Become a Radio Ninja (Winter, 1998-1999) ---------------------------------------- By Javaman Recently many of my ninja hacker friends have been asking me for info on one of my big hobbies: radio, or to be more specific, amateur radio. This article will hopefully dispel some of the myths and shed a bit more light on what amateur radio is all about, from "our" perspective. Before continuing, I have to say that if you spent more time in front of a keyboard and had no interest in playing with a carburetor, never took a VCR apart, and were just a wuss when it came to getting your hands dirty, this is not for you. Amateur Radio is the art of using and designing equipment for communicating on frequency bands that we, as licensed operators, have been granted (more on this licensing stuff later). Although many never test their technical ability, amateurs are encouraged to design and build their own antennas, pick up soldering irons and whip up devices to help get themselves on the air, and take electric shocks from vacuum tube equipment that needs servicing. Once you have a station together, be it handheld, flowing out of the dashboard of your car, or taking up a corner room in your house, there are several ways to modulate your signals. As it is today, Amateur Radio operators have developed numerous ways to communicate with each other. The most frequent method seen amongst the script kids of radio (people I consider lame because their lust for knowledge ends at what is superficial) is VHF/UHF FM, which basically means local, high quality voice. Most radio geeks start with this mode as well, as I did myself. After time, different modes of communication grabbed my interest, such as satellite (yes, amateurs have their own satellites), HF [High Frequency] Phone, short-wave worldwide communication, ATV or Amateur Television, and packet, or wireless, digital communications. You can get as deep into any of these facets as you want. Entry level packet radio allows for 1200 or 9600 bps mobile communications. The input to the interfaces, known as a TNC, is standard RS232, with the output being either audio tones for 1200 bps, or a slightly different modulation scheme that does not take well to the microphone jack. For people who want to spend more time on the digital side of things, TAPR, or Tucson Amateur Packet Radio, is always looking for talented engineers to help on their projects, like a 115 kps spread spectrum 900 MHz transceiver, using TCP/IP as the underlying protocol. Input to the rig is Ethernet and output is an antenna. For me, that concept is cool as sh*t. I am a big fan of HF SSB [High Frequency Single Side Band], or worldwide voice communication. During times of good solar activity, I have been able to talk to the remnants of Yugoslavia with little more RF power than it takes to light up a light bulb. Once again, individuals who are hard core into this facet of the hobby may have talked to one person in every single nation on this planet. Morse Code, which is a requirement for higher class licenses, allows you to communicate with very simple equipment. I have seen some Morse Code-only transceivers being built into Altoids tins. It s all well and good that cell phones are that small, but equipment like this was hand built by another amateur. It takes teams of people to design a cell phone. Message boards (think Usenet groups) are ripping around the earth right now, available on only the amateur frequency bands. These birds are built by amateurs for amateurs, and it takes a great deal of talent and skill to communicate with these systems. Some of you may be asking, "Why not just buy, like, CB radios, and then we will be cool?!" Well, in Amateur Radio, the opportunity to learn about and build a great deal of electronics presents itself. Unlike CB, or Citizens Band, where you must purchase a pre-approved radio that has only 40 channels and allows 4 watts out (that is 36dBm, for those with RF in the blood), Amateur Radio operators are encouraged to build their own equipment, and are permitted to radiate a maximum of 1500 watts in pursuit of long-distance communication. Note: This much power is rarely needed, except in moonbounce. Yes, it is possible to bounce your signals off the Earth's largest satellite. I seem to be getting off track from my main point. The reason why most of us installed Linux, then further installed a BSD variant or BeOS, was to learn about a new OS. This is a hobby that encourages you to design and construct innovative circuits. To build anything permanent, you will need soldering skills. This is not for the weak of heart, or those who think that coding is good since you can't be hurt. You may inflict pain here. This is all in the spirit of learning and innovation. Innovation brings faster methods of communication. Communication is good. Now, as I mentioned before, you need a license. I realize that half of you rootshell brats are thinking "Bite me Big Brother, I don't want you to track my 12-year-old hide with a license, yo, cause I'm leet like dat." The test required to get the license is multiple choice and the question pools are published. (Note: The manuals are available at Radio Shack. The entry level test does not require Morse Code anymore.) You stand to learn more from studying for your amateur radio tests than from a lot of high school physics classes. Don't get a license and you piss people off. Get a license and you learn something and are able to put a good hobby on your resume. Probably the main reason why I have my job right now is because of the road I started upon when I was 14 and receiving my Tech-No Code license. I realize that I cannot cover all the material that should be discussed, but hopefully this will provide you with a good starting point. Fire up your copy of Mosaic or Lynx for these URLs: * The largest Amateur Radio club, the ARRL, or Amateur Radio Relay League: www.arrl.org * Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR): www.tapr.org * If you have a scanner, here are the frequencies that amateurs are allowed to operate on: www.arrl.org/field/regulations/bands.html Hopefully I am going to help open a door for some of you. This is another opportunity to learn, and when I was a young one crackin the sh*t on a C64, that was my only goal.