham radio popularity.
A decent HF radio cost was in the $500-1000 range for decades, which means it is many times cheaper today than back in the 60's.
For the last 30 years or so, all sorts of interesting hobbies have fallen by the wayside because the big hobby for technically inclined people to take up was tinkering with computers. Growing up in the 1970's and 1980's I saw people lose interest in things like electronics, astronomy, stage lighting, and yes, amateur radio. Everyone wanted to play with computers instead.
We've finally reached a stage where computers simply aren't interesting anymore. They're so generic, so bland, so uniform and cookie-cutter (yes, even you, Apple) that they just don't appeal as a hobby anymore. Unless you work in the industry they're just a tool to get a job done.
As a result, there's a new void appearing among people who love to tinker. Amateur radio is a great outlet for that. The equipment is complex enough to enjoy working with but simple enough that you can work on it yourself. Lots of other hobbies will be making a comeback in the same way. I myself have become interested in tinkering with small diesel engines - have you seen the availability of parts out there for CheapChinese(tm) Yanmar 186F clones? A hobbyist can build a go-kart or a homemade pressure washer really easily now.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
YAY HAM RADIO oops I mean:
bah the junk filter doesn't let me post up CW.
sry 73 de kb8ufp robert
I'm totally missing out on 10m stuff going on - Apt dweller, so prefer to op mobile. Most (all?) of the 10m mobile rigs (that is the "affordable" ones) are quasilegal or converts or incredibly cheaply built (like the RCI-2950). I'd love an HTX-100 but those are harder and harder to find.
Lousy facepalm.
What do they expect. Everyone is getting screwed by ISP's and government laws. With radio all you need is friends.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_multimedia_radio
http://www.febo.com/hamdocs/intronos.html
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
Amateur radio used to be popular because it let you do something awesome, communicate with people around the world in ways that nobody else could. Whether it was talking to someone on the other side of the country or the globe on HF, or chatting locally on a 2M repeater. It gave you power that ordinarily was reserved for governments or corporations, and as such was one of the coolest nerdy things you could do. It was the same kind of power that came with the early home computer movement.
But then we got computers, which siphoned off a fair amount of ham activity, though in most ways the two hobbies complemented each other very well.
And now there's the internet and cheap world-wide communication that's used by everyone, as well as mobile phones that eliminate the big thrill of local area communication.
So the hobby is doomed right? Well, in some sense that's true because the original thrill and justification really is mostly gone.
But now there's a whole new generation of people discovering Amateur Radio as this cool retro antique activity. Now people begin to do it not because it lets them do something they couldn't do otherwise, but because it's a *fun* and interesting/challenging way to communicate. The old-school hams would be annoyed by the internet and how it made them obsolete, but the new-school hams don't give it a thought because "of course I could just send an email, but this is so much more fun and I'm doing it myself!".
G.
Congrats! I know you'll have fun. HF is really hopping right now with the sunspots on the rise. I worked South Africa the other day on < 100W and a really loathsome dipole antenna only 20 feet off the ground. I made 200+ contacts last weekend in the ARRL Sweepstakes contest playing at it - I worked 68 of the 80 sections and I think 45 of the 50 states, all in 24 hours or so.
Right after that, I re-purposed the radio to listen for 6m meteor scatter.
If you're into electronics, you can easily make your own equipment. These days, with the advent of ICs for DDS and I/Q Mod/demod you can do SSB/etc with a PIC and and smile.
73 de k4det
Look me up if you have ham questions!
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
There's a "dirty little secret" in ham radio that skews these numbers, though. When the morse code requirements were lowered and eventually dropped, many of the "old order" of radio operators literally drove the new hams off the air. There was vile hatred towards the new hams, and they were told they were not "real hams", or that they held a "general lite" or "extra lite" license. They wouldn't speak to the new hams on the air, and in many cases they would deliberately interfere with them on the air. It got so bad that many new hams would work to get their license, spend $1,000 or more on equipment, get on the air, then sell their equipment again a few months later. They had lowered the code requirement to 5 words per minute by the time I got my Extra, and there were people in my own local club trying to belittle me. I did eventually give it up totally about 5 years ago, selling my own gear as well.
Surely the increase is due in no small part to Leo Laporte and the HAM Nation podcast?
It's my first and only exposure to anything HAM.
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
It's not just bouncing signals off the ionosphere. Earth-Moon-Earth (bouncing signals off the moon) is really common. Just for the challenge, people have also done Earth-Venus-Earth and Earth-Sun-Earth. That's more than thousands of miles!
With the condition the bands have been in the last few years -- during the long solar minimum -- I don't see how you can say that at all. I've been listening too, and while there has been much less to hear, there are very good reasons why. Last weekend's sweepstakes contest brought lots of signals, but very few of them at robust levels here in Montana. We're still a ways from 1990's-class propagation even on 20 meters.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
I hold an extra class license, which I don't really use, and my impression was that the average age was around 65. If you want to tune in and chat with other oldsters about medical problems... then amateur radio is for you! Though some will treat you as a lower class of operator for not being a "brass pounder" (i.e. someone proficient in morse code). And you might feel unwelcome if you're LGBT; they're, um, a little on the conservative side.
I totally hear where you're coming from. Many of the older hams domestic to the US are not a treat to chat with. If you have the capability, I would highly recommend you turn your antenna west-ward or east-ward. There is nothing at all like the thrill of making a contact with Japan or Korea or Hong Kong or Australia or Europe -- with the conditions are the best they have been in 10 years. With a 15-foot half-wavelength dipole for 28.5MHz and 100 watts you can work SSB 5,000 to 10,000 miles away easily.
Another part of the hobby I'm getting into is taking a portable HF transceiver, battery, and dipole up to the peek of some mountains and spending an afternoon seeing how far I can get with no household appliance interference and with an effective height far, far above the tallest Rohn25 tower.
I got mine. As an old geek, I just challenged the exam and got it first try. My offroad club decided to switch away from CB towards HAM. It has improved our communications immensely as well as been useful in some remote medical and mechanical emergency situations.
An excellent reason to get licensed. VHF repeaters have a much greater range -- in general but with some exceptions due to terrain -- than 4-watt mobile CB radios and with vehicle-mounted whip antennas that are much smaller than those for CB. The repeaters tend to be fairly empty these days and use by the off-road and outdoors community is certainly very welcome.
Large urban trauma hospitals around the US oftentimes host rooftop amateur repeaters and provide free emergency power from the repeaters from the hospital's own generators in the event of grid-power failures. The availability of almost limitless emergency hospital power coupled with the height of these repeater stations would make the repeaters that amateurs have access to the best two-way communications capability available in the event of a power outage...
Yes, but most of them are NO-CODE Technicians who took the test with a "volunteer" who helped them with the answers
Did I miss the study that the FCC did that proved that volunteer examiners were helping examinees to cheat on the exam? I've never witnessed that. Have you?
Yes indeed. I had a ham license in 1961 when I was in high school but let my license expire after I entered college. Now that I'm retired, I'm thinking of taking up the hobby again. I used to be pretty fast with the key, but I understand that these days the ability to use Morse code isn't even a requirement for the test.
Regardless of the value that the FCC itself puts on learning Morse code, it does have enormous value on the air. CW is sometimes the best way to make DX (long distance) contacts with a marginal antenna at low power at inopportune times in the solar cycle. Just tuning the bands, I hear CW signals all the time -- it is still very much in use.
At night the lower bands open up. I like 80m, 20m, 17m and 15m, and I loathe 40m. But that's just my opinion.
Out of curiosity, why the hate for 40m?
As a result, there's a new void appearing among people who love to tinker. Amateur radio is a great outlet for that. The equipment is complex enough to enjoy working with but simple enough that you can work on it yourself.
Just recently I picked up a DC power supply built primarily for amateur use -- it was amusing to see that Astron included a print-out of the electrical schematic.
I'm one as well, have been since August. Got 'general' class license. I'd give you my call but I don't have a P.O. box on my license, so anyone on slashdot could get my home address super easy...
(you are welcome to send me an email though if you do want my call for some reason)
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Whenever and wherever this topic comes up (even on ham blogs) people say the same things. Many are dead, many are inactive, etc...
Yes, this is true. So? That has been true since the original hams turned old. If licenses are up then that likely means that all categories, inactive, dead and ACTIVE are up.
I got my ham license and radio about 4 years ago because I am a volunteer in a sport (stage rally) that use ham radio to make sure that the road is safe to run on. The rallies are run on forest and desert roads in areas with few other communications options.
I am also an emergency communications volunteer with the county. In case of an actual emergency, I would report to city hall, set-up the radio and relay messages between the city and the county. On the plus side, I get to participate in drills (two natural disaster and two terrorist attack drills do far). On the minus side, I had to do FEMA training.
We had a storm last year where we didn't have any power, landline phone/DSL or cellular coverage for days. And I don't even live in the sticks; I am about 10 miles from downtown Seattle. Our normal communications infrastructure isn't as reliable as I thought it was.
For radio use practice, I also volunteer for local community events like charity walks (monitor for injuries and tired walkers) and bicycle rides (SAG wagon duties).
I did Field Day for the first time this year. Talking directly to someone across the country was pretty cool.
No doubt! A couple of weekends ago I heard 10 meters was up again, so thought I'd play. I have a Radio Shack HTX-100 10-meter radio I think I paid about $200 for way back in the day, a PVC-encased balun I bought for maybe $20, some speaker wire, some feedline and a power supply. Total was maybe $400 a long time ago.
Anyway, strung the dipole between two badminton net supports, fired it up, and was talking to Canada, Europe, and all over the east coast from the central US. My 12-year-old thought it was pretty darn cool.
Next step is I want to get something portable like an FT-857 or 817 and do some mountaintopping. Good times!
Next step is I want to get something portable like an FT-857 or 817 and do some mountaintopping. Good times!
Have to recommend the FT-897 wholeheartedly. The FT-897 is electrically identical to the FT-857. The FT-857 is the FT-897 in a smaller package intended for use in a car. As such, the FT-857 has fewer external buttons and knobs than the FT-897 so navigating it while it's on your desk or on top of a boulder could be more challenging than with the FT-897.
While the FT-817 is very popular among the mountain topping community, 5 watts is a frustratingly low level of power unless you're on CW. I'm not sure about the condition of your legs and back, but carrying a larger battery and a marginally heavier transceiver so that you can do 20 watts is probably worth the effort. Further, the FT-897 will do a better job on your desk than either the FT-817 or the FT-857 will do.
I bought a 897 used on craigslist for about $650. Don't even bother with the retail price tag -- Yaesu and ICOM both build their gear to last.
I see where quite a few commenters don't get the attraction. I witnessed a voice contact from a 10W mobile radio in Vermont, to a station in Japan, with full signal strength at around dusk a few days ago (on 28.4MHz). The randomness of where HF propagation will take your signal and from what country an operator will respond makes voice communication interesting, and for me much more so than a cell phone call or an IRC chat session. Amateur radio was the cause of my interest in electronics engineering in the first place and I have made a career out of it, which has been greatly enhanced by my experience in amateur radio. Indeed there are many professionals among the amateur community. As many others have stated well here, the hobby is rich with many engineering genres and the generous frequency allocations make for a vast playground that truly does advance the "art" that underlies all those ubiquitous wired and wireless communications we take for granted. Digital, software defined radio, analog, microwave, satellite communications, power amplifiers, antenna design etc etc etc. How can anyone call this boring? 73 Mike
Amusing? Nearly every device built with electronics starting in the 40's had a basic schematic included. It wasn't until the late 80's did they (manufacturers) stop including schematics on every device. Still today you can easily obtain service manuals and schematics for amateur gear. There IS however an "old boys club" of sorts regarding TV/LCD panel service stuff. Gotta be in it or pay for it.
Lousy facepalm.
Don't forget the deliciously geeky potential of morse(-ish) code as an alternate input method for Android phones, so you can smile attentively at everyone in the vicinity while holding the phone in your lap under the table and sending text messages ;-)
Not the backwoods, redneck kind, but a lot of young modern geeks, are quietly investing in what is considered classic survivalist preparation. Two big factors are: (1) How to sustainably generate power sans the grid, and (2) how to communicate over distance when the networks are down. I think you're seeing an uptick because of a reduction in confidence that society will hold together. Not necessarily resigned to collapse, but taking reasonable precautions.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I've seen a lot of comments here ask "why bother, given the Internet?" That attitude kept me away from ham radio for years, too. I wrote up a bit about what changed my mind:
http://wiki.complete.org/WhyAmateurRadio
And here's a page with some information on how to get started:
http://wiki.complete.org/GettingStartedWithAmateurRadio
I also recommend some books and exam practice sites on that page.
Incidentally, another aspect of amateur radio is packet radio - AX.25, which is a networking protocol similar to, but distinct from, the TCP/IP stack. Guess which OS has the best support built into the kernel? I've had a lot of fun with packet, both in its traditional and APRS (positioning beacons) forms.
http://wiki.complete.org/PacketRadio
The Icom 706 Mk II G is a decent mobile with much better DSP. You just need a PhD to be able to figure out how to operate it.
Interesting point. There are indeed complaints about the sound quality of the FT-897D; personally, I think it sounds great.
I'll concede that the 706mkiig is potentially the single most popular HF/VHF/UHF all-mode radio. It got that way for being a very solid performer both mobile (in a car) and sitting on your desk. If I were to install a transceiver in my car, the 706mkiig is the one I'd go with.
However, there are hams that have studied the relative power usage of the 706mkiig and the FT-897 and found that the 706mkiig tends to suck down quite a bit of power even while only receiving, making it a poor candidate for portable (extra-vehicular, shall we say?) activity, such as mountain topping:
The FT-897 can be configured to use minimal current on RX by turning the dial light to automatic, and disabling the DSP. Using headphones helps as well. In this mode, you can get down to 550-600mA, which is much lower than counterparts like the IC-706. In fact, other than the dedicated manpacks like the F-817, VX-1210 and military equivilants, only a few rigs like the Elecraft are more frugal.
Just looking at the specifications for the FT-897D and for the IC-706mkiig:
FT-897D:
Squelched: 600 mA (Approx.)
Receive: 1 A
IC-706MKIIG:
Rx Standby: 1.8A
Max Audio: 2.0 A
I don't know what the OP means by mountain topping -- does he mean he's going to drive his truck to a mountain top and transmit from there or does he mean to toss everything he needs in a backpack and hoof it to a high point? The radio he chooses depends on that distinction. If he's backpacking, I would say the FT-897d is the best choice of the two.
You might try the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual. It covers the why, the how, and also teaches you everything you need to know for passing that first license exam.
I only partially agree.
Yes, computers have reached a level of maturity today, to where they're taken for granted. It feels like everyone owns one (or more), and they don't make for a really interesting hobby anymore, in and of themselves.
But that can just as easily lead a person to broadening their horizons in a computer-centric way as it could lead a person away from computing. For example, 3D printing is still in its infancy. A computer system is at the heart of such a thing, but the real challenges lie in improving the machine that does the printing and experimenting with different materials as the "ink". I don't think too many people would get into creating their own 3 dimensional components or works if they weren't already into computers, though. By extension, the 3D printing interest also leads to exploration in the idea of replication .... building systems that can build more of themselves.
There are also plenty of avenues to explore related to expanding communications with computers. For example, some people have modified off-the-shelf wireless routers or access points, attaching them to the old 8 foot diameter satellite dishes as antennas, and successfully created wireless networks spanning many miles. Others with common interests of computers and music are working with software allowing real-time collaboration on recording projects via broadband connections.
We're past the stage where it's especially exciting to assemble one's own PC from parts (although that's still a lot of fun for some people who haven't ever tried it yet) -- but the trick is in expanding what can be done using the computer as the base or core of the project.
I'd say one of the reasons those other hobbies died off in the 80's was due to paranoia and govt. interference. In the state of Texas, last I checked, you have to obtain a govt. license just to legally own the pyrex GLASSWARE for chemistry experiments! Model rocketry could get you accused of being a terrorist these days
Some of the other things? Well, they just evolved and became extensions of computer tech. Stage lighting for example? Last I looked it it, the "state of the art" was mainly about glorified DLP projectors in motorized housings that projected whatever you created on a computer to the stage floor. Very cool effects too -- but turns the whole thing back over to essentially designing computer graphics.
Backpacking, definitely. There's a program called Summits On The Air (SOTA) where people hike up hills or mountains to activate them for contacts. Living in Colorado, there are plenty of those around! I figure it's good exercise and also allows me to play with things like portable/emergency operation, solar charging, mobile antennas, you name it, and get some exercise too which I very much need!
Anyway, thanks for the tips, all - I should have thrown the 897 in there along with the other two, as it does look nice and I have always liked Yaesu hardware. I'll likely start with an 897 and then consider adding an 817 at some point.
Backpacking, definitely. There's a program called Summits On The Air (SOTA) where people hike up hills or mountains to activate them for contacts. Living in Colorado, there are plenty of those around! I figure it's good exercise and also allows me to play with things like portable/emergency operation, solar charging, mobile antennas, you name it, and get some exercise too which I very much need!
SOTA looks to be a very active organization -- in Europe. When you read forum posts from those involved in SOTA, you will find that the challenges of activating a peek in Europe differ greatly from operating from peaks in Colorado or elsewhere in the western US. For example, how are you going to mount a dipole above treeline? There's no trees from which to hang it.
However, for a dipole, you want it to be a half-wavelength above the ground. For the 20-meter band, you're looking at an antenna resonant on 20 meters when 32 feet long and operating 32 fee above the ground. How do you do that above treeline with something one or two people can carry in backpacks?
For 10 meters, mounting a dipole with two collapsible 15 foot fishing poles is popular and doable -- for 20 meters, I'm not so sure of the solution.
Anyway -- a lot of things to overcome. But this is the beauty of ham radio -- just hard enough to challenge you but not opaque enough to frustrate you. Would love to keep in touch with you about this if you would be willing to share your e-mail address.
I am kind of fond of my 817ND. It isn't necessarily the wattage you put out, but how good is your antenna. I also have a 897 and I get a bigger kick out of using my 817. Making contacts over 2000 miles away on 5 watts and a EF-10/20/40 antenna is kind of fun, especially when the DX contact picks your QRP call out of the pile-up.....
You make a fair point -- it is extremely satisfying to make contacts at 5 watts. If I were to be it another way, I would say that the FT-897D will go as low as 5 watts if you want it to, so you're not giving up the ability to go QRP with the 897D. On the used market, the 817ND retains its value unusually well -- I have found that the price difference between the FT-897D and the FT-817 to be around $150.
I would submit that the value of having a radio that can do both QRP and high-power is worth more than $150 -- the FT-897D strikes a better balance between base station power and portability than the FT-817ND.
The Hams won't be the ones in the dark when infrastructure breaks down. They don;t need no (communications) infrastructure.
Not too long ago, there was a city-wide blackout here in town (in the United States). Once I made it the 3 miles home from work after an hour of fighting traffic, I found some D-batteries and and tuned up the only local station I could find that was on the air -- it was an AM station that is designated by the US Government as the county's station for emergency information in the event of nuclear catastrophe and the only station equipped with a generator and enough fuel to sail a fully-laden container ship to the moon. You would not believe the misinformation and the lack of information.
For hours, and hours, and hours -- there was no information whatsoever from the power company on why this power outage occurred and when it would be fixed. There was even misinformation -- someone claimed on the air that someone heard an explosion at a geothermal power plant that supplies some power to the city -- turned out to be untrue and stoked concerns of terrorism in those that heard it.
The very week after, I picked up a radio and finally put my license to use. Wish I had done it earlier -- would have been very nice to be able to chat with folks around the county on what was happening in their neck of the woods and what they heard. Some of the repeaters are battery or generator powered. I probably could have taken my handheld transceiver to a tall point in the neighborhood and done simplex on 5 watts 30 miles away.
Yes. Well, in a sense, yes. The handbook is more a reference book. Giant, and frankly, overwhelming to a newbie. You need to know where to start. Even if the License Manual is a subset of the handbook, it will help focus on where to start (with an emphasis on the things needed to get the first license), help explain WHY people care about them (which a reference work won't), and also has some sidebars on what people do with their new licenses.
Having passed the tests and been active with the hobby, I have the handbook close by and never refer to the license manual anymore. BUT - when I first got started - it was with the license manual, and the handbook wouldn't have helped me much there.
How does the FFC enforce the no-encryption limitation for payload of the packet data?
If I broadcast with a friend a few miles away and setup an IP tunnel, how do they enforce encapsulation? (What if the friend sends an https request?)
I remember the days as a child playing with my electronics project kit from RadioShack. It seemed that it could do everything - burglar alarms, sirens, even simple radios. Even let you accidentally wire things up in a short and cause some batteries to burst...
It's been interesting to watch RadioShack. They morphed from the good place to get connectors, resistors, and fun things into a run of the mill phone and TV shop. Or did they?
Wired ran an interesting article called The Lost Tribes of RadioShack talking about a potential revival of the maker hobbies. I blogged about it too (Once, We Were Makers). There is one local franchise RadioShack that has a huge amateur section in the back, complete with cable by the foot, antennas, hams on staff, amazing service, etc.
What I'm trying to say is: You're exactly right. I used to love to tinker. I thought I didn't anymore, outside of programming. I learned last year, when I got my ham radio license, that I was wrong. Amateur radio is just Open Source in hardware.
There is no accomplishment in being in Kansas and talking to someone in Japan via the Internet or telephone. I'm sure I do this without even realizing it frequently. How about doing the same using only a $7 antenna and no third-party infrastructure at all? No satellites, no buried cables, no telephone or cable companies -- just my rig and the one in Japan?
I realize it's not at all unique to be able to do this among the amateur radio crowd, but it still gives me a thrill. I love it.
I've been a ham since I was 12 (in 1989) and got seriously sidetracked with writing code over the past 12 years or so. It's been absolutely *amazing*.
However lately I set up my old station again, upgraded to a new Elecraft K3 transceiver, and have been having a blast. The Elecraft K3 has the best receiver ever tested by most of the labs that have run tests on it. It's an ingenious hybrid of analog and digital circuitry, created by a company in Aptos California. Until recently most of the highly desirable gear was from Japanese manufacturers, and with all the advantages in manufacturing that exist in Asia, I thought it unlikely that US firms would be able to continue to compete. But Elecraft has done a remarkable job.
Getting on the air again after about a decade off the air, I've noticed that CW (morse code) is more popular than ever. And better receiver tech has made it even more effective than it was in the past. Much of the equipment used by hams today has DSP, and for the first time I'm seriously considering getting into low power (QRP) operation just b/c of this. Finally, probably thanks to the removal of the requirement, morse code is appreciated as a fun activity.
Some fun things to do: HF Contesting is my favorite, particularly on CW (morse). Much like meditation, it clears the mind of distractions and I come away from it feeling refreshed and exhilarated. And CW is quite musical compared to RTTY which I find fatiguing to hear -- even though the computer is doing the "work" of decoding it, some audio is needed to help zero beat signals.
I've noticed that there has been a big movement toward scientific thinking about radio performance and antenna performance. Antennas and propagation are full of mystery, but they are ultimately constrained by the laws of nature, and hams are doing away with superstition and using antenna modeling software and the scientific method to create very cool designs, particularly with under-appreciated low-loss feedlines.
There is a young ham radio superstar, callsign NO3M who has destroyed the competition in some of the most hard core CW contests. This guy apparently races motorcycles as well. Highly impressive. This guy is the DHH of ham radio.
I think that among the type of people who love building things, who love understanding things, tinkering, etc., ham radio will always have an appeal. Worldwide hams are extremely nice and friendly people, who are always willing to help someone new. Sure there are a few kooks on 75m but I think 75m can safely be ignored except during (and immediately after) contests ;) The rest is pure awesome.
Amazing magic tricks
If you comply with standard, regular, unlicensed wi-fi power levels, you're fine, encrypt all you want.
If you get a HAM license, and operate the overlapped channels at boosted power levels ( up to 5 watts I think, maybe more ) and the payload data is encrypted, you are breaking the law.
I suspect nothing will happen until, you get reported, or you cause interference, at which point, the white van can come out, monitor your signal, use protocol analyzers to collect data and document that you are violating FCC regulations, then call the police / seize your gear / fine you / sue you / revoke your license, and whatever bad stuff happens.
I should also mention, there is another small caveat. Pornography / obscene content is also not allowed. Should you operate wi-fi under HAM license / power levels, and not encrypt it, then pretty much anyone can use it, and if they download pr0n, there is another law you just violated.
Thank you... there are tons of ham nerds out there and the they are rightfully proud of their work. Learning about the fundaments of a tank circuit or how superhet functions is just way cool. Getting the finer points of propagation nailed down and creating cool antennas rocks! Building your own equipment is just the best, once you've got the smell of burning rosin flux in your nose and your blood you're hooked for life.
There's just something romantic about DXing and whoopie with the Solar Max coming the 10 meter band should be hopping like jumping beans in a skillet!!!
I'm a Ham I am and I like green eggs and spam!!! Whoohoooo!!!!
I got it for mainly two reasons. One is emergency preparedness, and the other is because it benefits me in the field of RC airplanes, and legalizes higher power levels for amateur video transmissions from my airplanes. A lot of people I know got their license for similar reasons.
Okay, I confess, I'm from VK (that's International Telecommunications Union and hence Amateur Radio license-area speak for Australia). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU_prefix_-_amateur_and_experimental_stations/
My signature block has said this, subtly, for some years.
Well done, the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) http://www.wia.org.au/, the earliest-established Amateur Radio national organisation in the world, now in its 101st year.
And, where I am, the local radio club is 'bursting' with new folk, doing the Australian Foundation License http://www.wia.org.au/licenses/foundation/about/ and then having loads of fun on-air and in the many activities that are out there for Amateurs.
Looking at space, radio, science and computing from a 'down-under' amateur enthusiast perspective.
Ham radio is getting more popular because people are attracted to the idea of building their own gear and communicating with others in regions of the world that are totally inaccessible by internet or phone. In addition, the cost of Ham gear has fallen dramatically thanks to the chinese who now mass produce a range of reasonable quality ham rigs (companies such as Wouxun, Puxing, Quansheng are the big ones).
What exactly is the point of ham radio? Is it all part of the romantic yearning of many Americans for the post apocalyptic scenario of small bands of plucky survivors communicating across vast distances following a zombie plauge?
Otherwise, why not just use Facebook (or IRC) to communicate like everyone else?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Are unlicensed users allowed to use their own equipment on walkie-talkie frequencies? What are the restrictions? What sort of bandwidth do you get with multi $100 equipment? I'm talking about the bands around 450-500 MHz (what was it in USA, FSR?).
I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.