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Don't. Follow the rules, and get them changed if you disagree with them. Amateur radio enjoys the privilege of pretty lax regulation, largely due to the player

Don't. Follow the rules, and get them changed if you disagree with them. Amateur radio enjoys the privilege of pretty lax regulation, largely due to the players not making any trouble. Speaking as a fellow radio amateur, we don't want our hobby ruined just because someone wants to be a troublemaker.

teddyh 6y ago
> Amateur radio enjoys the privilege of pretty lax regulation What. You literally have to have a license issued to you personally (no anonymity) by the government to even be allowed to do it. And the rules of what can and can’t be sent are, to my Internet-accustomed mind, excruciatingly onerous. No encryption? No foul language?
- adamtj 6y ago
  Radio spectrum is a limited and shared resource. It makes sense that it's licensed and regulated. But compared to other parts of the spectrum, the license is cheap and easy to get and the regulations are minimal. It's a public space for experimentation. If you don't want to be seen in public, go to some other area of the spectrum.
- arghwhat 6y ago
  The rules are extremely loose. 1. You need a personal license to identify you, as an operator of a radio station. This is similar to how radios on ships and airplanes work - you need to be able to identify every transmission (even cellphones are uniquely identifiable). This is not only part of the entire sport (we're trying to contact and identify each other), but is also used to identify problems. 2. Just like for airplanes and ships, there are some rules to what you can transmit, as your transmissions can be heard (and cause troubles) for tens, hundreds and even thousands of kilometers away. 3. You have countless frequency allocations available, all over the spectrum, despite the scarcity. 4. Unlike everyone else, holding that license permits you to build your own equipment and transmit with kilowatts with no certification needed. It's extremely easy to cause massive issues with this, such as interrupting cellular communication/gps/wifi an a large area, blowing up your neighbors stereos, and fun things like that. There's a reason that everything else needs to be tested, certified, and require dedicated band allocations - we avoid it by showing that we have the sufficient skills to practice our hobby and not cause trouble. Unlike everyone else, we can do pretty much whatever we want as long as we keep it around a kilowatt and talk nice. I consider that to be extremely relaxed rules.
  - kawfey 6y ago
    everyone else like: - General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) which is limited to a set of frequencies in the UHF band, 50w repeaters, and a few watts handheld, and requires an $80? license. - Family radio service (FRS) which is limited to store-bought handheld units with 0.5W maximum output - Citizens Band radio which is limited to 40 channels at 4 watts and is highly abused by its users and relatively unenforced - Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), which is limited to a six VHF channels and 2 watts and shared with many users - Business Band/LMR Part 90, which is licensed and regulated for business/commercial use with many other shared users - Microwave, which is licensed and heavily regulated - Broadcast radio, which is licensed and very heavily regulated (and is one-way only) None of these services allow you free reign over a wide spectrum of radio with home-built equipment for the purposes of experimentation and recreation, except for the experimental license, which only allows you specific frequencies, power limits, and other regulations based on your license application and grant. I agree that amateur radio regulations are relatively relaxed, if not very generous, liberal compared to the other radio services.
  - teddyh 6y ago
    I am reminded of what Chinese people say when they are asked about how they feel about the oppressive government. They say “What’s the problem? We have perfect freedom to do whatever we want, as long as we don’t talk about politics, and who cares about that?”. It’s perfectly normal to them, and they don’t feel particularly oppressed. Those rules about absolute identifiability are only “part of the entire sport” because you have defined it to be that way. What if Internet chat had been defined the same? Also, enumerating what you are allowed to do once you are granted a license does not help the argument that the requirement for a license is oppressive. > There's a reason that everything else needs to be tested, certified, and require dedicated band allocations Maybe there were reasonable technical reasons in the 1970’s, but now with modern technology, there should be no problem, or at the very least significant relaxations of what the regular public is allowed to do. I repeat: Having to get an individual government license to practice your hobby is draconian. But, of course, regulations don’t really ever get less restrictive.
    - int_19h 6y ago
- userbinator 6y ago
  I agree with the regulations on spectrum and power usage (i.e. "don't shout over someone else"), since it is a shared medium, but definitely not with restrictions on content.

teddyh 6y ago

> Amateur radio enjoys the privilege of pretty lax regulation What. You literally have to have a license issued to you personally (no anonymity) by the government to even be allowed to do it. And the rules of what can and can’t be sent are, to my Internet-accustomed mind, excruciatingly onerous. No encryption? No foul language?

adamtj 6y ago
Radio spectrum is a limited and shared resource. It makes sense that it's licensed and regulated. But compared to other parts of the spectrum, the license is cheap and easy to get and the regulations are minimal. It's a public space for experimentation. If you don't want to be seen in public, go to some other area of the spectrum.
arghwhat 6y ago
The rules are extremely loose. 1. You need a personal license to identify you, as an operator of a radio station. This is similar to how radios on ships and airplanes work - you need to be able to identify every transmission (even cellphones are uniquely identifiable). This is not only part of the entire sport (we're trying to contact and identify each other), but is also used to identify problems. 2. Just like for airplanes and ships, there are some rules to what you can transmit, as your transmissions can be heard (and cause troubles) for tens, hundreds and even thousands of kilometers away. 3. You have countless frequency allocations available, all over the spectrum, despite the scarcity. 4. Unlike everyone else, holding that license permits you to build your own equipment and transmit with kilowatts with no certification needed. It's extremely easy to cause massive issues with this, such as interrupting cellular communication/gps/wifi an a large area, blowing up your neighbors stereos, and fun things like that. There's a reason that everything else needs to be tested, certified, and require dedicated band allocations - we avoid it by showing that we have the sufficient skills to practice our hobby and not cause trouble. Unlike everyone else, we can do pretty much whatever we want as long as we keep it around a kilowatt and talk nice. I consider that to be extremely relaxed rules.
- kawfey 6y ago
  everyone else like: - General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) which is limited to a set of frequencies in the UHF band, 50w repeaters, and a few watts handheld, and requires an $80? license. - Family radio service (FRS) which is limited to store-bought handheld units with 0.5W maximum output - Citizens Band radio which is limited to 40 channels at 4 watts and is highly abused by its users and relatively unenforced - Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), which is limited to a six VHF channels and 2 watts and shared with many users - Business Band/LMR Part 90, which is licensed and regulated for business/commercial use with many other shared users - Microwave, which is licensed and heavily regulated - Broadcast radio, which is licensed and very heavily regulated (and is one-way only) None of these services allow you free reign over a wide spectrum of radio with home-built equipment for the purposes of experimentation and recreation, except for the experimental license, which only allows you specific frequencies, power limits, and other regulations based on your license application and grant. I agree that amateur radio regulations are relatively relaxed, if not very generous, liberal compared to the other radio services.
- teddyh 6y ago
  I am reminded of what Chinese people say when they are asked about how they feel about the oppressive government. They say “What’s the problem? We have perfect freedom to do whatever we want, as long as we don’t talk about politics, and who cares about that?”. It’s perfectly normal to them, and they don’t feel particularly oppressed. Those rules about absolute identifiability are only “part of the entire sport” because you have defined it to be that way. What if Internet chat had been defined the same? Also, enumerating what you are allowed to do once you are granted a license does not help the argument that the requirement for a license is oppressive. > There's a reason that everything else needs to be tested, certified, and require dedicated band allocations Maybe there were reasonable technical reasons in the 1970’s, but now with modern technology, there should be no problem, or at the very least significant relaxations of what the regular public is allowed to do. I repeat: Having to get an individual government license to practice your hobby is draconian. But, of course, regulations don’t really ever get less restrictive.
  - int_19h 6y ago
userbinator 6y ago
I agree with the regulations on spectrum and power usage (i.e. "don't shout over someone else"), since it is a shared medium, but definitely not with restrictions on content.