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> Every single person here uses high powered encrypted communication without a license, it's a cell phone. Your cell service provider holds the license. Ham r

> Every single person here uses high powered encrypted communication without a license, it's a cell phone. Your cell service provider holds the license. Ham radio exam is not hard, and does not require special training, just some basic knowledge of how radios work and what the regulations are. I don't see what the issue is.

bdowling 6y ago
> Ham radio exam is not hard... Not only that, but every exam question comes from a published pool of questions [0]. If you can memorize the answers to those questions, then you don’t need to learn anything about how radio works at all. [0] http://www.arrl.org/question-pools http://www.arrl.org/question-pools
generalizations 6y ago
You're missing the point. I would only bother to take the exam if I could use my radio for encrypted packet radio. I'd love to set up a long range meshnet, but it's only useful if it's encrypted. There's a lot of fundamental infrastructure decentralization that can happen once some of the HAM frequencies allow encrypted use.
- mjevans 6y ago
  They're only useful precisely because they aren't being used for that. What you really want instead is something like the HAM license allowing the use of point to point equipment at higher power and on frequencies reserved for operators that respect the communications medium.
  - generalizations 6y ago
    I was referring to the exam for the HAM license, which I don't want or find interesting because it doesn't allow encryption. Encryption is pretty basic at this point. I want to set up long-range, encrypted, decentralized, p2p mesh networks with my friends. Because I'm accustomed to private conversations, and HAM radio represents a huge step backwards in that regard. I find it more believable that the government is scared of such technology than that encryption would be such a detriment to the HAM radio community.
- MrMorden 6y ago
  You can absolutely do that, and there are several potential license and license-free options. None of them are amateur radio, however.
  - generalizations 6y ago
    I'm curious what the license-free options are that you're referring to. I thought I'd done my research, but I missed that.
    - MrMorden 6y ago
      U-NII, mostly. The drawback from amateur radio or another licensed service is that you won't be able to use anything like the same power output. Whether that works for you depends on your definition of "long distance".
      - generalizations 6y ago
        Yeah, that doesn't really fit the bill. I'm talking about HAM radio definitions of 'long distance', where one of the shorter hops is ~150 miles. I might as well stick with Part 15 as use U-NII. That's the problem - hn regularly has threads talking about how decentralized infrastructure is so important. Having a (dialup speed) p2p network that is built on long range connections would be insanely reliable and would probably revolutionize what we think of as the Internet. - ISPs would be optional - access to the internet would be the one-time cost of the hardware - a totalitarian government trying to shutdown the internet would have to hunt down portable repeaters over hundreds of square miles - the infrastructure would be in the hands of the people, not megacorps like verizon and comcast. But that requires encryption, and spectrum allocations that can cover the distance.
some_random 6y ago
At the end of the day, my problems with ham is 1: For stupid legacy reasons, I can't use crypto 2: In order to get and hold a license, I have to provide my full name and address, which is then PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
- justin66 6y ago
  It sounds like what you'd approve of is something entirely different than Amateur Radio. Neither of the things you mention is an accident or "legacy" restriction.
  - some_random 6y ago
    Ah yes, what would amateur radio be if my name and address weren't published for all to see. No, I don't care about ham, I care about the many other things you need a ham license for, such as flying drones in some configurations. I never said any of this was an accident, and the cryto stuff is absolutely cold war legacy bs.
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bdowling 6y ago

> Ham radio exam is not hard... Not only that, but every exam question comes from a published pool of questions [0]. If you can memorize the answers to those questions, then you don’t need to learn anything about how radio works at all. [0] http://www.arrl.org/question-pools http://www.arrl.org/question-pools

generalizations 6y ago

You're missing the point. I would only bother to take the exam if I could use my radio for encrypted packet radio. I'd love to set up a long range meshnet, but it's only useful if it's encrypted. There's a lot of fundamental infrastructure decentralization that can happen once some of the HAM frequencies allow encrypted use.

mjevans 6y ago
They're only useful precisely because they aren't being used for that. What you really want instead is something like the HAM license allowing the use of point to point equipment at higher power and on frequencies reserved for operators that respect the communications medium.
- generalizations 6y ago
  I was referring to the exam for the HAM license, which I don't want or find interesting because it doesn't allow encryption. Encryption is pretty basic at this point. I want to set up long-range, encrypted, decentralized, p2p mesh networks with my friends. Because I'm accustomed to private conversations, and HAM radio represents a huge step backwards in that regard. I find it more believable that the government is scared of such technology than that encryption would be such a detriment to the HAM radio community.
MrMorden 6y ago
You can absolutely do that, and there are several potential license and license-free options. None of them are amateur radio, however.
- generalizations 6y ago
  I'm curious what the license-free options are that you're referring to. I thought I'd done my research, but I missed that.
  - MrMorden 6y ago
    U-NII, mostly. The drawback from amateur radio or another licensed service is that you won't be able to use anything like the same power output. Whether that works for you depends on your definition of "long distance".
    - generalizations 6y ago
      Yeah, that doesn't really fit the bill. I'm talking about HAM radio definitions of 'long distance', where one of the shorter hops is ~150 miles. I might as well stick with Part 15 as use U-NII. That's the problem - hn regularly has threads talking about how decentralized infrastructure is so important. Having a (dialup speed) p2p network that is built on long range connections would be insanely reliable and would probably revolutionize what we think of as the Internet. - ISPs would be optional - access to the internet would be the one-time cost of the hardware - a totalitarian government trying to shutdown the internet would have to hunt down portable repeaters over hundreds of square miles - the infrastructure would be in the hands of the people, not megacorps like verizon and comcast. But that requires encryption, and spectrum allocations that can cover the distance.

some_random 6y ago

At the end of the day, my problems with ham is 1: For stupid legacy reasons, I can't use crypto 2: In order to get and hold a license, I have to provide my full name and address, which is then PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

justin66 6y ago
It sounds like what you'd approve of is something entirely different than Amateur Radio. Neither of the things you mention is an accident or "legacy" restriction.
- some_random 6y ago
  Ah yes, what would amateur radio be if my name and address weren't published for all to see. No, I don't care about ham, I care about the many other things you need a ham license for, such as flying drones in some configurations. I never said any of this was an accident, and the cryto stuff is absolutely cold war legacy bs.
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