Morse code

[TromboneAl]

YouTube - Airplane -Roger-Victor-Over

 

[FUEGO]

Yeah, but how are you going to find the King of Jordan on the Internet?

For all we know, he walks among us commoners today. Maybe picking up some good asset allocation tips or something.

 

[mathjak107]

two thoughts on ham radio:

1. I always found it amusing that the main thing that hams seemed to talk about was their equipment ("rig"). That is, they put together this stuff just to talk about the stuff they put together.

2. Doesn't the internet now fulfill many of the needs that ham radio was used for (that is, converse with strangers around the world)?

yes you are right on all accounts, except for helping with emergency services and getting to go to all the disasters i find the internet more interesting...

REMINDS ME OF WHEN I WAS INTO HI END AUDIO EQUIPTMENT WE SPENT MORE TIME LISTENING TO EQUIPMENT DIFFERENCES THEN THE ACTUAL MUSIC

 

[toofrugalformycat]

Two thoughts on ham radio:

1. I always found it amusing that the main thing that hams seemed to talk about was their equipment ("rig"). That is, they put together this stuff just to talk about the stuff they put together.

2. Doesn't the Internet now fulfill many of the needs that ham radio was used for (that is, converse with strangers around the world)?

1. You mean like how all us retired early folks sit around typing on computers telling about what we do now that we're retired?
I'm poking fun at myself, because I made my living mostly typing on computers.

2. Seems like for natural disasters, radio might be more robust?

 

[ERD50]

2. Seems like for natural disasters, radio might be more robust?

That's one reason Morse code has been so long lived - on a weak/noisy signal, you can pick out the difference between a dash and a dot far more accurately than you can decode verbal communication.

It's essentially digital communication, just two states to distinguish, dot and dash, very robust.

Of course today, they can pull all sorts of tricks with modern digital encoding. For example, GPS repeats the same signal many times, once the receiver is synced to the repetition rate, it can just keep adding up one signal to the next and eventually a signal buried way in the noise will start to rise above the noise level (the noise being uncorrelated, and the signal being correlated will mean the signal adds up faster than the random noise).

-ERD50

 

[JOHNNIE36]

You guys are giving me a headache with all your tech talk and gobble-de-gook! Personally I think the problem is an X sub-B bar with a hankle on the pos-pi. If not that, then it's a pos-pi on the sti sci for.

 

[youbet]

That's one reason Morse code has been so long lived - on a weak/noisy signal, you can pick out the difference between a dash and a dot far more accurately than you can decode verbal communication.

In the case of TFFMC's interference, voice signals audible on her computer speakers are garbled and completely unintelligible because there is no circuitry to demodulate the signal and convert it to human-understandable audio. But when Morse signals are used, the content is easily interpreted.

But, you're right that today's digital signalling processing can, in many situations, rival Morse in being able to communicate under tough conditions.

For amateur radio operators, using Morse is analogous to a golfer actually going outdoors on the course and playing as opposed to staying inside and playing a simulation on his computer. Or a surfer actually going to the beach and surfing as opposed to staying inside and playing a simulation...... I'ts fun and requires a little mental agility to send and receive Morse without computer aids.

 

[mews]

For all we know, he walks among us commoners today. Maybe picking up some good asset allocation tips or something.

That's the son's gig - the current king.

Senior was a ham radio operator.

ta,
mew

 

[Goonie]

Yeah, but how are you going to find the King of Jordan on the Internet?

ta,
mew

(the late king, actually)

That's the son's gig - the current king.

Senior was a ham radio operator.

ta,
mew

I remember many moons ago...when both my Dad and the King (of Jordan..NOT Elvis ) were still above the dirt....the day that my Dad talked to him. Dad had talked to folks all over the globe for many years, but making contact with the King was a high spot in his Ham experiences and memories! I don't recall now, if they exchanged QSL cards or not....someday I'll have to dig around and see if I can find one if they did.

 

[mathjak107]

In the case of TFFMC's interference, voice signals audible on her computer speakers are garbled and completely unintelligible because there is no circuitry to demodulate the signal and convert it to human-understandable audio. But when Morse signals are used, the content is easily interpreted.

But, you're right that today's digital signalling processing can, in many situations, rival Morse in being able to communicate under tough conditions.

For amateur radio operators, using Morse is analogous to a golfer actually going outdoors on the course and playing as opposed to staying inside and playing a simulation on his computer. Or a surfer actually going to the beach and surfing as opposed to staying inside and playing a simulation...... I'ts fun and requires a little mental agility to send and receive Morse without computer aids.

morse code was done away with years ago as a requirement ...digital communications such as packet have surpassed it in efficiancy..

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/01/24/100/?nc=1

 

[Meadbh]

I remember many moons ago...when both my Dad and the King (of Jordan..NOT Elvis ) were still above the dirt....the day that my Dad talked to him. Dad had talked to folks all over the globe for many years, but making contact with the King was a high spot in his Ham experiences and memories! I don't recall now, if they exchanged QSL cards or not....someday I'll have to dig around and see if I can find one if they did.

In these days of heightened security, when Barack Obama's Blackberry has been Banished, if the late King of Jordan were still alive, he would probably be strongly discouraged from his ham radio hobby!

By the way, what did Mr. Goonie Snr. and the King chat about?

 

[ls99]

Amateur radio: Playing with radio communications for the fun and pleasure of it.

There are on the HF frequencies many "ragchewers" who communicate daily about various topics, nut unlike here on this forum. Topics as here can range from hairballs, through investments, old age pins and remedies, to rocket science. No need for emoticons, tone of voice conveys tons of meaning.

Several people get together on the same frequency and do round table discussions. There are emergency nets, well coordinated and controlled by net control.

The users of amateur spectrum run the gamut form morse code with straight keys, iambic paddles at breakneck speed, radio locations digital modes by the bucket.

Some of the stuff can be lifesaving in an emergency, some are done just to pass the time. Yes, there are contests for maximum number of contacts in a day, or by continent, none of which ever interested me.

I used to run a ham radio when I was on board a research ship, having folks in various places on the earth, running autopatch so crew members could say hi to wives, kids, mothers etc.

This was in the days when ships were still required to have a "Radio Officer" on board. Except running telegrams through his radio via morse code cost big bucks. They charged by the words.

So as you might guess I hold a Ham license, as well as a commercial radio operators' license. To this day I have 2 meter rigs in my cars. Yeah cell phones may be more efficient, but you cant just put a call out: XX2XXX is monitoring, mobile. And then a good chance to strike up a chat with a fellow amateur for a while. This is done through club maintained repeaters. Some of these repeaters are phenomenally complex. Interconnect (translate) several frequencies and other repeaters.

 

[youbet]

morse code was done away with years ago as a requirement ...digital communications such as packet have surpassed it in efficiancy..

ARRLWeb: It's Official! Morse Code Requirement Ends Friday, February 23

That's true. The legal requirement to know the code is gone. Yet, just as some golfers still actually go out in the sunshine and play on the course instead of staying indoors and playing a computer simulation, or some surfers actually head to the beach instead of an indoor session of computer simulated surfing, some ham operators still "pound brass" as part of the hobby.

Many hobbiests master the code easily, just as some master a foreign language with little effort. Others struggle........

 

[Goonie]

By the way, what did Mr. Goonie Snr. and the King chat about?

As I recall, they just exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes, and then continued on with their lives....just like so many other contacts that they made over the years. Besides being a fairly unique opportunity for my Dad, it sure added some fuel to his bragging rights!

 

[MikeD]

Two thoughts on ham radio:

1. I always found it amusing that the main thing that hams seemed to talk about was their equipment ("rig"). That is, they put together this stuff just to talk about the stuff they put together.

2. Doesn't the Internet now fulfill many of the needs that ham radio was used for (that is, converse with strangers around the world)?

I noticed as a kid that all the hams talked about was their eqpt, too. Then they got into microprocessors in the '70s and starting sending each other digital pics... Guess what the pics were of.

Mike D.

 

[youbet]

I noticed as a kid that all the hams talked about was their eqpt,

Radio had been invented when you were a kid? Nooooo..... I don't think so...... Didn't that come a few decades later?

 

[haha]

I noticed as a kid that all the hams talked about was their eqpt, too. Then they got into microprocessors in the '70s and starting sending each other digital pics... Guess what the pics were of.

Mike D.

Their DWs?

 

[MikeD]

If their "DW" stands for Dear Wireless.

Mike D.

 

[Meadbh]

Amateur radio: Playing with radio communications for the fun and pleasure of it.

There are on the HF frequencies many "ragchewers" who communicate daily about various topics, nut unlike here on this forum. Topics as here can range from hairballs, through investments, old age pins and remedies, to rocket science. No need for emoticons, tone of voice conveys tons of meaning.

Several people get together on the same frequency and do round table discussions. There are emergency nets, well coordinated and controlled by net control.

The users of amateur spectrum run the gamut form morse code with straight keys, iambic paddles at breakneck speed, radio locations digital modes by the bucket.

Some of the stuff can be lifesaving in an emergency, some are done just to pass the time. Yes, there are contests for maximum number of contacts in a day, or by continent, none of which ever interested me.

Sorta like....the forum?

 

[ls99]

Ayep!

 

[NW-Bound]

Some earlier posts about Ham radio below...

ls99, are you one of those who run 1KW mobile?

Ditto on the facts that the Ham may not be at fault at all. However, the ARRL (their organization) encourages hams to work with their neighbors to identify and help fix the equipments at the receiving end to prevent bad blood.

Frank belongs to a forum in which real names and contact information is readily available. They are ham radio operators, and many have been in contact with one another for years. They go by their call signs, and using that their names, addresses, and so on can be looked up.

Participants on that forum are NASTY to each other!! I was shocked. They had to completely remove their political forum (like our Soapbox) a couple of weeks ago, because it was getting so bad, and I mean BAD. They are not nearly as nice and civil as we are.

Surprised me, too! I told him they needed better moderation. He told me that their mods literally get phone calls in the middle of the night by incensed forum participants.

When I was a teenager, I was interested in Ham radio for the fun in electronics. Never an operator, but I read their periodicals to study the vacuum tube circuits. I chuckled at one incidence when two guys insulted each other over the airwave. One found out where the other guy was, seeked him out, and pumped several rounds of lead into the other guy's ...







... radio.

 

[TromboneAl]

.... .- ...- .   -.-- --- ..-   - .-. .- -. ... .-.. .- - . -..   - .... .   -- --- .-. ... .   -.-. --- -.. .   -.-- . - ..--..     ..   .... --- .--. .   -.-- --- ..- .----. .-.. .-..   -.- . . .--.   ..- ...   .--. --- ... - . -..   --- -.   .-- .... .- -   .... .- .--. .--. . -. ... .-.-.-

 

[REWahoo]

Yeah, Al, I hope he keeps us posted too...

 

[mathjak107]

I noticed as a kid that all the hams talked about was their eqpt, too. Then they got into microprocessors in the '70s and starting sending each other digital pics... Guess what the pics were of.

Mike D.

us guys are still talking about our equipment ha ha ha

 

[toofrugalformycat]

.... .- ...- .   -.-- --- ..-   - .-. .- -. ... .-.. .- - . -..   - .... .   -- --- .-. ... .   -.-. --- -.. .   -.-- . - ..--..     ..   .... --- .--. .   -.-- --- ..- .----. .-.. .-..   -.- . . .--.   ..- ...   .--. --- ... - . -..   --- -.   .-- .... .- -   .... .- .--. .--. . -. ... .-.-.-

Now, TA, don't be cliquey. Not all of us can read this stuff.
Get it, cliquey- ar ar ar.

Status update:
Two members of the local ham club stopped by this afternoon. These people were intense! They verified that all my equipment was picking up their broadcasts from outdoors (although faintly). They gave us a bunch of advice on stuff to do, all involving going to the local Radio Shack and buying stuff to filter out the problem at low cost. They also said they were going to talk with the neighbor because there is something he can install to avoid making our stereo suddenly shriek loudly at us (even when turned off).
I was able to give them the ID of at least one person who was sending morse code on New Year's day (thank you, Youbet). I suspect it's the neighbor but I'm not sure - long story.
So in summary it's partly my responsibility to install filters, because the FCC pulled a Greenspan and deregulated audio equipment, and it's partly probably the neighbor screwing up. Thanks to Youbet and others I can do something now other than grow a tumor from stress.
Thank you, everyone. Like most groups of people, ham operators are 99.9% great people, with just a jerk or two thrown in to keep things interesting.