Category Archives: Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio, Daily Commentary, Opinion, Quick Commentary

Dispatches From The Rotting Carcass

Cover Image: “White-backed vultures eating a dead wildebeest” by Magnus Kjaergaard is licensed under CC BY 3.0 .

The FCC Will Be Gutted And You WILL REJOICE

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/03/fcc-democrat-to-resign-cementing-republican-majority-for-chairman-carr (https://archive.is/3bAAG)

Straight from the Project 2025 playbook is the gutting of the FCC, which will take a back seat to corporate interests. I guarantee you that there are telecom companies waiting to carve up that precious radio spectrum like an expensive Christmas turkey.

The people will be asked to comment but it isn’t like we’ll be listened to:

We already know what to expect from this:

DOC-410147A1Download

It’s a massive “deregulation initiative,” a codeword for “party over here!”

Look for the public use rights around 900 MHz to go away. Let’s also take away more of the amateur spectrum while we’re at it guys!

Amateur Radio, Fine Business Operators

The Fine Business Operators of 7.200 MHz: Labor Day Weekend 2024

WARNING: These recordings contain profanity, racism, sexism, fascism, and noise machines. I don’t agree with or condone anything done or said in these recordings and I do not particpate in or operate on 7.200 MHz LSB. Do not listen if you find the contents I have listed triggering.

I like to listen to 7.200 MHz LSB on the weekends while drinking a glass of wine. These files are presented as recorded directly to SD card on my Icom ic-7100. No further processing or compression occurse after the fact.

Please note that I am limited to verticals and dipoles presently at my location (EL29) so some FBO’s may be quieter than the noise floor. I am working on improving the reception with creative ways to install better antennas.

Part 1. Recorded 2024-08-31 @ 03:38:10 UTC.

Part 2. Recorded 2024-09-01 @ 02:55:13 UTC.

Amateur Radio

Computers, Ham Radio, and Trusted Computing

I recently acquired my Technicians license and discovered an opportunity I had not known about, but now that I know about it I look forward to exploiting it. .

The FCC stipulates as part of the rules around being a licensed amateur, I am unable to encrypt or obscure the the content of any message. I may encode (not encrypt) as long as the ability to decode is part of the public record. The only exception to this is remote control of things like space stations (AMSAT) where the control point needs to be authorized.

This got me to thinking about how such regulations would apply to trusted computing. And now I want to take that to the next level. As an academic exercise, just how far can I take an “air gapped” (as in unplugged from the internet) computer network and still ensure that there is trust. What does trust look like in this scenario? What needs to be trusted?

I intend to find out!

TTFN!