The Free Talk Live BBS

LRN.FM - The Liberty Radio Network => Free Radio Forum => Topic started by: TimeLady Victorious on December 20, 2008, 06:35:31 PM

Title: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: TimeLady Victorious on December 20, 2008, 06:35:31 PM
Not AM, shortwave.

Anyone here ever do it? Would someone need something more powerful than a regular ham radio to do it?

Inquiring minds want to know!
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: mikehz on December 20, 2008, 07:08:05 PM
People have used HF (shortwave) to send messages thousands of miles on half a watt. The antenna system is very important!
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: KDus on December 22, 2008, 03:02:55 PM
How many of your friends have a radio that works medium or shortwave bands?
How many of your friends have a TV, or AM, or FM, radio?
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: mikehz on January 06, 2009, 11:59:23 PM
How many of your friends have a radio that works medium or shortwave bands?
How many of your friends have a TV, or AM, or FM, radio?

I have a radio that transmits on HF, or shortwave, bands. However, if you attempt to transmit on the amateur radio bands you will very quickly find that someone will locate you and turn you in to the FCC. Hams are very possessive of their allocations, and police their own frequencies. Typical time to find an illegal broadcaster: maybe twenty minutes. Often, without ever leaving the shack.

"I'm gettin' a 5X5 here, how 'bout you?"

"He's coming in 8X5 here. Must be about a mile away, to the east..."
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: FTL_Ian on January 08, 2009, 09:22:00 AM
Yep, they've been abused and will protect their abuser.

"HEY! You need a license like we have to be here, pal!"
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: NHArticleTen on January 08, 2009, 11:32:58 AM
Yep, they've been abused and will protect their abuser.

"HEY! You need a license like we have to be here, pal!"

same bullshit as the citizen/illegal crap

same bullshit as the licensed/unlicensed crap

same bullshit as the union/non-union crap

same bullshit as...oh...fuck it...

enjoy!

Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: NuroSlam on January 10, 2009, 10:22:39 AM
How many of your friends have a radio that works medium or shortwave bands?
How many of your friends have a TV, or AM, or FM, radio?

I have a radio that transmits on HF, or shortwave, bands. However, if you attempt to transmit on the amateur radio bands you will very quickly find that someone will locate you and turn you in to the FCC. Hams are very possessive of their allocations, and police their own frequencies. Typical time to find an illegal broadcaster: maybe twenty minutes. Often, without ever leaving the shack.

"I'm gettin' a 5X5 here, how 'bout you?"

"He's coming in 8X5 here. Must be about a mile away, to the east..."

Yes, I am licensed.
Yes, I am a member of the ARRL

Of the vast majority of hams that I know under the age of 50 are of the libertarian mindset. They also enjoy shortwave listening which includes listening to pirate radio.

I've been looking at the FCC complaints filed and a good 80% are against hams that are stomping on repeaters, one or two non licensed individuals stomping on repeaters and a couple of companies stomping on repeaters.

Now I agree that the FCC should not exist, but until there is legal recourse for stomping on privately owned repeaters that are intended for providing fault tolerant communications in the event of disaster, emergency etc i see nothing wrong with hams policing hams using the FCC.

For those who wish to make two way communications without an FCC license there is CB radio.

Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: KDus on January 10, 2009, 07:39:04 PM
Who bothers to check call-signs to see if they are valid or if the operator is within their license?
Mine expired years ago but I key up with it anyway. Nobody else knows the difference. If I want to operate on other bands, I'll just drop the appropriate letter.

Hams using the guns of government to impose their will is no different than calling the cops on your noisy neighbor, or broadcasters calling the FCC on pirates.

The FCC is preventing the free market from establishing a sort of title to those repeater channels, and requiring the use of the FCC to persue trespassers. And, everyone involved is subject to arbitrary ineffective authority.

In L.A., local broadcasters coordinate STL frequencies amongst ourselves before we seek FCC approval.
Hams believe in the fantasy that a piece of paper make something right or wrong, and that some people with badges have authority. They are part of the problem because they support the veil of legitimacy.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: NuroSlam on January 10, 2009, 11:49:20 PM
Actually i do see it as free market to a degree as those repeaters are private property. What is it Ian says, my property my rules? whats the recourse in a free market when rules for private property are not followed? Is not the FCC somewhat functioning as an arbitrator in the matter of who owns the repeater not the frequency? again, I see no use for the FCC in a perfect world. just stating a point.

Obviously you don't "abuse" the airwaves which is why no one cares.

Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: KDus on January 11, 2009, 04:02:21 PM
Ostracism.

There is a Ham store in Burbank that only sells to licenced hams.
When reputation becomes more and more important, people won't want others knowing they key up with obscenities on a private repeater's channel that could interfere with emergency traffic. That would limit a persons options in the community.

Again, the FCC is not a starting point, it is in the way.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: NuroSlam on January 11, 2009, 04:56:44 PM
Ostracism.

There is a Ham store in Burbank that only sells to licensed hams.
When reputation becomes more and more important, people won't want others knowing they key up with obscenities on a private repeater's channel that could interfere with emergency traffic. That would limit a persons options in the community.

Again, the FCC is not a starting point, it is in the way.

again, not taking the side of the FCC, but you can't ostracize someone who already has the equipment. Again I agree the FCC should not be used, but a licensed ham has volunteered to abide by the "laws" in order to get the license so he should be held accountable for his voluntary violation of said "laws" by the regulations he has volunteered to follow.

like the bible says, those that have the book are judged by the book those who don't are not.

my point is that 90% of the time hams are going after other hams trespassing on repeater systems, not people running pirate radio
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: mikehz on January 21, 2009, 11:55:39 PM
Who bothers to check call-signs to see if they are valid or if the operator is within their license?

Many hams operate with their computer sitting in the shack. If they hear someone they don't know, they will often check them on QRZ, which has a database of all call signs. I know I have been checked many times.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: KDus on January 22, 2009, 09:23:17 PM
Sounds like a fun evening. Chatting with Hams that want to make sure you are worthy of air time. Those self appointed assistants to the FCC, sure are great folks to associate with.
What are they going to do if my ticket is expired? Will they give me a stern talking to on the 20M? I suppose I should tell them where I am so they can report me. Maybe they'll gather signal reports from several states and figure out that I'm in Southern California. Then again, I might rotate my beam while I transmit and then they'll be searching for me in Santa Barbara in stead of San Diego. I hope I didn't use the wrong number in my call sign. That's a bad habbit, eh?
I don't get on the Ham bands anymore because there's nothing to talk about. It is just a bunch of old guys arguing about the right way to hold a mic when you talk. Maybe you'll get lucky and hear about somebody's RV trip across Mew Mexico!
Let's not forget the "amateur" in amateur radio.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: TimeLady Victorious on December 06, 2009, 06:25:57 AM
After some research at HF Underground I have concluded that as long as you stay within the typical pirate band, don't try to drown out any stations like WBCQ or WWCR (or, the Gods forbid, the VOA herself), and try to stay out of the ham bands, not many people will care.

I'll probably just set up my own Part 15 SW station eventually anyway, so . . .
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: TimeLady Victorious on September 16, 2010, 12:35:52 PM
Bump to protect against vicious hateful database purges.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: RFBurns on September 23, 2010, 10:50:21 AM
Just because the FCC issues licenses to radio enthusiasts known as "hams" does NOT make them God or arbitrators or "final say" in ANYTHING even in their tiny spec of spectrum allocations!

Quite frankly...I believe you hams are being dupped and taken for a back ride. Your bands are barely big enough to stick your pocket pencil in much less your "big beam stick" on the 40ft tower in your back yards. I have seen so many licensed hams splatter the bands with spit and sputter spectrum noise all over the place. They fire up, tune for a peak and a majority dont even monitor their signals while conversing about what kind of antenna they are on today or what kind of reading they are getting on the plate current meter...all the while they are splattering a band 50 megs up and down from their intended frequency of operation. Then sign off thinking they are king kacca of the radio spectrum not even knowing or attempting to find out if their chitter chatter caused any spitter spatter...just because of that piece of paper with the infamous FCC symbol they have thinking everything is ok with my stuff but your stuff isnt ok.

PFFT! The only "ham" I find with a purpose is the type served on a plate at a BBQ on a Sunday afternoon with a cooler full of brewskey and a fine bikini wearing gal fanning me while I relax in the lawn chair.

It is my humble opinion that if radio was only meant for dull and boring 2-way communication, we would not have broadcast radio or television on the airwaves at all. Time for you "hams" to realize that the spectrum is NOT just for your little QSL love letter exchanges.

Besides....2-way communication can be had for a tiny fraction of the cost and no one has to obtain any license or bash their sleeping brain cells with study material that has less than 3 percent of what is put onto the tests.

Cell phones, the internet, handy-talkies and such can be obtained by visiting your nearest Wally World or Rat Shack. And yes there is of course..the tried and tested noisy CB band, which in a pinch makes a very effective method of getting "help me I have a flat come rescue me" message out.

Before you hams start bashing me...I was once a licensed ham...Extra class. That was 25 years ago. When I saw where the communications industry was heading, and the considerably less expensive ways that were on the horizon for communicating, I let that expire and sold off all the wonderful "real" ham gear. Now I can chit chat in voice or video or text across the world in an instant and not have to dig out what is being said through buzz and static and clicks and pops....and at a significantly less expense.

I think watching golf is more exciting. (zzzzzzzz)

Eggs and Ham anyone?.....Green perhaps?  :P

Ahh shortwave....the wonderful part of that spectrum that contains plenty of noise and skip effect your tuned station comes and goes like female friends at a college dorm. Useful for a shortwave time...pointless after the fun is over. (see you tomorrow..same time...same noisy channel?)

If I wanted to listen to voice or music in a "fade-clear-fade-clear-POP-clear-fade" fashion I can turn the volume up and down on my own without the help of the atmosphere.

Today's communications are far advanced from those old days of tin can on a string. But I wont stand in the way or think otherwise of anyone who wants to keep trying new ways to tie that string to that old can. Maybe use paper cups....might get a better frequency response.  :lol:



RFB
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: KDus on November 06, 2010, 07:14:52 PM
Awsome, well said.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: velojym on November 06, 2010, 11:24:19 PM
I would imagine there would be alternatives to using the Government Stick to protect repeaters, but they've pretty much been quashed the same way
government roads have quashed any transportation alternatives that might have come up in a free market.

Build a repeater and use an encryption scheme, accessible to subscribers, to keep the unwashed masses from using it. Not being a radio engineer, that's the best I can come up with, but I'd imagine there are some pretty smart people who could figure it out. I mean.... unless you can realistically homestead bands of the electromagnetic spectrum (I got dibs on the visible stuff! Everyone pay a toll!) then it's down to what free market I.P. would be. Protect your own stuff, and leave everyone else the hell alone.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: KDus on November 21, 2010, 06:35:13 PM
HD radio (IBOC)requires licensed technology for reception.
Subcarriers require special hardware.
Hams use PL tones for simple security.
There are plenty of scrambling and encoding systems for analog and digital.

As for RFI and plain old too much power next door problems, it can be handled like any other polution type property violation.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: Kuerno on November 30, 2010, 04:29:29 PM
HF SW "Micros" if you will is entirely possible.  Many of the old tube rigs were AM / CW only.  Old military xtals bought off ebay can by "ground down" to raise the freq with toothpaste on a piece of glass or lowered with a slight mark of a pencil.

Also look into "radio art" that popped up a few years back down in the Mojave desert where folks put up mini-micro SW stations that sent a single message in CW but with DVR technology anything could be sent including the URL for a website or a FAX or SSTV image.

The reason they mainly popped up in the SW and Mojave is the copious amounts of sun to keep batteries charged with very small solar cells.  Here is some discussion.

http://www.frn.net/vines/Forum4/HTML/003378.html (http://www.frn.net/vines/Forum4/HTML/003378.html)

Another very easy possibility that would actually get an "interesting" talk show more listeners (IMO) than a pirate SW station would be a fairly strong CB station during "skip" (as they say) conditions.  During those conditions a 100 Watt station with a decent antenna..let's say in Keene NH could cover the entire West coast from the PNW to Baja and East as far as NM, UT, CO and Montana.  It would be up to the "broadcaster" as to how aggressive they would like to be.  For instance channel 19 is full of garbage anyway yet monitored even today by many truckers.  The signal from across the country during these favorable conditions would blanket the area in the west yet they could still talk to the folks in their caravan.   Having driven between LA and Utah many times I think I would have loved to have heard an interesting talk-show out in the middle of the desert.  However you could just as easy pick an non dedicated channel (not 19 or 9) and just allow people tunning through the channels to find your signal.









 
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: KDus on January 18, 2011, 12:18:44 AM
Having stopped at almost every truck stop in the Southwest, I would have to say that truckers are watching DVDs and listening to XM and Sirrius, not scanning the 11 meter band.
Skip on the CB is really unpredictable, anyway.
Might be more effective to leave FTL CDs at truck stops?
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: RFBurns on January 25, 2011, 05:02:24 AM
Having stopped at almost every truck stop in the Southwest, I would have to say that truckers are watching DVDs and listening to XM and Sirrius, not scanning the 11 meter band.
Skip on the CB is really unpredictable, anyway.
Might be more effective to leave FTL CDs at truck stops?

Well with today's "i-Mobile" devices and most long haul truckers are set up with wireless net connectivity, and with a majority of the major truck stops and large rest areas being set up with Wi-Fi connectivity, they can tune in to net stations easily.

Though IMO its a good idea, not many these days tote around a collection of physical discs with the advent of the i-pod.

Maybe set up a little stand where they can plug in their i-pod and download FTL episodes and maybe have some physical discs on hand for those still enjoying the good ol days. :)


RFB
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: EarSplittinLoudenBoomer on January 19, 2014, 08:36:47 PM
I was pretty excited to finally land my tech class license 15 or so years ago. But trying to fit into the local clicks on the repeaters in the area proved very disappointing.
So, I keep my license active, but use the upper and lower illegal bands on the CB ... where the people are just down home friendly.
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: KDus on February 08, 2014, 01:28:20 AM
11meters is still alive in los angeles
Title: Re: Pirate shortwave.
Post by: dalebert on February 08, 2014, 09:24:57 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/UeQ2I1K.jpg)