Reality Check

I used to have Skype set up on my systems so that folks could call and leave me a voice message for the podcasts. I never really got much in the way of feedback via voice, only email. So, at some point I simply stopped using Skype. It still shows up on the main page with a button to leave me a voice mail, but I rarely if ever have the Skype turned on.

Right now, I’ve just rebuilt my machines into Ubuntu (lap top is running the desktop version and my desktop machine is running a server version) - and in doing some research I discovered some interesting, if not shocking things about Skype and Voice over IP (VOIP) in general.

At this link we discover there are some interesting aspects about Skype of which I was not previously aware. For instance, apparently there has been some cooperation with the country of China on censorship - something that “free” people should shun at all times. In digging through the documentation, I came across the link for SkypeEthics and a couple of articles about it, one from The Register and another from FT.com giving information that Skype, Ebay and even Google are helping China censor communications out of that country.

I have no love whatever for the Chinese Government. I spent a month over there seeing how they lived, and how the government treated it’s people. China is not a Saint when it comes to commercial espionage, and espionage against the United States - which is my home and I’m proud of that fact. I also know for a fact, based on open source information that China PLANS to be at war with our country in the next decade. This is backed up by their own Generals and white papers they’ve written stating they need to be in charge of the Pacific Rim, and their main competition is the US.

Given that the Chinese keep their people in the dark, and refuse to allow freedoms we have in this country it is simple amazing that Google, Skype and eBay would kowtow to Beijing and assist them in censoring the Chinese people - preventing good human rights.

Therefore, it is with that in mind that I will no longer use Skype for a communications VOIP program, and will remove it shortly from my web pages forever (or until they wake the hell up). In the mean time I will evaluate several other programs that can run under Linux and can use data encryption to determine which is better. Personally I don’t think anyone should be listening to my voice mail, email or any other communication I make - however, I make exception to Amateur Radio, since it is specifically forbidden in our regulations to use any sort of encryption of data or voice. I find that too, to be a bit “heavy handed” of our own government to forbid encryption. But, having worked with voice and data encryption for the better part of two decades now, I do understand the reasoning of the NSA to prevent it.

On the other (third?) hand, I believe that Americans have an innate right to privacy and unless they are doing something illegal, no one has a right to dig into our daily, private conversations with our loved ones, business professionals and certainly not to just “listen in to see if we’re behaving appropriately”. NO one has that right. NO one should be able to decide if I am “behaving appropriately” except me. Especially not the Government. They are there to protect my rights, not negate them.

On the subject of free VOIP software for Ubuntu (and other Linux distros) there are several listed on the Ubuntu documentation pages, there are three:

VoIP soft-phones included in Ubuntu

There are several alternative software based VoIP phones, that are ‘free libre open’, use ‘open’ protocols, and are included in the Ubuntu repositories. Among others, there are:

* Ekiga
* Twinkle
* Wengophone

Off the cuff, and with a quick scan of the pages, I’d say that the first one, Ekiga, appears to be the most “compatible” with most VOIP services and apparently can communicate with other software systems of VOIP. It comes “standard” on Ubuntu installs, and it can run under an MS Windows environment. Ekiga is also compatible with Netmeeting (H.323, windows), Windows Messenger as well as some other packages.

Twinkle is a Linux-only application and according to the site:

In addition to making basic voice calls Twinkle provides you the following features:

* 2 call appearances (lines)
* Multiple active call identities
* Custom ring tones
* Call Waiting
* Call Hold
* 3-way conference calling
* Mute
* Call redirection on demand
* Call redirection unconditional
* Call redirection when busy
* Call redirection no answer
* Reject call redirection request
* Blind call transfer
* Call transfer with consultation (attended call transfer)
* Reject call transfer request
* Call reject
* Repeat last call
* Do not disturb
* Auto answer
* Message Waiting Inidication
* Voice mail speed dial
* Presence
* Instant messaging
* User defineable scripts triggered on call events
E.g. to implement selective call reject or distinctive ringing
* RFC 2833 DTMF events
* Inband DTMF
* Out-of-band DTMF (SIP INFO)
* STUN support for NAT traversal
* Send NAT keep alive packets when using STUN
* NAT traversal through static provisioning
* Missed call indication
* History of call detail records for incoming, outgoing, successful and missed calls
* DNS SRV support
* Automatic failover to an alternate server if a server is unavailable
* Other programs can originate a SIP call via Twinkle, e.g. call from address book
* System tray icon
* System tray menu to quickly originate and answer calls while Twinkle stays hidden
* User defineable number conversion rules
* Simple address book
* Support for UDP and TCP (new) as transport for SIP

Here’s a screen shot, borrowed from the site:

And here are some reviews.

On the third application, it appears to be of French origin, and I’m sort of ambivalent about that aspect of a piece of software. I don’t really like the French much, and when I have visited that country, I’ve encountered nothing but rude, snotty people who seem to dislike Americans. While I remained polite to them all, they were rude to me. So, I just won’t use any of their products and I won’t ever visit the country again nor spend money there. They can keep their snotty attitude - and I’ll keep mine

My last comments on Skype are echoed in this article and instead of me writing what I think, I’ll quote this article and the pertinent part… go to the article for his links and documentation.

http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/357

What’s that you said?
Skype has many things going for it. Among the various software-based VoIP apps (which thereby excludes hardware-based offerings like Vonage from consideration), Skype probably works the best in terms of computer-to-computer, computer-to-land line, and computer-to-cell based calling. It’s easy to set up and use, and it works on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux boxes. Skype also provides more than just VoIP, with IM and file transfer also available. I’ve used it quite a bit, and overall, I’ve been happy with its sound quality, as have many other people, given that the program has been downloaded more than 100 million times. It has more than 52 million registered users (among those 2 million paying customers), and well over 3 million people are online and using the program right now, as I’m typing this column.

But that doesn’t mean that Skype is perfect. Far from it. Skype claims that it uses strong encryption to protect phone calls, IM messages, and file transfers:

“Skype uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), also known as Rijndael, which is used by U.S. Government organizations to protect sensitive, information. Skype uses 256-bit encryption, which has a total of 1.1 x 1077 possible keys, in order to actively encrypt the data in each Skype call or instant message. Skype uses 1024 bit RSA to negotiate symmetric AES keys. User public keys are certified by the Skype server at login using 1536 or 2048-bit RSA certificates.”

Here’s the problem with that statement: since Skype is an insistently closed source program - and one that additionally uses a proprietary protocol, but I’ll get to that in a moment - we have no way of verifying Skype’s security. We simply have to take them at their word that their encryption works. For such an important program, that’s quite a problem. I’m just not sure how safe I feel when Skype says, “Trust me - everything’s going to be fine.”

One other thing about Skype that bugs me is that it apparently can, and does, use YOUR machine to assist in directing and assisting other stations with VOIP out side of your personal direction and control on your own machine. What this means is, your personally paid-for-out-of-pocket expenses on your ISP are being used without your permission. Check this link for more information on this situation.

All of this said, I rarely use any VOIP communications other than some ham radio applications, specifically EchoLink, which I might mention later on in another post. But, for the most part, when I was doing podcasts and looking for some feedback, I rarely got much. I suppose that my podcasts aren’t that great (I don’t think they are all that great) but at the same time I’ve had a lot of feedback about them via email. That tells me that most people just aren’t into the VOIP thing yet, and those that are most likely are Geekier than me (which I seriously doubt).

Cell Phones Bad For Your Health – Again - Lifestyle News - Digital Trends

It’s the issue that won’t go away. Are cell phones detrimental to your health? Will the electromagnetic radiation cause brain tumors? Studies have said yes, studies have said no.

Again and again I have heard this. Again and again, I have to say that to make statements that cellular telephones specifically cause brain tumors is a load of nonsense.

I do not say this lightly either. As a long, long time Ham Radio operator I have used radios for many years. In the military I used handheld radios as did many, many people.

Amateur Radio Operators have been exposed, on average to much more Radio Frequency (RF) energy than anyone is exposed to by cellular phones on a daily basis, over long periods of time.

The fact is that all life on earth has adapted to exist in low frequency, naturally occurring radio frequency energy. While Amateur radio tends to be higher frequencies - usually falling between 2 and 30 megahertz, and a majority falling in the 144-440 mhz (used in local and repeater communications).

I believe that there are numbers showing that ham radio operators do not suffer from any greater instances of cancer than other people not exposed to ham radio. I’ll probably look into that a bit more later, but for now, this is merely opinion - although it’s not simply my opinion, but it is based upon knowledge of RF radiation.

Essentially, RF radiation is non-ionizing radiation and in most cases the worst thing that can happen is skin heating. Of course, not to minimize this a high powered radio system can injure you and cause burns.

Cellular telephones are much higher in frequency than even your television signals, or those of ham radio, the local AM/FM radio stations and so forth. They generally run in the 800-900 Mhz range - approaching what is commonly called “microwaves’. So-called because of their very short wavelength in the micrometer length.

Nearly all radio frequency energy at those frequencies travel over the surface of radiators, or antennas - and I’m speaking of the human body in terms of acting like an inductive device. The human body is mostly salt water, and thus is relatively conductive in comparison to many other things.

In fact, the human body will conduct RF along the surface. The evidence for internal heating simply doesn’t exist except at extremely high energy levels, something a cellular telephone is NOT capable of accomplishing. The fact is that tumors occur internal to the body, and frequencies from above about 30 Mhz simply don’t enter the body into the brain unless there are inordinate amounts of energy being used.

The majority of cellular telephones in use generally use less than 2 watts of RF power. There are some that use as much as 4.6 watts, but in general most phones are much less. Now, since I can’t cite specific studies where they have shown the penetrative abilities of RF energy at telephone frequencies, I can’t say for certain that 2-4 watts of energy does not definitively cause damage, however, I will say that from personal experience with radios operating at higher wattages, close to my face that I have never once suffered from RF burns on my eyes, eye sockets or anywhere near them, having used radios of much higher power, and even lower frequencies.

I know of no other amateur or professional radio operators who have suffered such damages either.

I did see one… error… at least in my opinion. Far be it for me to “question” a person with a phd, however,

Occupational and Environmental
Medicine (2004) Volume 61; pages 769-772). In other words, deep in a building
or in a moving elevator, the handset’s power output increases temporarily in order
to pick up a base-station’s signal so that the phone users can continue to
communicate effectively.

this bothers me some. His explanation is incorrect, though, I get his meaning. The handset doesn’t increase it’s power in order to “pickup” the base-station’s signal, it increases power to maintain contact with the base-station. Nitpicking, I know, but if you’re going to write a technical paper, then be technically correct.

In electrical signals, particularly alternating current signals, there is a physics phenomenon called “Skin Effect”. This is where currents flow in conductors closer to the surface as the AC frequency increases. There are set depths in electronics for various frequencies using copper as the medium. The higher the frequency, the lesser the depth for copper. The human body, being made up as I mentioned before of mostly salt water is a poor conductor at best and therefore higher frequencies penetrate the skin less than they do in copper wires.

This simple science fact should be enough for everyone to understand that at higher telephone frequencies there is less ability for RF energy to penetrate into the body. And yet, so-called “smart organizations” like the World Health Organization states that cell phones are dangerous. Oh, pardon me, they have “determined” they are dangerous.

Well, as a former electronics teacher, a real-world “physicist” with my background in RF energy, and a professional communicator, an amateur radio operator and someone with forty years of RF experience, I too have made a determination. The World Health Organization, Vini G. Khurana and his paper and pretty much anyone that makes the comment that “cell phones are dangerous and cause cancer” are simply playing on your emotions, probably have a reason to detest cellular phones and want the general public to stop using them at large.

In other words, these groups and people are wrong - and in short “full of it…”.

Obviously, I’m not a doctor, nor a lawyer, but I am an expert in RF radiation. It seems to me that these “dire warnings” put out in this paper
are based upon less science and more upon poorly accomplished research than anything else. In particular this scientist states clearly that this is “evidence based conclusions” and “opinions” of the author alone.

That is fine and dandy, but any one with a sufficient amount of research can find and draw incorrect conclusions from any evidence one choses to use, and in some cases ignore. At the same time, I do understand myself that safety precautions should always be observed in relation to any sort of electronic communications devices that emit radio frequency radiation. However, there are some questionable issues with the paper, as well as anyone simply making the accusation that a tumor is caused by a cellular phone.

Will I, should I ever find myself in that scary predicament suddenly sue Sprint and Samsung because I’ve been using the same sort of phones for over 10 years now, and the same services for at least eight or nine years? I might. Previous precedence has already been set in law suits leading up to these sorts of articles.

Essentially, there have been several dozen studies which have had varying degrees of finger pointing regarding cancer, cell phones and malignant brain tumors. In no case has any study conclusively determined there is a connection. Period. The World Health Organization, for no apparent good reason has determined cell phones are dangerous, and various people across the land have made unsupported, unsubstantiated claims regarding RF energy from cellular phones.

Why, I wonder, haven’t military personnel made similar claims about handheld radios? How about police and fire officials, nearly all of whom have handy-talkies strapped to their belts? What about amateur radio operators? How about ambulance drivers? Why aren’t any of the people in the security field making similar claims of handy-talkies?

It amazes me that this radio technology has been around since 1945 (hand held radios) set up on various frequencies from 1 MHz all the way up to the gigahertz range and yet is is only cellular telephones which have become the bane of the brain, and the purveyor of cancer when radio signals at higher frequencies like the cellular phone do not even penetrate the skull.

When will things like Global Warming and the rest of these silly, pseudo-science-based Conspiracy theories stop?

When people become educated.

I will state that a cellular telephone in the hand is generating an average of 2 watts, and probably much less would even be contacting a person from a few inches away. People who live in buildings, with antennas above their heads, broadcasting hundreds, or perhaps thousands of watts are in a much greater danger than those with handheld devices.

My own antennas have 100 watts or less RF power applied (and much less than that a few meters away from the antenna) so keeping in safety guild-lines put out by the Federal Communications Commission is not very difficult to do. However, making “more rules” for consumer devices is much more invasive than the RF that this doctor, and others are trying to limit.

Jamaica DXpedition 2007 is a GO!

Who: NØNJY/6Y5, KBØIRW/6Y5 (Rick and JoAnne Donaldson)
What: Jamaica DXPedition
When: 12-14 October 2007
Where: Runaway Bay, Jamaica, West Indies
Why: For FUN! Island DXpedition (Celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary and 18 years as hams together!)
QSL: Home call (NØNJY)

Operational Times: APPROXIMATELY 17ØØ-21ØØ UTC on Friday and Saturday, and 17ØØ-2ØØØ on Sun

Frequency: Split frequency operation during operations hours on 14.19Ø +/-1Ø KHz, TX, Listening 14.2ØØ – 14.23Ø (+/- 1Ø KHz)

Equipment: ICOM IC-735, Alinco Power Supply, Home brew antenna (Pictures on blog site for equipment)

Blog site with much more information for comments, and QSL information etc is located at: http://jamaicadxpedition2007.blogspot.com/

Thanks everyone!

73,

Rick Donaldson
US Callsign NØNJY
Jamaica Call NØNJY/6Y5

Here’s the new blog site for just the Jamaican DXpedition 2007.

http://jamaicadxpedition2007.blogspot.com/

Jamaica was narrowly missed Sunday night when Hurricane Dean took a southern track, and took aim at the Yucatan Peninsula. It should make land fall sometimes Tuesday as a Category 5 Hurricane.

Wow. Missed it by THAT much, as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 might have said.

Ok, well, my paperwork is on its way to Kingston for my Amateur license in Jamaica. There were reports that it takes up to three months, but unfortunately we didn’t have that amount time for preparation, so we are going to HOPE we get our licenses in time. If so, we’re going through with the DXpedition.

If not, well, you know what? There’s always NEXT YEAR!

At this point though, we’re going forward with our plans. I’m working on a communications plan, to give frequencies, times, dates, and operations for my wife and I. We’re working on the equipment plan at this point, but going to minimize things as best as possible.

If we’re not lucky this year, next year we’re going to work on getting some small equipment that can be easily carried, but still give us a full 100 watts of power, portable antenna and associated equipment.

Reality Check
73,

It’s a “GO” folks. The trip is on. I’ll be posting specific information on the dates, times and frequencies soon. Licensing information is pending, and we’re writing a communications plan to make sure we include the items we need to take, and any information we need to consider regarding propagation.

I’ve already obtained permission from the resort where we will be living for a few days in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. We’ve visited there twice in the past, and they are very nice folks. We’ve been offered all the staff assistance we need it getting antennas set up and so on. I’m making this a shoe-string trip, with the minimum necessary equipment to make it work.

As a professional radio communicator I’ve been on literally a thousand similar trips doing military, and emergency communications so I do not expect ANY serious problems. I’ve traveled to forty countries with communications gear “officially”. This is “unofficial” and I’m on a civilian passport, so, anything is liable to happen.

I will deal with it as it comes. Wish us luck and plan on listening in and if you’re a ham, trying to catch us. We do plan on QSLing with SWLers under the right conditions as well. So, if you’re not a ham, fire up the Shortwave and listen for us too!

More to come! Stay tuned!

Rick Donaldson
US Amateur Callsign NØNJY
(And JoAnne, KBØIRW)

My wife and I are planning on traveling to Jamaica in Early October for a few days. During this time we are hoping to operate as a “DX station” from the hotel where we will be staying on the beach. I’ve been there twice before and we are applying for our call signs as I write this.

At this point this is a vague plan - nothing set in concrete, and I’ve got to work out details of transporting the communications gear we need, including antennas, and an HF radio at least.

According to several people who’ve visited in the past there isn’t a problem getting licensed, but getting your equipment INTO the country might be a problem so we’re basing this on our own learning as we go along.

I’ll try to up date this very shortly and once we have some firm frequencies in mind, we’ll post that information here, and let the ARRL know as well so they can help “advertise” our DXpedition. We do not expect to operate more than a couple hours a day at most, and we’re not sure of the bands of operations yet.

I’d like to hear from some Hams out there who’ve done this before, or have suggestions on operations.

We’re not going to be “formal” and will likely “chat” or “ragchew” as well, but we’re looking to do QSL cards for those that communicate with us. IF you are a non-ham, but an SWLer, certainly we would love to hear reports from you as well, and we will accept such reports and respond with a QSL card.

More information coming soon.

73,

Rick Donaldson
US Amateur Callsign NØNJY
(And JoAnne, KBØIRW)

Some updates to the site this month….

Sunday was my 50th birthday. Wow. Half a century. Doesn’t seem like I’ve been around that long. It also happens that my wife and I were married thirty years ago, on my birthday so, we celebrated both my birthday and our wedding anniversary.

I bought my wife a pretty diamond ring, and made a joke about it… it is one of those three-diamond sets, with a meaning of “Past, Present, Future”. She asked me what if I knew what it meant, and I said, “Sure. One diamond for each decade,” and grinned at her. She was kind of amused.

For my Birthday though, I got a neat little radio. She let me pick it out, because she is never sure what sort of electronic gadgets I want or will use. I don’t pick her clothes out, and she doesn’t pick out radios. Even though she too, is a ham radio operator, she prefers I take the time to do the research on the electronics. That’s good with me though.

The radio is pretty cool. It’s a Yaesu VX-7RB. It has four bands one can transmit on, the 6M (50 Mhz), 1.2M (220 Mhz), 2M (144 Mhz) and the 70 cm (440) bands. The receiver is wideband and can receive from approximately 500Khz to around 1 gigahertz. Typical of idiotic laws in the United States (due to a senator being overheard breaking the law way back when) cellular frequencies are blocked.

Short of the blocked cell frequencies, I can scan a whole lot of spectrum with this radio, pick up some of the local police and fire (mostly they are on digital trunking now in my region though), weather frequencies (including an emergency alert), multiple programable channels (around 1000), and it picks up shortwave too. Cool radio.

The wife is practicing her testing this last month and is going in on Saturday to upgrade from Novice to at least Technician class. That will at least get her on 2m with me now. We’re supposed to be attending local emergency communications training in September as well, for ARES.

The week before Christmas, on Wednesday 20 December 2007 we were hit with our second major storm of the season.  The first one was in October and I did about an hour long podcast on it, complete with Amateur Radio in the background.  We’re expecting more snow, probably starting tonight and going through Friday.  I’ve been looking at the weather maps, predictions and doing a bit of my own predicting and figure the storm will hit sometime tonight around or after midnight.  Up-slope conditions are in the picture — which means a low pressure system south of Colorado, driving the air up and over the mountains.  With the right set up (cold air from the north, low pressure system to the SW and warm, moist air out of the west and southwest) we get massive snow drops over the mountains and along the front range.

I spend a lot of my time talking to people about "survival situations", in my daily conversations and for the most part people tend to ignore me completely or write me off as a "fringe lunatic survivalist" — which is actually kind of hilarious considering the job I do, my background and the place I work.  Anyway, throughout the course of a month, I probably have between six and ten such conversations that extend over the month with various people.  For the most part I’ve noted a very… almost extreme attitude regarding day-to-day survival.  Such conditions that exist this very minute set people up for failure when they engage in such attitudes.

"It can’t happen to me" seem to be the most prevailent among most people. Then there are various degrees of… well, to put it bluntly, ignorance regarding a person’s own safety.  For example people around here don’t bother to place survival equipment in their vehicles.  Even though they may travel 20-30 miles (some travel to Denvery for jobs, 75 or more miles in some cases) and have stated, "Why worry? I won’t be in the car for long, and they won’t let me stay on the highway!"

My thoughts run in two directions on this. The first is bad. "Ok. Good for you that you have that amount of confidence in ‘they’, whomever THEY are."  Because I know for a FACT that yes indeed there will be rescuers out there. Been there and done it myself.  However, some times, they don’t make it to those that need the help the most.

My second thought is that people who think like this are idiots.  They believe they are so immune to Mother Nature, and golly, society is so civilized they can’t possibly be affected by a disaster, they absolutely deserve what they get.  In fact, I almost want to WISH something on them so they will learn a lesson, but honestly, I’m not that cruel. I hope people will take heed of the things I say, no matter how silly they might seem, or frantic, or fanatical, or even… crazy.

The truth is, even my children LISTEN to me, and don’t think I’m completely crazy.  They sometimes think I over-exhaggerate things, but then they have also "been there and seen it", after I’ve said for them to examine or think something through, before it bites them… and they perhaps have been bitten a few times now.  NOW my family takes my survival information seriously and we have some plans in place to meet up in disaster situations so that we might pool resources.  They all understand the need to help others, and to show others how to survive before the survival situation kicks in to play.

Today, I’m writing for all the Coloradians out there who might be reading and haven’t been paying attention.  Pay attention now. This is the third major storm this season, and it is looking wicked.  It might, as sometimes they do, turn out to be nothing at all. But, for the sake of your families, go out today and buy that extra gallon of milk, or food you think you might need if snowed in for a few days.  Don’t DO it when the blizzard hits. Then you’re out in the blizzard, you’re causing problems on the road, you’re in the way and others are out there not paying attention to you then. They are doing the same thing.

PREPARE for the worst, hope for the BEST.

Good luck with it, I am already planning on what to do sitting at home on Friday since I don’t think *I* will be coming to work.

Rick Donaldson somewhere in Ireland, October 2004.  I posted this because I had a couple of emails wanting to know WHICH Rick Donaldson I happen to be.  Since there are several of us blogging on the internet, and at least one is a musician — a claim I can’t and wouldn’t make (though, I can sing a bit!) I want folks to know which one of us they are talking too.

Now that you’ve seen me, don’t run away screaming, and don’t be shy. Register and comment on the articles.

RickD

What is Amateur Radio?

Amateur Radio, also known as Ham Radio and has been around for a very long time, since the early 1900s.  Throughout the years, Amateurs have contributed greatly to the science of radio helping even today with satellite systems, methods of digital transmission, as well as facsimile, teletype and even with the internet.  The modern internet is directly related to Amateur Radio in many, many ways.

To become a ham in the US (and most other countries) you need simply to understand some basic technical information, be able to receive Morse Code at five words per minute and demonstrate these abilities through taking some simple tests.

http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html - Start here.

In the US there are currently three classes of licenses now. According to the material I pulled from the site URL I gave you above, it says that technician classes do not require a code test, but I seem to recall that all three license classes had a code 5 words-per-minute code requirement. Perhaps they eliminated it and I missed it.

Why do you need a license?

The radio frequency spectrum is a natural resource.  Even though you can’t really "use it up" like you can coal or oil, you can fill it up easily with signals, and if these signals are not regulated as to who can use what, and when, then the entire spectrum would be filled with a lot of noise that no one could decipher.  Thus the "Amateur radio service" was born.  There was another reason behind it, back in the day… the Federal Communications Commission also wanted to make sure there were some trained radio operators to backfill positions in case of a national emergency.

Amateurs have done this, and more throughout the years.  Many of us have spent time behind a microphone passing message traffic, or using morse code to get a health and welfare message across the country to someone’s family who might have been affected by a natural disaster.  Amateurs were active during every major hurricane of this century that has hit the US Mainland. They were active during the 9/11 attacks, wild fires throughout the country and during blizzards and floods in the recent past as well as the distant past. 

If the frequencies we use weren’t protected by the FCC and other countries’ equavalents then we as hams would have not been able to pass such message traffic, or direct authories to locations where they were needed.

Types of Licenses:

Technician:

Hams enter the hobby as Technicians by passing a 35-question multiple-choice examination. No Morse code test is required. The exam covers basic regulations, operating practices, and electronics theory, with a focus on VHF and UHF applications.

Technician Class operators are authorized to use all amateur VHF and UHF frequencies (all frequencies above 50 MHz). Technicians who pass a 5 WPM Morse code examination are entitled to limited power outputs on certain HF frequencies. "Technicians with HF" may operate on the 80, 40, and 15 meter bands using CW, and on the 10 meter band using CW, voice, and digital modes.

General:
The General Class is a giant step up in operating privileges. The high-power HF privileges granted to General licensees allow for cross-country and worldwide communication. Some people prefer to earn the General Class license as their first ticket, so they may operate on HF right away.

Technicians may upgrade to General Class by passing a 5 WPM Morse code test and a 35-question multiple-choice examination. The written exam covers intermediate regulations, operating practices, and electronics theory, with a focus on HF applications.

In addition to the Technician privileges, General Class operators are authorized to operate on any frequency in the 160, 30, 17, 12, and 10 meter bands. They may also use significant segments of the 80, 40, 20, and 15 meter bands.

Amateur Extra:
The HF bands can be awfully crowded, particularly at the top of the solar cycle. Once one earns HF privileges, one may quickly yearn for more room. The Extra Class license is the answer.

General licensees may upgrade to Extra Class by passing a 50-question multiple-choice examination. No further Morse code test is required. In addition to some of the more obscure regulations, the test covers specialized operating practices, advanced electronics theory, and radio equipment design. Frankly, the test is very difficult, but others have passed it, and you can too.

Extra Class licensees are authorized to operate on all frequencies allocated to the Amateur Service.

I’m going to give you some more links here.

Go to this one for books:
http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/

This is set up in "three steps" to take you through each license class, learn code, etc. These are the manuals from the ARRL, American Radio Relay League (I’m a member) and I can highly recommend the last one for Extra class if you plan to get that far (stick to getting your tech license first though, because once you get your feet wet and you’re licensed there are thouands of Hams most likely close by you that can assist you with upgrading your licenses).

Alright. That said…

Here’s a "practice test" you can try. Go to this site: http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl

Chose "Technician" and begin answering questions. If you can get through the test and answer them all, you’re going to be able to do this no problem. If you aren’t sure, or don’t pass the test, no biggy, get yourself a Q&A book from the links provided above and begin reading them.

If you run into any problems, ask the questions you have right here, and I’ll do my best to get you some data to assist you in learning the material.

In other words, I’m more than happy to answer questions RIGHT here to help you out. [Smile]

So, get started, and if necessary, I can set you up to be able to chat with me live on the internet (VOIP) to make it a bit easier.

Rick

PS ANYONE that is interested in getting their ham license, please use this thread to get started, and lets get going. We’ll get you licensed in no time.

Links for CW or Morse Code.

(CW stands for Continuous Wave, meaning, that morse code is an unmodulated carrier wave. There is no sound, and if you don’t have the proper type of receiveer, say an AM only receiver, all you will hear is a puff puff sound. If you have a receiver that has a SSB/CW setting you will be able to reinsert a carrier, which is then "beat" against the incoming signal. That slight offset by several hertz is what gives the distinctive morse code sounds).

These are things on learning, and some programs.

http://www.hello-radio.org/clublist.html
http://www.learnmorsecode.com/
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/learncw/
http://www.cvil.wustl.edu/~gary/Ham/morse_learn.html
http://www.ac6v.com/morseprograms.htm
http://primera.tamu.edu/people/TAES/…aux/code1.html
http://www.mrx.com.au/
http://www.murrah.com/sm/
http://www.morsecodeonweb.homestead.com/MorseMail2.html
http://c2.com/~ward/morse/morse.html

First of all, let me introduce myself.

My name is Rick Donaldson.  I’m a ham radio operator, also known as an Amateur Radio Operator.  I belong to an organization called the American Radio Relay League which has been in existence since 1914.  Originally it was organized as simply a ham radio club.  Eventually, it came to be the largest radio related organization in the world related to Ham Radio. 

Today, the organization works closely with the Federal Communications Commission to assist in keeping our radio bands open, and the ARRL helps us to keep folks active.

I’ve been an Amateur since about 1990 and hold an Amateur Extra Class license, call sign N0NJY.  Locally I am a technical specialist under the Colorado group helping Bob Witte, K0NR and many others to assist ham radio operators in the area with technical issues.  I just received this appointment last month, and I thank Bob Witte for getting me on the team.  So far, in an official capacity I’ve not yet been able to assist anyone — but soon.

Today, I’d like to invite folks to spend some time learning about Amateur Radio.  I’ll give you a couple of links to examine.  I understand it isn’t for everyone, but, I think if you get the chance to try talking on the radio with someone across the country or around the world in person, rather than through email on the internet, you might get a kick out of it. 

Ham radio is a very old hobby — starting when radio was invented in the late 1890s.  It is a rewarding and fun hobby, and can be expensive, like any hobby, but it can also be accomplished without a vast investment.  You will learn about radios, morse code and how to communicate. 

Communications, especially radio communication comes in handy in emergencies, and you don’t pay "minutes" like you do on your cell phone.  You’ll make new friends, and perhaps convince others to join you in the hobby.

So, I’d like to ask you each to spend just a few minutes in the next few days looking into Amateur Radio. If you have questions, you can write me directly at my email address and I’ll do my best to answer your questions or point you in the right direction.

http://www.k0nr.com/  Bob Witte’s site
http://www.arrl.org  The American Radio Relay League

So, check out the second site especially and see what you might do in Ham radio and what Ham radio can do for you.

Good luck, and

73

Rick Donaldson