Posted on 12/31/2014 5:22:29 PM PST by Usagi_yo
73s.
The Fed could jam the ham band too, couldn’t he?
for later; ping
For real short radio comms you don't especially want to go real far GMRS does the job. For emergencies, hunting, or SHTF and you need property communication it will do the trick. But I know of an instance where using a handheld HAM a kid had summoned help down in a gorge in the 140's MHZ band.
Not bloody likely.
The Chinese have an HF jammer called Fire Dragon
I hear you brother.
Fire Drake.
Do it, it opens up a whole new world.
And by the way, not all but much of the news you’re getting on the Internet is brought to you by the same phoney people bringing you CNN, Fox etc...It’s orchestrated, rehearsed, controlled and tainted. You’re not dealing with work a day, real people in that phoney medium.
BTW, I love it when people compare amateur radio/shortwave to computers and the Internet...It’s two totally different things...The Internet costs money to use, you’re subjected to substantial monthly bills, more and more government control in the future, network infrastructure break downs, hacks, power outages, and most of the time you’re connected via a leash or pay wire...It’s all cool when it works and ya keep paying your bills.
And if your part of the news, in a region affected by some catastrophic event, your Internet/cell will be worthless and dead.
With Amateur radio you can cruise the radio bands, talk to a guy on his small boat in the south Pacific, off the coast of Tahiti describing his little dog and his surrounding, talk to a farmer in Ohio, or a guy flying a twin engine aircraft over Alaska or a student in the Ukraine ...All done with simple basic radios and homemade antennas. Takes a bit of learning and study but that’s all part of it.
With our standard of living going southbound and people reverting back to simpler things, going back the basics, watch for things like amateur radio making a big come back...Simply because the old technology works, it’s basic,
nearly free to operate, not to mention interesting and lots of fun.
Ya won’t believe some of the people, round table discussions, etc.
And remember, even with a 10k radio station, it’s junk without an efficient antenna, put up correctly, even a wire, is all important. A simple wire antenna, nearly invisible, put up right, will talk and hear the world.
Ham Cram is a process where you spend a day studying the tests, focusing on memorizing the correct answers. It leverages your short-term memory retention to pass the test. You read through the entire test 3 or 4 times (focusing on only the correct answers), and then take it at the end of the day.
The goal is to get people into the hobby. I took the technician and general tests within a month of each other.
-PJ
But doesn’t the government have to license and approve you? Why?
iOS users seeking ham licensing: study with app
Amateur Radio Exam Prep: Technician by Patrick J Maloney LLC
https://appsto.re/us/ieMWr.i
Then get the Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio from Amazon for $30.
Easy start.
My antennas are all hidden in my attic space. Home built sleeve dipoles and a log periodic.
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Hello, I am new to amateur radio, but a lifelong electronics enthusiast and formally trained engineer. Just because one’s antenna is visually hidden, that does not mean that ‘the man’ can find a station transmitting almost immediately. Correct?
Ya, you can get a license...So what?
Are you suggesting the feds don't know every detail about you already?
Get real.
Radio transmission is like real estate: desirable ranges are in short supply, so the government performs an appropriate role by managing who is allowed to use/own what parcels, and charge reasonable costs for doing so. Can’t let any idiot just show up and start trampling & squatting.
Been a ham for 50 years now, still love the hobby and always finding new aspects to explore. For digital modes, look at PSK31, APRS, Olivia, and the new kid on the block, NBEMS. All have their strengths and weaknesses, some are more suited for HF and others V/UHF for local uses. There’s Winlink for HF email and a slew of satellites, some of which include digital messaging and beaconing capabilities.
But the bottom line is, I can take a grab-and-go radio and have worldwide voice communications within 5 minutes, totally self-contained and self-sufficient. If you want to know how, go to www.arrl.org, buy books, and start reading.
And BTW, like the rest of government, they’re nearly broke and spend all their time figuring out more ways to loot your pockets so amateur radio isn’t a big concern for them.
But they do, and that's part of the deal. Like your local DMV's giving drivers licenses to people who have dementia, illegals and on and on
It would be expensive and have to be for a pretty good reason. Keeping things hidden means no neighbors know.
The FCC knows if you have kept your license current, but there are so many, and again, why would they bother? There are legions of kids and soccer moms on FRS radios yammering away. A ham could always just jump on one of those frequencies and get lost in the traffic. Hint, hint.
HF is very hard to find, when used sparingly.
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