In a message dated 1/25/99 3:09:14 PM Mountain Standard Time, burt@metronet.com writes:
Byron: Another request to provide the details of how to use the Internet and other features of Amateur Radio. What type/brand of equipment?No brand name bigotry here; I've used about every brand of ham radio equipment there is, over the years, and never ran into a brand that was inherently poor.
Today, in my 99 Bambi, I happen to be using a 1975 TenTec, made right
here in the U.S of A. It was given to me. Go see it on my web site. I've
seen oodles of them going for a couple to several hundred bucks. Dirt cheap.
This is definitely a case of "modern" not equating to "imperative" because
the technology of the radios isn't the key to success. The key is in the
fancy radio modems (we call them terminal node controllers ,TNCs, or sometimes
multi mode controllers). My particular TNC set me back $125, brand spankin
new. It's an absolute MARVEL of communications efficiency and ease of operation.
Besides which, it's insanely intelligent.
What type of Antenna?I use a way-too-expensive Outbacker/Outrunner, bolted to the frame of my Airstream. It's nine feet tall. It's manufactured in Australia and available from either Ham Radio Outlet or Amateur Electronic Supply (I forget which...) for about three hundred bucks. There are MUCH cheaper ones; I just
Where can you use it and where can't you use it?Well... that's the beauty of H.F. (high frequency) radios. Their coverage area is inherently world wide. That is, there's no place on the planet where you can't use these in theory, except that there are substantial licensing restrictions when operating outside of the USA. Technically, they're useful,
Now, the same thing could be said for Amateur Satellite Service operation, although the equipment is dramatically different. The beauty of using satellites is that you can do so with the beginner's ham radio license, with no need to show Morse Code proficiency.
In either case, there's no charge for the license, although the exam
itself (one time fee) is somewhere between six and seven bucks. That's
effectively free. Not bad for free use of millions and millions of frequencies,
valued at many billions of dollars... It's one of the arguably few things
that our
gummint has done RIGHT for us.
Best regards,
Byron Hurder, KY1T