Text 12158, 194 rader
Skriven 2005-04-24 22:13:28 av Ed Hulett (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 12129 av TIM RICHARDSON (1:123/140)
Ärende: Off to the Wilderness
=============================
TIM RICHARDSON -> ED HULETT wrote:
 TR> On 04-23-05, ED HULETT said to TIM RICHARDSON:

 EH>> TIM RICHARDSON -> JOHN MASSEY wrote:
 TR>> On 04-23-05, JOHN MASSEY said to ED HULETT:



 SD>>>>> It's okay.  Someday, a ham will save their bacon from being cooked
 SD>>>>> (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) and once again, the ham will get
 SD>>>>> immense satisfaction from helping a fellow citizen whilst those two
 JM>>>> cry
 SD>>>>> about licensing.


 SD>>>>> Ignorance is bliss. :)


 EH>>> We hams aren't easily offended. We do things for people without
 EH>>> expecting anything in return. We do it because we are the only ones
 TR> who
 EH>>> can mobilize in a short time frame. Every time there has ever been an
 EH>>> emergency hams have been there to help with communications. IF it
 TR>> hadn't
 EH>>> been for hams both in and around the area of the tsunami and all over
 EH>>> the world, communications in and out of that devastated area would
 TR> have
 EH>>> been non-existant.


 EH>>> Save your lectures for someone who cares.


 JM>>> And you save your holier than thought shit for someone that can be
 JM>>> intimidated.


 JM>>> If you hams weren't around someone else would be. Nature abhors a
 TR>> vacuum.


 JM>>> Your precious hams could be replaced.


 TR>> Yup! With people who just want to have the enjoyment of communicating
 EH>> with TR> others several thousand miles away, or in foreign countries,
 EH>> without going TR> through all that licensing bullshit, studying for
 TR> tests,
 EH>> being able to TR> quote a
 TR>> technical manual verbatum, etc, etc!


 TR>> Thats a bunch of bullshit. You don't need to be a *ham* operator in
 TR>> order to
 TR>> be of help in a time of disaster. I've seen civilians pick up police
 EH>> radio TR> microphones and summon help for a cop who was hurt or in
 EH>> trouble. *They* TR> didn't have a license, or all kinds of testing
 TR> behind
 EH>> them to do it, TR> either.

 EH>> In an emergency you can use any means to get help. No one said that one
 EH>> needs a license in such a situation.

 EH>> Hams come into play when communication from and to areas hit by a
 TR> disaster
 EH>> such as storm, earth quake, etc. *AFTER* the initial emergency HAMs are
 EH>> the only people who can offer communications between aid workers and the
 EH>> local and distant authorities.

 EH>> CNN International had a stroy on the role HAM operators played and are
 EH>> playing in the aftermath of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Without
 TR> those
 EH>> HAMs there would be no communications. They are able to mobilize and
 TR> setup
 EH>> stations much faster than any government agency. That is why HAM
 TR> radio is
 EH>> relied on by FEMA and local EOCs during emergencies.


 TR>> If I was `really' interested in ham radio, I'd buy the equipment,
 TR> set up
 TR> a TR> `station' and do it. And wouldn't go through all that bullshit to do
 EH>> it, TR> either. If nobody liked it, tough.

 EH>> Hahahahahahaha!!!

 EH>> The FCC would be at your door in short order. You'd end up having to pay
 EH>> a large fine, forfieting your equipment and jail time.

 TR>> The cost of real good equipment is prohibitive to me, as well as a
 TR> place
 EH>> to
 TR>> set up the antenna needed. I have interests in other areas. But ham
 TR> radio
 TR>> would be fun. I just wouldn't go through all that licensing crap. You
 EH>> don't
 TR>> need a license to learn `code'. You can get that out of a book, or even
 EH>> off
 TR>> the internet, I bet.

 EH>> You don't learn CW from a book.

 EH>> There are no "pirate" ham stations because the FCC is dilligent in
 EH>> shutting down idiots who think they "don't need no steenking license."

 EH>> You'd not be able to have your bootleg station up in *ANY* country since
 EH>> all countries require a license. Oh, and you'd never again be elligible
 EH>> for a HAM license.


 TR> Yeah, yeah. Whatever.


 TR> Listen, you are trying to tell me that you can't go out on the internet
and
 TR> find information that will enable you to operate a ham radio station, the
same
 TR> internet where you  can find the information that will tell you how to
 TR> construct a powerful bomb? You can find the information you need in a
local
 TR> library, or probably even at a local Radio Shack.

That isn't what I am telling you at all. I am telling you that you don't learn
CW from a book. You have to hear it to learn it.

Radio Shack no longer carries the Gordon West license books for HAM radio. They
have turned into just another place to buy a cell phone.

 TR> What is so friggin' special about ham radio operators that sets them apart
 TR> from someone who operates an ordinary CB radio (except the limitations of
 TR> distance on a CB radio)?

No one said HAMs were special. They have, however, learned radio operation and
FCC rules and passed the proper test elements to be able to operate their
stations. CBers just buy a radio and if they don't fry it by hopoking it up
wrong they just start transmitting.

CB radio is one band (11 meters) while HAM radio is 16+ bands (160, 80/75, 60,
40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, 6, 2meters, 222MHz, 440MHz, 900MHz, 1240MHz and
several experimental bands). With CB you have 40 channels within the 11 meter
band. With HAM radio you tune through the frequencies (no channelization).

Many HAM operators are former and current CB users.

 TR> I've had CB radio's in my semi's that I also had bi-linears hooked up to,
and
 TR> was reaching out there a `very' long ways. I had a 150 watter, and was on
the
 TR> verge of going to a 500 watter when I quit trucking, back in the early
 TR> `eighties'. After I quit trucking, I hooked my Cobra up in my Chevy
pickup,
 TR> and used to talk to people up in the LA area sometimes, and I was down
here in
 TR> the San Diego area.

I talked all over the country with my CB back in the late 70s. I regularly
talked to people as far away as Florida, Mexico, and other points all around
North America.

 TR> There used to be a puke bastard up on the Dallas that had a CB with a
 TR> bi-linear hooked up to it that `stepped' on any channel he wanted to step
on
 TR> for over a hundred miles in all directions. And he was stationary! No FCC
ever
 TR> did anything about him. And nobody could shut him up, either.

Well, with CB people like that are flaunting the law. With HAM radio the
maximum power output is 1500 watts except where the rules say otherwise.

 TR> There was another puke bastard in Virginia who had the same sort of
hookup,
 TR> only even more powerful. You could hear this puke's big mouth clear up in
 TR> Pennsylvania, and over in some parts of Kentucky! The FCC never shut him
down,
 TR> either.

The FCC doesn't police CB like they do HAM.

 TR> I didn't need a license for my CB, I bought it over the counter, installed
it
 TR> and operated it myself. And for the FCC to `find' you, you first have to
be
 TR> *broadcasting*. If you only `listen' there's no way for them to find you.

Anyone can listen to HAM bands. All you need is a scanner for VHF and a general
coverage receiver for HF. If you transmit on the HAM bands without a license
you will soon get a visit from Riley Hollingsworth or one of his friends. HAM
radio is pretty much self-policing. So, if you start operating without a
license, the HAMs in your area will not hesitate to report you.

Ed

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