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One thing I noticed when getting my license was that broadcasting is not allowed. That makes sense, because you're not supposed to hog the airwaves. But I thin

One thing I noticed when getting my license was that broadcasting is not allowed. That makes sense, because you're not supposed to hog the airwaves. But I think they could create room for some kind of amateur programming. For instance, you have to pause every 5 minutes so people can either join the conversation or ask questions. And maybe it would have to be a human speaking live, not a recording or machine. And I'm sure you'd need certain channels and parts of the spectrum for this. The advantage is that this gets content on the airwaves and gives people a chance to get involved. After the program, you can jump onto another part of the spectrum for free-form chat. Like: "That's all for now, but join the discussion starting right now on [callsign of repeater]". It would have to be non-commercial, but people like talking about their hobbies, etc. I could easily see a lot of people doing scheduled 30-minute programs about cars or gardening or whatever.

nullc 6y ago
This isn't precluded under US regulations. Broadcasting means transmissions intended for the general public, as opposed to other amateurs. One way communications are generally prohibited too (except in certain cases like beacon stations and remote control), but as you note-- what you want doesn't need to be one way. It's not even uncommon on HF for people to blather on for many minutes at a time without pause. People could totally do lectures with Q&A, and I imagine many repeaters would be perfectly fine with that use.
- GekkePrutser 6y ago
  Yeah also many people have been duplexing over the years, upstreaming on 2m and downstreaming on 70cm for example. That is allowed as long as you mention your call every few minutes.
GekkePrutser 6y ago
I've seen people doing TV on 13cm. It is possible. It was even easy to receive with a DVB-S box, just omitting the LNB. This was before WiFi so not sure if this is still possible with all the additional traffic on that band. However there's very strict restrictions on playing third-party content like video and music.
jimktrains2 6y ago
Isn't that what most nets are? Some even play pre-recorded news clips. I participate in a net about railfanning each week. You could certainly have one for gardening or any other hobby.

nullc 6y ago

This isn't precluded under US regulations. Broadcasting means transmissions intended for the general public, as opposed to other amateurs. One way communications are generally prohibited too (except in certain cases like beacon stations and remote control), but as you note-- what you want doesn't need to be one way. It's not even uncommon on HF for people to blather on for many minutes at a time without pause. People could totally do lectures with Q&A, and I imagine many repeaters would be perfectly fine with that use.

GekkePrutser 6y ago
Yeah also many people have been duplexing over the years, upstreaming on 2m and downstreaming on 70cm for example. That is allowed as long as you mention your call every few minutes.

GekkePrutser 6y ago

I've seen people doing TV on 13cm. It is possible. It was even easy to receive with a DVB-S box, just omitting the LNB. This was before WiFi so not sure if this is still possible with all the additional traffic on that band. However there's very strict restrictions on playing third-party content like video and music.

jimktrains2 6y ago

Isn't that what most nets are? Some even play pre-recorded news clips. I participate in a net about railfanning each week. You could certainly have one for gardening or any other hobby.