ham Radio

[Flashlightmaster2021]

Hi guys anybody else davel in the art of amateur radio ? I just got a cheap radio from amazon . I never thought people used these. I gonne get the GMRS license then work my way up. Radipos are kool. quite bit readio traffic in my large city. Anybody try out radios and getting a ham license ?

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

I am a ham, although I dont use it much. I got my ham ticket so I could legally have a scanner in my Truck in FL.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Weir

I am a ham, although I dont use it much. I got my ham ticket so I could legally have a scanner in my Truck in FL.

Weird that FL requires a license to transmit when all you want to do is *listen*.

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Scanners are illegal in cars down here, few exceptions, Ham license being one of them. Strange law.

 

[JAS]

I have been licensed for a number of years now. My actual level of activity varies from time to time, though.

GMRS seem to be taking off quite a bit right now. In fact, if you don't have a GMRS license, yet, they are going to be dropping from $70 every ten years to $35 on April 19, 2022.

 

[Flashlightmaster2021]

I have been licensed for a number of years now. The actual level of activity varies from time to time.

GMRS seem to be taking off quite a bit right now. In fact, if you don't have a GMRS license, yet, they are going to be dropping from $70 every ten years to $35 on April 19, 2022.

indeed I read that. thanks for the info .I waiting for that 4-19-2022 to do mine.

 

[neutralwhite]

Yes, in the UK.
I use Icom

 

[Flashlightmaster2021]

Yes, in the UK.
I use Icom

I think i saw video on that on youtube but it usess the internet which defeats the purpose of use a radio frequency and that Icom is expensive. that made me un interested in the product lol

 

[DRW]

Scanners are illegal in cars down here, few exceptions, Ham license being one of them. Strange law.

Weir

Weird that FL requires a license to transmit when all you want to do is *listen*.

Historically Amateur Radio helped out in radio communication emergencies. Various organizations such as FEMA, Red Cross, NWS, Hospitals, MARS, CAP, and County EOFs used hams for message handling. The scanner allows hams to monitor other radio services to help with knowing the big picture.

Cellphones and robust P25 radio networks have taken on most of the message traffic these days. They still have RACES and other established communication programs in use.

 

[DRW]

I think i saw video on that on youtube but it usess the internet which defeats the purpose of use a radio frequency and that Icom is expensive. that made me un interested in the product lol

Almost all of my transceivers are Icom. They do not require the internet to operate. There are devices, generically called hotspots, that provide access to other radios via the internet to another hotspot or a repeater.

 

[DRW]

I have been licensed for a number of years now. My actual level of activity varies from time to time, though.

GMRS seem to be taking off quite a bit right now. In fact, if you don't have a GMRS license, yet, they are going to be dropping from $70 every ten years to $35 on April 19, 2022.

And one GMRS license covers everyone in your immediate family.

It's very different from Amateur Radio. Amateur Radio is open to anyone with a license, and so are the resources, such as repeaters. I have a kilowatt amplifier, that's a lot of radio power. There are three levels of license; Technician, General, and Extra. Extra has the most privileges (I hold an Extra License). Most of the regulations for Amateur Radio are derived by treaty.

In GMRS the repeaters are considered private property and they can't be used without permission. A site named MyGMRS seems to be a clearinghouse of info on GMRS repeaters. I think GMRS is limited to 50 watt radios. The FCC decides what the rules are for GMRS.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Historically Amateur Radio helped out in radio communication emergencies. Various organizations such as FEMA, Red Cross, NWS, Hospitals, MURS, CAP, and County EOFs used hams for message handling. The scanner allows hams to monitor other radio services to help with knowing the big picture.

That still doesn't explain why the general public should be excluded from listening to those things in their own cars. Sounds like the law was written by someone with little understanding of how listening to the radio works.

 

[fuyume]

I have been licensed for a number of years now. My actual level of activity varies from time to time, though.

GMRS seem to be taking off quite a bit right now. In fact, if you don't have a GMRS license, yet, they are going to be dropping from $70 every ten years to $35 on April 19, 2022.

OoH. I haven't renewed my GMRS license in a long time. Maybe I will.

 

[fuyume]

That still doesn't explain why the general public should be excluded from listening to those things in their own cars. Sounds like the law was written by someone with little understanding of how listening to the radio works.

Those laws are designed to strengthen the police state, so the average person can't listen in on police communications. Florida is a typical authoritarian state.

 

[fuyume]

I think i saw video on that on youtube but it usess the internet which defeats the purpose of use a radio frequency and that Icom is expensive. that made me un interested in the product lol

Icom is a radio manufacturer from Japan.

Icom Incorporated - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[DRW]

That still doesn't explain why the general public should be excluded from listening to those things in their own cars. Sounds like the law was written by someone with little understanding of how listening to the radio works.

Here's the law http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...tute&URL=0800-0899/0843/Sections/0843.16.html and another http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...ng=&URL=0800-0899/0843/Sections/0843.167.html

 

[fuyume]

Hi guys anybody else davel in the art of amateur radio ? I just got a cheap radio from amazon . I never thought people used these. I gonne get the GMRS license then work my way up. Radipos are kool. quite bit readio traffic in my large city. Anybody try out radios and getting a ham license ?

I have let my license lapse, so I have to see about getting it renewed. I had a General Class license, from back when you still had to pass the Morse Code test, never bothered to upgrade to Extra.

I have a Kenwood TM-D700AG VHF/UHF for my truck, and I used to have a Garmin GPS hooked up to it for APRS, but the GPS unit died, and I have yet to replace it. My truck's had a busted brake line since August, so I pulled all the radio gear out of it, anyway.

I also have a Yaesu FT-100 for home use, and I used to have a Yaesu FT-817D for portable, but I sold it. Nice radio, but so strange that they left WX band recv out of a field radio. I also have an Icom IC-W32A VHF/UHF handheld, but I spilled coffee all over it, and I think it only partially works.

None of my amateur band radios have even been hooked up in a long time, not even for listening to NOAA Weather Radio, since I can't transmit legally until I get my license renewed, and I already have two separate WX band radios, anyway.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Here's the law http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...tute&URL=0800-0899/0843/Sections/0843.16.html and another http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...ng=&URL=0800-0899/0843/Sections/0843.167.html

I've read the laws and while 843.167 is fine, 843.16 is not (having the equipment is no evidence of a crime, and a ham licensee is no less or more likely to use the equipment to violate the law). I doubt it would hold up in a competent court in light of the Communications Act.

 

[The-David]

I have been a Ham Radio operator for several years or so. The volunteer seen here in the PNW is terrible! We were told at a recent yearly traing event "we can be called on to do other duties, even taking out trash and cleaning up". Nope, I didn't show up with thousands of dollars of radio gear and hundreds of hours of traing and practice because you don't want to pay for a janitor. I haven't been involved sense. ARRL is a root cause, too many folks with too much time on there hands.

 

[gadget_lover]

I've read the laws and while 843.167 is fine, 843.16 is not (having the equipment is no evidence of a crime, and a ham licensee is no less or more likely to use the equipment to violate the law). I doubt it would hold up in a competent court in light of the Communications Act.

There are several reasons for that law. First is the temptation to go to the scene of a crime while it's still happening. You don't want civilians getting in the middle of a high speed chase. Then there is the ability for a scanner to be used in a crime to facilitate the escape after, for instance, a robbery. By declaring it illegal to have in the car, it gives the police a legal reason to search the car that is suspicious.

Many laws are situational. A long, heavy wooden stick behind the seat of your car will be considered a club under the law that bans the use of clubs as a weapon in California. If the stick has "Louisville Slugger" burned into it and is accompanied by your glove and cleats, there is a very good chance that no one would look at it twice. Baseball is a totally legal reason to have a club.

I'm a relatively new HAM. So far my club has provided support for a couple of foot races and a long distance bicycle race. We provide communications in areas where the cell towers don't reach, calling for medical assistance and such.

Daniel