The quality of reporting in this article really sucks. The printed circuit boards on top of the tins are not 'telegraph keys', they're the transmitters and the white box is the iPhone interface. Quite where the 'sodium clouds' come in I have no idea because in thirty years of ham radio operation I've never seen one, heard of one or used one to make a contact with a fellow ham.
Ganty
I agree about the bad reporting. I am left with more questions than answers from this article. Is it the RF side that is interfaced? Are the apps on the iPhone communicating with an OSI level 1 and 2 interface that is the ham radio, or is the ham radio being controlled, as in CIV, through the iPhone with communications going through the air. Or are they just using the iPhone as a microphone and speaker for the ham radio?
It is nice to see a "good bit of publicity for us operators" *, but this article literally has no useful information.
That's my opinion and I am unanimous in that!
73 de ve3id
* Hancock, Tony: "The Radio Ham", BBC 1964
In 1961, resetting a bit involved passing a huge current through the wires surrounding a toroidal core which represented one memory bit. So to say that it releases heat is ridiculous, it actually consumes orders of magnitude more heat than could possibly be considered in theory or measured in practice.
There are people who say that Claude Shannon, of 'Shannon's Equation' fame, made more money by winning lotteries using his statistical knowledge that in his day job as inventor of information theories. Maybe the key is to keeping it quiet?
One principle of computer forensics is that if a computer is manipulated in any way, the evidence may be corrupted by such operation, and this could be used by defence attornies. Real computer forensics involves getting the computer powered down, removing the disk, setting it up in a test jig with write protect enabled, and reading the complete image from the disk onto a sterile environment for analysis.
I don't think Mr. Plod will meet the test of admissibility into evidence! How is he going to prove to the court that the suspected data were not on the USB key to start with? If he has interfered with the computer in any way by plugging in a USB key, then the evidence is contaminated.
This reminds me of another idiot device they gave to the British bobby: back in the 70's and 80's, there was a glut of illegal CB sets in England. They never legalised the use of 27MHz AM/SSB CBs and all the units sold were marked 'for export only'
When they legalised CB, units that were approved could only transmit FM. Instead of overworking the radio inspectors, they gave bobbies on the beat a box that detected if a close transmitter was AM or FM, with two LEDs. The only problem was amateur radio operators can legally use AM and SSB (after all, they invented it!). One beat p.c. stopped a ham and asked him to talk in the mike, and, you guessed it, the illegal CB light lit up!
Only when the amateur radio operator started cursing and swearing at the p.c. and getting red in the face did he consult another p.c. over the police radio who was a ham. This being the appropriate behaviour for a ham accused of being a CB'er, he let him go with an apology.
Will this replace the duck/cat method of instrument flying then? You know, if you lose your horizon you throw the cat in the air, it will always have its feet pointing down, and if you lose your compass you throw the duck out of the window, it will fly South in the winter and North in the summer
Sorry, I was trying to lower myself to the level of others. Entertainers are all that a lot of people now about! I am using the same argument for claiming that some are Canadians as Americans do to claim them for their own, what's wrong with that? Of course I could also add Reginald Fessenden and many others.
The recursive paradox re Hollywood is totally appropriate for people who say GNU's not Unix and use the PHP Hypertext Protocol!
And who said I was trying to make a rational argument? Perhaps I should explain that I am an Englishman who now calls himself Canadian and, as such, I have never been able to break myself of the habit of saying the opposite to what I mean!
Canadians slow in the head? The following people make your slanderous claim a lie:
Dan Aykroyd,Raymond Burr,John Candy,Jim Carrey,James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek),David James Elliott(Harm on JAG),Glenn Ford,Michael J. Fox,Lorne Greene(Bonanza),Paul Gross,Phil Hartman,Raymond Massey(Perry Mason),Barry Morse (Lt. Gerard on "The Fugitive"),Mike Myers,Leslie Nielsen,Walter Pidgeon,Gordon Pinsent,Christopher Plummer,Jason Priestley,Keanu Reeves,Mack Sennett,William Shatner (Captain Kirk),Martin Short,Donald Sutherland,Kiefer Sutherland,Alan Thicke,Dave Thomas,Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best (co-discoverers of insulin),Brian W. Kernighan(surely you now of him!),Robert Bateman,Sir Samuel Cunard (the steamship guy),Jack L. Warner,David Cronenberg,Mack Sennett,Peter Jennings(Maybe you saw him on the ABC News),Morely Safer,Monty Hall,Art Linkletter,Alex Trebek,Sir William Stephenson(Spy master of WWII),Sir Sandford Fleming(inventor of standard time),Norman Bethune(Doctor and philanthropist),Billy Bishop(WW1 ace), and of course, ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL!
In addition, when the world's fastest and best fighter jet, the Avro Arrow, was cancelled in July 1958 due to pressure from the USA, hundreds of aerospace engineers went to work for NASA and started the space program.
So don't tell me Canadians are slow in the head: without us the USA would be insignificant. In fact, many of us in Canada believe the USA does not really exist, it is all mocked up for the news cameras in a Hollywood back lot! Do not get confused between marketing BS and reality!
UniSYS used to have a magazine add that said "If you are late to the party you had better bring something good" or words of a similar nature, as a cartoon man came down a winding staircase at a mansion, carrying their PC.
So they were late coming out with a PC, and they are using stale marketing ideas now. Seems consistent to me!
I have been saying this for years. We lose 10-20 % of energy charging a battery in a UPS with 117V, we lose another 20-30% in the inverter to get it back to 117V, and then we lose another 10% getting the 117V back to usable voltages for the PC.
It does not take an expert in electrical engineering, just common sense.
Yes I certainly do! It is still a sandbox for trying things out that will become either part of the common practice or a failed experiment to add to your experience! Right now hams are experimenting wioth new ways to communicate, satellites, digital modes, rig control, repeater stations and VoIP. there is lots of room for experimentation and in the upper levels of qualification you don;t have to buy type-approved equipment. You can experiment on the air without going through a commercial approval process, which can cost tens of thousands for a commefcial piece opf equipment.
Amateur radio is the original open-source community, with a tradition of sharing techniques and technology dating back a century.
With wireless becoming more important to the computer community, there is lots of room for people whpo pass the exams to do real and beneficial experimentation on the air, and maybe even invent something worthwile for humanity without a million-dollafr lab!
Right now in Toronto we are working on a new generation of VHF/UHF repeater controller (search for TorontoRepeaterController on yahoo groups) which will be all open-source, hardware and software. It not only will congtrol repeaters, but link into VoIP nets, remote control rigs, and provide a gateway for analog radio users into the new digital voice modes.
Even buying commercial off-the-shelf mobiles help the cause, because what is the use of developing stuff without intelligent users to test it!
The next few years will see an multifold improvement in progagation as we reahc the peak of the sunspot cycle for those who just like to communicate. Two cycles ago I had no problem working Europe with ten watts from the mobile on 30MHz!
Amateur radio is alive and well - but don;t tell too many people. We like to keep its wonders to ourselves!
73, Nigel, VE3ID and G4AJQ
Slashdot Mirror
The quality of reporting in this article really sucks. The printed circuit boards on top of the tins are not 'telegraph keys', they're the transmitters and the white box is the iPhone interface. Quite where the 'sodium clouds' come in I have no idea because in thirty years of ham radio operation I've never seen one, heard of one or used one to make a contact with a fellow ham.
Ganty
I agree about the bad reporting. I am left with more questions than answers from this article. Is it the RF side that is interfaced? Are the apps on the iPhone communicating with an OSI level 1 and 2 interface that is the ham radio, or is the ham radio being controlled, as in CIV, through the iPhone with communications going through the air. Or are they just using the iPhone as a microphone and speaker for the ham radio? It is nice to see a "good bit of publicity for us operators" *, but this article literally has no useful information. That's my opinion and I am unanimous in that! 73 de ve3id * Hancock, Tony: "The Radio Ham", BBC 1964
In 1961, resetting a bit involved passing a huge current through the wires surrounding a toroidal core which represented one memory bit. So to say that it releases heat is ridiculous, it actually consumes orders of magnitude more heat than could possibly be considered in theory or measured in practice.
There are people who say that Claude Shannon, of 'Shannon's Equation' fame, made more money by winning lotteries using his statistical knowledge that in his day job as inventor of information theories. Maybe the key is to keeping it quiet?
Buffalo is near cheap power. The current data center proposals are all to the north of Buffalo, where Niagara Falls is.
You think the power at James Bay is expensive then? Only problem is you have to speak French!
Well, why stop at Buffalo? We have lots of cheap land in Northern Canada where you would need no cooling for most of the year!!!!
FINALLY !!! AN APPLICATION FOR THE WOM!!!! http://www.national.com/rap/files/datasheet.pdf Bob Pease sure was fore-sighted, since this memory chip was invented back in the seventies!
One principle of computer forensics is that if a computer is manipulated in any way, the evidence may be corrupted by such operation, and this could be used by defence attornies. Real computer forensics involves getting the computer powered down, removing the disk, setting it up in a test jig with write protect enabled, and reading the complete image from the disk onto a sterile environment for analysis. I don't think Mr. Plod will meet the test of admissibility into evidence! How is he going to prove to the court that the suspected data were not on the USB key to start with? If he has interfered with the computer in any way by plugging in a USB key, then the evidence is contaminated.
This reminds me of another idiot device they gave to the British bobby: back in the 70's and 80's, there was a glut of illegal CB sets in England. They never legalised the use of 27MHz AM/SSB CBs and all the units sold were marked 'for export only' When they legalised CB, units that were approved could only transmit FM. Instead of overworking the radio inspectors, they gave bobbies on the beat a box that detected if a close transmitter was AM or FM, with two LEDs. The only problem was amateur radio operators can legally use AM and SSB (after all, they invented it!). One beat p.c. stopped a ham and asked him to talk in the mike, and, you guessed it, the illegal CB light lit up! Only when the amateur radio operator started cursing and swearing at the p.c. and getting red in the face did he consult another p.c. over the police radio who was a ham. This being the appropriate behaviour for a ham accused of being a CB'er, he let him go with an apology.
Will this replace the duck/cat method of instrument flying then? You know, if you lose your horizon you throw the cat in the air, it will always have its feet pointing down, and if you lose your compass you throw the duck out of the window, it will fly South in the winter and North in the summer
I already knew this. Why do we spend such money on research? Think about it, have you ever had a chimp ask you for directions?
Sorry, I was trying to lower myself to the level of others. Entertainers are all that a lot of people now about! I am using the same argument for claiming that some are Canadians as Americans do to claim them for their own, what's wrong with that? Of course I could also add Reginald Fessenden and many others. The recursive paradox re Hollywood is totally appropriate for people who say GNU's not Unix and use the PHP Hypertext Protocol! And who said I was trying to make a rational argument? Perhaps I should explain that I am an Englishman who now calls himself Canadian and, as such, I have never been able to break myself of the habit of saying the opposite to what I mean!
Canadians slow in the head? The following people make your slanderous claim a lie: Dan Aykroyd,Raymond Burr,John Candy,Jim Carrey,James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek),David James Elliott(Harm on JAG),Glenn Ford,Michael J. Fox,Lorne Greene(Bonanza),Paul Gross,Phil Hartman,Raymond Massey(Perry Mason),Barry Morse (Lt. Gerard on "The Fugitive"),Mike Myers,Leslie Nielsen,Walter Pidgeon,Gordon Pinsent,Christopher Plummer,Jason Priestley,Keanu Reeves,Mack Sennett,William Shatner (Captain Kirk),Martin Short,Donald Sutherland,Kiefer Sutherland,Alan Thicke,Dave Thomas,Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best (co-discoverers of insulin),Brian W. Kernighan(surely you now of him!),Robert Bateman,Sir Samuel Cunard (the steamship guy),Jack L. Warner,David Cronenberg,Mack Sennett,Peter Jennings(Maybe you saw him on the ABC News),Morely Safer,Monty Hall,Art Linkletter,Alex Trebek,Sir William Stephenson(Spy master of WWII),Sir Sandford Fleming(inventor of standard time),Norman Bethune(Doctor and philanthropist),Billy Bishop(WW1 ace), and of course, ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL! In addition, when the world's fastest and best fighter jet, the Avro Arrow, was cancelled in July 1958 due to pressure from the USA, hundreds of aerospace engineers went to work for NASA and started the space program. So don't tell me Canadians are slow in the head: without us the USA would be insignificant. In fact, many of us in Canada believe the USA does not really exist, it is all mocked up for the news cameras in a Hollywood back lot! Do not get confused between marketing BS and reality!
UniSYS used to have a magazine add that said "If you are late to the party you had better bring something good" or words of a similar nature, as a cartoon man came down a winding staircase at a mansion, carrying their PC. So they were late coming out with a PC, and they are using stale marketing ideas now. Seems consistent to me!
Since when is Unisys a security company? I know them as a computer manufacturer. Did I miss something, or are they trying to re-market themselves?
I have been saying this for years. We lose 10-20 % of energy charging a battery in a UPS with 117V, we lose another 20-30% in the inverter to get it back to 117V, and then we lose another 10% getting the 117V back to usable voltages for the PC.
It does not take an expert in electrical engineering, just common sense.
Can I sue google for stealing my idea?
Yes I certainly do! It is still a sandbox for trying things out that will become either part of the common practice or a failed experiment to add to your experience! Right now hams are experimenting wioth new ways to communicate, satellites, digital modes, rig control, repeater stations and VoIP. there is lots of room for experimentation and in the upper levels of qualification you don;t have to buy type-approved equipment. You can experiment on the air without going through a commercial approval process, which can cost tens of thousands for a commefcial piece opf equipment. Amateur radio is the original open-source community, with a tradition of sharing techniques and technology dating back a century. With wireless becoming more important to the computer community, there is lots of room for people whpo pass the exams to do real and beneficial experimentation on the air, and maybe even invent something worthwile for humanity without a million-dollafr lab! Right now in Toronto we are working on a new generation of VHF/UHF repeater controller (search for TorontoRepeaterController on yahoo groups) which will be all open-source, hardware and software. It not only will congtrol repeaters, but link into VoIP nets, remote control rigs, and provide a gateway for analog radio users into the new digital voice modes. Even buying commercial off-the-shelf mobiles help the cause, because what is the use of developing stuff without intelligent users to test it! The next few years will see an multifold improvement in progagation as we reahc the peak of the sunspot cycle for those who just like to communicate. Two cycles ago I had no problem working Europe with ten watts from the mobile on 30MHz! Amateur radio is alive and well - but don;t tell too many people. We like to keep its wonders to ourselves! 73, Nigel, VE3ID and G4AJQ