Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake • Hacker News Board

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#31

Post by TallGuyShort » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 3:01 PM UTC

markba wrote: post #8

tzs wrote: post #2

I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…

Can you recommend some good references for introduction to amateur radio?

The ARRL Operating Manual is excellent. It's appropriate for a complete newcomer to just pick up and start reading, but will go into more advanced topics, like antenna design and satellites.

If you're not licensed, there are flashcard apps for your phone that will prepare to completely ace the test very quickly. The manual's a good reference for any questions you don't understand. I'd also recommend finding a local club or other operator just to get a demo of a basic radio contact and the protocol people follow for conversation. Some of it's mandated by governments, but a lot of it just convention.

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#32

Post by nlh » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 3:01 PM UTC

K2KD here :)

Glad to see hams getting involved -- disaster communications is one of the strong suits of amateur radio. I still have a to-be-implemented plan of getting a portable HF rig w/ solar charger for my to-be-implemented "go bag".

One of the big challenges the whole hobby has faced is the struggle for relevance in the Internet era. When I got my license (early 90s), there basically wasn't an Internet for kids like me, so the concept of switching on an HF rig and talking to someone from Australia from my bedroom in NYC was awe-inspiring.

That isn't really the case these days (considered I'm likely communicating with a bunch of people from Australia on this thread alone.) Communication from an "exotic" place like Nigeria or Eastern Europe was rare and exciting. Now it's a source of skepticism.

I haven't been following the hobby much for the past few years -- other than disaster coms, any thoughts on what the highlights are these days?

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#33

Post by ceequof » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 3:18 PM UTC

tzs wrote: post #2

I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…

KG7KGD here. I just bought a pair of cheap baofeng handheld dual band transceivers and programmed them with all the local repeaters and FRS/GPRS frequencies. Next step is to buy a dual band car radio and some solar panels.

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#34

Post by cweagans » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 3:19 PM UTC

tzs wrote: post #2

I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…

KI4KLW here. I got my license when I was 13 and haven't had anything more permanent than a tri-band HT (Yaesu VX-5R) since then. I usually volunteer in more of a coordination role, though, and have been involved with multiple ISS contacts and running communications for the Special Olympics World Winter Games (2009). Been mostly out of the hobby since then, but I've been thinking about getting back into it and upgrading to General and getting into HF.

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#35

Post by bobowzki » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 3:22 PM UTC

tzs wrote: post #2

I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…

OZ3ALB checking in.

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#36

Post by klinquist » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 3:45 PM UTC

tzs wrote: post #2

I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…

W1ADV here!

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#37

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 3:49 PM UTC

Is there a protocol for making your radio more phone like, that is it rings when someone calls you or beeps when someone texts you? I guess if I were to hack together an RTTY or PSK32 thing to do this my next question would be where can I find a portable cheap low power draining SDR similar to a "smart phone".

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#38

Post by abruzzi » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 4:05 PM UTC

dorfsmay wrote: post #26

Is internet over ham radio still a thing? In this particular case, it could help a lot of people, enabling them to quickly and efficiently update their status with their family via email / twitter / google person finder.

Most of the amateur radio digital protocols are keyboard to keyboard and don't really have the concept of simultaneous traffic, packets, and routing. AX.25 (also known as packet radio) does however and could possibly be used to transmit traffic like that. It is most frequently used on line-of-sight (VHF, UHF) bands. There are some others like the different PACTOR protocols, but they are essentially proprietary, and PACTOR IV TNCs are not cheap.

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#39

Post by abruzzi » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 4:11 PM UTC

Obviously there are more than a few of us. W5ARP, general class. It was much of the digital protocols, especially APRS/AX.25, that got me interested. Its not nearly as high-tech as modern smartphones, but I really like the infrastructure-free tech (living in the middle of nowhere, infrastructure is often in short supply.)

Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake

#40

Post by sliverstorm » Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 4:48 PM UTC

tzs wrote: post #2

I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…

VHF and UHF radios are probably out of my DIY league.

As are making nice compact HT's! No shame in buying portables (or even mobiles) off-the-shelf.

Yet another vote for the Baofeng UV-5R. I've found mine insufficient as a service radio in the field, but as your first radio for fiddling about in town, the bang for the buck is great.