Come the end of the Internets: Carrier Pigeons or Ham radio? Some links for the latter

[havocmom]

General info - step by step guide. (some links on this page are dead, but the info may inspire wannabe post-internet-era communicators)

http://www.hamradio-online.com/firstlicense.html

IMPORTANT NOTE 8 January 1999: Effective April 15th, 2000, new rules will take effect. Under the new rules there will be just three licenses: Technician (no telegraphy requirement), General and Extra class (5 word per minute telegraphic proficiency required by international regulations). The remainder of this Guide has not yet been updated to reflect the new rules.

<snip>
Thee are several ways to prepare for the Amateur radio exams:

<snip>
Optional - Learning the Morse Code

<snip>
Where To Take Your Exam

Info on the ham test

They have all sorts of useful links to take the fear out of the process and help you.

Some general info on Ham Radio

Once licensed, ham operators are able to use a wide variety of communications technologies including:

* World wide voice, CW (the technical term for Morse code communication) and data communications using the "short wave" bands;
* Use of "FM" voice repeaters at VHF and UHF frequencies - repeaters retransmit a weak signal from a handheld radio (the same size as a cellular phone) so that it can be heard over a wide area;
* Access to telephone "phone patches" for making phone calls over radio system;
* Direct access to 9-1-1 emergency communications systems (in many areas);
* Packet radio data communications networks, from shortwave to high speed microwave networks;
* Satellite communications systems, including numerous U.S., international and Russian built Amateur spacecraft;
* Color television transmissions both direct and through repeaters, just like "live mini-cam" shots used by broadcast television.

*
* much more at link

This info for your consideration of the time, which may come, that cheney/bush junta forces you to...



DU, stop wringing your hands about what happens next.
Turn worry to action and add to your foundation of resources
to deal with it all!

Thank you for your kind indulgence.

hm

[LiberalArkie]

1. No CW required.

http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/license-requirements.html


Technician Class License

EXAM REQUIREMENT: 35-question Technician Written Exam (Element 2); No Morse Code Exam
PRIVILEGES: All VHF/UHF amateur bands (frequencies above 30 MHz). Limited operations in certain HF bands.

General Class License (upgrade from Technician)

EXAM REQUIREMENTS: 35-question General Written Exam (Element 3); No Morse Code Exam
PRIVILEGES: All VHF/UHF amateur bands and most HF privileges (10 through 160 meters).

Extra Class License (upgrade from General)

EXAM REQUIREMENT: 50-question Extra Written Exam (Element 4)
PRIVILEGES: All amateur privileges.


There are many places to get the test questions to practice with.

[havocmom]

2. Thank you, kindly!

I bet even a blond like me could do it... ;)

Any advice about how to start getting equipment to:

operate

listen in for news and info from ham radio operators

[ThomWV]

3. Radio Shack sells preparation books that give you all you need

I bought the books and read them, then went and took the test at the engineering school of West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV) where a local HAM club gave them about once per month. As I recall the fee to take the test was something around $7. The books were more expensive. After you take the test they give you a temporary permit to operate, your license follows in the mail soon thereafter.

KC8NID Out.

[havocmom]

6. Thank you

Was hoping some DU hams would risk putting their info out there ;) Those of us in the hinter-lands might want to know who to listen for. :toast:

[karlrschneider]

4. If things get that desperate, a licence will be superfluous.

I let my General expire about 30 years ago when the bands all started to sound like CB. If I needed to communicate I'd just use my old callsign and ignore the legal niceties.

[havocmom]

7. But getting set up now may help?

How do you set up pirate?

When hams are outlawed, we gotta hope the outlaws stay up and running.

[LiberalArkie]

8. I really believe most need to study and get the license simply to

gain the expertise and knowledge to operate on the HF freqs, build the antennas from scratch, how to build short range systems. If things get bad, the expertise becomes very valuable.

[havocmom]

10. And we hope those with the skills/knowledge conduct workshops

;)

[DemoTex]

9. In a national emergency the ham bands will probably be closed down.

In the case of egregious martial law, the right ham equipment and operation ability could come in quite handy. I'm tweaking my rig (radio, antennae, emergency power) for such a dire event. If "The Troubles" come, I'll be on the air. But not using my call sign if the bands are closed and not operating from a fixed position if I can help it.

BTW: To emphasize something pointed out in another post: ALL Morse Code requirements for ALL classes of amatuer radio licenses have been dropped. NO MORE CODE REQUIRED .. PERIOD. Only written tests are required, and all of the question and answer pools for every test are published and easily available from numerous sources ( www.arrl.org ). You could memorize the answers and have a license as soon as you could get into a testing session (again, refer to the ARRL for test locations, dates, and times).

[havocmom]

12. Hope there are lots of 'tweakers' out there

Any recommendations for receivers the rest of us could pick up?

I have me a stockpile of extra batteries and am looking at those cool portable solar thingies. Hell, if nothing else, they would be handy to keep my chardonnay cool for picnics :D I intend to live well whatever comes! :rofl:

[DemoTex]

15. Amateur Electronic Supply (AES) and Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) come to mind ..

Call and ask for catalog. Tell them you are planning to take the ham tests.

AES: www.aesham.com 800-558-0411

HRO: www.hamradio.com 800-444-7927 (ATL)

[havocmom]

20. Why, Thank you!

Such a gentleman. Always there to help a lady... or even me.

[karlrschneider]

25. It would be damnably difficult to jam all frequencies though.

I have equipment that will work on commercial freqs...they wouldn't shut those down. As to the ticket, are there still individuals who can administer the 'test'? I know a guy who got a license without even answering a question...just paid a friend to sign him off. He knows less about ham radio than I do about needlepoint...

[DemoTex]

27. Knowledge is the key.

For example, I legally modified my linear amp (1KW) to work on 10 meters before manufacturers were allowed to sell unrestricted 10-meter amps. That was because of 11-meters .. CB. Now I have a linear amplifier that will work on the CB freqs if I ever need that. All part of the tweaking I mentioned to Havocmom.

[JacquesMolay]

5. Interesting stuff, good post ...

...n/t

[The Straight Story]

11. Thanks for the links

Bookmarked.

[ThomWV]

13. By the way, finding a HAM station wouldn't even be child's play for the NSA

No shit, it would take them all of a minute to locate you within feet and you can absolutely bet your ass they are listening to the airways every second of every minute of every day we breath.

[havocmom]

16. So, be fleet of foot, my friend!

Thinkin carrier pigeons are a real possibility. And don't think I haven't considered the whole bird flu thing is just a cover for any cheney plans to do the birds in too. ;)

Tin foil, not just for crazy blonds anymore. Even former Reagan appointees have some serious concerns from what I've read.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Oldline_Republican_warns_somethings_in_works_0719.html

[DemoTex]

23. That was one of my missions in Viet Nam: ARDF (airborne radio direction finding)

The trick is to give them a moving target. Besides, worldwide cell phone traffic monitoring has taken up a big chunk of the NSAs capacity. Besides, what is to lose?

In the early-60s the man who mentored me in ham radio, flying, and politics; who was a WW-II veteran (Marine medic), civil rights activist, and pediatrician, was accused by the FCC of using his CB radio (a Johnson Viking, I remember) to organize civil rights marches in the atavistic little southern town where we lived. The FCC and the local racist government were looking for any excuse they could find to nail this white man ("What's he doing helping them?) with criminal charges. He said, basically, "fuck you", and he and his wife continued their civil rights work. The other side eventually crawled back under a rock.

[havocmom]

24. Great story! Very inspirational and educational.

There are patriots we don't know about all over the place. Might even be a couple in the bowls of whatever building they put the data in ;)

It's a chess game and we gotta keep playing it. Shit, everybody dies. I refuse to die scared.

[karlrschneider]

26. Johnson did make CB radios but the Viking was a dual-6146 transmitter.

(I had one) :D

[ThomWV]

29. Wow! I did SRDF

In the highlands on foot.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. Neither: Carrier Ham

[havocmom]

19. If that's a 'when pigs fly' editorial, I shall quote Ms Hepburn from Lion In Winter

"There will be pork in the treetops by dawn!"

Love the graphic BTW :rofl:

[murloc]

17. IP Over pigeon !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers

Seriously though, in the event that society has decayed and the internet is gone, who gives a frip about a license?

IF you have the gear, you can use it.

[havocmom]

18. You can use it, so long as you keep moving, evidently

God speed, Hams!

[L. Coyote]

21. GET REAL. US Commerce depends on the Internet. Talk to a counselor too.

[havocmom]

22. GET REAL, the US consumer is so pre multi-national corporate thinking

Seriously, you think they couldn't shut down the sites that share real info and leave e-bay and amazon up? They will still let the consumer spend until they have our last dime.

:rofl:

I want some of what you are smoking. Must be a nice place to hang out, that oblivion-land.

BTW, counselors have mentioned that I am the one of the most sane individuals they ever met.

[L. Coyote]

28. The OP says end of the internets. That's what is unreal about your post.

I know that parts of the web can be shut down. It is done to my domain by providers like Utah State Education Network and other providers. I may have made the blacklist because I have a political study online about the Ohio 2004 election irregularities, or maybe it is the evolution stuff!

While I'm sure you want some of what I'm smoking, I'm not in oblivion land. But my domain is if you are in a public library at a Utah educational computer, or a cyber cafe using certain hot spot providers.

The reality is that the day you speak of arrived some time ago. The question is "How extensive is the blacklisting and who is doing it where?" Be alert to any "site not found" responses and keep track of them.