Lutetium
@Dan Maloney well, you can't encrypt the transport of data, and that makes folks jittery. but I understand that runs against the openness of ham. In truth, we /can/ do a little encryption...
we are allowed to use encryption for the purpose of authentication.
Can we have a predictably spread spectrum?
I think you mean PACTOR
if we had more ARRL clout and younger hams who can make a case to them and thus the FCC, we could make that change for the better, but until them we can only use encryption on Part 15 ISM bands, or very carefully walk around the "obscuring the message" wording of the regulations
Sure, PACTOR as used for Winlink among other modes.
You can't "obscure the message" according to US rules, you can still use encryption for authentication purposes.
so we can make some sort of ham-radio-enabled-garage-door-opener that the commands are visible, but that the authentication to issue3 the commands use encryption to prevent unauthorized use. so we at least have that level of encryption.
The problem I see with allowing encryption is I could see the drug traffickers jumping on the bandwagon and making a bad name for HAM they way they have done for bitcoin.
Interesting idea @ziggurat29
Esperanto used to be an official language of ham. That's almost encryption lol.
My personal experience: an RTL-SDR got me interested a few years ago. I got my technician and general, bought a radio, did some 20m, FT8 especially, but then lost interest and sold my radio. Just seemed like not that much was going on. The technical aspects of it are definitely more interesting to me than making connections, but once the thrill of getting an FT8 contact from another continent wears off it's pretty boring. Add to that, I don't like heights or have a lot of space so big HF antennas are out for me.
I work with people building sensitive gravity transmitters and receivers for testing speed of gravity. If you switch to gravity signals, you would not need much encryption. It is at the same level that spark transmitters were a hundred or more years ago. But improving quickly.
what's RTL-SRD?
gravity mode...genius wow!
@J.B. Langston satellites can be really fun.
Try JS8CALL if you have the hang of FT8 and routing contacts through other stations. Also, I still find AX25 packet to be an a great time.
However, I wqould rather that there be some licensing rules changed that you are permitted to (and I'm making it up rigbh now) that you are permitted to use a certain bandwidth on a band for a certain duty cycle to transmit arbitrary encrypted data.
So you are still polite with respect to everyone elses use of the bandwidth, but you are free to do your 'whatever' experiments.
RTL-SDR is a cheap USB software defined radio. cost like $20. it was meant to be a DVB tuner but got hacked to access a wide swath of spectrum.
@Andy C RTL (Realtek) SDR (Software Defined Radio). There's a cheap DVB-T receiver chip from Realtek that's a base of a lot of SDR USB dongles
@Andy C Its a Software Defined Radio receiver. Cheap off Amazon
@Andy C https://www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/
@Andy C - SDR == Software Defined Radio. RTL-SDR is a brand of SDRs based on digital TV USB dongles.
Josh the encoding that allow compresion on PBBS networks, sent the call signs of participating stations in the clear, the same could be done with encryption.
This is true!
Im very new, gifted a Galaxy V radio by KIOOT.. Have not turned it on 1) No License 2) no antennae.. Working on #1 ... and #2 Have 35 ft tower with noting on it.
Rtlsdr got me back into Ham Radio after a 20 year lag. Great tool for awaking engineering spirits
A tower with nothing on it? Horrors!
my question is what should go on it.
@KI6NAZ Josh your point about 'how do we know' is well taken; however, how do we know now? I could simply go on the air and claim to be KI6NAZ and there it is? There is no cryptographic security in the medium to begin with. If I were a bad actor, that's just what I would do anyway.
PBBS packet stations are interesting because they get around the line of sight nature of VHF, by routing messages through distant stations. You can tunnel through and make some impressive comms with that.
I have an amp that’s not hooked up.
What are the status of HSMM broadband hamnets in most cities?
@ziggurat29 true enough, I am not defending their position, just stating what I think the concern is.
@Matt Quince that should be illegal lol
@brianmhff661 whatever you want, I'd start out with a simple HF inverted V + some VHF/UHF antennas. Then see which part of the hobby is most fun for you.
We used to have an HSMM net in Omaha, but I think it slowly fizzled away due to lack on interest
@GusGorman Hit and miss. In SoCal mesh networking is pretty popular. Ubiquity gear is well priced and some have some impressive nets setup.
Back to the "connecting people" part, I'm on Zello via the app on my android phone. There are many open groups there, where people love to chat and build strong friendships even (stronger than many I might have with someone I exchange a signal report with). So, I would love to talk to a phychologist about what's going on there. What's the attraction to connect with total strangers? One idea I have is, these quick qso's are very low on the drama scale. We get to chat with someone and see how far our antenna got, but the emotional baggage is almost nil. I think that fills a void for some... they have a feeling of connecting without having to go too deep. (no politics, religion etc).
@Andy C i see this in our discord.
@KI6NAZ Josh fair enough; the topic was 'keeping ham fresh in the 21st century' and I personally have a strong opinion on digital and encryption aspects, so that's why I'm arguing them! lol!
@Andy C I see that same thing on our local repeaters. People become friends never seeing the other person, as we do on the internet today.
makdaam thanks for feed back
Is ham radio a global thing? Do all countries have hams?
BTW We have high speed ham internet blanketing the Conejo Valley here in Ventura County thanks to some dedicated CVARC members.
@RichardCollins yes. most.
@RichardCollins - Yep, except maybe North Korea. I might be wrong about that though
@RichardCollins more or less. Some states are more restricted. North Korea has very few if any hams.
@Richard Hogben no hams are US specific, but other countries have amateur radio operators :P
Personally, I sort of like the public service aspect too. If my ham club is supporting a bike race where cell towers can't reach, it actually serves a real purpose. We've had cases of getting messages to EMS that otherwise would have been very hard to do.
To try and pull it back a bit into “keeping ham radio relevant”. I would remind people that radio is adaptable. Licensed hams have the ability to adapt some for of radio into most of their projects or interests, we just need to leverage it appropriately. As I mentioned earlier, raspberry pi, SDRs and new data modes can all be used.
@GusGorman @KI6NAZ not much mesh here. I've got a bunch of ubiquity gear here, but working on connecting them to someone. So far not many people in Forest Grove, OR
yet.
in all seriousness though all democratic countries that I know issue licenses, and some not so democratic too
^ one of the reasons I want to get licensed, I've seen a couple bad accidents back country mountain biking
CERT classes should all have a ham visit.
For those going outdoors, I’d take a look at APRS enabled radios. I use one in the field. They work well to keep people updated on your status.
Josh apparently hams in the USA are HAM(S) ;)
I am CERT in Cerritos Ca. I agree, they need WAY more comms.
I’m a ham HAM
:D
@KI6NAZ Josh - But, there's a lot of headwind with the older crowd to these new technologies. I was at an ARES meeting where a guy was showing off a Pi-based Winlink gateway he built, and nobody there grokked it. At all. Felt bad for the guy, really.
I see the opposite.
At least here in sw Fl.
The hobby has room for the whole spectrum!
I've tried to pass a few messages recently through RadioGrams. Total fail both times. If we still want to be seen as a communication when all else fails, we need to actually pass messages when asked to. (stepping down from soap box). :-)
Winlink isn't really new. I would gather the interest level is empowered by the relevance to the location. If your only ARES activations are for for those parades, walk-a-thons, and 10ks, you're not going to get interest.
@Dan Maloney I highly recommend people start to compartmentalize ham radio. You can be a member of a traditional club, but don’t expect they’ll “get” the new stuff. With that said, there are LOTS of ham radio communities online. Our HRCC discord in particular is a great place for those interested in newer tech to get support/community.
One of my favorite clubs is the Long Island CW club, they only meet on Zoom and its great.
deffinitely
Definitely. Good community
Radiograms are great. Earthquake Lady Dr. Kate Hutton is the guru there too!
ty @Matt Quince
It does vary from group to group, the worst part is that I think most of us don't advertise the diversity of clubs.
Is there something equivalent to email through ham bands? Where you message someone and they can hear it later and respond? Is that the networks you were talking about? It is the "is there anyone there?" part of ham that was always offputting to me. Is that a radiogram?
That's a good point. And really, the ARES people are already invested, so it's not going to further the mission of bringing in new hams
@Dan Maloney You hit the nail on the head. A lot of older hams are Luddites and a real turn off for younger people who may be interested.
@Makdaam yes, this will have to change in the future. By the nature of hams getting older and new generations becoming interesed it has already started.
So this is kinda a niche question but I believe could really aid an often overlooked group. As a falconer I know of atleast 8 birds that were lost during flights. How hard would it be to break out a yogi and try to find a signal in the 216 mhz . Some of these birds are worth a small fortune and carry multiple beacon trackers on them. Most in the 216 and 434 range. Going to a local falconry club may be a way to get some folks into ham and notify of an available resource to help track lost birds. Just a thought.
If you want to totally kill the interest in ham radio for someone in my area, bring them to our club meeting.
I think the Radiogram System is mostly for Health and Welfare related message traffic.
@RichardCollins JS8CALL will store messages you receive while away. Many use it similar to packet stations over HF.
I use ham radio to recover high power rockets.
@W4KRL - When I shared this discussion with PNW groups. The "ludite" claim came up from younger HAMs. Of course there were replies to the instant gratification of phone app HAM users too by the legacy operators.
You might broaden the community, if you can tone down the abbreviations and jargon. I like that comment about falcons, that is real. How the communication gets done on what frequency, not so much.
@KI6NAZ Josh it has started, but it's a bottom up movement. Which is not bad by itself. But at the same time I can see the younger generation isolated from all the IARU business because they're not a part of the old club, the external politics are also important.
@makdamm look at the new ARRL magazine On The Air. The see the changing winds.
good for you :) I'm mostly thinking about my local area in DL/SP
@Makdaam *ding* politics. old and new
Radiograms are a way to pass a message, in theory with no use of the internet end to end. WINLINK is a ham based email system that can be used to send an email when you don't have internet. You're computer contects to your radio and you send it to a receiving station than can then forward it via the regular internet. pretty cool.
Hamfests in the SW US are a pretty gray crowd, but I see more young people there as time goes on.
Understood. Smaller groups may still have a hive mind appearance when it comes to things. Thankfully we’re an online people now.
WinLink is used by a lot of CERT groups when training and operating the emergency stations at Fire and other EMS locations as it supports document exchange over HAM easily.
Could I use Ham Radio to find my lost golf ball? LOL
ARRL funny origin story: Hiram Maxim was too cheap to telegram for a tube he needed from Connecticut.
unpleasant topic, but maybe relevant: the ARRL is our lobbying organization. our hobby lobby. so, they fired the CEO recently. WTF?
The good news about all this information being online is that you don’t have to be beholden to what the local club find interesting. Feel free to research your own projects and fail as many times as you need to to make it work. I know I do :D
@eric.j.brewer Too often the media (if it notices us at all) play up the obsolete communications aspect of amateur radio like Morse and AM. We have to counter that image. Another aspect is equipment snobbery. Older hams have built up stations over decades and scoff at kids with entry-level rigs. That does no good to attract new hams.
@ziggurat29 This is likely due to his not relinquishing his ties to his other businesses.
A local group in my area has been pushing really hard to have an annual showing at our State Fair. To raise interest in the gen.pub.
Scenario might play out. Falconer notifies group of loss of bird and what area. Local Ham group notified of signal tracker freq. and can notify falconry group if the signal pops up. The comms between hams would be between them however they want.
Andy C, and others, Thanks. I am using networks for imaging the interior of the earth, the atmosphere and ocean currents, the e
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