My view: Ham Radio is about radio amateurs. Radios are only a part of it. A very large part is "Ham Spirit" - a consensus and a special feeling as many groups develop.
I know of many "worm holes" through companies, agencies etc. where hams communicate on their own paths and with their own set of rules, circumventing official structures. Some of these entities support this by adding "radio amateur" to their checklist for new employees or providing support for the hobby like rooms for club stations.
The US military has been one of these since the first World War. I am sure that this was the starting point for the first German ham radio law after WW 2 that is older than the Federal Republic of Germany. My sources are in IARU reports in the 1945-49 QST.
Amazing things can happen this way. Ham radio on the German Neumayer Antarctic Station is an example. see DP0GVN.
From this view, many activities without or with limited radio frequency usage are "ham radio" to me. A wonderful example is what happens around the mode VarAC. The quick start guide contains a chapter "Where should I tune to find people to chat with?". VarAC for example supports to look up your partner on QRZ.com. The configuration of your personal data like name and station description contains an "ice breaker" section to provide starting points for chats. It is easy to send a URL.
I became part of a group of QRP enthusiasts in Maryland and Virginia by requesting a VarAC reception report from a K3xxx station: The station was on 40m ant put out 1.3 W. The operator was very astonished that I could even hear him in Europe. These days I also send them "exotic" pictures on their Internet forum, for example of 1 liter beer mugs that we use here in Bavaria.
Tom - Welcome to one of several "third rails" in Amateur Radio. I was an early advocate of Internet integration with Amateur Radio (indeed... that was the founding premise of Amateur Radio Digital Communications - ARDC).
However, I have grown a bit leery about the increasing dependence on Internet connectivity for Amateur Radio systems that are intended as a "fallback" capability (EMCOM) when the conventional telecommunications infrastructure is unusable (for whatever reason). As in, a relatively simple, robust, reliable system such as an FM repeater gets integrated with Internet to the point that drills for "Emergency Communications" on an FM repeater are being done remotely via Internet. That wasn't... quite... the original idea for the repeater as an emergency communications resource.
For fun, experimentation, personal growth, being able to use Amateur Radio capabilities when "on site RF" simply isn't an option, I have no problem with Amateur Radio / Internet interconnection. One example was a club station for a new Amateur Radio group I tried to form. RF (especially antennas) were absolutely not an option at the club's location, so my proposed solution was a split station with the front panel, microphone, speaker, etc. at the club, and the radio at a remote location where antennas were acceptable, and linking the two halves via Internet.
I do have a mild difference of opinion about the nature of Hamshack Hotline... to me it's merely a VOIP PBX that operates via Internet connectivity with a noncommercial user base. In my mind it's similar in scope to the Zello Walkie Talkie app that runs on smartphones and cellular connectivity. They both work great, useful, fun, etc. and do provide usable communications.
Also TCP/IP networking =/= "Internet". VOIP (and video) over an AREDN network is not Internet.
Yeah, it's way too easy to get bogged down on semantics. Your mileage may vary.
Good stuff. I appreciate the clarifications and learnings. I agree that an AREDN network is not the internet. It's a mesh network that *can* be connected to the internet but can also exist independent of what the general public knows as the internet. Part of my implied point was that there are pathways to an AREDN mesh from outside, i.e., from the internet, if the AREDN mesh is configured to allow such connections. I think. Lots of learning ahead of me :-)
An amateur radio license is an authorization to experiment and learn in a social milieu that may include communities near and far where interactions happen in Real Life (iRL) or only/primarily over radio and other means of communication. Indeed travel by plane, ship or automobile may also facilitate the social aspect of the hobby.
As I have continued to think about this — with the added perspectives of valued readers! — I am recognizing that one point of confusion is in the terminology we use. "This isn't radio!" is a common cry when radio-free technologies are used in our amateur radio hobby. Perhaps a useful distinction should be: this is not *a* radio. The hobby is a big tent that covers a lot of radio-related things, and not all of those are an actual radio. I occupy the big tent where those related things are still part of my amateur radio hobby.
My view: Ham Radio is about radio amateurs. Radios are only a part of it. A very large part is "Ham Spirit" - a consensus and a special feeling as many groups develop.
I know of many "worm holes" through companies, agencies etc. where hams communicate on their own paths and with their own set of rules, circumventing official structures. Some of these entities support this by adding "radio amateur" to their checklist for new employees or providing support for the hobby like rooms for club stations.
The US military has been one of these since the first World War. I am sure that this was the starting point for the first German ham radio law after WW 2 that is older than the Federal Republic of Germany. My sources are in IARU reports in the 1945-49 QST.
Amazing things can happen this way. Ham radio on the German Neumayer Antarctic Station is an example. see DP0GVN.
From this view, many activities without or with limited radio frequency usage are "ham radio" to me. A wonderful example is what happens around the mode VarAC. The quick start guide contains a chapter "Where should I tune to find people to chat with?". VarAC for example supports to look up your partner on QRZ.com. The configuration of your personal data like name and station description contains an "ice breaker" section to provide starting points for chats. It is easy to send a URL.
I became part of a group of QRP enthusiasts in Maryland and Virginia by requesting a VarAC reception report from a K3xxx station: The station was on 40m ant put out 1.3 W. The operator was very astonished that I could even hear him in Europe. These days I also send them "exotic" pictures on their Internet forum, for example of 1 liter beer mugs that we use here in Bavaria.
Tom - Welcome to one of several "third rails" in Amateur Radio. I was an early advocate of Internet integration with Amateur Radio (indeed... that was the founding premise of Amateur Radio Digital Communications - ARDC).
However, I have grown a bit leery about the increasing dependence on Internet connectivity for Amateur Radio systems that are intended as a "fallback" capability (EMCOM) when the conventional telecommunications infrastructure is unusable (for whatever reason). As in, a relatively simple, robust, reliable system such as an FM repeater gets integrated with Internet to the point that drills for "Emergency Communications" on an FM repeater are being done remotely via Internet. That wasn't... quite... the original idea for the repeater as an emergency communications resource.
For fun, experimentation, personal growth, being able to use Amateur Radio capabilities when "on site RF" simply isn't an option, I have no problem with Amateur Radio / Internet interconnection. One example was a club station for a new Amateur Radio group I tried to form. RF (especially antennas) were absolutely not an option at the club's location, so my proposed solution was a split station with the front panel, microphone, speaker, etc. at the club, and the radio at a remote location where antennas were acceptable, and linking the two halves via Internet.
I do have a mild difference of opinion about the nature of Hamshack Hotline... to me it's merely a VOIP PBX that operates via Internet connectivity with a noncommercial user base. In my mind it's similar in scope to the Zello Walkie Talkie app that runs on smartphones and cellular connectivity. They both work great, useful, fun, etc. and do provide usable communications.
Also TCP/IP networking =/= "Internet". VOIP (and video) over an AREDN network is not Internet.
Yeah, it's way too easy to get bogged down on semantics. Your mileage may vary.
Good stuff. I appreciate the clarifications and learnings. I agree that an AREDN network is not the internet. It's a mesh network that *can* be connected to the internet but can also exist independent of what the general public knows as the internet. Part of my implied point was that there are pathways to an AREDN mesh from outside, i.e., from the internet, if the AREDN mesh is configured to allow such connections. I think. Lots of learning ahead of me :-)
An amateur radio license is an authorization to experiment and learn in a social milieu that may include communities near and far where interactions happen in Real Life (iRL) or only/primarily over radio and other means of communication. Indeed travel by plane, ship or automobile may also facilitate the social aspect of the hobby.
As I have continued to think about this — with the added perspectives of valued readers! — I am recognizing that one point of confusion is in the terminology we use. "This isn't radio!" is a common cry when radio-free technologies are used in our amateur radio hobby. Perhaps a useful distinction should be: this is not *a* radio. The hobby is a big tent that covers a lot of radio-related things, and not all of those are an actual radio. I occupy the big tent where those related things are still part of my amateur radio hobby.