Lesson 1
Short Wave Internet Replacement
The entire concept of "replacing" the Internet with some sort of radio "short wave" seems like a sort of schizophrenic, distorted thinking. After all, first there was the land-line telegraph, then the land-line telephone, then Radio where one could communicate using the electromagnetic spectrum, and finally the current state-of-the-art culminates in the Internet, which uses telephone lines, microwave radio, and satellites all interconnected with special electronics and computers. It provides electronic mail, audio and video, a world-wide virtual library, and delivers it at high speed and low cost to homes across the globe. So, why would anyone even consider something as silly as a slow and expensive "Short Wave Internet Replacement?"
The short and direct answer is "Global Cataclysm." The Internet depends totally on the smooth functioning of a vast network infrastructure, stretching world wide, that is composed of thousands of highly technical parts, including people with specialized skills and training. Any global event that destroyed a major part or even all of this infrastructure would result in the Internet ceasing to exist.
The tt-radio Team believes that just such a global cataclysm will occur within the next few years. This Radio Team is part of a group called Troubled Times, which is working on the development of ways to survive this event. Troubled Times, Inc., a non-profit corporation, is dedicated to alerting the global population of this event and teaching individuals how to survive.
One of the many things of great importance to "survival communities" is the ability not only to communicate with other such communities, but to be able to share specialized information. The ultimate goal to realize these needs is to implement a limited form of the Internet, including email and web pages.
In this lesson you will learn how we plan to accomplish this. The major concepts of the Lesson which is presented are:
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That Ham Radio currently provides global "telegraph" service
That Ham Radio currently provides a form of web site
How these services are tied together via Ham Radio
An introduction to the skills and equipment which a survival community must have in order to take advantage of this Short Wave Internet Replacement
Exotic Propagation Possibilities
Why can't we just rely upon the existing Ham Radio community to continue to provide these services? To a limited extent they will; however, the vast majority of these people and their specialized equipment will be destroyed along with the Internet and 90% of the world's population.
This Lesson is limited to the presentation of concepts; not the detail "how to." The details are presented in subsequent Lessons. Upon completion of this Lesson you should understand the goals and general means to achieve the Short Wave Internet Replacement. You should understand that the same concepts that make the current Internet work via automation can also be used manually by people, trained in disciplined techniques, to make an Internet substitute a reality. You should also realize that nothing "new" is being proposed, as this is being done every day of the year within the Ham Radio community; that the only real difference is that the People who will continue these operations is what will change, because they realize what is around the corner and will be prepared to survive, along with the equipment to make it a reality. The time estimated to complete this lesson is about two hours.
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