DocAndersen
There are many things that I’ve used, loved and am always interested in seeing and using. The first is the ever-expanding world of weather and weather devices. The second is GPS/Mapping technology. Both of these passions come from my childhood, and I’ve talked about my father’s influence on my love of those. Another cool technology areas that I like is the ever-expanding world of radios. Radios are two part, the first being the cell phones we all carry. Effectively a cell phone is a radio. Like other radio, it lives in a specific bandwidth just like the other radio systems. Wifi also used a radio stack so you can see the reality of what is a radio is huge.
I started out with a CB radio many years ago (CB in the US stands for Citizens Band). CB radios are normally 1-5 watts and can push a signal 15 or so miles. A CB radio without an antenna is useless! You’ll need the CB radio antenna mounting in the center of your truck’s roof to get the best signal coverage. Truckers in the US loved CB radios, and CB lingo took over very quickly. The Language of radio is a mix of languages overall, In the US there is a mix of law enforcement lingo (the ten code) and the lingo of the specific radio system.
- Boaters use VHF radios.
- Trubckers use CB radios.
- Radio hobbyists use HAM radio.
HAM radios and VHF radios have the greatest range (VHF has greater range on the water.) VHF radios were not legal to use on the ground until 2018. The change now is you can use VHF radios on shore when communicating with a boat. You aren’t supposed to be far inshore. CB and HAM radios, on the other hand, are not often used on the water.
The last radio system used heavily is what is called the family radio service. Family radios have a little more power than CB’s by nature and are focused on delivering signals to other FRS handsets.
There are many pieces and parts to the reality of what radios are and do. Just another area of technology I am passionate about!
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Question of
Did you know wifi signals were radio waves?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Have you ever talked on a CB or other radio?
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Yes
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No
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Radio waves are somewhat confusing to me- I understand they are still light (outside our visible spectrum) so transmission has to be light of sight but like all light waves, they can bounce so it doesn’t have to be line of sight
but the confusing thing is how do you encode sound into light?
Actually, the conversion process is very simple, the rise of Satellites has allowed a shift to the left in what line of sight means. From above, sight is a lot bigger!
The issue for radio waves, along with the entire spectrum, is they are easily disrupted. It is why many phone companies are buying up fiber cabling.
I for one would welcome a robust fiber backbone in the states
That is something we will need for a full 5g implementation.
the problem is the US is huge and there are vast areas of nothing where you don’t get any benefit from laying cable…
Actually, if you look at cable maps, there are a lot of low population areas where there is a huge amount of fiber run. It is easier to get a release from a landowner in Wyoming, then it is to lay a new cable in NYC.
it certainly is, but the ROI is nothing by comparison…
Actually if you look at a “data” movement mmmmap, the ROOI for putting fiber iintto wide open spaces is pretty high. The density of fiber outside NYC is 2 to 3 times higher, that way, the multiple routes into and out of the city can be maximized. Add to that none of the cross Atlantic or transpacfic cables terminate in big cities.
I expect the transoceanic cables terminate where they do by necessity, and then, like you said, they branch out to the hubs from an inexpensive central location…
Great memories you just triggered. My uncle was a truck driver back in the CB radio days. I would go on trips with him (with his kids) and talk o the radio. So cool.
It was an interesting time, many truckers still use CB radios. They have CB’s and cell phones, hard to beat the reliability for close mesh communication.