geekhack

geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: ddrfraser1 on Sun, 19 July 2020, 15:42:11

Title: Ham Radios
Post by: ddrfraser1 on Sun, 19 July 2020, 15:42:11

Just learned about this hobby today. I sense I've stepped into another bottomless and expensive black hole of nerdom. It seems a lot harder to get into than this hobby. You can't just buy a radio and start chatting '10-4' at local folks. You have to take a few tests, pay a fee and get licenced. It's a whole thing. And if you want more than a piece of crap that's little more than a glorified walkie talkie you need to mount an antenna on your roof. From there, it looks like everything from operation to variety of uses is damn near limitless and all gets pretty technical. Like I said, expensive bottomless black hole.

Sounds wonderful  ;D

Title: Re: Ham Radios
Post by: jamster on Sun, 19 July 2020, 19:53:05

Huh, didn't know it still existed, I thought it was one of those things that had been largely wiped out by the internet. It's cool that it's still going.

Title: Re: Ham Radios
Post by: Tactile on Sun, 19 July 2020, 20:27:21

Many, many specialties in Amateur Radio. You can chat with someone in the next county, or someone on another continent. There are Amateur Radio satellites (https://www.amsat.org/),  ways to connect your gear to the internet (http://irlp.net/), or you can just have a 2 meter in the car (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i6xeC-2LJ0) to chat with local friends. Send your equipment up in a balloon (https://arhab.org/) if that's your thing.

HF, VHF, UHF, full power, qrp, and don't forget morse code which, though not a license requirement, is still being used on the air. There are even international high speed morse championship contests (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S9AE6G7y6g).

Here in the US the license is free, although the club administering the test is allowed to charge a fee to pay for materials, use of the facility, etc.. Don't be shy, jump in!

Title: Re: Ham Radios
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 19 July 2020, 20:49:01

Talk to dat Lot Lizardz..

Title: Re: Ham Radios
Post by: Tactile on Mon, 20 July 2020, 10:53:43

I forgot about this guy. Listen to Joe Walsh WB6ACU talk about Amateur Radio (with no guitar in sight)...

Title: Re: Ham Radios
Post by: ddrfraser1 on Mon, 20 July 2020, 12:42:59

Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 19 July 2020, 20:49:01

Talk to dat Lot Lizardz..

Lol, hard pass.

Title: Re: Ham Radios
Post by: Tactile on Tue, 21 July 2020, 09:24:59

To learn more or ask questions, find a club (http://www.arrl.org/find-a-club) in your area and drop into a meeting.