|
What part of that guy's activities are illegal?
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2011 14:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 20:46 |
|
|
I'm not sure his activities are illegal. It might, however, have been illegal for the repeater owners to share information publicly, and thus giving him access to it, without consent from their users. Amateur radio is open and un-encrypted, but I'm not sure it follows from that, that you should necessarily have a right to publish tracking information about the whereabouts and conversations that people have had, unless they actively choose to be tracked by putting out APRS beacons. This opt-in feature should take care of most of those concerns. Your last used repeater will still be available for lookup, which it has to be unless you don't want to receive "calls". Vir fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Mar 5, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2011 21:01
|
|
|
Vir posted:It might, however, have been illegal for the repeater owners to share information publicly, and thus giving him access to it, without consent from their users. Amateur radio is open and un-encrypted, but I'm not sure it follows from that, that you should necessarily have a right to publish tracking information about the whereabouts and conversations that people have had, unless they actively choose to be tracked by putting out APRS beacons.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2011 21:40
|
|
|
Your home address is listed in a publicly accessible database as a result of being a licensed amateur. Several modes of operation report your exact position every time you key up. There's not even the suggestion of a whisper of a right to privacy.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 03:30
|
|
|
If you have a vanity plate, every time you're driving around anyone with a smartphone can quickly figure out a possible theft target in seconds.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 14:28
|
|
|
Yeah, I love the hobby when I get into it, but gently caress displaying it to people who either A) don't giveashit or B) know enough to know what it means but aren't also into the hobby for the same reasons. Though it can be cool drinking with dudes who drive a monster jeep with antennas out the wahoo and a vanity plate. Weird people but fun.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 14:33
|
|
|
vinic posted:If you have a vanity plate, every time you're driving around anyone with a smartphone can quickly figure out a possible theft target in seconds. The antenna farm on the roof doesn't give it away?
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 15:50
|
|
|
For me , it is more that I wanted to be different. However, I tend not to tolerate people driving stupid or under the speed limit and I certainly use my horn / legal passing frequently. So, I suppose they could look me up and come vandalize my car or something, but, given that most of them can't read the speed limit signs or are doing their hair etc, the possibility is probably fairly low. I should avoid driving like a dick anyways. So I have an nice radioshack 448 CB, it doesn't seem to modulate. I don' have the attention span to repair these things, unfortunately, so I spend $35 on the walmart 19DX3 Cobra. I was talking on the local 2m about how I was hearing these guys make DX contacts by repeatedly yelling their handle, and their general state. Repeatedly only because of all the stupid echoes and poo poo it sounded like, but it was still neat. I can't understand most of their jargon anyways. The amount of contempt I got from the OM's on the repeater was... well, expected anyways. I tried to explain that the fascination with CB is more that 2m FM is like a wasteland most of the day, and I think it's pretty cool to just be able to have a casual chat room - like conversation with someone, without the focus of the talk being on where you're driving to, or your radio. There's no reason not to do that on 2M FM but there's an unspoken etiquitte that this doesn't happen. If a conversation gets going someone eventually breaks in and starts talking about their radio. Oh well.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 18:24
|
|
|
Amateur radio is the most anti privacy thing in the world; it is why I will never post my callsign under this, my internet persona. The idea of getting a custom plate is absolutely ludicrous to me. I honestly do not understand how some people can be so open about their lives. Hell, I think I have only used my callsign on the airwaves ~5 times. Usually my friends and I are talking to each other over simplex and we do not even bother. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 19:07
|
|
|
^^ urr, that's illegal you know, and it would be more embarrassing to be tracked down by the FCC's direction finding units than to give away the fact that you're talking on the air. Some hams are very serious about hearing un-identified traffic, and will report you if they hear you. Maybe you could change your address in the FCC records to a mailbox address or something, if you're concerned about burglars or whatever? nmfree posted:the consensus has always been that there's nothing illegal (or immoral, for that matter) about publicly reporting people's ham activities because all ham activity is done in public. Skyssx posted:Your home address is listed in a publicly accessible database as a result of being a licensed amateur.  Partycat posted:If a conversation gets going someone eventually breaks in and starts talking about their radio. I guess being spared the most inane political discussions are a bit of a blessing? Vir fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Mar 6, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 22:22
|
|
|
EvilMoFo posted:Hell, I think I have only used my callsign on the airwaves ~5 times. Usually my friends and I are talking to each other over simplex and we do not even bother.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2011 22:31
|
|
|
Vir posted:Maybe you could change your address in the FCC records to a mailbox address or something, if you're concerned about burglars or whatever? Vir posted:Yeah, I understand that argument too - but I also understand the other side of it, especially in a European context, where in some fields privacy is valued over transparency. Vir posted:In the cold war days, we couldn't talk about politics, and only talk about radio technology and related subjects on the amateur radio. Maybe it's throwback to that? Or maybe just the most die-hard hams are on your repeater?
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 00:02
|
|
|
Skyssx posted:The antenna farm on the roof doesn't give it away? What. I'm saying if I am eating at a restaurant and someone sees my car with a vanity plate, they can look up the callsign and get my address and go rob me since I'm not home.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 00:48
|
|
|
Vir posted:Maybe you could change your address in the FCC records to a mailbox address or something, if you're concerned about burglars or whatever? This just made me realize my FCC address is still my parents house. I'm not on the air too much but even when I am I have no issues giving out things like a phone number (cell) or an e-mail address over the air, even over repeaters!  Guess I'm not that paranoid as some. I'll likely update my address though when I renew my license next year.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 02:28
|
|
|
Where's ag0on and the net at , dawgs
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 02:37
|
|
|
^^^ the machine diedVir posted:^^ urr, that's illegal you know, and it would be more embarrassing to be tracked down by the FCC's direction finding units than to give away the fact that you're talking on the air. Some hams are very serious about hearing un-identified traffic, and will report you if they hear you. Also, I curse like a sailor and sometimes that gets out on the radio; using my callsign more would likely get me in trouble. AbsentMindedWelder posted:If you are paranoid and just talking simplex with your buddies why not use a CB instead? PS: FWIW, I do not have my own radio; when I get around to getting one I imagine I will use my callsign more. That said, the appeal of amateur radio is lost on me, I have irc/forums/etc to talk about computers, politics, and radios and to talk to people around the world; amateur radio is simply a tool for emergencies/disasters/zombie uprising. That said, I am interested in doing packet radio at some point. EvilMoFo fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Mar 7, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 03:36
|
|
|
Or talk about all that crap with people locally. Okay, so our club is a bit lacking in things, I need to kick them in teh arse, but, with minimal input of my own. They've got an HF station, rarely operated, and I know not every one has HF. We've got a repeater system that needs help. I'm playing around with Allstar Link and that at home to test things out and might assist with the repeater in that fashion , but who knows yet. HAM is great for emergency communications, things like orienteering, hiking, off road travel, community assitance, apparently parking cars too. Positioning is cool, you can build projects, there's a ton of various modes to try, antennas to build, etc. So how do you motivate people to do it, especially if it is a hobby? Partycat fucked around with this message at 03:50 on Mar 7, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 03:43
|
|
|
EvilMoFo posted:^^^ the machine died Profanity is not disallowed, obscenity is.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 04:22
|
|
|
Unfortunately most OFs would disagree with that. What actually defines obscenity anyways? A conservative ham might think a discussion about marijuana is obscene, but others may not.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 04:26
|
|
|
xergm posted:Unfortunately most OFs would disagree with that. What actually defines obscenity anyways? A conservative ham might think a discussion about marijuana is obscene, but others may not. It doesn't really matter what the OF thinks, only what the FCC thinks. If FM broadcast can say poo poo, goddamn, bitch, then you can too.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 05:23
|
|
|
US hams might be interested in contacting their representatives about H.R. 607: Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011. As currently written, it says:quote:(...) Thing is, though, subsection (c) does NOT release any bandwidth in 420-440 megahertz, and only some parts of 450-470 megahertz. In fact, 420-440 is currently a military and amateur allocation, also used by scientific satellite links. Because of the satellite frequencies being near 435-438 MHz, this will be a problem in all ITU regions even though the UHF signals don't reach us in the normal way. The ARRL has instructions for how to contact your representative. (Postal mail to DC won't work, because it takes months to screen it for anthrax.) vvvv: Congratulations, man! Vir fucked around with this message at 09:43 on Mar 8, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 21:59
|
|
|
My callsign has been issued! Only took 2 or 3 business days. Awesome. /browses http://radioworld.ca/handheld-amateur-radios-c-184_75.html
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2011 23:59
|
|
|
Skyssx posted:It doesn't really matter what the OF thinks, only what the FCC thinks. If FM broadcast can say poo poo, goddamn, bitch, then you can too. quote:§97.113 Prohibited transmissions.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2011 23:44
|
|
|
On a lighter note, I got this month's issue of QST today, and there's a Lego straight key featured on page 20. I don't remember who here built it, but congrats on the mention+picture!
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2011 23:48
|
|
|
nmfree posted:...and since they can't, neither can you. And even if they could: Didn't this ruling nerf the FCC's ability to do anything about "obscenity" since it was uselessly vague?
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 05:32
|
|
|
That's funny, because those words are said every morning on 98.5 and afternoon on 100.7 in Cleveland. "poo poo", is not obscene or indecent. "I'll poo poo on you" is. Note the difference?
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 14:26
|
|
|
nmfree posted:On a lighter note, I got this month's issue of QST today, and there's a Lego straight key featured on page 20. I don't remember who here built it, but congrats on the mention+picture! I saw that too, it was pretty sweet. You find the fake in this one, being as it's the April Issue? I had to look through three times to find it this year. It wasn't as glaringly obvious as the 'use squirrels to take your dipole end up into the tree' they did last year or the year before.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 03:07
|
|
|
Skyssx posted:That's funny, because those words are said every morning on 98.5 and afternoon on 100.7 in Cleveland. I've discovered that it's not worth the fight with uptight hams, so typically my buddies and I just switch to MURS frequencies if we're within easy simplex range, or just use a pre-arranged simplex frequency in the ham bands. We're almost always using one form of digital voice or another, which greatly limits the number of OF ears that are listening. Using Ø doesn't hurt matters either 
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 18:00
|
|
|
nmfree posted:On a lighter note, I got this month's issue of QST today, and there's a Lego straight key featured on page 20. I don't remember who here built it, but congrats on the mention+picture! I'm the goon who made a LEGO straight key. I don't get QST (not an ARRL member yet) and I didn't send it in, so it either isn't mine or they printed it without my permission. If it IS mine... Well, I have some vaguely mixed feelings. I have a hunch that if it was printed, it didn't have proper attribution. I want to be able to get proper credit for it, not just have my poo poo plastered in a magazine leaving me to prove that it was mine. This is kind of important because I was planning to do a writeup to submit to QST about it. Now if I want to do that I'll have to jump through hoops to prove that I AM the guy who created it. Not a fun prospect. I'm thrilled if my stuff is getting out there, but I'd be happier if I got credit is all. If it IS mine I'll be writing to QST and asking for some free copies. Can somebody scan the page and post a jpeg of it? Or e-mail it to me? My e-mail address is schwartzobservatory (at) yahoo (dot) com. (Edited for clarity) AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Mar 11, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 16:00
|
|
|
I too the liberty of digging up AstroZamboni's post containing the Lego Key to refresh everyone. Link
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 20:38
|
|
|
AstroZamboni posted:I'm the goon who made a LEGO straight key. I don't get QST (not an ARRL member yet) and I didn't send it in, so it either isn't mine or they printed it without my permission. If it IS mine... Well, I have some vaguely mixed feelings. I have a hunch that if it was printed, it didn't have proper attribution. I want to be able to get proper credit for it, not just have my poo poo plastered in a magazine leaving me to prove that it was mine. This is kind of important because I was planning to do a writeup to submit to QST about it. Now if I want to do that I'll have to jump through hoops to prove that I AM the guy who created it. Not a fun prospect. Sure http://i.imgur.com/7qw91.jpg
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 23:36
|
|
|
That definitely isn't mine. Whew, I'm glad I don't have to fight them on it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2011 00:00
|
|
|
Hey guys, one of the folks from AI (Skyssx actually  ) told me I should crosspost this here since you guys might be interested in it. I recently bought a used P71 from one of the local towns, and it came with a bunch of radio gear in the trunk. When I asked them if they still wanted it, they told me no, so I told 'em to just leave it in the trunk and i'd figure out something.Now, I have no use for it, as I found out it's pretty illegal for me to run anything that can transmit on the police frequencies in my car, and a couple of posters mentioned the ham radio guys could use it, so, i'm posting it here and offering it up to you guys if any of you want it. It's a Motorola Astro setup, 110 watt UHF apparently. I have the main unit, speaker, faceplate, handset / mic, baseplate, and a shitton of cables. I'm assuming it powers on, but I have no way of testing that myself seeing as how I have no real way of hooking it up. It's all a bit dirty and could use some cleaning, but it looks to be in pretty good condition otherwise. Have some pictures:         If any of you are interested, just send me an e-mail at el.wolf (at) gmail (dot) com, or i'll probably watch this thread a bit. I'd like to at least give you guys first crack at it, heh. T1g4h fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Mar 13, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2011 19:15
|
|
|
A knowledgeable ham could change the crystals in the radio and make it transmit on a defined frequency(s) within the ham bands. If nobody here wants it, your best bet is to walk around a local hamfest (the season for them is coming up) and see if anybody is interested in it. From what I'm told they often have power supplies and dummy loads available for testing purposes.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2011 21:48
|
|
|
I've never seen anyone with a power supply or a dummy load but you know, that's not a bad idea for a hamfest. If you can post the numbers off the radio that will help us determine what it is capable of and how much of a pain in the butt it will be to convert that.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2011 03:55
|
|
|
Partycat posted:If you can post the numbers off the radio that will help us determine what it is capable of and how much of a pain in the butt it will be to convert that. The best I can offer you is this: Model Number: T99DX+157W_ASTRO ID Number: T04RLH9PW7AN Serial: 412CDE1330 nmfree mentioned he found out this after some Googling: "121C-49 MOBILE ASTRO SPECTRA W7 450-482 MHZ 50-110 WATTS 255 CHANNEL 157W 1"
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2011 05:08
|
|
|
The ASTRO Spectras are not crystal-controlled; it requires some old software to program, but they will work in the ham bands. If you want more information, you should definitely check out the BatLabs site and forums at https://www.batlabs.com and http://batboard.batlabs.com/ respectively. They are widely received as being the Motorola gurus. Edit: If that radio is actually flashed for IMBE digital voice operation (Project 25), you will likely be able to get a decent amount for it (maybe $500, possibly a bit more). If it's VSELP or analog-only, you're looking at significantly less ($200-300). You should also see about opening it up and looking for encryption modules. There might be a DES-XL or (if it's setup for digital voice) DES-OFB board inside it. Those tend to go for a decent price on ebay by themselves. TNLTRPB fucked around with this message at 10:33 on Mar 14, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2011 10:28
|
|
|
3600, 7110, 7130, 14230, 14300, 18160, 21230, and 21360 kHz are being used for emergency HF traffic in Japan, so they'd like those frequencies to be left clear. They're mostly using the 7 MHz ones though.
Vir fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Mar 14, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2011 14:18
|
|
|
Anybody going to the Greater Baltimore Hamboree & Computerfest (also known simply as the Timonium Hamfest) March 26th weekend? It's the biggest hamfest in the Mid-Atlantic region, highly recommend it for a day of nerdom. There's also testing for newbies and upgrades.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2011 14:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 20:46 |
|
|
Radio Nowhere posted:Anybody going to the Greater Baltimore Hamboree & Computerfest (also known simply as the Timonium Hamfest) March 26th weekend? It's the biggest hamfest in the Mid-Atlantic region, highly recommend it for a day of nerdom. There's also testing for newbies and upgrades.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2011 14:36
|
|