Posted on 02/26/2015 4:48:33 AM PST by knarf
So ... if everybody is weirded out by net neutrality ...
Just sitting here thinking about my life and all that's happened, and how I've come to realize SO MUCH is out of my hands and control
Even with a 101% Conservative American vote on EVERYthing that a president agrees to and signs ....
It'll be at least two years before any changes actually BEGIN to happen
Some of us are old enough to realize ... WE won't realize much .. or any .. change
I still have my CB that worked when I retired two years ago ... not much range ... about 5 mi ... but ...
How feasable would a CB network be ... if for no other reason than to converse with (maybe) like minded conservatives ?
Lookin' to learn anything I can from FReepers
We’ll just go back to FIDOnet
You need to look into amateur “ham” radio. Get the license asap. Way more range and options than CB radio.
Never heard of it and just started readiing up on it ... thanx for the input, Pap
I agree with CT. Get a HAM radio and learn how to do both voice and data. I got to general class with little effort and enjoy the range we have, for now. Only a matter of time, I fear, that the FCC will start pulling more spectrum from us.
I almost did that in ‘68 after getting out with a radio teletype MOS ... my age, the times and lack of money kept me from realizing that ... might be WAYYY too expensive at THIS point.
Check out http://www.skywarnonline.com/index.php?pageid=becomeaham for loads of information on getting an amateur radio license.
Thaaa-aaank YOU !
I don't know if it's just that I'm retired and I have more time ... or it recently became available ...
but I'm impressed with the data I've been able to access the last 6 months or so
An “alternet”, or alternative internet, will hopefully be developed by those who prefer the omission of government oversight. I’m sure the tech is available, and thousands, if not millions of folks will migrate to it. Let the government keep Al Gore’s invention while business moves ahead with a new and improved product.
Amateur radio would be better. Infrastructure already in place.
You can spend as much for ham radio as you like.
Get a Technician License training manual for a few dollars. Study. I used https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amateur-radio-exam-prep-technician/id297951496?mt=8 using an iTunes gift card someone gave me.
Take the test. Find an ARRL affiliate club near you, they offer tests often. Check http://www.arrl.org for details. Test costs something like $15.
Get a radio. A Baofeng handheld is $31 at Amazon http://smile.amazon.com/Baofeng-UV5RA-136-174-Dual-Band-Transceiver/dp/B009MAKWC0/ref=carldonath?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1424958756&sr=1-1&keywords=radio+baofeng (I used my Amazon credit card “points” to get it free.)
Total entry cost for me: $15.
.
Ok, someone please explain to me-—totally clueless-—if the gubment can regulate everything else, why wouldn’t they also clamp down on ham licenses and/or usage? How can they control hams? Just asking the questions going in.
If you like your ham radio, you will be able to keep your ham radio. Period.
No one will take them away. No matter what.
Of all the seemingly adolescent threads I’ve started ... you guys have made it (IMO) the most important ... especially considering the time we live in ... thank you
They _could_ prohibit ham radio activities.
They _can_ enforce it by triangulating the location of transmissions and doing raids, but it would have to be worth the effort and violators would be creative.
But...I don’t think that would work out well for anyone.
The contrast is that the Internet, while designed to route data around blockages, in practicality the bulk of data traffic runs thru a very few “backbone” wires & services. Shut those down, and the Internet will look like rush hour in a major city with the freeways closed: functional, but barely.
I’m thinking the same thing. What’s to stop them from refusing the license?
And to everyone who has a ham radio, isn’t a fairly tall antennae required? That would seem like a “target” to me. A CB is mobile and hard to catch if you’re on the move.
They could stop HAM communications if they put every electronic warfare plane we own in the air 24/7. It would also have a hugh and series impact on the cell phone network. Probably not something they would do. HAM communications can be burst transmitted - very hard to track and trap. I am in Reno listening to a $30 HAM handheld radio. There is two conversations going on on frequencies I monitor. One is between Australia and a guy two miles from me. The other is two guys with hand held radios talking between Reno and Salt Lake City using the repeater network and a mobile spot parked along I-80. The Mobile will be moving on shortly to his next scheduled stop. A few hundred of those and the feds have no chance of shutting it down.
Bfl
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