I call bullshit. That me be what they are supposed to be but not what most really are or can do. I must admit, they aren't as bad as storm chasers. I had one of those asshats demand I let him on my tower for free because they provide a public service. I told him to talk to the countries out there and have them pay for it. For some reason he thought that since he supposedly did something for the public good I was obligated to surrender my property to him. Socialist piece of shit.
On Fri, Feb 19, 2016, 1:53 PM Brian Webster <[email protected]> wrote: > Ok this is one of the flavors of VOIP linked voice repeater systems. > > > > A couple of things to understand about hams, they love to play with > technology, many like to have the latest and biggest for bragging rights, > not much unlike other hobbies (cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, etc.) > > Because they can buy stuff like this many times they think they should > build one and have it. These Wires systems are in the minority of linked > networks, some guys just want to "HAVE" th3eir own conference server not > really understanding the network and concepts. Reality is if they want to > talk with other people they themselves will connect to the most popular > conference servers to have someone to talk to. Too many conference servers > and there is excess capacity. Ham put up their own repeaters like this in > areas where there is already a number of existing repeaters that don't get > much use, then they beg people to come talk with them on "their" repeater. > It's an ego thing. Reality is if their repeaters or base stations have > enough bandwidth to connect to a conference server that already exists then > they have what they need. That is not 20 meg, 1 meg or less will do. As I > mentioned before, conference servers belong in data centers, not tower > sites for some guys house. They need good symmetric bandwidth with > redundant paths and providers. > > > > Now why would you support these clubs? The amateur radio groups provide a > lot of public service and disaster communications capacity in times of > need. They do this on their own money and time. Local communities benefit a > great deal. They have an tight associating with the national weather > service and the SkyWarn storm spotter system. National Weather Service > Office have their own amateur radio equipment in place and they will talk > directly to storm spotter in the field during sever weather. All of their > communications is noncommercial. They have a lot of spectrum available and > the ability to do all kinds of things technically. It's not just Morse Code > and shortwave radio. They have their own satellites, broadcast TV, digital > packet radio networks and a nationwide vehicle tracking system (Google > Amateur Radio APRS). They support many non-governmental agencies, Red > Cross, Salvation Army, APCO and others. They have official memorandums of > understanding in place that spell out their roles and support. They support > bringing technology in to the classroom offering summer teaching courses > for teachers who wish to use real technology to teach students about math, > geography and other subjects. They have a major role in supporting the boy > and girl scout programs and youth. The list goes on and on. They also have > many members who have done a great deal of software and technology > development. > > > > Now to Ken's point about them being old and grey, arrogant and pompous, > there certainly are a lot of people like that, every group has them. It's > part of the demographics. This is not a fair and complete statement though, > truth is there are now more amateur radio licensees than ever. Last year > was one of the biggest increases. Many younger people who have an interest > in technology are joining the amateur radio ranks and putting new life in > to the hobby/service. See one article below that was published very > recently: > > > > > https://www.yahoo.com/tech/why-modern-makers-are-bringing-1363811879927862.html > Why Modern Makers Are Bringing Back Ham Radio > > > > More than a hundred years ago, a few intrepid amateurs began experimenting > with a new means of communications known then as “wireless.” These > protohackers — soon to be known as *hams —* for etymologically obscure > reasons <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio> — began > building their own electronics gear, hoping to use it to communicate with > others. By the early 1920s, amateur radio operators were talking with and > even transmitting images to complete strangers on the other side of the > world. > > By the 1980s, ham radio was in decline. But the spirit of those early > tinkerers survived: They were the first makers, who — like the makers of > today — built technological gizmos for themselves that they just couldn’t > buy. > > And now, coincident with the rise of the modern maker movement, that > decline has reversed. New ham licenses are on the increase, with 35,000 new > ones issued just last year. According to FCC records, there are now roughly > 800,000 ham radio operators in the United States — more than ever before. > And this latest generation of enthusiasts is doing things with ham radio > that their forebears could never have imagined. > DIY: Old and new > > Some of today’s hams are in it for the original reason: to talk to people > around the world via shortwave radio. But many get involved so they can > incorporate wireless capabilities into their projects. > > One reason is that an FCC license allows you to build and legally operate > your own high-powered wireless equipment. Ham radio operators are allowed > to design, build, test, and operate wireless projects across a vast range > of frequencies. They are able to, among other things, hack together Wi-Fi > routers that can operate over longer distances and use more power than > standard, commercial Wi-Fi. > > Adding amateur radio technology to their projects opens up whole new > vistas for today’s DIYers. “It blows me away what can be done, and for > cheap,” says maker-blogger Rich Holoch > <https://ky6r.wordpress.com/page/2/>, who experiments with > microcontrollers and projects based on Arduino <https://www.arduino.cc/> > and Raspberry Pi <https://www.raspberrypi.org/> devices. “It opens up the > whole matrix of what you can do.” > > “It’s amazing all the things that are out there that you can do with ham > radio,” concurs Christine Axsmith, president of HacDC Radio Club > <http://www.hacdc.org/>, part of HacDC, a Washington, D.C.-area maker > group. “But with Raspberry Pi, it just blew the lid off.” HacDCers are > working on projects that include microwave networking and remotely > controlled 3D printing — all using wireless radio technology. > > Dennis Kidder came to that ham-maker nexus from the other direction. A > longtime ham radio operator, he was unprepared for what he found when he > went to his first maker faire in San Mateo a few years ago. > > “We were overwhelmed with the DIY electronics and the robotics,” he says. > He was so energized by the experience that he helped write (with Jack > Purdum) a book on the subject, *Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio* > <http://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Projects-Amateur-Radio-Purdum-ebook/dp/B00O2A7I5O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454621169&sr=8-1&keywords=dennis+kidder> > . > Putting ham radio to good use > > One thing a lot of these maker-hams talk about is the potential use of > their hobby for public service. “Our team is working on a project to turn > any cellphone into a shortwave radio,” Axsmith says, explaining that once > the work is done, it could be used to help provide communications in > developing areas. > > Other makers are contributing their skills to the American Radio Relay > League <http://www.arrl.org/>’s (ARRL) National Parks on the Air event, > in which ham radio operators try to raise awareness about national parks > and the work done by the National Park Service. Others are developing new > emergency communications networks as backups for when cell service > disappears. > > Some maker spaces now offer ham radio activities. A few, like HacDC, have > their own radio shacks and experimental equipment and offer ham radio > license classes. > > Meanwhile, ARRL is ramping up its efforts to spread the word about ham > radio in the maker community. “We support a lot of ham radio operators who > go to maker faires,” says Bob Inderbitzen, ARRL’s sales and marketing > manager. > > The combination of ham radio and the maker movement could even help the > former shed its amateur status. Inderbitzen says familiarity with both > could be a real plus when it comes to getting hired as an engineer. > Hands-on experience with radio frequency engineering is extremely valuable > these days but also hard to find. He says he’s seeing “a significant boost > in employment opportunities” for hams who know how to make stuff. > > Read More > > So, just as the hams of a hundred years ago eventually provided the > foundations for the professional radio business, the maker-hams > (ham-makers?) of today could find their personal passions paying off too. > > *Wayne Rash is senior columnist for eWEEK and can be reached at > [email protected] <[email protected]>.* > > > > > > Thank You, > > Brian Webster > > www.wirelessmapping.com > > www.Broadband-Mapping.com > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jerry Head > > Sent: Friday, February 19, 2016 8:21 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] HAMSs and Internet > > > > Hmm he sent a few pictures, does this look like a conference server? > > > > > https://www.dropbox.com/s/lm7yqdblb6mri0l/Screenshot%202016-02-19%2007.16.28.png?dl=0 > > > > > https://www.dropbox.com/s/e2u283gy05fgt9i/Screenshot%202016-02-19%2007.18.23.png?dl=0 > > > > > https://www.dropbox.com/s/51jov0xxmybov37/Screenshot%202016-02-19%2007.19.32.png?dl=0 > > > > I have not applied the Google to research that device in the third > picture...yet. > > > > > > On 2/19/2016 12:59 AM, Brian Webster wrote: > > > Unless they are trying to host a voice repeater conference server they > do not need anywhere near that kind of bandwidth. A conference server would > host multiple connects all at the same time, if they needed 500k per > connection that would add up. I would not let them host a conference server > on your wireless network, that stuff is better placed in big data centers. > > > > > > I am an amateur radio operator and have data and voice networks I > maintain for the clubs locally. Honestly 1 to 3 meg is more than enough for > what they will need. Anything more than that and they will likely be doing > things that they should be paying for on your network. They may be trying > to do some live video stuff but you don't need to shoulder that burden, > they can do live TV broadcasts on spectrum they have available, not as easy > to do as IP cams and Ethernet but they can do it. > > > > > > If you have the tower space you might consider offering them places to > put their own links if all they need is bandwidth between sites. There are > amateur radio spectrum allocations in the 3.3 GHz band as well as 5.9 GHz, > and I am pretty sure they can load international firmware and run their own > links on MicroTik or Ubiquiti radios. This would keep the traffic off your > network and possibly discourage them from putting up links legally licensed > in the bands you are using for your business. Technically they have > licensed rights and could knock you off the air. Best not to start that > war, they can operate in the 900, 2.4 and 5 GHz bands legally at much > higher power. If you can get them off on to the spectrum that does not > overlap the unlicensed bands everyone wins. They also have their own IPv4 > space available (ampr.org). > > > > > > Feel free to hit me up off list and/or have them contact me if you need > to. I will happily try to explain how they can create win-win for everyone. > > > > > > Here is a link to a frequency chart that shows amateur radio licensed > allocations. Remember they are considered licensed incumbents and you > cannot interfere with their operations. > > > > http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Band%20Chart/Hambands_color.pdf > > > > > > > > > Thank You, > > > Brian Webster > > > www.wirelessmapping.com > > > www.Broadband-Mapping.com > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Af [mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>] On Behalf > Of Jerry Head > > > Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2016 9:05 AM > > > To: [email protected] > > > Subject: [AFMUG] HAMSs and Internet > > > > > > I think a few of the list members out there are HAMs so I need some > advice please. > > > I support our local HAM group and have allowed them to place repeaters > on two of my towers at no charge to their group. Now one of their members > has asked for Internet service at one of the sites for HAM use. I have > heard something about HAMs using the Internet to "talk" so I guess this is > not unusual. > > > For me the kicker is that he is asking for 20x20Mbps service...I > certainly have the capacity but that just seems excessive. > > > Opinions anyone? > > > > > >
