Had? Again, do they expire? <div><br></div><div>I never became a ham, but as a kid</div><div>did some listening. My take is that the</div><div>attraction was the opportunity to learn</div><div>some electronics, and radio in particular.</div>
<div><br></div><div>I have to believe the hardest thing is </div><div>antennas, and something die hard hams</div><div>were always interested in. It's a black art,</div><div>and IMHO the most difficult part of the </div>
<div>technology. Today one has everything</div><div>from fractal antennas to wireless gadgets</div><div>of all kinds, including watches, to humongous</div><div>antennas - 1,500 feet and higher.</div><div><br></div><div>Anyway, the encryption thing seems to do</div>
<div>in the concept of using ham radio as a</div><div>way around Comcast and others. </div><div><br></div><div>But isn't it curious that with antennas from</div><div>Cyberguys, Amazon, etc., that one can get</div><div>
ranges of literally miles using WiFi, long range</div><div>WiFi:</div><div><br></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi</a></div>
<div><br></div><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi"></a>that one can get up to miles of interaction </div><div>under the right circumstances? Say from a</div><div>hill on 92nd street to a tall building in GR?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Oh, and without a license. I'm sure that</div><div>feature will be plugged up if long range</div><div>WiFi becomes popular and effective.</div><div><br></div><div> -- Bob</div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 7:31 PM, Don Ellis <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:don.ellis@gmail.com">don.ellis@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
There are two types of license: Amateur and Commercial (I've had both), each with specific requirements. In the commercial world, it is illegal to disclose or repeat messages received without permission, and keeping them private is a mandate. In the amateur world, communications are public and for experimental/entertainment purposes. Encryption is prohibited. Maybe because it can't be a threat to established governments. In the old days, ham radio communications were possible to some pretty restrictive locations, though getting a license there may have been somewhat restricted too. Casual conversations were possible with people behind the wall. Nothing important could be sent on ham channels; that's what commercial channels were for.<div>
<br></div><div>[Health and welfare messages are not "important" in this context, but are common traffic for hams.]</div><div><br></div><div>There's still lots to learn that requires a ham license. With a license, you can use larger antennae and more powerful transmitters than without. At St. Charles LUG, there was a presentation on instrumentation for amateur rocketry that required a ham license. Very interesting, and shows some of what we can learn.</div>
<div><br></div><div>One topic that's lots of fun is testing how far you can go with 802.11 2.4GHz communications. Might be hard to break some of the standing records, but putting additional restrictions can make it more challenging. Improvising an antenna system and testing it is a technical exercise.</div>
<div><br></div><div>--Don Ellis</div><div>[wb5zgt => kd0ye ( lapsed )]</div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 7:26 AM, Bob Kline <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bob.kline@gmail.com" target="_blank">bob.kline@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div>...</div></blockquote><div class="im"><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div>I gather there are no use requirements </div><div>for keeping a license active. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Anyway, no encryption would kill the idea.</div><div>Any idea what the reason is?</div><div><br></div><div>A more testy question, what is the primary</div><div>motivation for becoming a ham today? In</div>
<div>days gone by, one learned a lot about radio</div><div>and electronics, because many people built</div><div>their own equipment. But that hasn't been</div><div>the case for decades, as good Japanese </div><div>radios became available for good prices.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Without that learning incentive, what is</div><div>the reason people become hams today?</div><div><br></div><div>Or is my assumption wrong?</div><div><br></div><font color="#888888"><div> -- Bob</div>
</font><div><div></div><div><div><br></div><div><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 8:15 AM, Matt Michielsen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mattmichielsen@gmail.com" target="_blank">mattmichielsen@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
The biggest issue with the ham license is that you aren't allowed to use encryption. I'm KD8EVV but haven't had a radio turned on in years.</blockquote></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div>
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