Good news for current Hams or aspiring enthusiasts. The morse code requirement is finally going to get dumped. Thank god! People wonder why the hobby is starting to die. Who wants to learn a whole new language of dots and dashes? Talk about a time consuming hobby! Many many years back, morse code (CW) was the only cost effective transmit/receive method available to most. "Telephony" radios were very expensive, required much higher transmit power (no batteries, you had to have house wiring), and was available only to the elite hobbyist. That's just not true anymore. Most hobbyists who pass morse code requirements for general class licensing never use it again after the test. Two thirds of current hams want to drop morse testing. For some reason, the worldwide amateur community has been reluctant to trash it. No more! The international community has finally dropped the requirement. Now all that's left is for the nations to re-write the requirements. A handful have already. Perhaps this will breath life into a dying hobby. The advent of cable TV, cheap cell phones, the internet, video games, the outlawing of scanners, and the banning of antennas on houses has all but wiped out interest in radio technology. The bands are very dead these days. What good is it to be a ham if there's nobody to talk to? Considering the popularity of those little "Family Radio Service" radios, I think there's a fair number who would be interested in Amateur Radio. If only it were a little easier to get into.

Ham radio is a good hobby for computer geeks too! Local VHF/UHF repeaters that give hams access to chat around town are now able to link to other areas via the internet VoIP. It's actually very cheap to set up. $200 covers everything you need but the ISP and the radio equipment (Old PC, free Linux OS, free communication software, NIC, and sound card)! Since the radio equipment is already in place and most folks already have a network connection, the upgrade is pretty minimal. You are now able to chat around the world on an inexpensive handheld!

Sigh! :( Nobody cares.........

So tell me what I would need to set up. I can use an old computer? http://www.wizardrealm.com/smilies/heee.gif

Thanks for the reply bud! You don't have to humor me though, I was mostly kidding with my sigh. In reality, I didn't figure I'd get a lot of response. It just highlights the perilous position of the amateur radio hobby right now. I try my best to stimulate interest. I've recruited two into amateur radio so far. That's more than most. Beleive it or not, the same basic technology concepts drive all electronic equipment. Signals modulated onto a carrier wave. Learning about radio gives you a lot of insight into things like networking. It's a course in basic electronics and the application of them. It's a good tech hobby.

Anyway, if you're serious about seeing what amateur radio is about, you'll need to take a fairly simple test at the nearest Amateur Radio Club to get liscensed and buy a 144-147 Mhz. band handheld radio. That's all it takes to start! Here's a site that gives a lot of good information for the curious:

Click here

http://www.w5yi.org/AmRadio.htm

If you have a group of freinds in the hobby, it can be pretty fun! You have a method of mobile group communication that's only as expensive as the charge on the batteries! Teens who have parents that complain of their phone usage can get a lot of use out of it. Many Repeaters have access to a phone line. You can make quick phone calls on the go without a cell phone and get a communication service in many places cell phones won't reach.

I Wasn't just humoring you! I have several friends that are waaaayyyyyyyyy into it - Intimidatingly so. One in PA has an antenna that interferes with his neighbors TV reception LOL! I have always enjoyed talking to people all over the world - like you [img]smile.gif[/img] and that is why I was curious! The generator is probably kinder to the radio than the computer when the power goes out (as it has a lot these days on the east coast!) LOL Thanks!

Well, in that case! Here's a link for lots of info on the internet repeater linking!

http://ac6v.com/repeaters.htm#IR

Thanks Sir Kenyth!

Do you have a link for tech questions LOL? j/k http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...lewinkgrin.gif