A Freebanding POV

[Yamanx]

Of course the very nature of freebanding is that it is illegal almost everywhere in the world. Whether its Echo Charlie or 11 metre band radio, its not allowed. So you would think that those that use these bands would be on some kind of free for all.

Not so. Freebanding is very self regulating, there are no written rules, no licences, no restrictions. But there is common sense, bags of it. And some of the politest, curteous and professional radio operators on any band.

Power, antenna size, frequency allocation and audio bandwidth are all pefectly ok on the freebands when used correctly, its the nature of the game.

So if the relevant authorities made the voodoo audio acceptable in their respective durasdictions would it be upsetting to purist hams? Yes it would, but would it actually affect them? Not very often, if ever at all. Even in freebanding circles, where you can "do what you like" Voodoo audio is not widely taken up. Its another aspect to the radio hobby, but not too many radio enthusiasts are bothered with it. Providing they can be heard and understood, why bother with loads more expense, equipment and heartache?

Its a bit like the power restrictions, in the UK 400w is the maximum allowed, freebanders can have anything. But in general they dont.

I would say great audio across radio bands should be encouraged

[Bow]

I would say great audio across radio bands should be encouraged

I'm with you there. As for free-banding, as long as they stay out of 10 meters, I could care less... however, Voodoo Audio isn't good for working DX or cutting through a pileup...

I run 11 meter AM in my truck, and I'll tell you, the 11 meter AM band is the largest waste of fidelity ever.
I am tweaking on my CB radio in the truck for more low end in the audio, but without a rack system, it is a bit of a challenge...

[gregor49]

Well as a fully licensed amateur, i still just as regularly use the 11m freeband on USB, and with 50-100w depending on propagation. WHAT!!! SHOCK!!! HORROR!! There you go. I said it. The damage is done.....*..runs for cover..* , but in all seriousness, It really grates my ears to hear some of my colleagues slagging off the 11m dx-ers. I can tell you they are as good a bunch of operators that ive met. They know their stuff, their shack look like ours, and some better. My good friend Paul has a radio room to die for. The eSSB setup he has is amazing, everything has a clean earth, the radios all cover from 0-440MHz. The thing is - he doesnt have his ticket. He listens to us on our bands. We have all asked him to join us at the amateur radio club, and he has no interest. He absolutely booms out on 27.385LSB, or 27.555USB using a 8 element yagi, pushing 200 to 300 watts, and causing no interference to anyone. He gets stations all over the world, has more QSL cards than ive ever seen, gets VK regularly, or 43division as he puts it. I am in the UK by the way. He is what all radio operators should be, he's a damn good operator, and has friends all over the world from his hobby, just like us, - BUT HE IS A PIRATE. Well Before i got my license i was on 11m all the time, now its some of the time, but i need a different hat for that. There is DEFINITELY more DX action on 11m if the propagation allows, its jammed on every frequency, this is good fun at this poit breaking pile ups etc.

I fully agree that eSSB should be for all.
Viva la amateur radio
Viva la freeband/11m dx

regards

Gregor49

[skullman]

Hey jon here well im a licenecd ham general now but working toward my extra,the comment that voodoo audio is not good for dx is wrong in my opoion,if you listen to any band i dont care if its 11 meters or 20-40-80 meters you can hear a voodoo station a mile away and when i do its the one i want to try and contac,and as far as hams talking bad about cbers ive heard that for years too,guess where most hams started !! Thats right cbing,then all of a sudden they talk down to them,i aggree on the last post most of the good people i know on the FREEBAND are great people and guess what most of them are hams to so i guess it comes full circle..Heres what i do i talk to anybody cbers hams,freebanders PIRATES ha ha too. I was on 20 meters the other night talking to a new ham he was just 15 yrs old he just got his general,he was in washington state and his grandpa was in phoeniz rz,we had a great talk about wideband audio, grandpa was on a k3 elcraft and he was in the what he called the essb mode and he sounded great,his grandson was on a yaesu ft-1000mp he asked what i was talking on and i told him a 950sdx modded i was in the 4kc mode didnt want to offend anyone he he ..anyway he said me and his grandpa sounded so good he was going to sell his 1000 and get an sdx or k3 so he can get into wideband audio,Heres the point of all this in this qso we all got along great young,middle aged thats me ha ha , and grandpa we all shared the same interests, in audio no matter what the band was.Oh and guess what all 3 of us started in cb radio,the young fellow told us that since hes gotten on the ham bands hes been harrassed more by hams then he ever did on 11 meters,he went on to say if he didnt say the right thing sometimes the old times hams would correct him on the air about still talking like a cber and it made him feel uncomfortable at times.I just told him to listen a little more and learn the jargon he be fine..so everybody lets just all get along and have some fun on voodoo audio ha ha hh this is just my humble oponion,ya all have a great day...lets vooooodoooo!!!!

[gregor49]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hey Jon, i agree with everything you said there. And thats a great story about the young fellow amateur operator. Its cheers me up to hear that our once dwindling hobby is actually flourishing again. Happy days.

[SawzAll]

I will say this for the freebanders.
They are a polite, courteous, and respectful lot . . .