[CQ] Basic questions from a newbie

Daniel González Gasull gasull at gmail.com
Tue May 17 19:17:49 UTC 2011


Thank you Jof for answering all my questions.

2011/5/17 Jonathan Lassoff <jof at thejof.com>:
> 2011/5/15 Daniel González Gasull <gasull at gmail.com>:
>> - I am encouraged to share the connection with my neighbors, right?
>
> Well, in the context of the "HInternet" idea, not really. That is,
> unless your neighbors are licensed amateur radio operators as well.
> Because traffic sent by someone unlicensed could trigger a licensed
> radio to transmit, they need to be licensed as well, or a licensed
> operator needs to be at the control point.

I see.  I am not a licensed amateur radio operator.  How can I become
one?  Should I start in this link or do you guys recommend another
one?

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Become_a_Ham_Radio_Operator

>> - Does this route traffic to the regular Internet?
>
> It may, but probably not. There are all kinds of content restrictions
> on what can be sent over amateur radio, and it's probably not
> practical to filter all internet traffic.
> That said, it's certainly possible. There's a single gateway down at
> UCSD that announces 44.0.0.0/8 out to the Internet and tunnels to
> amateur radio folks around the world.

In case of emergency (earthquake, war, revolt, tsunami, etc.) I hope
this could be used to reach the Internet somehow.  Radio links go over
national borders.  This is what interests me.

>> Also, I want to share this idea.  If my understanding is right and
>> what is wanted is as many computers forming the mesh subnet as
>> possible, I recommend naming the subnet ESSID "Free Public WiFi".
>> Why?  Because there's a whole ad-hoc infrastructure waiting to be
>> used:
>>
>> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130451369
>
> It's possible that this could be a good way to link in non-licensed
> users into the Hinternet in an emergency, but the goal for this
> project (for me at least) was to create a system to connect up
> licensed amateur radio operators in an ad-hoc fashion.

Then I misunderstood the goal.  Is the goal anywhere in the wiki?

I don't understand the goal of connecting licensed amateur radio
operators.  Aren't they connected already?  Is it because HSMM
provides more bandwidth?

I thought this was kind of a grassroots city-wide wifi project using
mesh networks.  I've been looking at Meraki's "Free The Net" project,
but the only info I can find is the Wikipedia page.  Does Free The Net
still exist?

> Let me know if you're interested in setting up a simple, unlicensed
> link to 2169 Mission from your place just to test it out. There some
> equipment I can get up there for testing.

For trying it out, sure.  But for leaving it there permanently I would
need to ask the landlord (and, again, I don't have a ham radio
license).  Send me a private email if Saturday would be a good time
for you.

-- 
Daniel González Gasull



More information about the CQ mailing list