Before Getting On The Air How to use the revolutionary WebDX system, watch the following 25 min training tutorial. Grab some coffee – this video will explain everything you need to know to operate the web console and control the stations. Truth be told, it's really easy!
I don't know, Remote ham radio is like taking your sister or aunt to the high school prom and then bragging that you got lucky the following Monday.
Interesting way to put it hihi. When you have no way to set up a station where you live or like me, live in another country, it is wonderful to be able to still operate using my USA callsign
I personally believe that for contacts to count toward any award, that it should be done operating physically from the same location as the station. I think I agree with WB8VLC in this respect. Anything that involves the internet (including the internet DX clusters) really don't belong in this hobby. For instance, I used to have a DX cluster that was all radio, the 2 meter side (like a bulletin board from days of old) for the users, the 70cm side is what linked the nodes that shared information with each of the other nodes. We didn't need the internet to get DX spotted and the spots we did see usually were from folks close enough to us that we actually had a chance of working the DX station. We really don't need the internet in our hobby. But I suppose that sooner or later we should all just go to cell phones and sell our gear to pay for the latest and greatest "smart phone/computer". Oh, here's a thought, how would we communicate if the internet suffered a real global shutdown? Or if some entity decided to just pull the plug on the internet? Do your hamming with radio ... leave the internet out of our hobby/service. That's my opinion ... okay, now I'll put on my flameproof suit ... hi hi. 73 K5QBX
One of the biggest waste of money I ever did was join them big mistake and it like they watch what site you use if they see you use one site they make sure they are on it so you use one of the ones that are more money be carful guys then if problems happen no support they helped me one time only and its when I just started they got me up and running then after that nothing but excuse
There is a very interesting article in the May 2017 issue of CQ magazine, titled Remote Radios and the Law beginning on page 35. It is most interesting reading.
I have been with them a couple of years and use only occasionally usually operating qrp. They have been fine to me and when I had a question reply quickly. It allows me to try different experiences with power and bands that I would otherwise not have.
Those of us living in “antenna challenged” areas, would consider ourselves lucky to be able to attend the high school prom at all (i.e. get on the air). Which girl we could bring, if any, would probably be less important. Any further luck (e.g. catching some rare DX), would be considered a big bonus. 73 de Frode N2VQ & LA6VQ
Sorry to say, but I am afraid your view is a lost cause. Contacts made by remote control count for awards, have done for a long time, and as ARRL puts it regarding DXCC: You could operate from behind the moon for that matter, as long as you find a way to operate and control the remote station. This is merely a reflection of the developments in communication technology, in which hams have been important contributors for a century, and will be in the foreseeable future. I guess you will have to accept that the Internet is here to stay, and to be further developed. Fighting development seems hard these days. With that approach, we would still be using spark transmitters. I find it quite conceit to say that the way we do it now, or the way we did it 30 years ago, is the way it should be. With that approach, we would have missed the inventions of your flameproof suit, and US car engines with a reasonable gas consumption, and the Internet (with discussion forums like the one we use for this discussion), and “a million” other things we don’t want to stop using. In the event of a global shutdown of the Internet, not induced by a CME or other events affecting the ionosphere, the stations lucky enough to have their antennas close by, will have a great opportunity to show ham radio’s superiority “when all else fails”, like it does many times per year when communication infrastructure is destroyed (earthquakes, tornados, etc.). The rest of us will not be able to contribute. However, I tend to believe that if the Internet goes down, we will have bigger worries than HF communication. 73 de Frode N2VQ & LA6VQ
I am not going to pull your statement about “real Ham Radio” far, but your definition seems to exclude and alienate those of us not lucky enough to possess real estate in areas where we can “build antennas and hookup radios”. You can rest assured that we certainly feel like real hams, although we are not lucky/rich enough to be “real estate hams”. On the other hand, what we lack in real estate, we gain in smartness to find ways around the antenna challenge, so that we can “build antennas” somewhat away from where we live, and still “hookup radios” to them. And obviously, some, like RHR, are smart enough to see the demand and develop a system that makes it easier for many to get to “the prom” (getting on the air), maybe even get lucky with the prom queen (i.e. operating a great station). Frankly, I believe that it is a waste of good radio capacity that many good stations are left idle for much of the week. When not in use by their owners/contest team, they could have been put to better use by offering others to connect to them remotely. 73 de Frode N2VQ & LA6VQ
interesting. I'm tempted by these as I have a terrible pipe into SE Asia and China. Perhaps if I was using a remote station on the west coast I would have better luck...
For a no-longer-subscriber to CQ Magazine, what is the "executive summary" of the article? Any news, or any angles outside Part 97.109: "(c) When a station is being remotely controlled, the control operator must be at the control point. Any station may be remotely controlled."? 73 de Frode N2VQ & LA6VQ
