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Comment on Senate GOP budget bill has little-noticed provision that could hurt your Wi-Fi
MajorasMaskForever@lemmy.world 1 week agoA HAM license realistically is for two things:
#1 the test teaches you major items you should know about how radio works #2 how to not fuck shit up for everyone else
For the bands allocated to HAM radio in the US, as long as you’re not fucking shit up for everyone else the FCC doesn’t really care. A good example of that and my personal favorite rule is the power transmission rule of “only enough power to complete the transmission”. Functionally it’s so vague that I doubt anyone would ever actually get their license suspended over it.
The group AFRL has a pretty restrictive “band plan” that I think is where the above comment’s salt is coming from. A perception I have and have heard others talk about is the HAM community has a tendency to be borderline hostile to newcomers and are very gate-keepy, which AFRL in my experience embodies.
I have a license purely to play by the rules from a legal standpoint when I’m out in the rocky mountains hiking and camping with friends, makes communicating with different groups way easier
ProfThadBach@lemmy.world 1 week ago
MajorasMaskForever@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Nothing legally stops you from listening. To transmit, you are legally required to have a callsign (which you must broadcast during transmit) and your callsign must be licensed for that frequency.
If you break the law, it’s highly unlikely that the FCC themselves will hunt you down and fine you. If you’re using it to talk to others on the HAM bands, they’ll likely get pissed at you for not being licensed but actually tracking you down is difficult. Using it for your own personal projects, friend groups, etc, it’s unlikely anyone would notice you at all.
A license is like $15 for life (just need to occasionally tell the FCC you’re still alive), the test will teach you some stuff, I don’t see it as that onerous to play by the rules so I’d recommend following them.
Cenzorrll@lemmy.world 1 week ago
It’s illegal to push that button until you’re licensed.
(No one will search you out if you’re not being annoying)
Cenzorrll@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Do you mean ARRL?
I agree their bandplan is pretty restricty, but it’s also not law. It’s more for playing nice with each other. Keep high power up here so it doesn’t wipe out the people playing with low power, digital here so they don’t get overrun by voice, etc. You wouldn’t have any idea you’re stepping on someone sending Morse if you’re on FM. So there’s reason for it.
And yeah, with line of sight radios, nobody gives two shits 20 miles from civilization in the woods.
MajorasMaskForever@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Lol whoops yeah, ARRL. I work in aerospace where we love our alphabet soup and I brainfarted AFRL.
I wasn’t trying to say that the band plan doesn’t exist for a reason, it absolutely does, some reasons which you pointed out exactly. I’ve definitely been around guys who treat the band plan like it is the law, and I imagine the original commenter had the misfortune of running into one of those guys and believed him at face value. Imho it’s one of the reasons ham radio has been dying as a hobby.