Regardless of our allocation status on 902-928, there isn't any development of the band. Lack of a primary allocation should never have stopped the manufacturing of radios for the band either! Even conversion of commercial equipment has not evolved to what I would have expected. Now I have simply lowered my expectations of the service & its' participants. Considering the comments here, on QRZ, eHam & newgroups, I am actually embarassed to be lumped in with these shortsighted twits!
What I find amazing is the fact all these backpatters fail to understand that we are prevented from doing speed & modes available to be done license free! Take a good look around or type in a frequency range into Google just to see what comes up. It won't be ham radio related, it will likely be Part 15 devices!
Say I wanted a DSL shot over RF, I can't do it with my ham license but I can do it under Part 15. So much for the "leading edge" argument! We are dragging anchor but most don't seem to notice the pace has long passed us by!
We are no longer the only ones with antennas, mobile radios are not rare. Flip phones, PDA's & 2-way pagers outstrip the state of currently available amateur equipment for years now. A 1200 baud TNC in a radio is about as "high-tech" as it goes & the 2 makers of them (Alinco & Kenwood) are hanging by a thread in the amateur market!
You can also add the FRS/GMRS/MURS fever that has eclipsed the Technician class licensees by quickly populating those frequencies. This is true even out here in rural America. Activity is year round, not just during hunting season or warm weather. In fact during this winter's ice storm & power outage, I heard much more activity on FRS than all of ham radio (VHF/UHF)combined. Granted you can choose to do more with Amateur Radio but 90% of it is talking. How much more is there? License Free & Part 15 devices satisfy the need to simply communicate.
Sorry all who think the world revolves around ham radio. It clearly doesn't anymore. I try to be realistic in my views based on my 30 years in radio. I follow commercial wireless closely & work in the business, it is easy for me to say they clearly have us beat! Although I have a great stake in ham radio, I really have found the OF's have depressed the "hobby" so far, little can save it from its' own demise.
Pushing this supposed "public service" with voice nets, NTS messages & endless self praise will only seal this fate...
Phil has always been right about this & he remains right on target today!
Your experience on the repeater is what I speak of even on the internet. Since ham licenses are public domain, it seems to me once you give your call, it is open season unlike anyone else on the internet. Even EchoLink, the saviour of AH hams, revolves around ID'ing while listening! RadioOverIP far outstrips the EchoLink anal-tenetive ID'ing of listening streams. Why don't they just inhibit transmit function rather than requiring a callsign tp listen remotely on the computer? Seems far too shortsighted in my opinion!
Ham radio is no longer unique, although these guys claim to "respond", 99% is all hot air across your speaker grill. Then they have the nerve to call you a CB'er. Getting jammed on HF or VHF because of your opinion is pretty sad but it is happening...
I predict the FCC will not only drop CW, they're going to streamline class of licenses do it makes things really simple... Close the ARRL bookstore!!!
I give you alot of credit, you see thing really as they are except 900. There is no excuse because hams can override Part 15 devices on the band. Cybikos should be everywhere, yet they are no where except for a few guys who see the light!
There is no excuse except for the endless whining of old CW OF's that just see it as "my way or the hiway" although they fail to see the problem. We are prevented from even using current technology on our bands!!! The licensed services far outstrip the ham ability. 900 trunking would get stalled over "the legal debate" while everyone else is moving on & above the voice/data standards...
I lack the ability to express the point any further. I tis a shame that 2.4 Part 15 devices don;t have a root in ham radio, other than they use our frequency, although these guys will ask who it is, instead of what did they say???
Ham radio has reached the "bleeding edge of antiquity" but this fact has escaped the notice of these breast-beating hams too busy to notice that nothing above 450mhz has been used during emergencies, making the spectrum argument a moot one. No 900 trunking, 900 digital nor 900 voice has been deployed in the 26MHz we are allocated. None! Even though 900 equipment is available surplus, no one has the vision to attempt at using that band. This clearly shows how far ham radio has slid behind the pace of cutting edge technology. No wireless data above 9600 baud, now how outdated is that? Everytime there is an emergency, I cringe thinking of how hams are likely to be the dragging anchor of interoperability. The quality of operations has deteriorated to a point where you must sift though the BS to get to the point!!! Preoccupation with rules & callsign identification shows the true anal-retentive side of the evolved ham radio persona. This crosses over to the internet where the same people demand you ID. I don't have to, there is no rule saying I must! Self importance is not a selling point, it is a hinderance. Personally I see the FCC taking most if not all above 2.4GHz, if not 902-928 after dropping the CW test. While they are at it, I wish they would drop the incentive licensing crap. 1 license, 1 purpose, to talk! CW can exist but not as a testing "filter". Anyone who belives that Extra class hams know any more than Generals is dreaming. The ARRL created incentive licensing in order to keep the bookstand business bubbling over!! Hams are the only FCC licensees to have multiple license classes for the FCC to track! What a pain in the ass & under current climate, what I suggest just might save the FCC a bunch of money by streamlining the license structure to KISS standards! All you who balk at such a revelation are likely the ARRL(renamed ANAAL) crowd who like lemmings, follow the idiots in Newington into the ideaology wasteland. Anyone who doubts, just look at the comments here or on the FCC ECFS regarding BPL. These guys can't even spell or make complete sentences, yet, these ANAAL folks have stoked them into flames of opinion!!! Facts be damned, these guys fall off the map! I have held my General license for 21 years & I have been a Shortwave Listener for 30 years. I never thought I would be ashamed of being associated with ham radio operation but I find myself doing so recently. I have raised these issues on the air on 7240 & 3910 & actually sway many to agree with my position. I also see FRS, GMRS, MURS along with "dot/star" radio use explode as a much more popular mode of communication than ham radio Tech class popularity! Ham radio hasn't brought new "leading edge" technology in 20 years, since TCP/IP & RATS meetings in Nutley NJ!!! Get over it ham radio geeks, the whole world has antennas now, we are no longer unique... But what's the frequency Kenneth? It ain't ham radio frequencies, that much I am willing to bet on!
Slashdot Mirror
I agree with your comments.
Regardless of our allocation status on 902-928, there isn't any development of the band. Lack of a primary allocation should never have stopped the manufacturing of radios for the band either! Even conversion of commercial equipment has not evolved to what I would have expected. Now I have simply lowered my expectations of the service & its' participants. Considering the comments here, on QRZ, eHam & newgroups, I am actually embarassed to be lumped in with these shortsighted twits!
What I find amazing is the fact all these backpatters fail to understand that we are prevented from doing speed & modes available to be done license free! Take a good look around or type in a frequency range into Google just to see what comes up. It won't be ham radio related, it will likely be Part 15 devices!
Say I wanted a DSL shot over RF, I can't do it with my ham license but I can do it under Part 15. So much for the "leading edge" argument! We are dragging anchor but most don't seem to notice the pace has long passed us by!
We are no longer the only ones with antennas, mobile radios are not rare. Flip phones, PDA's & 2-way pagers outstrip the state of currently available amateur equipment for years now. A 1200 baud TNC in a radio is about as "high-tech" as it goes & the 2 makers of them (Alinco & Kenwood) are hanging by a thread in the amateur market!
You can also add the FRS/GMRS/MURS fever that has eclipsed the Technician class licensees by quickly populating those frequencies. This is true even out here in rural America. Activity is year round, not just during hunting season or warm weather. In fact during this winter's ice storm & power outage, I heard much more activity on FRS than all of ham radio (VHF/UHF)combined. Granted you can choose to do more with Amateur Radio but 90% of it is talking. How much more is there? License Free & Part 15 devices satisfy the need to simply communicate.
Sorry all who think the world revolves around ham radio. It clearly doesn't anymore. I try to be realistic in my views based on my 30 years in radio. I follow commercial wireless closely & work in the business, it is easy for me to say they clearly have us beat! Although I have a great stake in ham radio, I really have found the OF's have depressed the "hobby" so far, little can save it from its' own demise.
Pushing this supposed "public service" with voice nets, NTS messages & endless self praise will only seal this fate...
Phil has always been right about this & he remains right on target today!
When will the clueless figure out reality?
2-2!
Roach Radio
Your experience on the repeater is what I speak of even on the internet. Since ham licenses are public domain, it seems to me once you give your call, it is open season unlike anyone else on the internet. Even EchoLink, the saviour of AH hams, revolves around ID'ing while listening! RadioOverIP far outstrips the EchoLink anal-tenetive ID'ing of listening streams. Why don't they just inhibit transmit function rather than requiring a callsign tp listen remotely on the computer? Seems far too shortsighted in my opinion!
Ham radio is no longer unique, although these guys claim to "respond", 99% is all hot air across your speaker grill. Then they have the nerve to call you a CB'er. Getting jammed on HF or VHF because of your opinion is pretty sad but it is happening...
I predict the FCC will not only drop CW, they're going to streamline class of licenses do it makes things really simple... Close the ARRL bookstore!!!
I give you alot of credit, you see thing really as they are except 900. There is no excuse because hams can override Part 15 devices on the band. Cybikos should be everywhere, yet they are no where except for a few guys who see the light!
There is no excuse except for the endless whining of old CW OF's that just see it as "my way or the hiway" although they fail to see the problem. We are prevented from even using current technology on our bands!!! The licensed services far outstrip the ham ability. 900 trunking would get stalled over "the legal debate" while everyone else is moving on & above the voice/data standards...
I lack the ability to express the point any further. I tis a shame that 2.4 Part 15 devices don;t have a root in ham radio, other than they use our frequency, although these guys will ask who it is, instead of what did they say???
2-2 Roach Radio
Ham radio has reached the "bleeding edge of antiquity" but this fact has escaped the notice of these breast-beating hams too busy to notice that nothing above 450mhz has been used during emergencies, making the spectrum argument a moot one. No 900 trunking, 900 digital nor 900 voice has been deployed in the 26MHz we are allocated. None! Even though 900 equipment is available surplus, no one has the vision to attempt at using that band. This clearly shows how far ham radio has slid behind the pace of cutting edge technology. No wireless data above 9600 baud, now how outdated is that?
Everytime there is an emergency, I cringe thinking of how hams are likely to be the dragging anchor of interoperability. The quality of operations has deteriorated to a point where you must sift though the BS to get to the point!!!
Preoccupation with rules & callsign identification shows the true anal-retentive side of the evolved ham radio persona. This crosses over to the internet where the same people demand you ID. I don't have to, there is no rule saying I must! Self importance is not a selling point, it is a hinderance.
Personally I see the FCC taking most if not all above 2.4GHz, if not 902-928 after dropping the CW test. While they are at it, I wish they would drop the incentive licensing crap. 1 license, 1 purpose, to talk! CW can exist but not as a testing "filter". Anyone who belives that Extra class hams know any more than Generals is dreaming. The ARRL created incentive licensing in order to keep the bookstand business bubbling over!!
Hams are the only FCC licensees to have multiple license classes for the FCC to track! What a pain in the ass & under current climate, what I suggest just might save the FCC a bunch of money by streamlining the license structure to KISS standards!
All you who balk at such a revelation are likely the ARRL(renamed ANAAL) crowd who like lemmings, follow the idiots in Newington into the ideaology wasteland. Anyone who doubts, just look at the comments here or on the FCC ECFS regarding BPL. These guys can't even spell or make complete sentences, yet, these ANAAL folks have stoked them into flames of opinion!!! Facts be damned, these guys fall off the map!
I have held my General license for 21 years & I have been a Shortwave Listener for 30 years. I never thought I would be ashamed of being associated with ham radio operation but I find myself doing so recently.
I have raised these issues on the air on 7240 & 3910 & actually sway many to agree with my position. I also see FRS, GMRS, MURS along with "dot/star" radio use explode as a much more popular mode of communication than ham radio Tech class popularity!
Ham radio hasn't brought new "leading edge" technology in 20 years, since TCP/IP & RATS meetings in Nutley NJ!!!
Get over it ham radio geeks, the whole world has antennas now, we are no longer unique...
But what's the frequency Kenneth?
It ain't ham radio frequencies, that much I am willing to bet on!
TowerMan NOCALL-1