[cactacea]

Generally speaking, line of sight. Assuming you're in the US, the FCC wouldn't come after you for using this in an emergency situation unless you were being absolutely egregious about stomping on other emergency comms, even then I seriously doubt you'd see a fine.

Having said that you're basically going to need enough knowledge to pass the test to make use of this anyway. Why not just take the test and be legal?

[capitainenemo]

Don't you have to register with your personal address in a public database?

[myself248]

Yes. You can use a PO box, but since all past addresses and changes are visible in the database, you have to get the PO box _before_ you get your very first license, in order for it to be meaningful.

[b112]

You mean like virtually everyone did, with phone books?

[capitainenemo]

Well, for white pages, it used to be name to phone number lookup, not, you know, physical address, in almost all cases. Yellow pages were different ofc. And the tide against that turned 20 years ago, which congress banned that for cellphones.

In any case, sounds like "yes".

Not a deal breaker, but concerning. I know folks in my home would be opposed to my doing it.

[quesera]

> not, you know, physical address

White pages had physical address too.

In practice, even today without published phone directories, lookup from name to address is readily accomplished from public records.

If you have put in the effort to avoid all of those vectors, then it's equally possible to use a safe address for your FCC registration.

[capitainenemo]

Sometimes yes, not always, and practice decreased as privacy concerns increased. The old one for our city that was still printed up to about a decade ago did not have them.

And yeah, could probably find some way to spoof.

And yes, people can find things, just makes folks here uncomfortable that it would be readily available to a random nut in a short list linked to a "pseudo" one might be using routinely.

Anyway. It's one more hassle and disincentive. I'm interested in its potential for an emergency out in the woods (I'd be carrying my phone anyway, so a tiny pocket dongle is far less weight than a radio), but if I learn how to use it, I probably won't go for the license.

[quesera]

Agreed -- I'm with you 100% on the opsec hygiene regiment.

But FWIW, I think "Firstname Lastname Postal_Address" has never been easily kept private (indeed, the winning strategy is subterfuge), and that adding "Callsign" does not change that equation.

Of course it does mean that you shouldn't use your callsign as a pseudonym online. And I am not a person who is comfortable with the idea of a ham vanity plate! :) But with proper hygiene, your callsign is just an arbitrary alphanumeric string that is attached in exactly one place, to another instance of your name/address in the wild.

One thing getting a license would do, is give you an idea of how to maximize your tx/rx options. Understanding RF propagation in varied terrain could be valuable in an emergency situation.

If you already know this stuff, then the license exams are very easy.