Anyone here use Ham radio?
I want to learn it so I can do FPV drone flying, packet radio, and innawoods operating.
I buying a baofeng a good way to learn this and get the license? I can't just sit down and read the operating manual, I won't learn anything that way.
Take some practice tests, see what you don't know, and study up till you're comfortable you can pass the exam. You can get a radio now but all you can use it for is a scanner
ive been meaning to get into this as well. is an sdr a good way to get involved? like op i would like a hands on way to learn this
A cheap SDR is a nice start but keep in mind you'll still need to get a different radio for transmitting when you get your license.
Google FCC Ham Radio Test Pool Practice Tests. Take practice tests over and over again until you have those answers memorized. There are not many questions and most of them are pretty easy if you know anything about electronics/RF theory. Make sure you get the CURRENT TEST POOL - they change now and then. Go to a field day and literally get 100% because the on line tests ARE THE SAME EXACT QUESTIONS/ANSWERS! Same goes for General and Extra classes after you get your tech. Learn all the nit-picky stuff along the way through trial and error.
Cool upside-down photo, fag.
Quithating on australia.
Don't listen to the FCC niggers and don't dox yourself with a tracking number.
You can't just buy an amateur radio and start transmitting. You would be violating federal law. The FCC has methods in place to triangulate pirate (unlicensed) transmissions, you will be found and fined. Just take the practice tests, that's what I did for both my technician and general class license.
Their listening stations haven't been active since the 90s. How do you think illegal beacons and pirate stations stay up for years? Somebody would have to notice and report you in the first place, anyway. Nobody cares.
I don't know about that. The old school hams hate pirates and are very protective of their frequencies. As such they love reporting pirates.
I'm currently designing a VHF transmitter that I plan to run illegally however I plan to do it intermittently and from my car. I plan to transmit with enough power to broadcast out the front and rear of my vehicle up to 0.5 to 1 mile in a ~30 degree arc.
Good luck tracking that with all your fancy spectrum analyzers fags. Obviously I will never be transmitting when parked for any length of time because then I become too easy to triangulate. Only when moving and only for a few minutes at a time most likely.
Writing your own SDR is a good way to learn how to learn about how radio works from a signal processing standpoint. It is an awful way to learn how to pass the test. The tests now are very light on theory and more focused on making sure you know how to comply with regulations. Things like "at x frequency at what power level do you have to evaluate exposure limits to see if they're within the guidelines for maximum permissible exposure." That doesn't have shit to do with knowing what a Hilbert transform is or how to create I+Q signals to make SSB come out of your sdr.
There's basically two ways to go about this. One is to memorize the question pool directly. The other is to learn the theory behind the questions that have explanations and memorize the data that the others are derived from. There's no theory behind the fact that 2M is 144-148MHz. It just is. If you want to go the first route then practice tests are pretty good as well as reading the poll itself. If you want to go the second route the ARRL publishes good books that teach you the least you can get by with.
If this is too hard for you then whatever you weren't going to advance the art of radio anyway. We're talking about an hour every day for a couple weeks max. You can do this in a weekend if you want. Just be glad there's no morse requirement anymore. That was 10x harder to study for even for the only 5 wpm test I had to take.
>I plan to transmit with enough power to broadcast out the front and rear of my vehicle up to 0.5 to 1 mile in a ~30 degree arc.
Wow all the power of a kid's toy walkie talkie.
why
Yeah what is the application? Why would you even bother?
y tho
I've had a beacon going in the hills for years and nobody's bothered it
I just fpv without a license anyway, nobody gives a shit and you're going to avoid their signals anyway to get a clear video feed
I don't owe anyone any explanations
Well, keep sticking it to the man, champ.
haha ham
A database with names and addresses? How horrifying!
I got a baofeng but I have no idea how to use it.
Sometimes I turn it on and listen to npr so thats pretty cool.
Congrats
Get a programming cable and install Chirp. You can set it up without it but you won't be able to configure channel names or access some other settings.
Thanks for the tip Ill try out that stuff when I get a chance.
apples to oranges
how about you start all of your posts with your address
>how about you start all of your posts with your address
Transmitting your callsign's quite a bit different from posting personal info on this shithole and you know it.
my point is that anonymity should be allowed on the radio
My point is that it's not and spamming your shitty little lol ur gonna doxx urself meme isn't going to change that
nobody is going to stop you, however
Sup Forums is usually very privacy and freedom-conscious but you FCC cucks are complete sheep
amateur radio has great always been toxic and subservient
Enjoy getting railed with a 5 figure fine when some ham reports your ass
implying that the FCC has the desire and ability to investigate somebody for talking on local repeaters with a fake callsign
aren't they busy fucking up the internet?
Fine enjoy sticking it to the man. Personally I don't think saving $15 is worth the risk of losing thousands. Sure it'd be nice to just be able to pick up a radio and transmit, but it's not like it's hard or anything to get the license. Plus being licensed shows you're competent enough to use your radio and know how not to use it. It's okay if you're afraid of failing your test, user. I'll only make fun of you a lot.
But why? I'm pretty sure you could achieve that with blister pack FRS radios (especially the new ones considering the FCC boosted the max allowable power from .5 watts to 2 watts), not to mention unlicensed CB and MURS radio that allow you to mount an external antenna on your car which will allow you to greatly exceed 1 mile. Why would you want to build something that performs worse than legal options that don't require a license and wouldn't be inter-operable with anyone else's hardware?
The licensing and callsigns sadly need to exist, otherwise businesses (which greatly outnumber people interested in amateur radio) would flood the amateur radio bands and they'd quickly become unusable. It's the same reason why encryption isn't allowed. There are much bigger problems when it comes to assholes ruining the amateur radio bands than random every day people who want to transmit without a license.
Also, for everyone saying fuck the police, at least have the courtesy to follow the band plan and don't do anything stupid like transmit FM simplex on the parts of the bands people use for satellite or weak signal work.
>businesses would flood the amateur radio bands
That's a fair point, but only small businesses could ever get away with it. Large corporations would easily be tracked down and destroyed.
Right now the FCC only regulates the amateur bands through fear and the illusion of control. That seems to work well enough, so why not follow all the other rules but maintain anonymity?
daily reminder you dont need a license to broadcast.
You don't need a license to drive either. That doesn't stop most from getting one.
pls explain, im dumb. what is this
Youre not going to run someone over with a radio.
I don't think you understand. He doesn't want to save $15, he wants to stay anonymous.
You're required to transmit your callsign every 15 minutes I believe.
SS7 hacking would be fun. But do not have money or time for such things.
>maintain anonymity
>broadcast a homing beacon signal
Pick one.
By the way the FCC's only requirement for an address is one where they can reach you by mail for official purposes. Receiving mail from a recipient who doesn't know your home address has been a solved problem for as long as the USPS has existed.
If you don't cause problems I don't care about your unlicensed operation. If you do then you will be found. If you want to think you're some badass like this guy
that's fine but he's actually harming his anonymity. You're much more anonymous broadcasting stupidity over CB legally. Nobody's going to care to track your homing beacon on the CB. There's a dozen ways to legally transmit a video feed from a drone without a license.
>old school hams hate pirates
I got turned on to pirate shortwave broadcast by old school hams. I've seen QSL cards from pirate stations given in return for signal reports from hams. Unidentified transmissions on repeaters are frowned upon. Hams hate harmful interference. Basically leave us alone and we leave you alone. There are some exceptions because hams aren't one person and that's why illegal transmissions are a danger to your anonymity and security.
I've never run anyone over driving unlicensed.
I entirely understand, I'm still going to make fun of him for being an insufferable cunt.
No, I'm a vegetarian.
Hey.
Been a ham for about 3 years now, got a lot of really good experience from it.
I was worried at first about the anonymity of being a ham, but I think it's important that you have the CHOICE of anonymity.
Hell, I have a credit card, auto loan, and a mortgage. Oh yeah, and I'm on the internet. Here, for example is where I choose to be user. On the airwaves, doesn't matter because we all are part of a community and it's important to know who you're talking to.
If you're looking to get into it for the radio operation part, then that's good. Get a _nice_ handheld, maybe a Baofung to get introduced to it, but start making your own antennas and get a better rig, there's really something in it for everyone.
If you like computers, there's APRS, or Broadband-Hamnet. If you like just talking, you can always get on local FM repeaters, join a club, or hop on SSB on HF. If you prefer to talk (with computers) you can do digital keyboard-to-keyboard operation with the program (for linux) fldigi.
I do all my ham-stuff on Linux anyway, so I have software choice. There are a lot of Linux hams.
Flex your skills a bit, get licensed. The Technician class is stupid easy. You'll have to study for the General, but it's doable. Get the ARRL's license guides, they are _really good_
Cheers,
K7O**