I'll also toss out that there is a great amateur radio community on Reddit... where you can avoid some of the more... seasoned radio operators, their opinions and health conditions ;)
We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
41–50 of 213 posts
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#42I have a license because my high school teacher made us do it but I never quite understood what hobbyists do with it. I see how it can be a useful skill to have for people in a certain profession but as a hobbyist what do you do? Do people just talk to random people on the radio? I'm genuinely curious.
It's an incredibly broad hobby. I just got my first award by downloading digital images (SSTV) from the ISS using a $35 handheld radio, and that didn't require any talking at all.
There are tons of things you can do, so many that it's hard to sum up. It also combines well with other hobbies. Or it can be a symbol or inspiration of its own kind, an objective reminder that more science in your life is a good thing.
One of the biggest advantages is the practically free education. If you upgrade your license you'll learn a lot of really fascinating stuff. I really wish I knew about propagation and differences between the various bands and band schedules back when I was a kid, fooling around with my dad's Patrolman radio. I also learned how effective logging can be, and have applied that in just about every area of my life.
Finally, there's just something about breaking the silence and making that call when you're out in the middle of nowhere. Even if you're the world's biggest introvert, you might end up helping somebody by keeping your radio turned on and tuned in.
https://old.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/9c9n0q/my_for...
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#43I have a license because my high school teacher made us do it but I never quite understood what hobbyists do with it. I see how it can be a useful skill to have for people in a certain profession but as a hobbyist what do you do? Do people just talk to random people on the radio? I'm genuinely curious.
I used mine for telemetry radios on very large model rockets at the rocketry club. I was "the radio guy". Which was good because my attempt at being the "motor guy" didn't end so well.
There's a story here you need to write down for us somehwere. :)
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#44I am interested in ham radio, but I’m uncomfortable with broadcasting my call sign around (as required by the FCC) since in the US it’s super easy to get someone’s name and home address from their callsign. For currently operating hams: do you just deal with it, or is there something you can do to protect your privacy?
You can get a PO Box or forwarding service as your FCC address.. doesn't have to be street address just mailing addy.
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#45I have a license because my high school teacher made us do it but I never quite understood what hobbyists do with it. I see how it can be a useful skill to have for people in a certain profession but as a hobbyist what do you do? Do people just talk to random people on the radio? I'm genuinely curious.
I've fantacised that back before the web was ubiquitous, radio could serve a similar role. That feeling of pure joy and curiosity exploring beyond the city limits of your hometown. I remember wandering the internet as a young teen. Finding my way into IRC was eye opening (in amazing and terrifying ways). I wonder if having a radio was like the early version of that.
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#46I am interested in ham radio, but I’m uncomfortable with broadcasting my call sign around (as required by the FCC) since in the US it’s super easy to get someone’s name and home address from their callsign. For currently operating hams: do you just deal with it, or is there something you can do to protect your privacy?
You can go to the FCC's website and get a list of every currently valid callsign, and then from there get the name and listed address associated with the callsign. Your information is already public if you're licensed, so it doesn't concern me at all.
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#47These hobbyists may save our hide after an apocalypse that levels the Internet.
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used mine for telemetry radios on very large model rockets at the rocketry club. I was "the radio guy". Which was good because my attempt at being the "motor guy" didn't end so well.
There's a story here you need to write down for us somehwere. :)
Yes, please do: what did being “the radio guy” entail?
Was it more software or hardware? I write software for a living so that’s what I’m more interested in; don’t know about parent comment, though.
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#49I agree we are in a golden age of ham tech but older hams than me (like my friend GI0LZR) talk about days when the radio bands were more open. This is ham speak for sending/receiving more frequent long distance calls. I think we may be in a season of bad radio weather. The Sun usually gets the blame.
I get a buzz out of the low power stuff and don’t see the fun in pumping out signals using 1 or 2kw of power. I have sent and recieved low power messages 6k miles using less than 5w.
Transmitting low power signals, like wspr, using a raspberry pi is great fun. And before anyone mentions it I do run my noisey signals through a low pass filter :-)
2IOJXA
Re: We're in a Golden Age for Amateur Radio
#50I'm interested in amateur radio but always feel that I can't get anything done without a big honking antenna?
I'm not a radio/antenna expert, so this might be a bit inaccurate.
You want your antenna length to be some fraction of the wavelength, e.g. 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, etc. As the antenna length fraction gets smaller, it will have a less signal and more noise.
Ham radio bands are much lower frequency than wifi, bluetooth, GPS, or cellular. The wavelength is equal to the speed of light divided by the frequency, so lower frequency bands need bigger antennas.
So for example, the wavelength for a 144 Mhz you might use for amateur radio voice is 2 meters, whereas the wavelength of 2.4 Ghz wifi is only 0.12 meters.
The advantage of lower frequencies is they travel farther. AM radio is a lower frequency than FM, so it travels farther than FM.