Dear Mr President Trump...

[amaff]

3 hours ago, WRUE951 said:

just don't spill it on ya

That would be a tragic waste

[WRYZ926]

1 hour ago, amaff said:

That would be a tragic waste

We can't be wasting perfectly good coffee around here!!!!!! 

I know I can't afford to waste coffee as I suffer from having too much blood in my caffeine system for the first couple of hours each day.

[WRUE951]

1 hour ago, WRYZ926 said:

We can't be wasting perfectly good coffee around here!!!!!! 

I know I can't afford to waste coffee as I suffer from having too much blood in my caffeine system for the first couple of hours each day.

i can't afford to give up any cafeene.   The price of coffee is infringing on my radio Hobby  ..  

[LeoG]

That's why I drink Hot Cocoa.

[BoxCar]

30 minutes ago, LeoG said:

That's why I drink Hot Cocoa.

It makes a nicer stain.

[rfjunkie]

19 hours ago, WRUE951 said:

i can't afford to give up any cafeene.   The price of coffee is infringing on my radio Hobby  ..  

... When the price of a handheld radio from [big-box-platform] is less than a three-pack of Don Francisco's coffee now-a-days... licking the handheld's battery leads may be a cheaper pick-me-up in the mornings*. (* prolly' shouldn't try that if my childhood experiences with 9-volt batteries are any indication )

[hxpx]

7 minutes ago, rfjunkie said:

... When the price of a handheld radio from [big-box-platform] is less than a three-pack of Don Francisco's coffee now-a-days... licking the handheld's battery leads may be a cheaper pick-me-up in the mornings*. (* prolly' shouldn't try that if my childhood experiences with 9-volt batteries are any indication )

I'm waiting for something to compile so I tried it. 9V batteries are spicier.

[WRUE951]

2 hours ago, rfjunkie said:

... When the price of a handheld radio from [big-box-platform] is less than a three-pack of Don Francisco's coffee now-a-days... licking the handheld's battery leads may be a cheaper pick-me-up in the mornings*. (* prolly' shouldn't try that if my childhood experiences with 9-volt batteries are any indication )

Meanwhile. the price of coffee, at least what i spend, can buy  6 of those big box platform radios.  But i prefer to save for 6 months and buy the bigger bigger box platform..    I'll take a Hytera please.  

[Jaay]

On 8/21/2025 at 4:26 PM, WRUE951 said:

i can't afford to give up any cafeene.   The price of coffee is infringing on my radio Hobby  ..  

With the price of good coffee steadily increasing, we'll have to start making informative decisions between our beloved java and our radios ! 

[WRYZ926]

27 minutes ago, Jaay said:

With the price of good coffee steadily increasing, we'll have to start making informative decisions between our beloved java and our radios ! 

You aren't kidding. I will have to choose coffee over radios if it comes down to it. No one would want to be around me without coffee. I'm a bit grumpy when there is too much blood in the caffeine system.

 

On topic. 

It will be interesting to see if this proposal amounts to anything. There are still public safety and others that already use 42-49 MHz. Yes most of them only use it as a backup system but they do maintain the towers and radios.

[Jaay]

21 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

You aren't kidding. I will have to choose coffee over radios if it comes down to it. No one would want to be around me without coffee. I'm a bit grumpy when there is too much blood in the caffeine system.

 

On topic. 

It will be interesting to see if this proposal amounts to anything. There are still public safety and others that already use 42-49 MHz. Yes most of them only use it as a backup system but they do maintain the towers and radios.

My portion of  illinois is completely void of 30 - 50 mhz traffic. All the low band agencies are now on a statewide trunking system. I still have a couple neighbors using 46/49 phones amazingly.

[WRYZ926]

8 minutes ago, Jaay said:

My portion of  illinois is completely void of 30 - 50 mhz traffic. All the low band agencies are now on a statewide trunking system. I still have a couple neighbors using 46/49 phones amazingly.

Missouri still maintains their VHF low systems as a backup.

[WRQI583]

While a good idea, linking only creates more problems if not done correctly. If you are looking at linking a couple repeaters or a few repeaters to make a large area to cover, that isn't bad. But when does the linking stop? and because you linked these repeaters together, now two guys sitting on one repeater talking will tie up the whole system. Unless of course you own the system and make it closed. In that case it would work. 

Another thing to think about also is that GMRS repeaters have to be installed on commercial towers in many cases to work reliably. If the public safety and cell phones get knocked out in a "disaster", so isn't GMRS and Ham. Disasters don't pick and choose what towers and systems they put offline. When one crashes, they all crash. The networks behind them may determine what gets knocked out first, but Ham and GMRS are both vulnerable to disasters when it comes to the repeaters.

The other idea that many Hams will give you is to get your Ham license and get on HF. Totally not viable, unless you want every single individual person in your family to study for two different tests, learn all this radio theory that means absolutely nothing at the end of the day if you just need long distance communications to pick up a mic and talk. And then you have to spend a fortune on radio equipment. No, QRP radios are not viable because the HF bands are too unpredictable. Sometimes you get away with 5 watts and then the next thing you know you need a lot of power just to get over bad band conditions, and even then it is not guaranteed. I know because I have been living this joke of HF going long distance all year and a good chunk of last year. Anything above 30MHz is not worth my time, leaving HF. The HF bands have been plagued by solar flares knocking them dead unless you run a kilowatt or more so it is hit or miss. But remember, we are talking about reliable communications, not QRP contesting. Reliable as in cell phone reliable. 

So, at the end of the day, either all of you get your own individual Ham licenses, hope that Trump cares enough to force the FCC, that he tried to rearrange, to allow linking, or do what I do, rely on cell phone communications. I have GMRS, and a general class Ham license and do not rely on either for reliable communications because they simply are not reliable. I just use radio for the pure fun of it, "when" it works. If cell phones crashed, radio may be the only communications, but it still wont be reliable. It will be hit or miss depending on band, power output, and location. 
 

[Jaay]

1 hour ago, WRQI583 said:

While a good idea, linking only creates more problems if not done correctly. If you are looking at linking a couple repeaters or a few repeaters to make a large area to cover, that isn't bad. But when does the linking stop? and because you linked these repeaters together, now two guys sitting on one repeater talking will tie up the whole system. Unless of course you own the system and make it closed. In that case it would work. 

Another thing to think about also is that GMRS repeaters have to be installed on commercial towers in many cases to work reliably. If the public safety and cell phones get knocked out in a "disaster", so isn't GMRS and Ham. Disasters don't pick and choose what towers and systems they put offline. When one crashes, they all crash. The networks behind them may determine what gets knocked out first, but Ham and GMRS are both vulnerable to disasters when it comes to the repeaters.

The other idea that many Hams will give you is to get your Ham license and get on HF. Totally not viable, unless you want every single individual person in your family to study for two different tests, learn all this radio theory that means absolutely nothing at the end of the day if you just need long distance communications to pick up a mic and talk. And then you have to spend a fortune on radio equipment. No, QRP radios are not viable because the HF bands are too unpredictable. Sometimes you get away with 5 watts and then the next thing you know you need a lot of power just to get over bad band conditions, and even then it is not guaranteed. I know because I have been living this joke of HF going long distance all year and a good chunk of last year. Anything above 30MHz is not worth my time, leaving HF. The HF bands have been plagued by solar flares knocking them dead unless you run a kilowatt or more so it is hit or miss. But remember, we are talking about reliable communications, not QRP contesting. Reliable as in cell phone reliable. 

So, at the end of the day, either all of you get your own individual Ham licenses, hope that Trump cares enough to force the FCC, that he tried to rearrange, to allow linking, or do what I do, rely on cell phone communications. I have GMRS, and a general class Ham license and do not rely on either for reliable communications because they simply are not reliable. I just use radio for the pure fun of it, "when" it works. If cell phones crashed, radio may be the only communications, but it still wont be reliable. It will be hit or miss depending on band, power output, and location. 
 

And there's ROIP, or Radio over internet Protocol which can allow Worldwide crystal clear coms. I use a SharkRF Openspot, which allows P25, DMR, C4FM, and Pocsag modes in Digital.  Being in a Highrise with Limited antenna options, this method works Extremely Well. 

[LeoG]

Not really radio, is it?  Might as make a phone call.

[Jaay]

10 minutes ago, LeoG said:

Not really radio, is it?  Might as make a phone call.

YES it IS Radio, because you're still transmitting on the link frequency to your hotspot, using RF, OR using RF direct to a dmr or other digital repeater system on the same network. Internet only comes into play at your modem, or at hub of a repeater that you transmit to.

[LeoG]

Sorry, no.  Not at least in the basic determination of radio.  End to end communication by airwaves.  As soon as fiber optics or copper get involved for the transmission of voice you are not "radio waves".

It's my opinion.  And when the internet goes down you lose communication.  When the internet goes down on a real radio broadcast you don't even realize it because it doesn't affect you.

[Jaay]

17 minutes ago, LeoG said:

Sorry, no.  Not at least in the basic determination of radio.  End to end communication by airwaves.  As soon as fiber optics or copper get involved for the transmission of voice you are not "radio waves".

It's my opinion.  And when the internet goes down you lose communication.  When the internet goes down on a real radio broadcast you don't even realize it because it doesn't affect you.

Those of us who are Well equipped don't lose any ability to communicate at all, because as a contingency we can switch to Analog repeaters on Vhf or Uhf, or even digital on simplex. The integration of the internet with two way radio create a robust system that works worldwide on up to around 1600  individual talkgroups. 

 

[Jaay]

37 minutes ago, LeoG said:

Sorry, no.  Not at least in the basic determination of radio.  End to end communication by airwaves.  As soon as fiber optics or copper get involved for the transmission of voice you are not "radio waves".

It's my opinion.  And when the internet goes down you lose communication.  When the internet goes down on a real radio broadcast you don't even realize it because it doesn't affect you.

Also in Many areas of the U.S. our internet is carried on underground fiber optic lines, which keeps it well protected.

[GreggInFL]

3 minutes ago, Jaay said:

Also in Many areas of the U.S. our internet is carried on underground fiber optic lines, which keeps it well protected.

That's fine where it is 100% underground, but go any distance and it will be above ground somewhere. Just ask the dump truck driver who wiped out the pole in the next county and had us down for several hours.

[WRUE951]

5 hours ago, GreggInFL said:

That's fine where it is 100% underground, but go any distance and it will be above ground somewhere. Just ask the dump truck driver who wiped out the pole in the next county and had us down for several hours.

this is true.. When i left the industry in 2022 i think the overhead to underground ratio was 55%.  Under grounding utilities is happening but not at an alarming rate.  Because the cost is 8-25 times higher.  Cities and Counties used to create annual underground districts forcing utilities to do this at their cost but utilites got smart and began to aquire their own right of ways.. And that threw a big  wrench in these underground districts.  Underground is the way to go thugh,,  cables arent getting  to dug up like they used to because repair cost to the invaders will put some out of business..   

[WRQI583]

8 hours ago, Jaay said:

And there's ROIP, or Radio over internet Protocol which can allow Worldwide crystal clear coms. I use a SharkRF Openspot, which allows P25, DMR, C4FM, and Pocsag modes in Digital.  Being in a Highrise with Limited antenna options, this method works Extremely Well. 

Oh I have a DMR hotspot that I just put together from spare parts from other pi's and DMR hotspots. I haven't used it in awhile but it works well if you live in a place like I do. I know many other Hams who use them because they are apartment/HOA bound and cant put up outdoor antennas. I use the WPSD software on mine.

Many Hams will say it isn't real radio, but what are ya gonna do? Sit there with a Ham License and do nothing? Some of us are lucky to have a place to put our HF antennas and other sticks in the air, some are not. 

[AdmiralCochrane]

20 hours ago, WRQI583 said:

Many Hams will say it isn't real radio, but what are ya gonna do? Sit there with a Ham License and do nothing?

Ever hear of mobile, POTA or SOTA?

[WRQI583]

1 hour ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

Ever hear of mobile, POTA or SOTA?

Depends on if the OP has a general license or not, AND if they get into contesting. Personally I cant stand contesting. These days, it seems like Ham Radio is either contesting or Emergency Management. Not much going on in other areas, of course, depending on the area you live in.

Going mobile works. I have had to do it before and still do in order to use 2 meters and 70cm. In order to join in with the groups in my state that use 2m simplex, I have to drive a good distance from my house and sit on a hill top. But who wants to have to keep driving out to a hill top and sitting somewhere just to use Ham Radio? I definitely don't care for it. My evening is for relaxing.

I think if anyone wants to call something "not real Ham Radio", you can call Hamshack hotline "not real radio". At least with DMR, you are still using a portable radio in most cases. Most of the networks are on repeaters anyhow. With Hamshack hotline, you literally use a device that links to an internet network, thats it. I know people like it, but I think that is where I draw the line.