Any /ham/ fags here?

any /ham/ fags here?
contemplating sitting for the technicians license

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Other urls found in this thread:

fcc.gov/general/amateur-radio-service-enforcement-actions
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_code
youtube.com/watch?v=ulCmIO7WJzE
sarnetfl.com
youtube.com/user/SurvivalTechEU
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

How fucked are you if you broadcast without a license? I live in an apartment so no way they can find my exact location, right? And they're hardly going to search through maybe 100 apartments just for something this small will they?

idk but judging from fcc.gov/general/amateur-radio-service-enforcement-actions the odds of getting caught are probably pretty low assuming you don't do anything particularly stupid. ham operators are encouraged to report bad actors to the fcc though.

You don't need a license for this ancient technology

>all the exam questions
The fuck is the point of an exam where all the questions are published beforehand?

Ostensibly as just a Technician you can’t do that much damage... the amateur extra exam is supposed to be more difficult. Not sure if that one also provides questions beforehand.

will probably be able to help you out more on this topic

I've considered it but I haven't the time to study for it. I'll just stick with the CB in my car for now. It's probably more useful anyway.

Study for all three. It's $15, but if you pass tech, you can take general and amateur extra for free in one sitting. There's a free cli program called hamexam that I found on Debian repo. The questions were pretty much copied and pasted. Ohm's law questions will probably be the most difficult on the tech, but I think there's only a few of those.

The technician and general have the same amount of questions. The Amateur Extra has quite a few more questions out of a much larger pool. Morse is no longer required, although there are some questions relating to Q Code.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_code

Ham here. We call them fox hunts. Hunting unlicensed operators are what we consider to be a fun pastime. We're very good at tracking errant signals, and can track you to to your apartment if you are foolish enough to keep fucking around once we decide to hunt you.

This being said, we usually just encourage you to get your license once we do catch you.

It helps you study, and you can actually learn a few things just by reviewing questions and taking dummy exams. You can't pass extra off of memorization alone, though. There are too many questions to possibly memorize, so it requires functioning technical knowledge to pass. You probably understand electronics if you pass Extra class.

They're still using ancient technology because wimpy transistors can't compete with its sheer power and robustness.

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I have an RF burn on my hand from my transmitter. Left a scar too. Shit really hurts.

This guy knows everything there is to know about Ham Radio:
youtube.com/watch?v=ulCmIO7WJzE

This is a good reason not to get involved with HAM radio. Crotchety old men doing health checks and talking about politics while going ape shit over someone playing music. They're going to do the MPAA RIAA and FCC's job for them because their children hate them and they have nothing left in life.

I don't understand the appeal of ham radio.

try getting some autism

It has appeal until you learn everything that you want to do is illegal.

>Hunting unlicensed operators are what we consider to be a fun pastime
Wow you guys are actually faggots
This is why your shitty hobby is dying

Trolling operators actually sounds fun if I can compete with their autism. How long before the FCC shows up?

How you do illegal shit in radio without getting caught?

Depends if the old fags actually report you

Has not been my experience at all. Sure, the old people talk about health. But chitchat tends to be radio related directly, and most stuff now is pushing the limit of the noise floor with digital modes.

Keyboard to keyboard chat is now possible below the noise floor using FT8CALL worldwide. Text chat can now survive the internet going down. How cool is that?

Everyone I have met has been super friendly and helpful. We usually try to encourage people to join and get licensed instead of going running to the FCC.

Also, there are a lot of emergency applications if you live outside of a major city where cellular isn't reliable. It tends to become the major communication firm during natural disasters.

Literally only illegal things are music and encryption. And even encryption is okay if you publish the scheme and key as a part of an experimental system.

Move around a lot and have an inconspicuous antenna.

1) TV broadcasting
2) Music broadcasting
3) Cell station
4) no encryption

Longwinded ham here. Basically this. Moving basically makes it extremely difficult for us to track you down.

Seriously, though. The licensing exam is *super* easy. And then you won't get raped by the FCC if you do get caught. And you'll gain the technical knowledge needed to transmit without burning out your transmitter, which is very easy to do. If your attenna isn't the exact correct length and isn't running through a matching network, the power reflects back and burns your amplifying circuit.

It's basically a version of Jow Forums that uses radio waves instead of the internet.

You can do TV and certain types of cellular systems if you're mad enough to implement them. Florida has a giant networked repeater system that kinda acts like a cellular network for the entire state.

sarnetfl.com

Tie a GPS system to a cat controller for your radio, and you can automatically switch frequencies in the right areas to switch repeaters!

No. No it isn't, at least not in the US. It is illegal to shittalk or offend anyone. Your license is for A) experimentation B) Spreading international good will.

Someone hasn't been listening to 7.2MHz LSB and 160m

Right, but what can you televise without breaking the law? Color bars with your call sign? You can't even use uncopyrighted material unless it pertains to radio.

I would really like to move my career into RF from computer engineering. I love building circuits but radio science is true magic.

I would love to setup antennas via chopper in antarctica for the rest of my days.

That's HF. That could be coming from anywhere in the world. If you're in the US, and they catch you shit talking, your license is gone.

Go for it, the technician's license is easy as can be. Just try not to spend too much money into it right off the bat in case you decide its not for you. Also if you don't like listening to old people ramble, you probably won't like voice. I live in the exurbs down south and the people on my local receivers are old ass crackers on some kind of pension and are annoying to listen to. Also don't become a faggy ass whacker OP, those are embarrassing to be and you're better than that.

Did I forget to mention, you can't go 10 minutes without giving your callsign or you are breaking the law.

People transmit SSTV and FSTV with nonsense memes and barely clothed women all the time.

The more I learn about RF, the more I learn that no one has any idea how the fuck any of it actually works and we're just sorta guessing.

It just doesn't seem that interesting. A meshnet would be fun, though.

Literally no one gives a shit. It took the FCC years to do anything about this one guy playing music and harassing people in California. What got him was the music over a repeater that told him in writing that he wasn't allowed to use it.

I curse on the air all the time. No one cares. Americans get into political arguments on 160m and 7.2mhz all the time.

I get transmitters, receiver, coils, and electrical signals, but signals can be transmitted in so many ways.

I have alot of books on RF that I'd like to finish, the coolest one I've found is called Amateur Radio Astronomy. I think it would be super sick to image the milky way from a diy radio telescope. don't think I can do much until I get a pSDR or HackRF.

>nonsense memes and barely clothed women
Sounds like your typical ``SFW'' board. Do you have any captures?

I accidentally said shit over the air of a local repeater and got a visit from a VE. Motherfucker came to my house.

No, sorry, I don't save shit. Not my bag. I mostly like experimenting with high q systems and low power QRP rigs. Push the limits of engineering.

I'll probably get into moonbounce next. It's trippy hearing your voice being reflected back a few second later.

doing the same
im slightly worried ham will go along with the boomers

...I say fuck a lot, and haven't gotten any shit for it. I just sprinkle it throughout my sentences without realising it. You must live in a prude town.

Actually, ham licensing is at the highest it's ever been. Tons of Xoomers and Zoomers. The millennials are too busy snap chatting coffee.

>diy radio telescope
Pretty much all I want to do with radio. Do you think a dish would be the way to go?

With the bandwidth you have available you cant really televise video, you just have a still image. Plenty of hams use a vanity image with their callsign when doing SSTV, you just can't use a copyrighted image, get creative user, i know you can do it!

the internet exists

>trying to act like Zoomers don't live and breathe meme social media

You forget, we have free reign in the upper GHz ranges. And those have the bandwidth for FSTV.

I accidentally cuss a lot too. I barely talk on my handheld anymore because of that incident. I've been focusing more on morse because it's harder to accidentally shit talk. I do sit in on the ARES stuff, but stay silent during the meetings.

Just what's on ULS.

Would I be able to broadcast OC half-naked anime girls with impunity? I wonder how hams would react to that.

You don't know what equipment or what bandwidth I have kiddo.

>zoomers
Ive actually never heard of anyone who's under 20 doing ham radio. Most people interested in it are either engineers or engineering students(me) or older people. I've seen under 20's getting dragged to meets, but it's because not because its an interest, more because grandpa talked them into it.

Do a lot of people broadcast Morse? You know, with some dedication you could probably get your computer to bleep out your cussing with only a few seconds' audio delay.

I sometimes catch myself and apologize. I think they just appreciate a millennial who is even interested. I'm open about being a former pirate too. I think the face of ham radio is changing with the changing of the guard. More interest in high reliability utility modes and digital shit for SHTF and tactical operators operating tactically shit, and care less about the polite face. A lot of channers, former or otherwise, in our Gen.

youtube.com/user/SurvivalTechEU

A lot of us find this type of shit interesting.

That's fair. Most of them that I have encountered had the case of the hit in the head with the engineering stick.

Yes, it's extremely reliable. When the space weather goes to shit, yes that is a thing, voice modes basically die. Only way to communicate is via high reliability digital modes like jt9, or via CW/Morse... and Morse is faster than the digital modes.

I could be wrong here, but CW is the easiest to transmit the furthest because it's so simple. There are Linux programs to turn text to morse and morse audio to text. And yes, a fuckload of people still do morse in HF.

>I don't understand the appeal of ham radio.

The appeal is really the technical aspect. Building and modding equipment and antennas.
The talking to people part is mostly so you can test your build and talk about it with other guys doing the same thing, but a lot of people enjoy talking on there and building relationships.
Most of the guys into it are old engineers and shit who worked on cool stuff their whole lives so their is plenty of interesting conversation too.

>160m
Is this the most based radio frequency band of them all?
It seems the only reason worth getting into ham is to be on the 160 meter band which requires at least a general class license. It seems like investing in equipment, time antennas for all other frequencies is a total waste because it amounts to just "contests" for collecting call signs and that's it. No real dialogue.

Technician here who could pass their General without needing to study just from my reading related to the hobby. I'd love to get on HF but can't bring myself to spend the money considering the basically apocalyptic near future privacy issues that would make it hard for me to do anything other than simple signal reports. It's already possible to record all of the HF bands simultaneously and play them back later (this is already done for enforcing contest rules), skimmers can already decode all CW/digital mode activity simultaneously and convert it to text for easy searching by a computer (see the Reverse Beacon Network as an example), and skimmers for phone modes are getting closer to reality all the time with the main issue being dealing with the noise. I have a sinking feeling that as soon as phone mode skimmers become reality, shit is going to hit the fan with the band police and serially offended figuring out that they can LARP as the NSA.

Most people use radio waves any time they make a phone call or even make a post somewhere on the internet. Ever wondered how that shit works or wanted to mess around with it at the physical layer without tons of layers of abstraction in the way? Also, amateur radio doesn't just cover higher powered walkie talkies and across the world communication by people with large at home setups and antennas mounted on towers, there's a very large variety of stuff you can mess around with.

There's a network like that over by the Rocky Mountains, except they use DMR rather than analog so it can support two different groups using it simultaneously, can send text messages, and other stuff. They even have backup power at all the sites so the network can operate completely off the grid.

Stay on unlicensed frequencies, don't run enough power to cause interference on other frequencies, don't be a serial asshole, and don't break other laws in the process.

Wut? There's plenty of ragchew and net opportunities on the other HF bands, especially the 40 and 80 meter bands.

What are the best shitposting frequencies

>but signals can be transmitted in so many ways.

I became obsessed with all that as a teenager and was constantly building antennas and super sensitive microphone circuits and light receivers and transmitters.
I found out you can hear the audio in a room with a sensitive light to audio receiver if you focus it on something physically modulating like an incandescent bulb filament.
Antennas are so much fun to build though. It's amazing the performance you can get with the right design. I tried making a big quarter wave length bow tie for the TV channels 3 and 4 frequencies and hanging it in front of my garage door at the right distance to use it as a reflector and I was receiving some weird video broadcast from a hotel.

Ohm's law's easy, it's the decibel math that fucked me

Getting licensed is a meme
Just borrow someone else's call sign and don't be stupid
Not like there is anything of value on ham anyways, it's a dying hobby for actual boomers that hate everything and want to cry about it with other people in the same boat
There is a reason the average operator is 50+ years old

And we pick on the british fags for needing a license to watch TV. What a joke you two countries are. A licence to operate a radio really shows how "free" you faggots are.

I only had one question on that. I remember getting at least three ohms law questions, but it was either multiplication of division. No square roots or powers of. Technicians really is easy as fuck.
It's only for transmitting which is understandable.