The Backbone of VHF Amateur Radio May Be Under Threat

Re:The Backbone of VHF Amateur Radio May Be Under Threat by dmix on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @12:00PM (#20336405)

So if you can't run any modern internet what would you use the mesh network for? Some of Google's traffic charts show up to 90% of traffic is TLS in the US for Chrome users.

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Re:The Backbone of VHF Amateur Radio May Be Under Threat by rsuelzer on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @12:15PM (#20336546)

It's an intranet. Sort of a backup internet that would allow for data to be sent at a much higher rate than just voice.

Here is the map in So Cal of the active nodes. https://mapping.kg6wxc.net/meshmap/map_display.php#8/33.970/...

Also, in emergency situations regular FCC rules are suspended so encryption is not a problem. We actually used this mesh to provide internet to hams working emergency communications in a fire zone after their internet lines were burned out.

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Re:The Backbone of VHF Amateur Radio May Be Under Threat by dmix on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @12:25PM (#20336656)

That's way bigger than I thought it would be. Neat.

Also good point about emergencies and backups.

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Re:The Backbone of VHF Amateur Radio May Be Under Threat by logfromblammo on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @12:38PM (#20336788)

You would use it to talk to other amateur radio operators about amateur radio operating and amateur radio equipment, obviously.

The prohibition on encrypted content is a deal-breaker for me, and a lot of other people, who might otherwise want to experiment with connecting to the Internet from difficult locations.

But since the Internet runs on encrypted protocols now, using unencrypted amateur radio transmissions potentially means eavesdroppers and man-in-the-middle attacks, so you can't do anything sensitive or personal, or even anything requiring login credentials.

And since hams are very likely to narc, snitch, or grass on you to defend the sanctity and integrity of their hobby, you can't do anything interesting or unusual for long before someone finds a rule that forbids whatever it is you were doing and forces you to stop.

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Re:The Backbone of VHF Amateur Radio May Be Under Threat by justin66 on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @01:34PM (#20337397)

> And since hams are very likely to narc, snitch, or grass

You forgot rats and stool pigeons. It really detracted from the extremely important point you were making.

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Re:The Backbone of VHF Amateur Radio May Be Under Threat by logfromblammo on Tuesday July 02, 2019 @04:16PM (#20339021)

Nevertheless, it is one of the unpleasant traits that turned me off from a hobby that I'd otherwise be interested in. The technical aspects are appealing, but it's the outdated rules regime and the people in the community that drove me off.

It may be different in your locale, but the hams around me are mainly older white men, and the voices that can be heard on the air are frequently strongly biased against my moral and political opinions. And they have no "block" buttons.

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