Welcome to Partisan Radio Volume 3!
In this episode: Digital Communications
Visit Partisan Radio at PODBEAN to DOWNLOAD this and previous episodes!
Vandalism cripples computers, phones and ATMs in Arizona
How to send free text messages from your PC
Tecsun PL880 Shortwave Radio with Single Side Band Reception
Digital Communications:
http://www.w1hkj.com/download.html and it’s the top line that you really
need for now. You’re looking for fldigi/flarq and look over until you see
the link titled:
‘fldigi-3.21.83 setup’
That will enable you to receive most digital communications modes that
Amateur Radio operators use. Just choose the download that matches your
operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux). There are also some great articles
to help you get started at:
How to Receive Ham Radio DIGITAL Communications
Are there any plans to put Partisan Radio podcasts on iTunes?
Yes. We’re working on it, but for now it’s available for download at http://www.PartisanRadio.Podbean.com
Question. What’s the point in having an HF radio if the infrastructure is in place to jam communications?
ooooh! Good question! There are a thousand reasons, so I’ll start by listing the top 5:
1. They can jam anything from the internet to cell phones to HF. We have them because while they’re not being jammed, they allow us to communicate.
2. There are countless scenarios which could require us to switch to emergency HF communications when the government would have no intentions or desire to jam HF.
3. While jamming HF, they would effectively be hurting themselves. The government has extensive plans incorporating the use of HF, so it would be like a cancer patient shooting himself in the attempt to kill the tumor.
4. While the government can ‘surgically’ shoot the proverbial tumor by concentrating on only the Amateur Radio bands, many of the Amateur Radio operators (with some modifications) can switch to non-Amateur Radio bands and continue to operate (not legal in many cases).
5. A single government unilaterally jamming frequencies that are regulated by international bodies and law would likely be in violation of international law, and to intentionally crush the citizen’s ability to freely communicate could have strong backlash for the violating government.
6. BONUS: While voice communications is easily jammed, many digital modes are so robust that they can actually cut through jamming frequencies and the associated noise.
7. BONUS #2: We would be doing ourselves a great disservice to have no HF capabilities at all, just because they ‘could’ be jammed. As long as we can, we’ll use it. When we can’t we’ll look for a work around. When we can’t do that, we won’t use HF. And finally, we’ll use ‘other’ methods for communicating which will not be discussed here.
Thank you for the quick reply JJS. Don’t get me wrong, I believe amateur radio is an excellent way to communicate and a great hobby. I wasn’t aware that the technology existed to jam all HF frequencies. It seems that propagation would be as much a problem for the jammers as it would be for the everyday operator – thus allowing “loopholes” for phone communication in certain regions. One last question. Wouldn’t it be a lot harder to jam VHF/UHF communications since they’re so localized? It seems the equipment needed would have to be distributed in large numbers – especially here in the redoubt. Thanks again, I love what you’re doing and God bless!
I am new to AmRRON corp, and therefore going through the partisan radio shows one at a time. I just finished listening to ‘volume 3″ and have a question. It mentions the program fldigi (sp?) and tones with which to practice using the program. I downloaded the program, and found the directions, but I have NOT found the tones with which to practice. Can anyone help??
https://www.amrron.com/2014/02/14/digital-communications-a-practical-exercise/