>> 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.
Hell yes! I’ve been waiting for this since “Secrets of Shortwave Radio”! Just as I’m trying to get my license as well!
I like the radio connoisseur, he's very charismatic.