How would you like to log your PC onto a RES and send as much e-mail as you wish, upload and download as many files as your heart desires and not have to pay NTT, KDD, or any other carrier even one yen for the connection time?

A dream? Well, not exactly; at least not for some people who have the right equipment.

Packet Radio and PCs

Several people have expressed curiosity about stories they have heard regarding online junkies hooking PCs into their- shortwave radios, and then taking a short cut (more like a helicopter ride) along the Information Superhighway, bypassing all the res t of us who must pay the toll charges.

Part of this is true. Part of it, as should be expected, is too good to be true.

First, the BBS bit. Amateur-radio operators -- those guys who most people picture sitting in darkened basements with headphones on, turning and twisting knobs all night amidst the crackle of static -- have put together a network of store-and forward BB Ss, very similar to what USENET was back in the old days. Just as you can transmit data over phone lines originally designed for only voice, You can transmit data on the shortwave radio spectrum.

By using a special error-correcting modem designed for radio transmissions (AX25 protocol), if you have a good shortwave radio setup you can tune into a local radio BBS, or even one thousands of miles away. And you can do everything you would expect from a regular BBS although slower. Most of these radio BBS systems are linked to each other, utilizing a network of satellites dedicated to amateur radio enthusiasts.

There is one catch, though: you must be a licensed HAM radio operator to use this service. And the person with whom you are communicating must also be one. But read on; this may still be for you.

This network has no direct connection to regular Internet users, and one doesn't seem likely soon. Sending business notes along regular hardwired networks is frowned upon; doing so over the public airwaves is outright illegal. Very illegal in fact.

The reason HAM radio operators exist officially is so there are people in place who can act as an emergency backup communications network in the event of natural disaster or war. Governments are thus very, very touchy if anything commercial goes on. Connection of a telephone line to a radio signal -- essentially what a HAM-Internet connection would be -- also comes under some pretty tight regulations.

Still, if you like sending notes on rather- simple subjects to friends all over the world (what most people end up doing on the Internet anyway), packet radio may be for you. It requires a fair amount of study to get your license in Japan, not to men tion a pretty good command of the language. Rut you can probably study in your own language and get a license from your home country, subject to whatever agreements your country has with the Japanese government.

If you are interested in learning how to get a HAM radio operators license, or would lust Like to learn more about packet radio, write to the Tokyo International Amateur Radio Association (TIARA), PO Box 119, Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107. Or check out their detailed Lynx file. If your Internet provider has the Lynx function, at the Lynx prompt type: file://twics.com/html/hamradio.html

It is possible for US citizens to get their amateur radio licenses in Japan. Contact the American Radio Relay League to find out more (they have an automated Internet information service that gets back to you within minutes). Send a note with no text i n it to info@arrl.org, and follow the instructions carefully.

Free Weather Reports?

Sending anything over a radio frequency requires a license. But receiving broadcast signals costs nothing (at least if you're one of those intransigents who refuses to pay NHK). The airwaves are full of all sorts of interesting things that you can inte rcept and print out: wire service reports, teletype messages, photos, and even weather maps.

There are numerous shareware programs available for receiving signals and deciphering them on your PC. The hardware needed is a good shortwave receiver and a small blackbox that you can assemble from kits available in Akihabara. If you want to learn m ore, log on to the JANIS II BBS and leave a note for one of the Sysops (JANIS II) BBS, 03-3252-7224, up to 28.8K bps, N/8/1).

Thomas Caldwell is managing director of CFI Associates KK, a Tokyo-based government and public relations company, and is a two-time president of the International Computer Association of Japan. In his spare time, Thomas writes for the Japan Times Weekly and Asahi Evening News and is a correspondent for the UPI Radio Network.