Packet Radio on 27Mhz (2011)

by projectmeshnet • 15 years ago

82 26 15 years ago

dlsspy4• 15 years ago

I've recently got a pretty decent APRS setup on 2 meter. There's a decent amount of activity around my house. There's a lot of APRS infrastructure, so things like internet gated messages in and out actually function. It's good to keep this stuff alive.

tgs• 15 years ago

I've had no experience with radio but find this stuff really interesting. You never know what you'll need to do come the zombie outbreak when the internet goes down.

Packet radio, HAM, CB... it is all a mystery to me. Is there a beginner's guide somewhere on getting into this field for cheap?

dlsspy4• 15 years ago

Get a technician license. Get a radio. Start playing around. I had one for about 10 years before finally just getting motivated to give APRS a shot. It was just slightly to get my radio actually hooked up to a computer via softmodem and xastir and all that, but it feels good having it together.

Of course, I'm not a huge fan of xastir. At this point, I want to build something new that's not GUI based and see if I can get something that's more useful outside of vnc.

xradionut2• 15 years ago

Why stop at a technician license? CW (aka Morse Code) isn't a requirement like it was in my day, so I encourage folks to go all the way to Extra. The question pools are available and the actual material isn't too difficult to master since there are no labs or practical exams. (Plus code is more enjoyable to learn without the added pressure of the tests.)

xradionut2• 15 years ago

My radio experience: consumer/ham/Military/University/Industry, both hardware and software. (But currently I deal with databases, 'cause it pays the bills.)

See if a local library has a copy of the ARRL Handbook. There's also a ton of information available on internet. Many hams have blogs, projects, etc available to explore. Sometime back issues of Radio and ham magazines are freely available. http://www.ae5x.com/blog/tag/oldpubs/

There's a large number of kits and other projects that are simple and inexpensive to build. You can spend as much or as little as your budget allows and still have a blast. I've had a nice PSK31 chat with the US East coast from Texas with 3 watts and a simple wire antenna while car camping.

I'm hesitant in telling you to seek out a ham radio club. There's a bitterness among a small percentage of older hams that has discouraged a legion of folks from enjoying the spectrum. But with the internet, you can usually ignore these idiots and find some aspect of radio/electronics and communication with like folks.

unoti• 15 years ago

Go get your HAM radio license. It's a great way to get in touch with your hacker roots, and connect with interesting like-minded people. The most important resource when any kind of trouble breaks out is friends, and HAM radio people are great, smart, resourceful people to know.

When you're studying for your license, use my HAM Radio study guide for Android (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tango11.hamstudy&#...). It's free and there are no ads; just something I did to give back to the community.

Natsu• 15 years ago

I still have an old Tech+ license but I became inactive when I moved away to college and had no rig, no time and no ham friends at ASU. It would be nice to do more with it someday.

burgerbrain• 15 years ago

Somebody with more experience should correct me here, but I'm under the impression that the penalties for illegal transmission (for example I believe, encrypted communications) are harsher for people with HAM licenses.

Something to consider, if that is accurate.

ge0rg2• 15 years ago

> It's free and there are no ads; just something I did to give back to the community.

This is the spirit that made HAM Radio a success in the first place. I wish more of it would be still present.

Out of the same motivation, I have developed an open source APRS app for Android (http://aprsdroid.org/) written in Scala. It is available (for a fee) on the Market as well, but you can download the APK freely from the home page. :)

grandalf2• 15 years ago

I just got back into ham radio last year. It's more fun than ever. I particularly recommend HF contesting.

joshu2• 15 years ago

What is HF contesting?

rmason• 15 years ago

Get acquainted with the American Radio Relay League or ARRL for short.

http://www.arrl.org/new-to-ham-radio

They provide a wealth of resources. Keep in mind that most larger cities around the world also have ham clubs. Most have regular classes to help you get your license.

projectmeshnet• 15 years ago

You can find more info at http://reddit.com/r/darknetplan . Cjdns is something to look into as well http://outreach.x10.mx/cjdns.php

forgeman• 15 years ago

Very cool, thanks for posting the link. I'm sure this will get a few of us interested in HAM / Packet radio! Thanks again.

joshu2• 15 years ago

Wow. I can actually afford HAM gear now. How does one decide where to start?

th0ma52• 15 years ago

start studying for the exams with online tests, and look for places near you (often! sometimes in some places multiple times a month) and get a license. the test teaches you mostly what you can and can't do with your license. you don't have to buy gear, for instance there are many low parts count projects you can build using junk components, but read about all the kinds of devices that people use, and practice soldering. i personally got into radio to use APRS after seeing hackpgh use it to track weather balloons. since then i build a very simple direct-conversion software radio, but you can also check out www.websdr.org to play with those kind of radios online using a java app. best of luck!! tons of things to explore.

ge0rg2• 15 years ago

From the discussion here it seems that many hackers do have their amateur radio license. Maybe somebody with enough karma can set up a poll to find out how many? :)

gonzo3• 15 years ago

Love that the discussion here went to HAM radio, but kinda disappointed that nobody has pointed out that the video is CB (cheese band), not HAM radio.

Packet Radio on 27Mhz (2011)

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