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Ham Radio Question

The technical side of broadcasting. Think IBOC is a sham? Talk about it here! How about HDTV? Post DX reports here as well.
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Turkeytop
Posts: 8854
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:27 pm

Ham Radio Question

Post by Turkeytop » Fri Nov 27, 2020 9:12 pm

I'm listening right now to the local repeater on the 70 cm band. There are operators on from Australia. How can they work a repeater in Canada from that far away?


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

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SolarMax
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2004 5:59 pm
Location: 313

Re: Ham Radio Question

Post by SolarMax » Fri Nov 27, 2020 10:28 pm

There are internet-based repeater linking systems, which is how you were hearing a far-away ham on a local repeater.
A widely used system is called EchoLink. To participate, one registers with a central clearinghouse site, and must be a licensed amateur radio operator. The system can be accessed from a ham transceiver working through a local repeater, after having punched in a known access code number. The local repeater does an IP connection with the repeater with that ID, and thence to another ham on the other end with his transceiver. OR, one can access the system from a computer or phone via an Echolink app or program and connect to a remote system that way as well. Radio links on ham repeaters are involved at one or both ends, thus the necessity of being a licensed operator, ID-ing and proper operating practices.
There are also "conference" servers to allow multiple participants in a conversation or a net.
A similar concept is IRLP, Internet Radio Linking Project, another IP linking system.
IRLP and EchoLink are analog voice systems running on analog FM repeaters.
New digital radio systems like DMR, DStar and C4FM (Fusion) allow direct digital connections, talk groups etc. but are not as easily accessed or monitored by casual listeners. If you tune across a local FM repeater and hear a raucous buzzsaw sound, It's in one of the digital voice modes. These digital voice modes are not compatible, of course, so you need a DMR radio to talk via a DMR repeater, DStar to DStar, Fusion to Fusion.
One good guide to what systems nearby are running analog or what flavor of digital is http://www.Repeaterbook.com
Info on EchoLink and IRLP
http://www.echolink.org/
http://www.irlp.net/



k8jd
Posts: 603
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:35 pm
Location: Commerce, MI

Re: Ham Radio Question

Post by k8jd » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:42 am

I still think that's cheating . Like using your cell phone to call a ham operator in a distant country and expecting him to send you a QSL Card toward a DX Radio award.
Worked the world from a repeater a few miles away on V or UHF , IS NOT REAL ham radio !
It may be fun but///
It's becoming a computer,internet hobby with a radio on the side !
I like it the old fashioned way, radio to radio via Ionosphere.



k8jd
Posts: 603
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:35 pm
Location: Commerce, MI

Re: Ham Radio Question

Post by k8jd » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:45 am

used to keep track of the local ops I know by listening to a scanner on the 2M and 70 CM FM repeaters while I operated on the HF bands, now there are almost no conventional FM modes left and all I can hear on the Scanner is arircraft band traffic.



km1125
Posts: 3570
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:09 pm

Re: Ham Radio Question

Post by km1125 » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:22 am

k8jd wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:42 am
I still think that's cheating . Like using your cell phone to call a ham operator in a distant country and expecting him to send you a QSL Card toward a DX Radio award.
Worked the world from a repeater a few miles away on V or UHF , IS NOT REAL ham radio !
It may be fun but///
It's becoming a computer,internet hobby with a radio on the side !
I like it the old fashioned way, radio to radio via Ionosphere.
It's 'virtual HAM' and about as comparable to the real thing as playing Grand Prix is to actually driving a car.



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Turkeytop
Posts: 8854
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:27 pm

Re: Ham Radio Question

Post by Turkeytop » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:42 am

km1125 wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:22 am
k8jd wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:42 am
I still think that's cheating . Like using your cell phone to call a ham operator in a distant country and expecting him to send you a QSL Card toward a DX Radio award.
Worked the world from a repeater a few miles away on V or UHF , IS NOT REAL ham radio !
It may be fun but///
It's becoming a computer,internet hobby with a radio on the side !
I like it the old fashioned way, radio to radio via Ionosphere.
It's 'virtual HAM' and about as comparable to the real thing as playing Grand Prix is to actually driving a car.

Agreed. It's like comparing intravenous feeding to fine dining.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

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