>> Hey! Do you want to show your support for the show?
You can do exactly that by wearing shirts just like this.
You can find them at bit.ly/mrshirts,
or shop.themodernrogue.com.
You can get one just like this,
or like this, , or even like this.
And, if you wear it, everybody will think you're cool
and know how great you are.
>> Dude, I totally remember road trips
where CBs were a must-have
to listen for where the cops at.
>> They were looking for Smokey
>> Oh yeah, yeah, post '70s?
Like, late '70s into early '80s,
everything was about the CB
and what you were getting away with.
>> Did you ever pick a handle?
>> No I should, the Monarch of Boundless Suffering
was my handle.
That's my handle. >> I would love to picture
nine year old Jason,
this is the Monarch of Boundless Suffering.
>> Come back. >> "Who's out there"?
>> That's literally playing
Dungeons and Dragons with a CB radio.
I will now roll for initiative!
>> We should do that!
>> All right, We're back with Josh Nass
of HAM Radio Crash Course.
Last time, Josh you taught us about the basics of radio,
but now we're going to talk about transmitting
in the amateur space.
>> Right, and specifically,
kind of the space for technicians,
which is the first level of amateur radio,
if you go out and take your test to get your license.
>> At a casual glance, I see VHF, UHF, transmitter, receiver.
>> Right. >> This looks to me
to be the kind of gizmo that I was able to buy at Walmart
starting in the 90's.
When all of a sudden,
we went from CB radios
to a bunch of UHF transmitters
that suddenly the range got a lot better.
>> Yep. >> But, it was like
a FRSG something?
>> GMRS, so, an important distinction with those radios
is those radios are licensed by the FCC.
The license is attached to the radio.
If you flip the back over, it says FCC.
These radios, it's the operator.
I'm licensed by the FCC,
so I'm pretty much allowed to take whatever radio I want,
as long as I'm following the rules, and transmit with them.
>> So, when you ice them off the shelf stuff,
that's essentially like in the 90s
the FCC carved out a chunk of spectrum,
>> Right. >> and said go nuts,
these are the channels. >> Right.
Everybody can use them. >> And, there's certain rules.
The manufacturers must only put out,
like, a 1.5 watt output for those FRS frequencies.
>> So, the hardware was automatically just hobbled,
so you really couldn't do anything bad with it?
>> Generally, yeah you can't go spuriously create
interference all over the place.
You have to, generally, live within the little shoe box.
>> But, you, being a licensed hand radio operator,
you have no volume limit, just blast it?
>> There is a physical volume limit because at some point,
you don't want to take something that's this big
next to your face and transmit more than say, eight watts.
>> Okay.
>> But, yes, as a licensed amateur,
I have an upper floor of power output,
which is like 1,500 watts.
This is five,
but that's still much better than an FRS radio for example.
>> And so, just so I understand the context.
The off the shelf things.
When you say channelized,
basically they carve out this much spectrum
and they just divy it up by channel.
>> Right. >> And that's all it is?
So you're jumping just in this very small space.
>> We go in kilohertz cycles,
so you basically have hundreds of frequency spaces
that you can operate in, and some of those,
we have informal band plans.
Some of those spaces are reserved
for just low earth satellites
that we play with amateur radios,
some of them are for APRS which is like a digital mode.
So, we generally try and work with each other
and how we use this space.
These though, are for talking.
>> We talked about AM and FM in short wave.
Where does VHF UHF
exist on that spectrum? >> So, great.
Yeah that's perfect.
So, if you go up to the higher side of the frequencies,
that is where VHF UHF is.
It's the type of radios that punch through the atmosphere.
So, line of sight communication.
>> Brian: So, these guys are not going to broadcast
to China from here?
>> No, maybe with the assistance of a lower satellite,
but generally, if you're just using this
to talk to a friend,
>> Oh man, I didn't even think about
that advanced stuff bouncing off the satellites and whatnot.
>> Oh, no, the satellite itself has the radio on board.
We're uplinking on one frequency.
It downlinks on another frequency.
>> Like a repeater? >> Yes! Yes! Yes!
>> I was about to say that's a repeater,
but, like, an orbit repeater?
>> Yes. >> Fascinating.
>> Traveling at thousands and thousands of miles.
>> That never occurred to me because I thought
oh, all repeaters are going to be terrestrial, right?
But, not at all. >> No.
I feel like we're on the edge of a cliff
looking down at the abyss,
very majestic >> This big black pool of...
>> I could see him getting weird about that.
>> Okay, so I'm going to guess that, without a license,
I should not just grab one of these,
tune and say yo what's up, what's going on people?
>> You definitely shouldn't transmit.
You can receive just fine though
because what's happening is people are grabbing these,
and it's fairly wide-banded,
meaning all of the VHF UHF space
and people have kind of erroneously gone
onto emergency channels, >> Oh dear.
>> and they've transmitted and it's got in the way
of first responders doing their job.
And, they've got arrested and fined.
>> Brian: Whoa!
>> If you don't know, don't transmit.
>> Got it, but, everybody can listen?
>> Everybody can listen. >> Okay.
>> That's a trap that you could easily fall into.
Just grabbing a walkie talkie and think
oh, this is like the one I had when I was a kid.
I'm just going to talk and talk and talk.
>> Not realizing that you are breaking any number of laws.
>> Josh: Correct.
>> So, because you are licensed,
what are your privileges that we don't have?
>> Well, one is to transmit, >> Yeah.
>> but, I have a certain set of rules when I transmit.
I have to use my call sign,
and generally behave in a way of
a good steward of radio.
>> Can you act as sort of a Obi Wan Kenobi
and be the director and have us speak on your behalf?
>> Josh: You can.
>> Or only your voice can be spoken?
>> No, so I can have you transmit on this radio.
I'm within control operator range of it,
so I can grab it out of your hands
'cause you start screaming or whatever.
>> Josh: You might.
>> You just have to use my call sign.
>> If he says DJ Local Lee.
>> Right. >> Taze him.
>> What if you just want to be DJ Local Lee?
>> DJ Local Lee, that's my DJ name!
>> Radio is dead.
YouTube is where it's at.
>> We can't broadcast music.
We can't do anything like that
where we'd get into FCC trouble.
>> Let's talk about all the do's and don'ts.
Language, are you able to say whatever you want?
Curse words, graphic depictions of sex?
>> Can Brian read his erotica?
>> Generally, we don't curse,
we generally don't go into graphic nature of some things,
but you can generally talk about politics and religion.
That comes up a lot.
>> In an age of cell phones,
why would you even bother with CBs?
What's the range on these?
I guess you dial it up to maybe--
>> Anywhere from four miles
up to 40 to 50 miles just from this unit.
>> Wow, so, we could be like kids in the middle of the night,
like, hey man, what's going on?
>> There's all kinds of things you can do
to increase the output power of this.
You can get more power with a different radio,
you could put up a better antenna,
you can go up on a mountain.
Why do we use this in this world of mobile phones?
Well, the infrastructure goes down, right?
We're only as good as the cell phone tower having power.
>> When the zombie apocalypse happens,
your cell phones are out, your internet is out.
>> Right, important distinction.
If the cell tower goes down,
your local cell tower, your phone is done.
Unless, you're talking over Wi-Fi.
But, that is an extremely small footprint.
So, this, when there's no cell phones, gets out.
Nothing else will.
>> Which brings me to my next question.
What does it take to get a license?
>> So, there's a test, I have a book here.
This is a study guide. >> Awe man.
>> For each of you with the radios!
>> Where do you take the class to this?
You knock on the government's door?
>> There's a special frequency and you go I'm ready.
And then they start peppering you with questions.
>> That's right!
All of a sudden, it's Morpheus,
you're like, are you really Jason?
>> And then you take a pill, you wake up in a weird location.
It's really weird.
So, the FCC puts out the guidelines
as far as the question pool,
but then we have volunteer examiners.
It's totally a volunteer based system
where you can go to a testing location.
Testing locations usually follow amateur radio clubs,
and there's generally some in every major city.
>> And the license we're talking about,
is it a universal HAM radio license?
>> It is a amateur radio license for the United States
at the technician level, which is the first,
then there's general, and extra.
>> Brian: Got it.
>> Granted by the FCC?
>> Josh: Correct, it's an FCC license.
>> I feel like we be a technician.
>> Yeah, so, it's 35 questions when you go take the test,
it's multiple choice, and you have to pass with a 74%.
>> Hey, Jason.
What are the FCC rules
regarding the use of phonetic alphabet
for station identification
in the amateur radio service?
A, it is required when transmitting emergency messages.
B, it is prohibited.
C, it is required when in contact with foreign stations.
Or D, it's encouraged.
>> D, it's encouraged.
>> You are right.
Technician here we come!
>> One down!
>> That's it, only 34 to go.
So, a lot of the test is more centered around safety.
Don't hurt yourself with the radio
because you can, actually.
We don't want to reset the counter here.
>> Don't dial to the gamma band.
>> So, safety, general rules of operation,
and that's pretty much it.
There's a lot of other technical aspects of it,
but it doesn't go that down the rabbit hole.
It starts you off easy.
>> Once you get your technician license,
do you get a bunch of letters and numbers,
and that becomes your name?
>> Yeah, so you generally get a call sign.
It's usually a two letter, a number,
and then a three letter.
So, mine is KI6NAZ.
>> Is that something you want to publicly put out?
>> So, yes, it can go to your home address,
but you can also attach it to a PO box
if you wanted to.
>> Okay, but meanwhile, it's like what are they going to do?
Call like I know you're out there Josh!
>> No, they'll show up at your house.
So, if you use your call sign,
and then you start saying something that is no bueno,
they'll come find you.
HAMs will come and say,
you should probably not do that on the air.
It doesn't get violent,
we're all supposed to not do that,
but we're a self-policing group.
>> Kind of self-regulating.
>> Right. >> Right.
You're like Reddit moderators.
>> Right.
>> And, if you don't use your call sign
and you're out there transmitting,
we have the easy equipment to find you.
>> Wow! >> We can RF direction find it.
>> So, don't tick off the HAMs.
>> Yeah, we're a surly group.
>> Don't jam the HAMs.
>> Don't jam the HAMs?
>> Don't jam the HAMs.
>> I want to see this in action. >> Yeah, go for it.
>> All right, what do we do here?
>> You have a radio body, a battery, and an antenna.
That's the only thing you really need.
Make sure you have an antenna on before you turn it on.
That's always a good safety thing.
>> Oh, Okay.
>> It will protect the radio. >> Oh, really?
>> If you don't have that on there,
you're basically sending out RF.
You could burn yourself.
>> Jason: Oh, wow!
>> And you could damage the internal circuitry.
>> Wow! >> I had no idea.
>> Turn the volume knob, and that turns it on.
And, don't click the PTT button.
>> What's the PTT button? >> Oh look at this!
It says the word Modern Rogue!
>> Oh, yeah I programmed that.
>> He programmed that, it says Modern Rogue!
>> What?
>> So, dude I'm not going to lie, all I want to do is press
the shameful button that I must not touch.
>> DJ Local Lee is back.
>> So, maybe I should be the listener
because we only have one licensed operator here.
>> Yeah.
>> So, what if you guys went all the way to HQ?
>> Okay. >> That would be farther
than I've ever had a Walkie-Talkie experience.
We could be on the phone,
so that'll be our two-way communication.
But, I want to see if I can hear it.
It's almost three miles away from where we are.
>> It'd be a good task, good task.
>> Would that be able to work inside?
>> No, you got to go outside because again,
you're giving your radio the best chance of working
when you're out of doors,
nothing attenuating the signal coming in.
>> Okay so, we'll see if we're able to get
nearly three miles of distance,
and you can broadcast,
I don't know, something to me.
>> We'll keep it legal, but yeah.
And, you can do it as long as you use my call sign.
>> All right. >> Now, when you say legal,
nah come on let's go outside.
>> Is something as small as me raising my hand,
is that going to make a difference?
>> Josh: Not really, but it might be extra dramatic flare.
>> Okay, you ready, Brian?
>> Dude, are you guys out there?
>> Jason: Yep, we're ready to go.
>> I got to tell you, man,
everything about this feels like,
no way that this rinky dink unit
I'm holding in my hand is going to reach
that whole three miles.
>> I am confident in the power of radio.
You got to believe, man.
>> All right, well I'm at the highest point
that's nearby the old warehouse.
There are trees, which I know aren't great.
There's power lines that aren't great,
but I guess let her rip.
>> Okay we're ready to go, I'm about to transmit.
>> Hey. [siren blaring]
>> What just happened?
Dude, the FCC, they figured out
that you don't have a license!
>> I pushed the wrong button?
>> He pushed the emergency call button, not the PTT button.
>> Oh!
>> But, I heard it on the other end.
>> So, does that mean, like, the cops are on their way?
>> No, but could you hear it?
>> I heard it over the phone.
>> Uh oh, okay.
>> Okay, well, here we go.
Let me try this again.
>> KI6NAZ
[radio screeching] radio test.
>> Okay the good news--
>> Sampson, this is the Chooch, come back.
>> I got like, a burst of static.
The bad news is it was right next to my ear at full volume.
What does that mean if I just here a?
>> It means you're getting part of it.
So, I have the same radio, five watt,
but with a longer antenna.
I'm going to try and call you.
>> He's going to try it on his own, okay?
>> Okay.
>> Oh, dude, hold on, hit me with that again.
>> KI6NAZ KI6NAZ radio test radio test.
>> Oh no I got less of it that time.
>> Now, Brian I want you to hit the AB button
and watch the arrow go from the 146 number
to the 446 number.
>> Okay.
>> We just switched from VHF mode to UHF mode.
>> Dude, I remember as a kid,
that the UHF channels tended to come in better
than the VHF channels.
Was VHF, is that like the FM AM thing
where it was higher fidelity, but shorter range?
>> Different than that or the reverse.
The UHF is less resistant to the greenery, the trees.
>> The trees-- >> It's not affected by it.
>> The trees pose less of a problem when you're in UHF.
>> Okay, all right, I'm switched over to the 446 channel.
>> Okay, we're going to try it again.
>> All right.
>> Jason: KI6NAZ, KI6NAZ, radio check, radio check.
Sampson, this is the Chooch, can you hear me?
>> I mean, yes I can hear you, that's amazing!
>> Yee haw!
>> Jason: KI6NHZ, this is the Chooch
broadcasting out to Sampson.
Sampson, I have found the drug money.
The money with the drugs on the table.
>> I would love to believe
that there's some amateur HAM cop listening right now.
>> We might be having somebody monitoring
going what's going on?
>> Just kidding.
>> Dude, that's a total success, man!
We did it, that is remarkable.
>> Did we violate any laws?
>> No, nope we're good. >> Okay.
>> He didn't transmit back, so we're good.
>> All right, dude, so loop back at 05:00 for beers?
>> 05:00 is 5 a.m.
All right, I'm going to go ahead and close it out.
>> Go ahead and him a seven-three from KI6NAZ.
>> Okay, seven-three from KI6NAZ.
>> What does that mean?
>> Ah, it means thank you and this is it, best wishes.
>> Seven-three to you too.
All right, we'll be at HQ.
>> Those kids from Stranger Things?
I had those exact realistic units.
You used to have to go to Radio Shack
and buy individual crystals
'cause you only got three channels.
So, you would have one be the emergency,
which you were never supposed to put it on.
One would of course be the trucker channel,
which I think was 13.
Then the other I think we picked like 37.
Something that was obscure enough
that me and my friend could talk across the neighborhood.
>> I had to hang out with truckers.