@Drew – I can see you’ve got a lot of energy! That’s awesome. In a nutshell:

1.) Don’t limit yourself to the lowest radio amateur license (“technician”). Yeah it’s a start, but go ahead and get the 2nd level (“general”), then you can use any amateur band (the lower regions of which are reserved for the highest-level licensees) and have the whole spectrum at your fingertips.

2.) Begin reviewing the material to get your radio license. You’ll learn about all the operating modes (SSB, FM, AM, CW), frequencies, and much more! It’ll give you a better idea of what’s used for what and why, such as why video is best sent on higher frequencies (i.e., 900MHz) and why *continuous wave* (CW) like what I used in this project is so good for low power transmission of Morse code!

3.) Controlling an RC plane 200 miles away would definitely require something more sophisticated, but not outside the realm of hobbyists! Again, read the exam prep material! IMHO the best way is to read the question bank and Google why an answer is what it is if you don’t get it.

4.) depending on where you live, you probably have an active VHF repeater within range. Think of it as an IRC server for local radio operators. Once you get on the air with an inexpensive VHF radio (I started with a $65 Puxing 777 from eBay) you’ll meet a lot of people on the air who can help you learn a ton just by talking to them, and probably even let you borrow equipment of your own until you know what you want to buy! Similar to how computer gurus have tons of old computers in a closet somewhere, a lot of radio gurus have tons of old equipment they’d be happy to lend out to an eager learner!

Get that license and make some contacts =o)

Once you have a working knowledge of major RF concepts, the world is yours for the hacking!

I did my own research- it seems the lowest level, Amateur Technician class, can use SSB(Phone)& CW (continuous wave) in the band of 28.300 – 28.500 Mhz, which is roughly 10 meters, and the range your project works in. I don’t know anything yet, so I’m not sure if the signal your transmitter is sending out is one of those signal types.

Thanks very much for offering to answer questions via email, I will take you up on that this weekend- my weekdays are insanely busy- I’m fortunate enough to be learning machining, welding, electronics, and OSHA training at my local college in an experimental manufacturing boot camp of sorts, and I’m meeting people into all kinds of cool Hackaday type backgrounds other than my machining background.

Two last questions here though:

1. What is the signal this uses called? I know it’s using Morse code, but what signal type is that? “CW”, “SSB”, or something else?

2. Would a reciever for this be possible to be nearly as small? I’d like to control an RC plane for 200 miles shooting landscape photos on mountaintops.

“ps too much talk about legality of this, dont forget that FCC laws are equivalent to claiming ownership of sunlight or criminalizing vocal communication without permit”

Bad analogy.

No matter how you choose to use sunlight on your property, nothing you do will prevent me from being able to use it, too. On the other hand, your abuse of RF spectrum space can deny me my rights to use it, too.

Even a malfunctioning street lamp or a cracked insulator on a power pole, for example, has rendered large chunks of the lower HF ham bands unusable. I know, because when it happened locally, I used test equipment to pinpoint the sources of this unintended radiation and then worked with property owners and the power company to rectify those problems. These people acted in a responsible fashion.

As to the matter of vocal communication, if you think there are no rules that govern it, try yelling “fire” in a movie theater or make a joke about a bomb while you are standing in line at an airport. I can guarantee that you will be contacted by someone with a badge who will be more than happy to explain to you why you *don’t* have the right to do those things.

If there is too much talk of anything, there is too much talk of “rights” without any acknowledgement of “responsibility.” Adults recognize that rights and responsibility go together, and are inseparable. Adolescents think they are entitled to use the credit card without having to pay the bill.

I just got my technician-level license, and can’t wait to try this!

btw, 200 miles is nothing in amateur radio. and the FCC actually gives you a lot of privileges with your license…such as the ability to transmit at up to 1500 Watts in certain frequencies!!