(no subject)

[dolari]

Finally dug Tess' mobile ham radio out, just to see how the signal was out here in Duvall. Back when I lived in Redmond, I was in a deep valley, so ANY reception was terrible (I didn't even get Television reception).

Here in Duvall, on the side of a hill with good north/south/east views? I can hear everything! It's a lot more active than I'd been led to believe deep in the valleys of Redmond. Listening to "The Nine O Clock Net" on WW7PSR right now....

I still have more than a mild curiosty for radio. I listen to the 2 meter band thanks to Tess' radio, I listen to the CB, Airplane and police bands on North's Super Old School Multi-band Radio. And I REALLY miss my super sensitive shortwave radio.

But it's just a "medium" curiosity. Back when I had a CB, and would broadcast every night with "This is the Blaster blastin' atcha" it was all about communication, versus the radio technology. The internet has superseded that for me.

Sure, there was a lot of excitement when I reached out 30+ miles on a CB radio in 1987, but when you can talk to people around the world in real time thanks to the internet, my long-range communication needs are met pretty easily these days.

Comments

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

It's all about the communication, absolutely. I had a spell with CB, but the lure of amateur radio pulled me in - and, for a while, the local repeater was often a wonderful social hub, with a core of regulars, and the occasional visitor, discussing all manner of things. Eventually I moved away, and the license lapsed, but I reactivated it not too long ago, and picked up one of the ubiquitous Baofeng handies to see what's about.

Maybe I'll become more active with a radio that's less user hostile, but it did seem as if there was quite little activity on the local repeaters, though listening to some of the airport chatter was mildly interesting. =:) I still find radio per se inherently fascinating, but, true, if I want to access a site, I can do that on my iPad in the bath, no need to rotate a 2m beam in a particular direction and squirt 2400 baud half duplex.

As for CB, at one point we lived atop a hill in a fairly flat part of the county, so even its 250mW (50mW ERP!) could reach a few miles, and I could hear everything around. Well, on the two channels it was equipped for, 14 and 30. =:D

Hmm. Think I'll turn the handie on and see what's going on.. ^_^