blog:2021-05-09:is_it_ham_radio
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blog:2021-05-09:is_it_ham_radio [2021/05/09 09:49] – created va7fi | blog:2021-05-09:is_it_ham_radio [2021/05/17 20:39] – va7fi | ||
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+ | ~~NOTOC~~ | ||
====== Is it Ham Radio? ====== | ====== Is it Ham Radio? ====== | ||
+ | One of the recurring " | ||
+ | My view is that: | ||
+ | - It's not black and white, and | ||
+ | - The outcome only affects my own level of interest and doesn' | ||
+ | - It also has nothing to do with whether the mode is analog or digital, voice, CW, or text. | ||
+ | |||
+ | To me, the degree to which something is ham radio depends on how much (or little) ham RF it uses. Here are a few examples to illustrate my point (there' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Simplex and Repeaters ===== | ||
{{ is_it_ham_radio1.png | {{ is_it_ham_radio1.png | ||
+ | * 2m simplex, stand-alone repeaters, and RF linked repeaters are close to 100% ham radio. | ||
+ | * I could nit pick and further sub-divide these in terms of how self-reliant they are (solar vs grid power for example), but that's a different axis. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Echolink ===== | ||
{{ is_it_ham_radio2.png | {{ is_it_ham_radio2.png | ||
+ | |||
+ | Echolink starts muddying the water a bit. | ||
+ | * When someone uses their phone to connect to an Echolink node via the internet, which then connects to a repeater via RF, half of the conversation is via RF and the other half is over the internet. | ||
+ | * But when two people use their phones to send each other text messages or have a phone-to-phone conversation, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== IRLP ===== | ||
{{ is_it_ham_radio3.png | {{ is_it_ham_radio3.png | ||
+ | IRLP is a bit similar to Echolink but with more RF: | ||
+ | * When used to connect two (or more) repeaters together, most of the heavy work is via RF. | ||
+ | * But if someone has their own IRLP node at home and use it to connect to other repeaters, then it's a short step away from having an IRLP app on a phone that connects directly to the other repeater and do away with one of the radios. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== DMR ===== | ||
{{ is_it_ham_radio4.png | {{ is_it_ham_radio4.png | ||
+ | Finally, DMR can fall almost everywhere on this continuum. | ||
+ | * When used in simplex or via a stand-alone (or RF connected) repeater, there' | ||
+ | * When repeaters are linked together (via the internet), then it's close to IRLP. | ||
+ | * When when people use their own hotspots, then it's close to personal IRLP simplex nodes. | ||
+ | * Finally, there' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Conclusion ===== | ||
+ | Reasonable people can disagree where different technologies fall on the spectrum, but my main points are that: | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Is it ham radio?": | ||
+ | * Is not a yes/no question. | ||
+ | * Has nothing to do with whether something is analog or digital (P2P packet is as far left as FM simplex to me) | ||
+ | * And isn't prescriptive of what other hams should do with the hobby. | ||
+ | |||
+ | For me, it's only one of the factors that contributes to whether I'm interested in something or not; but it's not the only one: Currently, I'm not interested in investing hundreds of dollars into a DMR radio and a hotspot, but I'll give the (free) DroidStar app a try (what have I got to lose?). |
blog/2021-05-09/is_it_ham_radio.txt · Last modified: 2021/05/17 20:48 by va7fi