Daves H and G:
Thanks for the responses; it's always nice to know that one is not spitting down a well :-) Now, H, you will note that I originally cited the usefulness of publicizing ham radio and educating folks in the use of it, but get real: very few of the attendees will know what that thing in your hand is, and in fact, many will assume that it is an FRS box. As for range indoors, G, what about hand-held CB's? 4 watts max vs. 0.5 watts max for FRS (and 5.0 watts for GMRS). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Radio_Service Also, as for practical utility, though the Technician Class ham license is "easy" as tests go, it does require, oh, my SWAG is about 20 hours to bone up and take the test, and then the radios tend to be more expensive, I'd guess $100 - $200 and up for a decent one. If there is going to be a practical use to communicate between volunteers, I would guess that at least half a dozen individuals would have to be convinced and cranked up before April. To me, the resolution seems pretty obvious: give a talk on the available software - could include software for setting up scanners as well. Then you could "sneak in" a pitch for ham participation, maybe even have a rig and talk to someone in the outside world. Strikes me that you two have more than enough expertise to do a quality tag team event. Ken Meyer 2007 Corvette Victory Red Coupe 6-Speed Manual 3LT Z51 Transparent Targa Top "The Scarlet Vixen" WA License: YLEKYOT Ham Call: KD7ZME <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] (206) 361-5057 Seattle, WA 98133 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 11:31 PM To: LinuxFest Northwest Discussion Subject: Re: [Fest-list] ham radios for event communication On Wed, 5 Feb 2014, Dave H wrote: > Hi Ken > > You are absolutely right. A decent set of GMRS radios would cover a > couple buildings in the BTC campus with zero problem. > > Where ham radio would shine is to show people an accessible technology > with eminent open source software and hardware hackability. For FRS to work reliably between buildings is iffy. GMRS will, but requires a license that costs $85. Licenses haven't been issued to non-individuals since 1987. In other words, we can't have the FCC issue a license to BLUG. We can use ham radio for LFNW because it's a non-profit operating and the aforementioned publicity for the hobby. For about the cost of a GMRS radio and license, you can get a ham radio and license. -- David Griffith [email protected] _______________________________________________ Fest-list mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fest-list
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