Live data from Hacker News

The rich history of ham radio culture

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

21–30 of 153 posts

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#21
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The smart ones know they just know enough to be dangerous - a foundation of knowledge, not the whole book. Some of the best RF guys I know, have no formal training - because there is important theory around RF - it doesn't always work like projected. In my industry a Ham Ticket has taken the place of a GROL as something employers look upon favorably, because it means you generally should already have a foundation of…

> employers look out for As in, avoid? Or want?

Want, sorry it was unclear. Edited the original post to clarify.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#22
post #3

Kind of wish they had kept the Morse code requirement for the radio license. Felt like more of a connection to the old ham requirements and history

Morse code is flourishing even without it being a requirement. People are discovering what a fun mode it is -- the low power portable people love the reach you can get on 5W, others enjoy the mental challenge, and it's prevalent in contesting.

You can be as connected to the past as you want in this hobby. It's at the point where we have people getting remote islands on the air by driving a boat onto shore that has a radio and an amplifier, raising an antenna, and then people can operate from either a boat anchored off shore or back home over Starlink. And they're doing it in Morse code, so you have this nice blend of the old and the new.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#23

As the internet gets more balkanized, censored, and controlled by a few giant companies, it makes me think that it's time for a different hobby. Something that can be used to subvert censorship (remember the whole "interprets it as damage and routes around it" conceit?) and is more hobbyists and less corporate sounds appealing. Is Ham that hobby? I am genuinely asking. A few days ago a thread here had lots of people…

Amateur radio is not that hobby. There are significant restrictions on what it can be used for. And providing uncensored communication for others is not allowed.

Amateur radio is not for public use like public park. It is like a public golf course, where have to pay for membership and can only use it for certain things.

Also, amateur radio does not have that much spectrum for the bandwidths we expect for internet. That is what has kept the spectrum from being taken away. Much of the high frequenecy spectrum does have is shared with ISM bands.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#24

As the internet gets more balkanized, censored, and controlled by a few giant companies, it makes me think that it's time for a different hobby. Something that can be used to subvert censorship (remember the whole "interprets it as damage and routes around it" conceit?) and is more hobbyists and less corporate sounds appealing. Is Ham that hobby? I am genuinely asking. A few days ago a thread here had lots of people…

Anyone can use ham radio. Encryption is illegal on those bands though.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#25

As the internet gets more balkanized, censored, and controlled by a few giant companies, it makes me think that it's time for a different hobby. Something that can be used to subvert censorship (remember the whole "interprets it as damage and routes around it" conceit?) and is more hobbyists and less corporate sounds appealing. Is Ham that hobby? I am genuinely asking. A few days ago a thread here had lots of people…

I got my HAM license in the USA a while ago. I'm in it mainly for the emergency communications side of things: I live in a coastal community in California with three roads in and out, all three of which can be affected by affected by storms, earthquakes etc.

I've joined ARES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_Radio_Emergency_Servic... - which coordinates to provide HAM support for emergency communications. If a big earthquake temporarily disables a chunk of communications infrastructure I can hopefully be useful!

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#26

As the internet gets more balkanized, censored, and controlled by a few giant companies, it makes me think that it's time for a different hobby. Something that can be used to subvert censorship (remember the whole "interprets it as damage and routes around it" conceit?) and is more hobbyists and less corporate sounds appealing. Is Ham that hobby? I am genuinely asking. A few days ago a thread here had lots of people…

You can always find what you are looking for on the internet. Things like zeronet/tor, etc.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#27

As the internet gets more balkanized, censored, and controlled by a few giant companies, it makes me think that it's time for a different hobby. Something that can be used to subvert censorship (remember the whole "interprets it as damage and routes around it" conceit?) and is more hobbyists and less corporate sounds appealing. Is Ham that hobby? I am genuinely asking. A few days ago a thread here had lots of people…

Amateur radio is not that hobby. There are significant restrictions on what it can be used for. And providing uncensored communication for others is not allowed. Amateur radio is not for public use like public park. It is like a public golf course, where have to pay for membership and can only use it for certain things. Also, amateur radio does not have that much spectrum for the bandwidths we expect for internet. Th…

I agree that understanding the restrictions on HAM usage - including the ban on encryption, and strict rules on what kind of material can be broadcast (since anyone can hear it) - is really important.

You don't have to pay ongoing fees: the initial outlay in the USA is $35 for the license (you have to pass the exam) plus the cost for your equipment (~$70 for the cheaper HAM radios on Amazon), but after that there are no ongoing charges.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#28
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hams are the quintessential "know just enough to be dangerous" people. Don't get me wrong, I've come across a lot of wonderful, truly smart hams; but I've also witnessed many hams who really never should have gotten half-smart. Hams are amateur electricians, hilarity /will/ ensue and it won't all be funny.

What's dangerous about ham radio?

If you're broadcasting at higher powers (to send over longer distances) there are risks from high RF exposure and electrical hazards. The HAM radio license exams focus on these safety issues quite a bit.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#29

As the internet gets more balkanized, censored, and controlled by a few giant companies, it makes me think that it's time for a different hobby. Something that can be used to subvert censorship (remember the whole "interprets it as damage and routes around it" conceit?) and is more hobbyists and less corporate sounds appealing. Is Ham that hobby? I am genuinely asking. A few days ago a thread here had lots of people…

I think you're getting unfairly downvoted so I'll try to answer your questions. I've had an interest in radio since I was a kid but have only had my license for about the past decade. The fact that you can have a box full of electronics send information to another box full of electronics _around the world_ without any wires in between still kinda blows my mind.

Ham radio is a great hobby. But like all hobbies, you get out of it what you put into it. "Old dudes being boring" for sure are a staple of the ham radio community, but if you come into it with prejudice, you probably won't have the experience you want or make many friends.

What are grumpy old men famous for? That's right, loudly complaining about things other people do and say. So when I see an HN or Reddit thread about ham radio complaining about all the old farts on the air, my mind melts from the overload of irony.

That aside, I don't think I would count on ham radio for subverting censorship but I guess it depends on what you mean. Laws vary by country but in the US and in most countries, you cannot broadcast to the general public, play music, encrypt your transmissions, or use ham radio frequencies for any business purpose.

A ham radio license is permission from your country's government to get on the air for the sake of playing with radio waves and communicating with other hams locally or around the globe without any further agenda. Bouncing signals off the moon is still a fair technical challenge but it has and can be done. But we also bounce signals off the Earth's ionosphere (in the HF bands) and through satellite repeaters, both of which are far easier.

I recommend looking into it and seeing where it takes you. There are plenty of resources online that will help you get started.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#30
I got my Technicians license about a year ago but have struggled to find much to do with it. I check into my local nets every once and a while, but the repeaters are nearly silent otherwise. The CW privileges are ok but hard to use. Seems you need a General to do all the cool stuff. Any other technicians here who have found a great use for the license?
Post reply on HN