Linux-Hams archive - November 1998: Re: Newbye question

Re: Newbye question

Bill Jackson (ckov@elte.hu)
Sun, 1 Nov 1998 17:48:15 -0500

Fabrice, There is no real reason for you to avoid amateur radio if you have
some interest in technical experimentation. Check with the FCC office in
your area and see if they have a no code tech license(or even a 5 wpm
licence)(the 5 wpm menas 5 words per minute of morse code proficiency, an
archaic holdover from days of yore, still touted by the old farts, but
completely abandoned by international commerce and ship communication).
The tech licence will require you to know the specified degree of knowledge
and once granted will allow you to engage in non commercial communication
with other licensed hams. So you cannot run an accounting business between
two wites on the ham bands, that is commercial. You can however use it any
other way. In addition you can get the use of other frequencies such as 2
meters and 450 MHZ and other bands that you can use for fun and frolic, as
long as no commercial remember. You can use a phone link to order a pizza
delivered. You are not making money and he is using a phone so it is non
commercial, as ruled by the originators intention and ability to make money
from it. If you are a pizza delivery boy you cannot callin to verify an
address....commercial useage and forbidden.
So if your intended use conforms to the above spirit and you have the tech
smarts to do it you should try it. There is lots of equipment available
cheap at hamfests and kut makers to allow a link at 2.4 GHZ to be made for
less than $200-300 for both ends as long as you can build and scrounge and
make your own dish and yagi antennas from stiff wire or spin patterns.

Bill Jackson
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Connolly <terhi.victor@logonet.com>
To: Fabrice P. Laussy <cmulb@liscon.com>
Cc: <pqsy.evgmt@vlaamsparlement.be>
Date: Sunday, November 01, 1998 8:16 AM
Subject: Re: Newbye question

> If this is the only reason you want to try amateur radio, don't
bother..
>I don't want to discourage you from looking into amateur radio anyway, but
>there is no sense in getting a license and using something experimental
>which requires alot of work and discipline when you can simply mail-order
>commercial equipment to do what you want...
>
>Commercial equipment:
> I use Aironet ARLAN equipment for a wireless ethernet. They are 2.4 GHz
>no-license required radio-ethernet cards that work at 2 Mbps. They cost
>around $700-800 USD and with a good antenna with excellent gain, is claimed
>to be good for a 25 mile hop.
>
> Note that these radios can also be set to amateur frequencies in the
>2400 MHz ham band and the original equipment was designed and currently
>under development by an amater radio op.
>
>
>"Fabrice P. Laussy" wrote:
>
>> Hi all...
>>
>> I got interest with this list because I and a friend have thought of a
>> possible way to connect our two linux boxes via radio communication, as
>> we are quite far away one to the other to do it with usual ethernet
>> cable (in the same city, however). I came to see a few things about ham
>> and AX-25... Yet before spending huge time with it, I would like to know
>> wether this is possible, if ever there is no troubles in finding a
>> frequence for our private exchange that will not disturb others, what
>> the transfert rate, and so on. I wish also I knew what *you* are using
>> 'amateur radio' for? Is that the same, plain IP communication? I am
>> sorry for the quite dumb question.
>
>-- terhi.victor@logonet.com Tim Connolly
>-- kb8eht@kb8eht.#ncwv.wv.usa.noam Morgantown, WV
>-- ICQ# 601237 by request only aka: jerdqa.qoiyxyr@crocom.com.pl
>-- '94 Suzuki GSX750F-CA "Katana"
>