
HAMNET — A large scale high speed radio network [pdf] - Gupie
https://www.tapr.org/pdf/DCC2014-TheEuropeanHAMNET-DG8NGN.pdf
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therealidiot
The regulations surrounding amateur radio just seem antiquated.

It's a shame, because radio is really interesting, but a lot (yes, not all) of
amateur stuff feels as though it's stuck in the past.

Before I get lectured, yes, I understand most of the reasoning. That doesn't
mean I have to like it.

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ajford
There is a bit of antiquated rules, but yeah most of them have their reasons.
The whole point behind it amateur radio is to promote technology and
communications, as well as provide an emergency backbone and fallback that the
government doesn't have to fund, or really upkeep (since most of ham radio
relies on self regulation and reporting).

Allowing encrypted comms would essentially destroy one of the primary tenets
of amateur radio, inter-operability without massive coordination.

Now this doesn't mean you can't have security over the air. Just not really
privacy. Nothing states you can't use modern crypto to generate signing keys
and sign your message (not exactly feasible for voice, but digital yes) using
asymmetric keys and common message authentication techniques.

There's some modern digital modes and messaging systems developing, but the
lack of privacy and sometimes the nature of the common demographic within ham
radio (non-pc savvy users, oddly) prevent the growth on new tech.

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w8rbt
One reason much of radio is antiquated and old-fashioned is that the old
technology is dead simple and just works. With a piece of wire and a simple
radio, you can communicate regionally or globally without network
infrastructure or mains power.

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koryk
There is also a Hamnet in the United States that started in Austin. You can
use old routers to connect to it. [http://www.broadband-
hamnet.org/](http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/)

Don't forget Amateur Radio Field Day is in 11 days!

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fluxquanta
>Don't forget Amateur Radio Field Day is in 11 days!

Holy crap, already? I haven't been messing with radio stuff lately but man, it
really does feel like field day 2015 was just yesterday.

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rollulus
That is incredible cool! When I was a teen in the 90s I was part of a 1200baud
radio network using 27mc. It was pure anarchy. Yet we managed to setup such a
distributed system that allowed people to send mails across Europe. My
idealistic half dreamed a while of a modern version of that 27mc network,
which appears to be exactly the OP: distributed and independent.

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tlrobinson
Cool, I didn't realize there were actually large scale HAMNETs in the wild. I
assumed it was typically a toy thing people would occasionally setup at field
days and such.

Are any licensed amateurs (or those interested in getting licensed) in San
Francisc interested in trying to set up a mesh? I've got a node running (I
think... I haven't checked on it in months...). I've never actually connected
to another node...

~~~
meatmanek
I could possibly be interested. I'm on the west side of Bernal Heights. What
purpose / use would you have in mind?

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sverige
This is pretty cool. I remember doing packet radio in the '80s with my dad on
a Commodore C64 that he got for that reason. I've had my ham license for over
30 years now but haven't done anything with it for over 10 now. Maybe it's
time to get back into it.

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threeio
I got back into the hobby a few years back... its quite enjoyable when you
have a job and can afford more expensive toys ;)

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api
"It is using the international coordinated IP-address space of the AMPRNet
(44.0.0.0/8) and AS numbers out of the 16-bit and 32-bit private AS number
space to interconnect active regions by external BGP routing."

Yet another brand new project that completely ignores the existence of IPv6.

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p1mrx
I don't think 44/8 has an IPv6 equivalent. Anyone who creates one would need
to pay an annual registration fee to one of the RIRs, whereas 44/8 is free
because it came directly from IANA in 1992.

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phicoh
If it is not connected to the internet then you can just use ULAs without any
problems. You can even set up a registry and use ULA-C space.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_local_address](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_local_address)

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nxzero
Legally speaking, seems like every user & station would require a callsign,
which would likely be a huge barrier to adoption, create massive privacy
issues, etc.

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wglb
Yes each station would require a call sign. At least in the US, all call signs
are publicly discoverable and the records include the physical address of the
station.

There is, by law, no form of privacy about where the station is located, nor
any of the communications by amateur radio.

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VLM
Per FCC part 97.23 last amended in '98 you need a US mailing address where you
can get USPS mail delivered. In case they want to send a complaint mail, for
example. If your postal address bounces they'll cancel your license. The FCC
needs a way to contact you and USPS is the one method they demand, not email,
not facebook, not phone number, postal mail.

99% of hams, if not more, use their home street address which is probably
where their station is located. School clubs usually use the main school
address and at a giant uni it never works. Some people use PO boxes, or work
address. APO/FPO addresses work fine if you're stationed overseas.

With certain weird limitations related to the national radio quiet zone by the
radio telescopes and the NSA monitoring posts, the FCC doesn't care where the
transmitter is located under part 97. Consider mobile operation or portable
operation. You're probably thinking of part 73 "regular ole AM/FM radio
broadcasting" where the FCC wants all kinds of detailed latitude / longitude
data and surveys or maybe part 11 for the emergency broadcast system.

~~~
wglb
Ah! You are correct.

I was licensed well before that, and missed that change.

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matiasfernandez
Can someone ELI5 this?

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wglb
This describes a network infrastructure of amateur radio stations linked by
microwaves. The slides describes the equipment required and the procedures
required to join this network.

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ape4
Would be great to see this jump across the Atlantic.

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daedalus_j
For those interested see also [http://www.aredn.org/](http://www.aredn.org/)

