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The rich history of ham radio culture

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Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#141

Post by vitaflo »

fullspectrumdev wrote: post #126
CalRobert wrote: post #12

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…

HAM while playing by the rules is pretty much “not that”, due to ban on encryption and such. Doesn’t help that the HAM community will more than happily snitch on you if you goof around too much, and licences mean your full dox are publicly searchable (at least in America).

Hams self-police because our spectrum allocation is a privilege from the government that can be taken away if people don't play by the rules.

Also, a valid address for your license can be a PO Box if you care about your personal details being online.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#142

Post by PM_me_your_math »

BobbyTables2 wrote: post #98
simonw wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 b…

Jus curious, respectfully, is ARES still relevant? These days it seems like a few portable cell towers should outstrip what a motley group of HAMs can humanly do. About 30 years ago, the people I met who were into ARES seemed a bit weird — sorta a radio version of “preppers”. Maybe I was just in an area not prone to earthquakes…

[dead]

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#143

Post by kragen »

vitaflo wrote: post #136
kragen wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

broadcasting is not permitted on ham bands in the us. i suspect you might have meant that you need a license to transmit

Can always spot a non-ham by use of the word "broadcast". It's a dead giveaway.

i'm a non-ham actually, but i'm also a shibboleth specialist

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#144

Post by sharksauce »

simonw wrote: post #27
ianburrell wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

What's your go-to ~$70 radio? I have a couple of Baofengs but you get what you pay for with those.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#145

Post by wkat4242 »

misstuned wrote: post #121
hilbert42 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, I'll have to accept that expansion. Was it mostly on VHF (would seem more likely)?

You hear it in the UK on 160m, there are a couple of nets that deal in that kind of "non politically correct" stuff, I don't tune in.

Yeah and the Italians always ignore any power limits so you hear them all over the world :)

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#146

Post by avidiax »

sharksauce wrote: post #144
simonw wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

What's your go-to ~$70 radio? I have a couple of Baofengs but you get what you pay for with those.

I have heard good things about the Quansheng UV-K5/8/99. Primarily because there is a hack firmware available.

If you want a "good" HT as an introduction to the hobby, then the Yaesu FT-65R or older FT-60R are both good.

A "do everything" (analog) radio might be the Yaesu VX-6R, which I previously owned. It excels on reception, and is a "tri-band" radio, but the extra band was not useful in my experience.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#147

Post by vdqtp3 »

sbrorson wrote: post #36
CalRobert wrote: post #12

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…

The thing which seems to be overlooked -- both in the linked article and in the HN comments -- is that at one time ham radio was a hobby for folks wanting to play around with state-of-the-art technology. It was more than just a bunch of guys chatting with each other over a radio. At one time most people had to build their own ham rig from piece parts. One had to have a serious amount of engineering ability to do so .…

This evolution seems to be the same in most technical hobbies. And as the evolution occurs and the technical requirements for adoption drop, you need more and more regulation to control the bad actors. See UAS regulations after quadcopters became off the shelf products.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#148

Post by resters »

mordae wrote: post #58
CalRobert wrote: post #12

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…

It's mostly old guys erecting large antennas to connect their boat anchor tube radios to, from what I read online. It's a great hobby if you are in it for the actual tech itself. Check out e.g. https://pysdr.org/ for a nice introduction. There is https://www.rtl-sdr.com/ to get you started and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Radio for more advanced stuff. You don't need a license to listen! Also, people are doing s…

Mostly ?

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#149

Post by hilbert42 »

wkat4242 wrote: post #145
misstuned wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You hear it in the UK on 160m, there are a couple of nets that deal in that kind of "non politically correct" stuff, I don't tune in.

Yeah and the Italians always ignore any power limits so you hear them all over the world :)

Just maybe they've a penchant or flair for efficient antenna design. ;-)

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#150

Post by hilbert42 »

mikewarot wrote: post #99
JKCalhoun wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's mostly old guys erecting large antennas to connect their boat anchor tube radios to... Old guys? Tube radios? You got my attention.

I've got a friend who has been fixing those things since he was a kid in the 1950s... I've been helping him recently, it's an ersatz apprenticeship. Almost everything is now well beyond economic repair. It's all about emotions and nostalgia for almost all of the gear. I no longer jump when something smokes or pops, and I know it's usually a good sign, as it helps you figure out where the trouble is. ;-) I've learned…

"I no longer jump when something smokes or pops."

That's the best type of faultfinding, much faster and less tedious than tracking down subtle faults. Locating the source of burning smells and touching resistors to detect excessive heat work well too.

Never had much problem with silver micas, paper and electrolytics are usually much more troublesome.

Re the Collins, I'm very glad I started with high voltage stuff, if it had been the other way around and I'd started with semiconductors I'd likely have electrocuted myself, getting used to low voltage first wouldn't have been a good idea. As it was I was bitten several times, once so badly that I was essentially paralyzed for quite some minutes. That was 850V.

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