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Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
81–90 of 109 posts
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#82I do, IU5RQT from Italy
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow! I know American data protection law is pretty poor, but that really is shocking; such data should not be made public without the users explicit opt-in consent.
They have opt-in consent: it’s a known part of the US ham licensing process that the database is public and searchable, and nobody is forced to get a ham license. In fact, several of the questions on the ham test involve the fact that you can look up operator info online.
Your amateur radio license is only active when:
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#84I got my license because I'm an offshore sailor. It is useful as safety and communication equipment (radio nets to keep track of other boats, their weather and fishing conditions :), and let your would-be-rescuers know your position and status), but also for sending and receiving data. It is my primary interface for weather info at sea using traditional weatherfax, but also more modern GRIB extraction. I can even upd…
> Let your would-be-rescuers know your position and status Stupid question, do search and rescue services even have equipment that can tune into HAM frequencies, are they even listening on those frequencies, and do they regularly train on communicating with the HAM community? I'm sure there are more established ways of radioing for help in the maritime world(Aviation has the guard frequency)
Not a stupid question at all. But these aren't search and rescue services, they are just other sailors. I'm talking about locales that are far far outside of the realm of typical rescue services, and in no particular jurisdiction. Your best bet for rescue is your fellow sailors or commercial shipping traffic. Radio nets like the Pacific Seafarers Net allow you to make yourself known so that folks can keep tabs on you (and you them) in case something happens.
EPIRB and other emergency beacons still use HF radio frequencies (not HAM of course) and countries like the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and others I'm sure are monitoring those signals. But even then, they will first and foremost look to the seafaring community to actually render assistance, and that kind of call to action does often make its way through HAM radio nets, though I'm not sure exactly how, e.g., the U.S. Coast Guard makes that first outreach as the rescue coordinator.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#85Taking my technician test tomorrow! Wish me luck!
Not only am I pursuing this because I want long-range emergency comms in case cell networks go down (like what happened with Verizon recently), but also because I see a very notable contraction on what communication is allowed to be done on the internet, especially in the last year. Censorial regimes around the world seem to be accelerating and I don't want to be cut off from communications because I am not of an "accepted" identity.
And yes, I'm aware that states police the amateur airwaves too. But I see it more like how getting a driver's license doesn't mean I can't flee a country with my car... Learning to drive, or operate a radio, is still a valuable skill to learn and practice.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#86I do.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm not sure I like exposing my home address by providing my callsign with my HN account Please explain. Surely one simply opts out of having ones address published in your countries call book?
In the US it's a public database, and you don't get to opt out of providing your name and a mailing address ( mailing , needs to be valid but doesn't need to be your home address, PO Boxes work). https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp
I put my office address for anything where I need to provide a mailing address but I don't want to provide my home address.
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#88[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#89I’ve had my technicians license for about 10 months and it’s been fun, especially when I’ve spent some time in a desert with a bunch of other hams around.
Getting my general and maybe extra are goals for the year. Want to get on HF before the sun cycle starts winding down
73!
Re: Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your country?
#90Active General license holder here, although mostly on 2m as of late. I hope to get my HF station set up this spring.