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Much of the article is about Brian Goss's setup. Goss is not using ham radio. He is receiving satellite broadcasts and re-transmitting them with a goTenna devic
by Stratoscope 7y ago
Much of the article is about Brian Goss's setup. Goss is not using ham radio. He is receiving satellite broadcasts and re-transmitting them with a goTenna device into the goTenna mesh network.
goTenna is a Part 15 (unlicensed) device, like a Wi-Fi router or Bluetooth device. It does not transmit on Amateur Radio frequencies. Unless I missed something, there is no connection with ham radio here.
The article also mentions how Elaine Ou sent a Lightning payment over the 40 meter amateur radio band. This may have been a violation of the Part 97 Amateur Radio regulations, as noted by other commenters.
- kayfox 7y agoIt may be a violation if it involved a business transaction that was not related to ham radio equipment. Buying, selling and trading equipment related to ham radio is the only exception to the rule against business transactions that I am aware of.
- Stratoscope 7y agoThe exception you're referring to is this one in Part 97.113 (3), which is part of a list of prohibited communications: (3) Communications in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer. Amateur operators may, however, notify other amateur operators of the availability for sale or trade of apparatus normally used in an amateur station, provided that such activity is not conducted on a regular basis. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2002-title47-vol5/pdf/CFR-2002-title47-vol5-sec97-113.pdf https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2002-title47-vol5/pd... It appears that the exception is limitied to notifying other amateurs of equipment for sale or trade, not making the actual payment over the air. For example, if I got a one-time virtual credit card number and read it over the air to another amateur to pay for equipment, I don't believe that would fall under this exception, so it would be prohibited.
- jimktrains2 7y agoEspecially if it was a low value transaction or a transaction between two accounts held by the same person, they could argue it falls under experimentation, I guess?
- WA9ACE 7y agoAny form of encryption on amateur radio frequencies is prohibited under FCC Rules Part §97.113 Prohibited transmissions Section 4 http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text. This makes things like TCP/IP over HAM frequencies legal (as seen here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMPRNet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMPRNet) but not SSL traffic. No business transaction required.
- baybal2 7y agoSo, that GoTenna is basically a modern day Cybiko?