No wonder they’re insecure with you calling them idiots all the time.
🫣
Comment on What if the Internet Goes Down? - 15 Jan, 7PM CET
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 4 hours agoIn a true emergency? Yes, HAM is the way to go and I need to get around to buying one of those super sketchy Baofengs. In theory you can configure them to use without a license (which is also on the todo list) but it is super easy to tick into the licensed use. How much people will care will mostly depend on whether your local HAM folk are narcs. But, regardless, all bets are off in a true emergency and Baofengs are dirt cheap.
But in a “the internet is out” situation? Or even a “please evacuate in a calm and orderly fashion” for a wildfire or a bad hurricane? That is where meshtastic (et al) shine and it is well worth convincing friends to pick up a t-deck or whatever.
ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 2 hours ago
Keep in mind that without working repeaters, the baofeng will only have a range of a few miles on level ground with nothing in the way. If the power goes out, most of the repeaters will go down too. Some have battery backups that may last a few hours to a few days. Depending on where you are, a few may be solar powered, but heavy use will drain the batteries. Some repeaters are also reliant on the internet for linking to increase the coverage area.
What you really want in that case is a portable HF radio and a wire antenna you can string up over a tree branch or a support with a fishing pole. In the daytime, you can use the upper HF bands for long distance communication. That has a range of thousands of miles, but nearby stations won’t be able to hear you if they are beyond line of sight. Since the portable radio doesn’t have much power, you may need to use digital modes to get through. For more local contacts you can use NVIS propagation on the lower HF bands. That has a range of several hundred miles and can even be used to talk to someone on the other side of a mountain. Even 5 watts and an antenna strung 3 feet off the ground can work for voice contacts out to over a hundred miles.
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 1 hour ago
Yeah… if I am trying to reach people tens of miles away during The Apocalypse, I am already dead.
Anyone who is within range to be helpful (or… not) would generally be within signal range of a handheld.
circuitfarmer@lemmy.world 58 minutes ago
HF handhelds do exist. Do they have the range of a dedicated HF rig? No. Better than a Baofeng? Yes, and they’re about $10 more.
TheRealKuni@piefed.social 1 hour ago
What about after surviving the initial disaster? During the rebuilding?
Long-distance radios are useful as hell in stuff like The Last of Us.
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 43 minutes ago
If you are in a situation where you need help, the odds of someone (even the person you have been talking to for weeks on the radio) doing a day or two journey to MAYBE be able to reach you is pretty slim. And such long distance communication has other implications for bad actors.
And in the event of “rebuilding” some kind of community, you aren’t going to be using a handheld device at all. You’ll raid… I don’t even know what at this point (I miss Radio Shack) to install a radio on the tallest building you can find. Oh, a HAM Radio Nerd’s house. That’ll work.
Whereas if you are trying to communicat4e with others and signal for rescue? Whatever you can get from walking up a hill/mountain or climbing the stairs to said tall building with your handheld is probably about what you can expect.
Same with in stuff like hurricanes and the like. If you are in a region that is at all hospitable then the relief teams know to send helicopters/people to that area. And if you are in the kind of situation where even a few hours might mean the difference between life and death… odds are nobody is coming.
unphazed@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
The four repeaters in my area are run by one club. They do the Field Day exercise every year and from what I remember they run them around 150w per repeater. A small jenny could run those fuckers on 15gal a day fairly easily. In a huge emergency, though, you can relay morse on just 5w through 5 or less relaying techs to most of the world without repeaters at all. (1 if you’re lucky, but I’m being fair to real life interference).
ClanOfTheOcho@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
You just can’t legally transmit without a license. You can own a ham radio and listen all you want.
Brewchin@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
Perhaps where you live.
Internet 101: Laws aren’t the same everywhere.
circuitfarmer@lemmy.world 55 minutes ago
Out of curiosity: where do you live where listening on ham requires a license?
In the US and other countries I am aware of, listening is allowed without a license (how would one even enforce such a thing?). In fact, you can even transmit on a ham radio in the US without a license provided there is an immediate risk to life or property.
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com 1 hour ago
yes they are
ClanOfTheOcho@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
Early evening in the western hemisphere, OP posted a large sum of perfectly native fluency English, so yeah, I’ll assume US or Canada. Can’t have a conversation without making reasonable assumptions. But please, feel free to add to the conversation, where do some of these exceptions exist? Don’t just “um, actually” the conversation, add to it!
unphazed@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
You legally need a license for HAM, but there’s nothing really preventing anyone from configuring a radio to licensed frequencies. As for HAMs reporting you, if it’s an emergency the FCC rarely fines anyone if it’s for medical or safety concerns, were any amateurs to even report you. The whole reason for the Tech license for example is just to know laws and rules for operation. It’s damn easy, too. License exam was $25 a few years back, 8 year term. All the questions and answers are avilable online, they just pull (35? I think) from the pool of 400. Most is pretty basic rules of common sense and civility, a few laws. Most tech questions are just converting frequencies and basic math. They don’t require morse anymore (Thank god, or I’d never pass). And if you pass the Tech, you can go right back in for free to try the next exam level. I never use mine, but I do have an HT I keep charged in case of emergencies.
circuitfarmer@lemmy.world 52 minutes ago
I think many people are unaware that you don’t need Morse anymore tbh. This makes the license extremely easy to get, but the knowledge you can get from ham radio is off the charts.
FYI, it’s not HAM (not an acronym)-- just ham. Named because the people fucking around with radios were “hamming it up”, back in the day.
user224@lemmy.sdf.org 50 minutes ago
What about more extreme cases, say Castaway (movie) type situation. Stranded on an island in middle of nowhere.
But conveniently, one of the packaged has a functional 2m battery powered radio and a Yagi too. There’s no one you can make contact with, except… the ISS.
What if the ISS was the only station you could contact?
“Hello International Space Station, I am stranded on an island after a plane crash. Can you help?”unphazed@lemmy.world 46 minutes ago
One of the coolest things in my opinion about radio is the ability to skip off the upper atmosphere and bounce a signal back down halfway across the globe. You can also bounce a signal off the moon.
Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 hours ago
I’ve been thinking about ordering some but I’m getting some analysis paralysis just looking through the options, any recommendations on a cheap unit I can hand out to some friends, I dunno if I truly need solar, but I guess it’s not a bad option
mesamunefire@piefed.social 3 hours ago
They sell 2 helteks so you can play around with them for about 50$. Used to be around 30. I have a couple, they do decently well.
circuitfarmer@lemmy.world 59 minutes ago
Licensing means nothing in an emergency situation. I never understand why it is even mentioned in these arguments. In fact, even if the world isn’t ending, you can ALWAYS use a ham radio in an emergency with or without a license (defined by the FCC as immediate dangers to life or property).
More importantly, there are at least an order of magnitude more ham radios out there than mesh devices. It isn’t even close. If the world ends, find a ham radio. Ideally you will know what to do with it when the time comes.
I wish this energy was just put towards promoting ham, tbh.
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 50 minutes ago
Maybe you’d understand more things if you continued to read after the first opportunity you see to spew whatever you want to?
I’ll also add on that it is useful to be able to practice and get familiar with a tool without risking a fine.
circuitfarmer@lemmy.world 43 minutes ago
Disagree. Ham is better here, for the reasons I already mentioned.
You don’t risk a fine if you get the license first. The test is not difficult and costs something like $10.
I put in the appropriate amount of energy for the quality of the comment (and the rudeness of the response – be better).
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 40 minutes ago
Got it. Nobody should consider the need for a license because, in an emergency, you don’t need one. But also get a license so that you can use it in non-emergencies otherwise you’ll get a fine.
Good talk.