Feeling a bit sleepy so calling it an early evening. Turned into a gorgeous one - colorful sunset and minimal clouds on the horizon. Some thunderheads over near Mt. Baker but locally, things are quiet.
Doing some computer work tomorrow morning and then groceries and testing. Got a new radio toy - there is a mode called DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) which was first developed for commercial radio and is now seeing service on the ham radio bands. They process the speech and transmit a digital radio signal. The upshot is clearer transmissions, more channels per given frequency range and some other cool goodies. One of these goodies is that because of its digital nature, interfacing with the internet is easy.
With regular ham radio, we have repeaters - a device that listens for a ham communication on one frequency and retransmits it on a slightly different frequency with much more power. These are located on a high elevation so a small cheap handheld radio can cover a huge range of territory. DMR repeaters introduce the internet so you can connect to any open repeater in any location in the world. Over 30,000 of them all over the globe. I am now playing with number 30,001. For about $100, you get a Raspberry Pi computer with a "hat" that plugs on top and has a very small DMR radio transciever - enough to cover your house and immediate neighborhood. Plug this into power and an internet connection and you can now talk to the globe from your hand-held walkie-talkie.
This is really a fun time to be alive...
Leave a comment