Welcome HamSphere, our newest sponsor
I wanted to take a quick moment to welcome AmateurRadio.com’s newest sponsor, HamSphere.
For those who may not be familiar, HamSphere is a virtual ham radio “simulator.” It doesn’t use RF — instead, hams communicate over the Internet with simulated interference, propagation, and more.
You can download software for PC, Mac, or Linux and try out the service free for a limited time.
Thanks for checking them out and remember that it’s the generosity of sponsors like HamSphere that helps pay for our hosting and bandwidth and, ultimately, keeps AmateurRadio.com “on the air.”
Have you tried HamSphere? Share your thoughts….
It’s really come to this now.
Very Very sad.
Some are against Echolink, I support it. With Echolink at least the user at a minimum is a licensed ham and “might” get exposed to real amateur radio. I really don’t get Hamsphere. Is there really a need for simulated amateur radio? Also I disagree with comment “it doesn’t use RF – instead hams”. I really doubt there are many hams using this. If they are we need to introduce them to the real amateur radio like we all experienced this past weekend with the amazing 10 meter openings.
Matt I realize you are trying to keep the lights on, but you have an impressive list of our fellow amateurs who are working really hard to promote our hobby and service. I appreciate you allowing all of us (myself included) to share our activities and knowledge. I don’t view Hamsphere as anything having to do with the true spirit of radio.
Sorry OM. Just needed to voice my feelings.
73
Jerry
Q: What’s radio without the radio?
A: Nothing.
Gotta agree with the above comments…I know it takes real money to run a place like this, but man…
No, I will never try it, why would I?
Thank you to everyone who weighed in on this — here and by e-mail. I heard from many people whom I have great respect for. I honestly did not realize that people felt so strongly about this but I appreciate the respectful nature of the comments. I recognize that sometimes people will disagree with things that are written here by our valued contributors, or with my decisions as the administrator of this site.
I must take responsibility for procuring this sponsorship. I approached Kelly at HamSphere directly about trying a sponsorship and he generously agreed to give it a try. I am sure, however, that he will gladly take his money elsewhere if the community doesn’t feel the service is a good fit.
I’m in the early stages of planning an expansion of the site. This will likely require a dedicated server which can be quite expensive. I hope to explore sponsorships as a way to continue to bring this site to the worldwide ham community without it costing me money out of pocket. I will continue that effort. At $25/month, we need four sponsorships to cover the costs of a dedicated server and miscellaneous expenses. That’s the simple reality of it.
If you have an idea for a sponsor, or know someone who may be interested, please let me know.
You know.. this isn’t such a bad idea really. It could be useful for simulating 1950’s DX conditions and giving non-hams “virtual” Extra Class privleges to help interest them into the hobby.
I don’t have time for “real” ham radio lately but on the face value this isn’t a bad project. Don’t knock it guys…
Fred W0FMS
Sorry, guys I’m a purist give me a REAL Radio, knobs, buttons, VFO, dipole, and 100 watts. I’ll check it out, of course it is for a limited time meaning, they’ll charge you for this APP. Take your money and save for a NEW Rig, our better yet a New Antenna maybe? 73 KB1QDC
SKYPE is cheaper then hamsphere 🙂