Ameteur Radio - whats the point
 

I seem to keep bumping into people via work who are into ameteur radio - is anyone here into this.

Can you explain what the point is, do these people broadcast into nothing-ness hoping that someone might respond? Or do they create their own radio show type thing that others tune in for.

They mention that they are into this, but never elaborate on what they get up to? genuinely curious to understand what the attraction is.

I know a few. Saddos in the extreme they are, victor tango papa lemures.

I'll send you a post card with the details, that's what the :freak3: 's usually do ;)

I've noticed this to be a very Larnish/Ballymenaish thing Tarmac. Horses for courses though, there are some folk who spend all day on the internets talking to strangers:Suspiciou

Lezzie should be along soon to explain it all :lol1:

Just about sums it up :D As an electronics engineer I do come across a few of these saddos from time to time. It's a policy of mine when recruiting to put in the bin any applicants CVs that list amateur radio as one of their hobbies. You just know they'll be weird and won't be team players. Anyone who's idea of fun is to sit in a shed all evening with a pile of antiquated radio equipment trying to listen to crackly broadcasts from the other side of the world, and make their own crackly broadcasts just aren't right.

They should be out enjoying themselves down the pub with their mates, except they don't have any. Same goes for those who spend all their time on Internet forums and only have virtual friends :D

Bit like sitting at a PC every night really

Do they have roads , buses, in that part of Ireland ?

I am surprised it is still going. I had a friend who did it many years ago and it was quite interesting: You could talk to different people from all across the globe and the community of people genuinely became good friends.

These days of course, you can just go to a chatroom to find your bored housewives to seduce ...

Steve

So it is true what everyone says about you then!

Les

Is this the same as "ham radio"? If it is, they're pretty freaky. One place I used to live there was one guy nearby kept getting in trouble for having something like a 60 foot aerial.

The best answer I can give you is, what is the interest that you have in posting on an internet forum? What is the point?

Les

I first posted on here the week after I bought my first Impreza as there was a lot of advice available and many myths to be debunked. I scout around NSR once or twice a day for the craic, for some light entertainment or for a bit of a laugh.

If the motivation for ameteur radio was only to make contact with others, wouldn't the internet be a better medium offering a higher success rate than hoping someone is listening to the same frequency on which you are broadcasting. They dont seem to have moved forward with technology, when I try to understand what they do, or how and why they got into their hobby it is a bit of a closed shop. They will tell you they are into ameteur radio but wont be drawn on it. Their lack of willing to talk about it has now got me strangely interested. :)

NO ! Run away...

dunx

P.S. Extiction did for the dinosaurs what the internet SHOULD have done for "hams", harmless if left alone, imho

I have a guy that lives behind me who has half a dozen 30 foot masts in his garden, what a geek!

Pick up the phone ffs!

:lol1:

I had a Scanner about 7 years ago and would listen in to their chats while brushing my teeth in the morning (when I had some teeth!) ...... what type of chat did I hear? Well pretty anal stuff about radio equipment and what earths they had and suchlike.

Pop into the Technical Forums on here and you will get the general idea :lol1:

This is "Golf Romeo Juliet, fowah niner sevun" broadcasying on 475.888889 megaherrrrrtzzzzz in south east engerrrland. over......































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we got a peep


this is......


















whats wrong with a good old AM Cb radio with a bit of side band :D:D:D


Mart :D:D:D

Seems way out of date now with whats about today. If they like their hobby though, they are not particularly doing anyone any harm......(unless the 50 foot aerial is spoiling your view out of your kitchen window...........)

They do seem to be a certain type of 'person' though :)

The point is, all those who don't understand Ham Radio seem to have preconceived ideas largely garnered from Hancock's very amusing episode which had us all laughing.

It is an interest in radio communications, how to design and build a better antenna system which is a pretty advanced exercise these days, some people are technically advanced enough to be able to build their own transceivers and amplifiers etc. The interest lies in making contact worldwide through natural propagation of radio signals via the heaviside layers in the upper atmosphere. Internet comms are artificial in comparison and are therefore useful but not technically interesting. The conditions vary daily which is also of interest, and it is quite an achievement to be able to talk to someone in California but going the long way round the world! Thats not bad from your own house with limited power. Sometimes you can send a signal all the way round the world too.

Mart 360 obviously has experience of 27 Mhz CB in the old days when we use to talk round the world on sideband, sometimes from your car. Great sport wasn't it Mart-dodging the cops! :)

It is worth remembering that Hams have invented many different styles of communication which are used commercially today. A lot of today's data transmission was developed by Hams. We also keep an ear out for emergency calls and are part of the local government communications also in emergency.

Apart from all that, we make friends all over the world, there are no political divides, and we do actually chat about all the sorts of things which are discussed on a forum like this one. it was interesting to meet up with many of them when I was travelling around the world in my job.

The hobby is very wide too, we can use clear language, morse code,RTTY,PSK, bounce signals off the moon or the meterorites such as the Perseids, send and receive television pictures, so there is plenty of varied interest.

It is unfair to call Hams freaky. Its just not true. All sections of society are blessed with all types of people. Radio Hams are in no way different in this respect. Many people might think that gathering on a forum like this just because we have been associated with Scoobies is a bit "cracked" too.

Best really to avoid taking the piss out of a section of society when you don't understand it.

Les

RTTY now there's a blast from the past...

I had a mate who built a RTTY decoder back in the mid eightys.

he used an Amstrad 464 / with an RS232 port, and a bank of LED's so you

could visualise the signal, as well as hear it. Dont think he ever got the s

speed issue sorted, but it could decode about one tenth of the signal it

received ...was still junk mind.

You don't tend to hear much of it now that FM is the norm.

Mind you they certainly got tetchy when we wandered into their frequency range (accidentally :lol1:) ... do they still have CB on 27megs?

Mart

Leslie, i find you a more interesting and insightful with each and every post you make! You've very articulate when explaining things which is very helpful when people like me know nothing about it.:thumb:

Why do they call it Ham Radio thou?:wonder:

I suppose the hobby splits off into a few sections; Those that blow money on ready made specialist equipment, then proceed to spend their time twiddling knobs.

And the ones who actually build or modify equipment to suit their goals.

The latter is quite admirable IMO; I'll confess to having built a couple of AM and FM recievers and transmitters for A-level electronics, and rebuilt the tuner in my old HiFi during the same period, tweeking it to improve its sensitivity and selectivity in the process. Back then I could look at the PCB, follow the tracks to the components and know which bit did what These days I look at the same PCB in the same tuner and marvel how I once knew exactly how the damn thing worked; Because I now can't remember in the slightest, and if it went wrong I would be screwed.

Before the days of Texting, msn email etc, myself and some mates bought CB`s and talked on them, was a good laugh, stuck one in the car and felt like smokey and the bandit. I remember getting a knock on the door from my neighbour as i kept screwing up his tv reception everytime i keyed the mike. I was running a 100w burner through my CB thorugh a 30ft aerial and it completley screwed up his reception. Still got the trusty midland in my loft, may go onto channel 19 and see whos there "rig check over"

:sleep::sleep::sleep::sleep:

See what I mean, dull geeks the lot of them :D

bloody useful if your in the middle of the ocean too

I am reminded of an expression that used to be used quite a lot.

"Poor fish" was how it went I believe! Look it up why dont you?

Les :p

Leslie

It is are raining not.

knight to kings bishop

a gem of a sketch :lol1:

I've a friend who must have 3 rooms of his house full of radio ham gear.

I can;t even understand the manuals and magazines on it.


each to their own----- I find it hilarious the volume of posts on here sometimes by some users in such a short time.

I do think with Ham radio- the ratio of beard wearers is going to be very high, as is singledom.

as with subarus the chav/pikey factor of yr avergae owner is indeed immense.

..and there's me thinking it was all about scanning for next door neigbours cordless telephone conversations!

I'll try to answer a few in one post.

I have no idea whether the old AM CB is still going Mart. I think the FM is uppermost now it is all legal.

A lot of us messed around with RTTY, I even got a Sinclair computer to decode it and converted an old keyboard to be able to transmit it as well. All a bit of a laugh as a rule. Especially trying to type a reply to someone who could touch type!

I suppose the Ham bit came from the Radio Amateur bit and the fact that some do indeed ham it up a bit, like Hancock :). Takes all sorts etc. Its easier to say anyway!

Scotty, you would be surprised how many Hams started off in 27Mhz AM, had some fun on sideband, and then took the licences as amateurs. Half the blokes I know did anyway. The licence was not that easy, you had to do a couple of City and Guilds exams in theory and procedures and then you had to pass a morse test to get the full "A" licence. Most found that was pretty difficult, I certainly did! Never regretted doing it and I have good friends all over the world through getting the licence.

Ali-B, Yes I used to experiment a bit with the electronics but just like you, I find its getting far too complicated to be able to follow a circuit these days. :) I find designing and building phased antennas more interesting now.

Les

Noun 1. poor fish - a person who is not very bright; "The economy, stupid!"

Whereas:

geek (gk)
n. Slang
1. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.

Some see it as a complement, whereas your phrase is just a common insult :(

Look if were going to get fcuking technical about radios the I would class myself as a radio professional not an amateur.

My kit bounces signals off satellites in geostationary orbits (that's 36,000km away, there and back it's more or less equivalent to twice round the earth), it does this from fast moving platforms (i.e. aircraft, yes Doppler is compensated for!), and can achieve data rates approaching 512kbps. To do this we use complicated digital modulation techniques, forward error correction, and adaptive signal processing to cope with the difficulties of the aeronautical environment. HAM radio is a bit of an archaic joke compared to this. Hence I see no point in why I should have any interest in it or why anyone else would want to. But each to their own and all that. I'll stick to developing communications on the leading edge thanks :D You enjoy your shed!

"....My kit bounces signals off satellites in geostationary orbits (that's 36,000km away, there and back it's more or less equivalent to twice round the earth), it does this from fast moving platforms (i.e. aircraft, yes Doppler is compensated for!), and can achieve data rates approaching 512kbps. To do this we use complicated digital modulation techniques, forward error correction, and adaptive signal processing to cope with the difficulties of the aeronautical environment....."

-- is this 'kit' your mobile phone!!?!!