After the blackout in the northeast and 9/11 I would hope that people would realize the valuable use of amateur radio. I am both an amateur radio operator, and I will someday have a job working on computer networks.
My personal opinion is to keep the amateur ops happy on this issue because they can be so important in a time of need. During times of emergency there can be no power, no phone lines, and no wires between amateur ops and they can still communicate. An article mentioned how helpful the local operators were during the northeast blackout because amateurs were setting up at hospitals, police departments, fire departments, and emergency operations centers providing vital and potentially life saving communications.
However this new technology would offer people like me with faster access because frankly 24.0 kbps dial-up sucks. But I think a good emergency communications system is more important. With new technology and current technology being improved I think we can either reduce or eliminate (with time) the interference created to amateurs, or come up with something new to replace BPL.
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After the blackout in the northeast and 9/11 I would hope that people would realize the valuable use of amateur radio. I am both an amateur radio operator, and I will someday have a job working on computer networks.
My personal opinion is to keep the amateur ops happy on this issue because they can be so important in a time of need. During times of emergency there can be no power, no phone lines, and no wires between amateur ops and they can still communicate. An article mentioned how helpful the local operators were during the northeast blackout because amateurs were setting up at hospitals, police departments, fire departments, and emergency operations centers providing vital and potentially life saving communications.
However this new technology would offer people like me with faster access because frankly 24.0 kbps dial-up sucks. But I think a good emergency communications system is more important. With new technology and current technology being improved I think we can either reduce or eliminate (with time) the interference created to amateurs, or come up with something new to replace BPL.