Amateur radio activity is still practiced, moreover, unlike what happens with streaming through Internet platforms, it requires a special license from the government, since it uses the radio-television network for this and not the Internet. It is therefore a much less popular option for this reason, in addition to reaching a much smaller audience. However, when the internet did not exist, it was the medium by which many electronics, computer and telecommunications enthusiasts communicated with each other.
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Although it was not very common to do so and the vast majority of them ended up working in local radios to then give way to professional radios, either as communicators or behind the screen. Yet, long before the massive popularization of streaming on the internet and in the past, there were already people who streamed content as a hobby and without being professional. That is, what one might consider
This is how radio amateurs used the PC to transmit
We tend to associate computers from the 80s with two things, on the one hand, boring PCs with a green phosphor screen used by boring office workers and, on the other hand, systems for video games. However, one of the most common activities at the time was to obtain a license and become a radio amateur. Although the Internet was not used, the personal computer was the focus. Including those with 8-bit processors and MHz speeds that can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Obviously, the processing capacity of these computers was not enough to carry it out, however, in 1979 it had already been shown that it was possible to create a home radio station using a computer domestic. And we are talking about the first generation, two years before the launch of the first IBM PC. So it was something that anyone could possibly install in their home if they were a fan of it. Moreover, to this day, this activity continues, not only using modern computers with adapters to older peripheral ports such as RS-232
Unsurprisingly, a good part of the professional radio transmitters which have been sold they were based on the same hardware as a computer, which is why it was possible, thanks to peripherals, to emulate said stations and to have a studio for radio amateurs at home. Although this is not common and that is why external boxes controlled via the PC have been purchased.
What was the computer for in this case?
At that time, there was no type of GUI-based operating system, that’s why communicated between PC and transmitting device via RS-232 ports and through a series of command-based applications, they controlled radio broadcasting without having to rely on complex analog devices for this. Which meant a huge saving for radio amateurs and not only economic, but also space.
Now people used them not only to chat, but also to convey information. Many pioneering companies in the sector used this method before the existence of the Internet to transmit programs. What they did was connect a tape with the transmitter app and the receiver had another one from which they were receiving the program. This became popular over time and in our country another game was in its Jack Sparrow version on these networks. Another of the generally common applications on the high seas is the use of these systems on ships to communicate with other ships and receive weather information and different alert messages.
