On this week’s show, we peek behind the scenes of The Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC). A project of the Internet Archive, the DLARC collection includes a range of amateur radio-related materials, including magazines, ham radio newsletters, podcasts and even discussion forums. Within the expansive library are items generally categorized as non-commercial radio, including pirate radio, shortwave, numbers stations, experimental radio, and “radio weirdness.” Additionally, every episode of the Radio Survivor Podcast was recently added to DLARC, which is how we learned about this archive. DLARC’s Curator Kay Savetz joins us on Radio Survivor to talk about not only the archive, but also how you can contribute.

Show Notes

• The Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC)
• Kay Savetz website
• Radio Survivor Podcast episodes archived on DLARC
• October 2022 announcement about launch of DLARC
• Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC)
• Internet Archive
• Podcast #178: Irish Pirate Radio Archive (with guests Brian Greene and John Walsh)
• Podcast #212: Border Radio in North America (with guest Kevin Curran)
• Podcast #260: Radio History on the Northern Border of Mexico (with guest Sonia Robles)
• Look out FCC Part 15 Devices: AM radio is gonna getcha! (learn about Matthew’s Part 15 spider)
• Radio4All
• The Shortwave Report
• Mediageek radio show

Show Credits:

• This episode was produced by Jennifer Waits
• Hosted by Jennifer Waits, Eric Klein, Matthew Lasar, and Paul Riismandel
• Edited by Eric Klein

The post Podcast #335 – Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Not all amateur radio enthusiasts are old guys. This is obviously a statement of fact, but it took a listener to the podcast to write in and remind us. Co-host, Eric Klein apologizes for error.

Paul Riismandel attended a local marketing conference as part of his day job and was reminded just how small the world of podcasting still is in 2016. Among the 20 or so people Paul talked to at the conference he estimates that more than half did not listen to podcasts, although many of them had listened to one podcast or another at some point in the past.

Being reminded that the world of podcasting is still so small led Paul to ask for listener feedback on the following questions:

1) What are some of the other podcasts you listen to, especially if these other podcasts are niche?

2) Do your friends and family listen to podcasts?

3) Is there a niche podcast that you wish existed? (Paul’s would be about high end stereo equipment)

email us your answers by clicking here

You can support the work that goes into Radio Survivor in two ways:

• Make a monthly contribution through our Patreon campaign.

• Make a one-time or recurring donation with any major credit card via PayPal.

Show Notes

• The American Radio Relay League, ARRL is a noncommercial organization of radio amateurs online at www.arrl.org
• The “Ham Radio Store” that Paul and Eric have only seen from the road, but plan to visit someday is called Ham Radio Outlet.
• A brief promo doc about the very same store location that has tempted the Radio Survivor hosts with their clear and highly visible signage:
• The episode of Radio Survivor in which the interview of President Obama on the WTF podcast is discussed
• The episode of Radio Survivor podcast in which we take a dive into the Horror Podcast genre.
  
• Briefly mentioned on the podcast: A popular youtube host, PewDiePie, created paid content for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in the form of a video game review without clearly and loudly disclaiming the relationship. What does this mean for podcasters who’d like to make money from their work? That’s is a question worthy of further discussion. CNET: Warner Bros. settles with FTC for not disclosing it paid PewDiePie, YouTubers
• Paul on Amazon’s top selling record player that will ruin your vinyl collection.
• The image for this blog post is of amateur radio operator, Yvette Cendes, KB3HTS, at station W8EDU

The post Podcast #55 – Not All Radio Amateurs + Podcasting is Still Small appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In the days since the disastrous earthquake in Nepal amateur radio operators have been lending critical communications assistance, especially in places where power, telephone, wireless and internet service has been interrupted. Nepal has only 99 licensed amateur radio operators, which is why hams from other countries have traveled to the country to help.

The country’s government reportedly is trying to speed approval for international radio amateurs to transmit legally. Otherwise, only those working with official government rescue teams are authorized. On Monday the Computer Association of Nepal-USA called on the Nepal government to release amateur radio equipment that is currently being held in customs.

Amateur radio transceivers can operate at low power levels using gasoline generators, batteries, or even hand-cranked generators, while still broadcasting over relatively large distances. Transmitting in morse code, rather than audio, also improves power efficiency. This makes ham radio particularly well suited for emergency communications.

Nepalese and foreign operators have been maintaining both local and international lines of communication. Operators based in neighboring countries like India and China have been monitoring transmissions from Nepal and relaying messages to and from the rest of the world. Many of these are from families checking on and reporting the welfare of relatives.

Amateur radio operators coordinate through the International Amateur Radio Union and national groups which do a significant amount of advance planning for disaster response. According to the IARU one Nepalese ham has even been using the slow-scan TV protocol to send images over shortwave to relief groups.

On Sunday Greg Mossup, an Emergency Communications Coordinator with the IARU, talked with the CBC for a story on the communications situation in Nepal. He explained that radio amateurs work with government emergency services agencies to plan for critical emergency response. He also noted that the engineering expertise of hams makes them a valuable asset when working with search and rescue teams, especially with regard to repairing and restoring communications infrastructure.

Shortwave broadcasting also provides a critical lifeline to people in Nepal. The BBC World Service has expanded English and Nepalese broadcasts to Nepal and Northern India. Guam-based Christian shortwave station KTWR announced a daily 1-hour block of programming for Nepal containing, “disaster relief counseling, teaching, and music breaks.”

The post Radio Amateurs & Shortwave Broadcasters Assist Nepal Earthquake Relief appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It is once more into the breach for “The Amateur Radio Parity Act” (H.R. 1301) resubmitted to Congress by Representative Adam Kinziger (R-IL). In a nutshell, the proposed law would give the Federal Communications Commission more power to limit apartment complex or homeowner association rules that prohibit Hams from setting up gear in or around their homes.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), which champions this bill, has posted examples of some of these Amateur radio restrictive deed or rental “covenants.” Here’s one regulation: “No antenna or tower shall be erected upon any lot for the purposes of radio operations.”

Not a lot of wiggle room in that one. Others appear a bit more subtle:

“No antenna for transmission or reception of radio signals shall be erected outdoors for use by any dwelling unit except upon approval of the Directors. No radio or television signals or any other form of electromagnetic radiation shall be permitted to originate from any lot which may unreasonably interfere with the reception of television or radio signals upon any other lot.”

Example number two sounds reasonable, but I’ll bet that what happens in the end is that some aspiring Ham goes to the Directors and says s/he wants to set up a public safety oriented Amateur signal, and they look at the application sideways and say no.

So the Parity Act would direct the FCC to require Home Owners Associations (HOAs) and other kinds of private land use regulators to extend “reasonable accommodation” to Amateurs asking to set up antennas. For Radio Survivor readers who crave legal geekiness, H.R. 1301 would amend the FCC’s Part 97 Amateur Service rules to make it clear that the Commission has the power to preempt HOA restrictions when it comes to Hams. Right now Part 97 regulations only grant that preemption power over local and state laws or ordinances.

Kinziger and the bill’s seven Republican and five Democratic co-sponsors first sent this proposed law to Congress in 2014. But like most legislation, it didn’t go anywhere. This year generally doesn’t look too promising either, Capitol-Hill-wise, but hope springs eternal. We’ll keep following the campaign for new developments.

The post Round two for campaign to limit Ham radio blocking rules appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Amateur radio operators are weighing in on the hotel industry’s petition to the Federal Communications Commission asking for authority to “manage” Wi-Fi hot spots used by hotel patrons. In October the FCC hit Marriott with a $600k fine for blocking personal Wi-Fi networks at its Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Meanwhile the hotelier was charging up to $1,000 for a device to access its own Wi-Fi system.

But Marriott and the hotel industry are now asking the FCC for permission to continue this practice, arguing that indie Wi-Fi spots can be used to interfere or hack a hotel’s network. Thus these hot spot bases should be classified as low emissions “Part 15” devices, exempt from the Commission’s anti-blocking rules. The agency is running a proceeding on the request, to which various advocates for Ham operators have responded. Here is one comment:

“Please reject this request to jam customers’ Wi-Fi and Mi-Fi, because it would allow the petitioner to block the public access to legal, essential, secure, and reliable Internet services in order to charge for slower, less reliable, less secure service, thus giving the petitioner a monopoly on providing the lower-quality service.

2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequencies used for WIFI, fall in the 13cm and 5cm Amateur Radio Service Bands. This request would allow malicious interference by the petitioners and as such violates FCC rules and should not be allowed.”

Here’s a more detailed protest from a licensed operator:

“My primary concern is that the petitioner’s desired policy would provide for technology that cannot distinguish between part 15 emissions and part 97 emissions when the part 97 operator uses 802.11 standards for emissions. While the commission clearly desired sharing of some frequencies between part 15 and part 97, I don’t believe they intended for either service to completely block certain emission types within a geographic area (and certainly not to provide higher levels of service to one at the expense of the other).”

Quick translation of the above: “Part 97” is the section of the FCC’s rules that govern the Amateur Radio Service, whose practitioners (one-to-one radio communicators often known as “Hams”) provide public safety networks during emergencies. 802.11 refers to the standards for Wi-Fi band gadgets, typically Local Area Network routers.

You can follow the whole proceeding here. Thanks to Bennett Z. Kobb for tweeting me about this.

@MatthewLasar For your new FCC Watch: Definitely check out the action happening around RM-11737 !

— Bennett Z. Kobb (@buzzkobb) January 8, 2015

The post Ham radio to FCC: don’t let Marriott mess with our bands! appeared first on Radio Survivor.