Are you a licensed HAM operator by chance ?

Are you a licensed HAM operator by chance ?

no, sorry
but there a few on this forum...

Ham license now is pretty trivial. It is basically study the questions and multiple choice answers. You arent required to learn anything past that for the test. Unfortunately you will be lost if you ever need to use your equipment. From what I have been told by people who got their licenses in the 60's is that you use to have to know Morris, as well as an actual understanding of how the radios worked and the tests were written questions. You had to actually know what was going on.
Anyway you can take a look at this.

Its definitely dated but once upon a time radio was important.
<tongue n cheek> the film is incredibly racist, didnt see one POC
</tongue n cheek>

any idea who here has their license?  got my license long ago enough that i had to renew it but never made use of the radio.  started listening in to the 1930 net but thats as far as ive gotten.

i think there's another thread where people talked about HAM...

I am in the class now. Its a weekly review of the test questions and some lessons. https://www.hameducation.org/2020/

Ham license now is pretty trivial. It is basically study the questions and multiple choice answers. You arent required to learn anything past that for the test. Unfortunately you will be lost if you ever need to use your equipment. From what I have been told by people who got their licenses in the 60's is that you use to have to know Morris, as well as an actual understanding of how the radios worked and the tests were written questions. You had to actually know what was going on.
Anyway you can take a look at this.

Its definitely dated but once upon a time radio was important.
<tongue n cheek> the film is incredibly racist, didnt see one POC
</tongue n cheek>

I'm an electronics engineer as well as a software engineer, and
an electronics tech that repaired everything from radios, to Radars, to navigation equipment,
to prototype computers.
I always viewed HAM radio guys  as a  club like playing  Polo
or The Masters golf club, only the anointed need apply.
Our electronics have dramatically improved.
RF is a lot of "black Magic" but it is just a radio.
diddy bop sucks. This is the twenty first century, I can rig you up with VoiCom and Internet
in the farthest points of the Earth.
Morse died a long time ago. This isn't an Independence day movie.
If it gets so bad you're back to Diddy Bop, I think you will starve first before your
equipment and skills will help much.

I'm an electronics engineer as well as a software engineer, and
an electronics tech that repaired everything from radios, to Radars, to navigation equipment,
to prototype computers.
I always viewed HAM radio guys  as a  club like playing  Polo
or The Masters golf club, only the anointed need apply.
Our electronics have dramatically improved.
RF is a lot of "black Magic" but it is just a radio.
diddy bop sucks. This is the twenty first century, I can rig you up with VoiCom and Internet
in the farthest points of the Earth.
Morse died a long time ago. This isn't an Independence day movie.
If it gets so bad you're back to Diddy Bop, I think you will starve first before your
equipment and skills will help much.

haters gonna hate.

haters gonna hate.

Ren,
I think you are being a little too judgmental.
I understand the hobby and talking to people all over the world.

But it takes effort and discipline.
If your focus is to help common people, I'm just saying
there are newer technologies.

I can ride a horse to town, or I can ride a mountain bicycle, or I can drive my car.
what would you choose?
 

I'm an electronics engineer as well as a software engineer, and
an electronics tech that repaired everything from radios, to Radars, to navigation equipment,
to prototype computers.
I always viewed HAM radio guys  as a  club like playing  Polo
or The Masters golf club, only the anointed need apply.
Our electronics have dramatically improved.
RF is a lot of "black Magic" but it is just a radio.
diddy bop sucks. This is the twenty first century, I can rig you up with VoiCom and Internet
in the farthest points of the Earth.
Morse died a long time ago. This isn't an Independence day movie.
If it gets so bad you're back to Diddy Bop, I think you will starve first before your
equipment and skills will help much.

can you elaborate on how that kind of communication system is set up?  I'm just in it so that in case of a natural or unnatural disaster, I'd have some way to get an idea of what's going on.  im down for learning whatever you can teach the rest of us. 

I'm an electronics engineer as well as a software engineer, and
an electronics tech that repaired everything from radios, to Radars, to navigation equipment,
to prototype computers.
I always viewed HAM radio guys  as a  club like playing  Polo
or The Masters golf club, only the anointed need apply.
Our electronics have dramatically improved.
RF is a lot of "black Magic" but it is just a radio.
diddy bop sucks. This is the twenty first century, I can rig you up with VoiCom and Internet
in the farthest points of the Earth.
Morse died a long time ago. This isn't an Independence day movie.
If it gets so bad you're back to Diddy Bop, I think you will starve first before your
equipment and skills will help much.

Electronics engineers talk all day about all the gun(s) they have but can't shoot.

https://youtu.be/iH5R4tgGdDk?t=95

Electronics engineers talk all day about all the gun(s) they have but can't shoot.

https://youtu.be/iH5R4tgGdDk?t=95

Good movie,  I always identified Joker as being one of the better Marines,
I can shoot just fine thank you.
Until they go Bye Bye satellites work really good.
so do Fiber optic cables which are all over the place.
even crossing oceans.
Interface to those technologies.
If those go, we are back to horse and buggy days.
who do you need to talk to then?  Neighbors, y'all ain't fighting a war.
anymore, you are on your own surviving.
I can sail a boat across an ocean without any radio.
It was done for centuries.
Ham is a hobby. It really is a method of helping government
in times when the government resources may be failing.
For some reason I'm not all that interested in helping the government,
nor for asking their permission to use spectra or anything for that matter.
 
full disclosure;  the only radio license I have is to operate a VHF radio on a boat.

Good movie,  I always identified Joker as being one of the better Marines,
I can shoot just fine thank you.
Until they go Bye Bye satellites work really good.
so do Fiber optic cables which are all over the place.
even crossing oceans.
Interface to those technologies.
If those go, we are back to horse and buggy days.
who do you need to talk to then?  Neighbors, y'all ain't fighting a war.
anymore, you are on your own surviving.
I can sail a boat across an ocean without any radio.
It was done for centuries.
Ham is a hobby. It really is a method of helping government
in times when the government resources may be failing.
For some reason I'm not all that interested in helping the government,
nor for asking their permission to use spectra or anything for that matter.
 
full disclosure;  the only radio license I have is to operate a VHF radio on a boat.

The government controls most of those technologies through the FCC.  If there's an emergency, and the bandwidth is limited, only government and the companies they deem critical (financial, DHS, military, ...) will be able to access those technologies.

Biggest problem in HI is the power grid.  We don't have another grid to connect to if our primary can't generate enough power for demand.  That was evident after that big earthquake that resulted in HECO turning off generators.  It took some people days to regain service.

Even if you have power, the service providers may not be as well prepared for a long term power outage.  Good luck accessing a high-tech fiber network if all the routers on your island are off.  Most commercial sites aren't prepared to run standalone generators for all their needs non-stop for weeks.

The government controls most of those technologies through the FCC.  If there's an emergency, and the bandwidth is limited, only government and the companies they deem critical (financial, DHS, military, ...) will be able to access those technologies.

Biggest problem in HI is the power grid.  We don't have another grid to connect to if our primary can't generate enough power for demand.  That was evident after that big earthquake that resulted in HECO turning off generators.  It took some people days to regain service.

Even if you have power, the service providers may not be as well prepared for a long term power outage.  Good luck accessing a high-tech fiber network if all the routers on your island are off.  Most commercial sites aren't prepared to run standalone generators for all their needs non-stop for weeks.

I guessed you missed "satellite" no local power needed for that.
I lived for years on satellite internet and TV.
I always had internet and outside connection even if local shit was dead.
Ham on BI sucks and depends on locally powered re-transmitters.
I don't think we are allowed high power HF for civilian use.
We don't even get much SW here.  Why would BBC broadcast to the central pacific?
I get really good Chinese version of BBC, but my Mandarin is extremely rusty. and I can't keep up.
 

I guessed you missed "satellite" no local power needed for that.
I lived for years on satellite internet and TV.
I always had internet and outside connection even if local shit was dead.
Ham on BI sucks and depends on locally powered re-transmitters.
I don't think we are allowed high power HF for civilian use.
We don't even get much SW here.  Why would BBC broadcast to the central pacific?
I get really good Chinese version of BBC, but my Mandarin is extremely rusty. and I can't keep up.
 

could you explain how we can setup a simple independant communication system thats not regulated?  tried googling voicom and i got nothing.  i see where you at with the satelite stuff but you have to be pretty stationary right?  does that use those dish network types of dishes?  im just primarily looking for means of letting family in the mainland know we're ok after a hurricane.  that kind of stuff.  not too concerned about opsec.  just ask someone to call a number and let my family know we're ok.

I guessed you missed "satellite" no local power needed for that.
I lived for years on satellite internet and TV.
I always had internet and outside connection even if local shit was dead.
Ham on BI sucks and depends on locally powered re-transmitters.
I don't think we are allowed high power HF for civilian use.
We don't even get much SW here.  Why would BBC broadcast to the central pacific?
I get really good Chinese version of BBC, but my Mandarin is extremely rusty. and I can't keep up.
 

When we had SATCOM vans in Hawaii and Thailand during exercises, the edge of the dishes were resting on the ground with line of sight pointing toward a dense tree line or buildings  You didn't want to stand in that path unless you didn't want more kids. 

I have neighbors with Satellite TV, and their dishes are also pointed pretty much parallel with the ground.

Unless someone places a satellite for consumer access in a geosynchronous orbit at a more vertical vector from the islands, i don't know that we can count on quality connectivity.

i'm sure you had 100% uptime with your setup, but i don't see that being the case if everyone needing access is using a dedicated transmitter to flood the only accessible satellite.

I guessed you missed "satellite" no local power needed for that.
I lived for years on satellite internet and TV.
I always had internet and outside connection even if local shit was dead.
Ham on BI sucks and depends on locally powered re-transmitters.
I don't think we are allowed high power HF for civilian use.
We don't even get much SW here.  Why would BBC broadcast to the central pacific?
I get really good Chinese version of BBC, but my Mandarin is extremely rusty. and I can't keep up.
 

You’ve got me a bit confused… Your other posts lead me to believe you’re all for self-reliance, anti-establishment and anti-government (or at least the current governments, both state and federal), but you seem to be pretty comfortable relying on communications systems that can be denied to you by… the establishment and/or the government.

VHF/UHF Ham radio can be decent point-to-point for several miles, depending on conditions; using repeaters, you can get quite a bit more.  Not sure how it is on the BI, but here on Oahu, I believe a number of the local repeaters are powered by solar/battery systems and not 100% dependent on commercial power.

Yes, civilians can get Ham licenses to use HF radios with enough juice to contact the mainland and even other continents when the conditions are right.  Let’s say the fecal matter strikes the rotating air circulator for realz, and you live in a neighborhood like I do.  Having some amateur radio experience and some $25 cheapo handheld radios (VHF/UHF)  will let you talk within your neighborhood (and between neighborhoods, if the repeaters are still up) to coordinate actions with your neighbors to control access to your little patch of sanity and defend it from folks who want to make your food, THEIR food.  With HF, you can talk between islands or to the mainland to relay and receive news, holler for help, find out if the problem is just here or if it’s more widespread, etc.

You’ve got me a bit confused… Your other posts lead me to believe you’re all for self-reliance, anti-establishment and anti-government (or at least the current governments, both state and federal), but you seem to be pretty comfortable relying on communications systems that can be denied to you by… the establishment and/or the government.

VHF/UHF Ham radio can be decent point-to-point for several miles, depending on conditions; using repeaters, you can get quite a bit more.  Not sure how it is on the BI, but here on Oahu, I believe a number of the local repeaters are powered by solar/battery systems and not 100% dependent on commercial power.

Yes, civilians can get Ham licenses to use HF radios with enough juice to contact the mainland and even other continents when the conditions are right.  Let’s say the fecal matter strikes the rotating air circulator for realz, and you live in a neighborhood like I do.  Having some amateur radio experience and some $25 cheapo handheld radios (VHF/UHF)  will let you talk within your neighborhood (and between neighborhoods, if the repeaters are still up) to coordinate actions with your neighbors to control access to your little patch of sanity and defend it from folks who want to make your food, THEIR food.  With HF, you can talk between islands or to the mainland to relay and receive news, holler for help, find out if the problem is just here or if it’s more widespread, etc.

The communications I mentioned are all private except Iridium which was private but bought  by the DOD.
Government can fuck up anything it wants and frequently does but my reliance on government is for national defense, mail, roads, and cash money.
other than that  they can fuck off.