In episode #311, Martin M1MRB is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Dan Romanchik KB6NU and Ruth Willet KM4LAO to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news.
I found the last two items the most interesting. Our club is working on an AREDN network here, but the way my QTH is situated, there’s no way I’ll be able to connect to it. I could, however, possibly connect to it using a new mode called New Packet Radio, which is what the fourth news item describes.
The fifth item, about the FCC being asked to clarify some amateur rules is a new wrinkle on an old topic. N9NB has now petitioned the FCC to clarify the rules on what constitutes encryption.
Colin M6BOY rounds up the show with some brief news items, and this episode’s feature is about the Pocket Electronic Workshop.
Dave New, N8SBE says
Manchester “whitening” could be considered encryption, or at least obfuscation, to someone unfamiliar with the process.
I guess the issue is what constitutes a ‘plain text’ transmission. Does it have to be plain vanilla asynchronous RTTY (ASCII or Baudot) where every character is its own sync?
What about synchronous protocols, where there is overhead in the packet, including preamble and sync characters (for timing) and perhaps some error detection/correction?
I thought that the FCC had ruled some time ago, that if the protocol was published, and could be decoded with off-the-shelf commercial equipment, that it was OK to use?
Seems the kerfuffle is over the COST of the commercial equipment, and the use of error correction protocols that work between two stations, but not with third party listeners.
Since when was it required that anyone listening in on a conversation should be guaranteed error-free reception?