Regarding your eBay transaction fees, did you file the non-paying bidder alert (NPBA), followed up by the final-value fee refund request(FVF)?
This is a routine and automatic way to get a refund of eBay final value fees. You'll still be out your listing fee, but the final-value fees are usually the big hit.
The people who learn to understand Morse at 30 WPM can speak it, but they can't key it.
Modern iambic keyers (a device with two paddles, press one to generate "dits", the other to generate "dahs", and squeeze to generate a "dit dah..." or "dah dit..." pattern) allow high speed code to be easily sent. 25 or 30 words per minute would not be uncommon in casual operation.
Many modern ham transceivers have the keying circuits built in only requiring an external paddle that requires no power.
During contests where morse code is one of the operating modes, computers with contest software frequently generate the morse code with an average speed of 25 to 35 wpm, and sometimes much higher. Using contest software, an operator will copy by ear a couple of pieces of information (the other station's call sign and contest exchange), enter those in the computer and hit a few function keys to send morse back to the other station. An entire contest contact can happen within 10 seconds. Some of the top contest operators hit rates above 250 contacts per hour under the right conditions.
Simple hardware devices that draw minimal power from the computer port connect to the key jack on the transmitter to make this possible. If your laptop is running during an emergency, you are all set to send high speed code.
Legally, am I required to have a Ham radio license to use those handheld ham radios at Radio Shack?
Yes, if it transmits on the ham bands. The 2 Meter ham band would be an example. There are other services (such as FRS / Family Radio Service) with no license requirement, but with more limitations than ham radio.
How "hard" is it to get a license?
Much easier than it was years ago. These days, the question pools and answers are all available to you, so you can review every possible question that might appear on the test prior to taking it. If you decide to take the morse code test, 5 wpm (words per minute) is easy to learn with a little practice since you basically just need to recognize the sounds of 26 letters plus 10 digits plus a few special characters. 5 wpm is slow enough that only a little practice is needed once you recognize the characters.
Good luck if you decide to go for it. There is a huge variety of operating activities available on the ham bands ranging from satellites and repeaters, to DX (working hams in other countries) on the short wave portion of the ham bands.
There is no need for human transcoding anymore; simple hardware does a more reliable job cheaper and faster.
Under ideal conditions, that may be true. However, conditions are usually not ideal on the ham bands. Interference, fading, static, and hand sent morse with less than perfect spacing are all extremely common and cause hardware or software decoding to fail. Low power and DX (far away) signals are sometimes just barely audible.
During contests and DX "pileups", it is common for tens or hundreds of stations to be transmitting at the same time and on nearly the same frequency. Skilled hams can pick out individual call signs under these conditions using their brain as a filter, despite the fact that they are actually hearing more than one signal simultaneously. Hardware solutions don't even come close.
If you are a seller, negative feedback is likely to backfire as this story illustrates.
A better approach: wait a few days and file the NPB (Non-Paying Bidder) warning. 10 days later, file for the FVF (Final Value Fee) refund which credits your account with the sale commission paid to Ebay.
Later, much later, think about posting negative feedback. You have 90 days to do so. The longer the delay, the less chance of a response from the buyer.
Ebay could fix this aspect of the system by preventing buyers from posting feedback after a transaction has had an FVF refund issued.
Cell phone timing issues are a huge pain. Ever start talking at the same time as the other person, then you both stop and wait for the other person to continue, then both start talking again at the same time? It's like a human CSMA/CD exchange and it sure makes it difficult to carry on a conversation.
I really wonder how the latency of VoIP will compare.
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This is a routine and automatic way to get a refund of eBay final value fees. You'll still be out your listing fee, but the final-value fees are usually the big hit.
This was a major effort by the DoJ involving hundreds of agents and taking place after 9/11. I'm glad we have our priorities straight.
Modern iambic keyers (a device with two paddles, press one to generate "dits", the other to generate "dahs", and squeeze to generate a "dit dah ..." or "dah dit ..." pattern) allow high speed code to be easily sent. 25 or 30 words per minute would not be uncommon in casual operation.
Many modern ham transceivers have the keying circuits built in only requiring an external paddle that requires no power.
During contests where morse code is one of the operating modes, computers with contest software frequently generate the morse code with an average speed of 25 to 35 wpm, and sometimes much higher. Using contest software, an operator will copy by ear a couple of pieces of information (the other station's call sign and contest exchange), enter those in the computer and hit a few function keys to send morse back to the other station. An entire contest contact can happen within 10 seconds. Some of the top contest operators hit rates above 250 contacts per hour under the right conditions.
Simple hardware devices that draw minimal power from the computer port connect to the key jack on the transmitter to make this possible. If your laptop is running during an emergency, you are all set to send high speed code.
Yes, if it transmits on the ham bands. The 2 Meter ham band would be an example. There are other services (such as FRS / Family Radio Service) with no license requirement, but with more limitations than ham radio.
How "hard" is it to get a license?
Much easier than it was years ago. These days, the question pools and answers are all available to you, so you can review every possible question that might appear on the test prior to taking it. If you decide to take the morse code test, 5 wpm (words per minute) is easy to learn with a little practice since you basically just need to recognize the sounds of 26 letters plus 10 digits plus a few special characters. 5 wpm is slow enough that only a little practice is needed once you recognize the characters.
Good luck if you decide to go for it. There is a huge variety of operating activities available on the ham bands ranging from satellites and repeaters, to DX (working hams in other countries) on the short wave portion of the ham bands.
Under ideal conditions, that may be true. However, conditions are usually not ideal on the ham bands. Interference, fading, static, and hand sent morse with less than perfect spacing are all extremely common and cause hardware or software decoding to fail. Low power and DX (far away) signals are sometimes just barely audible.
During contests and DX "pileups", it is common for tens or hundreds of stations to be transmitting at the same time and on nearly the same frequency. Skilled hams can pick out individual call signs under these conditions using their brain as a filter, despite the fact that they are actually hearing more than one signal simultaneously. Hardware solutions don't even come close.
"Put" options and short selling make it easy to benefit from stocks that are falling in value.
A better approach: wait a few days and file the NPB (Non-Paying Bidder) warning. 10 days later, file for the FVF (Final Value Fee) refund which credits your account with the sale commission paid to Ebay.
Later, much later, think about posting negative feedback. You have 90 days to do so. The longer the delay, the less chance of a response from the buyer.
Ebay could fix this aspect of the system by preventing buyers from posting feedback after a transaction has had an FVF refund issued.
Just FYI, they want name, address, birthdate and last 4 digits of social security number. Email address is optional.
Cell phone timing issues are a huge pain. Ever start talking at the same time as the other person, then you both stop and wait for the other person to continue, then both start talking again at the same time? It's like a human CSMA/CD exchange and it sure makes it difficult to carry on a conversation. I really wonder how the latency of VoIP will compare.