73 Magazine Index

The SolderSmoke blog noticed my 73 Magazine index project a few weeks before I completed it.

It was a rather large undertaking, but worth it in my opinion. There is a wealth of timeless information in those magazines. And for many just by taking a look at the index will bring back a wave of nostalgia.

"What a great magazine 73 was! Sure, it was a bit wacky, but it had really wonderful technical content, at just the right level for truly amateur ham radio operators. Take your own walk down memory lane:" http://www.qsl.net/kb9mwr/files/ham/73.html

It is part of my effort to point out and promote what amateur radio is really about. I tend to agree with Jorge, KI4SGU's blog comment that "Ham radio needs a spokesman like Mr. Green Again." I hope the ARRL takes note.

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While I have been blogging for a while, I have had recent wave of receiving email comments and feedback. I started my this blog short after the ARRL Introduced the "Fifth Pillar" at Dayton Hamvention 2008.

ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, announced that the League will expand its identity program to include greater emphasis on technology. Harrison explained that "Ham radio operators, and particularly ARRL members, closely identify with current and emerging radio technology. Today, we are naming 'technology' as ARRL's new fifth pillar."

While I hoped this meant a greater emphasis on the ARRL Technology Task Force or Future Systems Committee, the only thing I really observed was the We Do That Radio website that was launched.

I swapped some emails with Allen Pitts, W1AGP who manages the site after it's launch as it did catch my eye.

Science, Experimentation and Technology .... We Do That!........ with Amateur Radio.

Welcome to Ham Radio in the 21st Century, Your scientific national resource!

The Amateur Radio Service frequency bands are the place on the usable radio spectrum where you as an individual can develop and experiment with wireless communications. Hams not only can make and modify their own equipment, but can create whole new ways to do things.

Learn about cutting edge Ham Radio technology and techniques.

The problem I saw and still see with that site is that it is geared for new hams. I conveyed this to Allen and shortly their after decided to start my own blog. There are plenty of fairly inactive hams bored with the same-old, same-old. I didn't feel the We Do That Radio site is geared for them, so this is my attempt to point out "something different."

Amateur Radio and Linux

One of my favorite magazines Linux Journal, also has a few articles in their January 2010 magazine.

Back in April 2007 on the Texas A&M University Amateur Radio 802.11 Mailing List I made some comments that hams of the past were perhaps one of the earliest adopters of the open source way of doing things. This was spawned from some discussion with another local ham, who happens to be one of my elmers.

We acknowledged this was done out of necessity - radio stuff was expensive and out of the reach of a lot of hams. So they invented newer and mostly cheaper ways of doing things. They also came up with better ways of doing things because somebody else would see that idea in print and improve upon it. Of course the technology was rather rudimentary, and there was little way to go but up at that point in radio technology calendar.

We also felt this is not so much the case anymore.

The current demographic of hams is skewed toward old. These people seem to be in either one of two camps. First is the retired person who has "made his fortune" (or at least is reasonably well off financially) and is not worried about inventing ways to do something on the cheap. They just buy an appliance and go from there.

The second group is middle aged and sees ham radio as not only a hobby, but a way to make some bucks. These are the guys that have an economic interest in closed source. They file part numbers off of chips, they cover circuitry in epoxy, and delude themselves into thinking that they will make a nice future retirement income from that "magic" CW keyer that they designed.

They don't do ham radio for the altruistic reasons (although some may have started out that way), it is money for them.

It seems to us that any change in the hobby needs to be political/philosophical. That means a change in leadership of the ARRL as they are the most prominent force in the hobby. This has got to be a grass-roots movement and it needs to start ASAP. The hobby will be gone and replaced by a "Citizen Communication Corps" if nothing is done.


In this Linux Journal issue one of the articles is titled along with some of the same thoughts. "When All Else Fails—Amateur Radio, the Original Open-Source Project"

What most people tend not to think about is the open-source nature of Amateur Radio. While operators most often are seen working in emergency situations, many of the modern conveniences we have today—cell phones, satellites, wireless devices— were developed and tested by radio amateurs.

On page 46 "An Amateur Radio Survival Guide for Linux Users - A getting-started guide for Linux users looking to venture into the world of Amateur Radio" by Dan Smith. This is an overview of common amateur radio activities with information on how to participate using a Linux system and free software.

On Page 50 you will find information on Xatir. An Open Source Client for the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS). Subtitled "Plotting Mars Rover locations on a detailed map, easily done with Linux? You Bet! By Curt Mills, Steve Stroh and Lara Mills.

Starting on page 56 of this issue, an article titled "Rolling Your Own With Digital Amateur Radio" by Gary Robinson. He points out that Amateur Radio and open source are a heavenly match.

Amateur Radio operators are generally free-thinking individualists who don’t mind getting their hands dirty to get something done right. Many of us do not think twice about buying a brand-new radio for hundreds or even thousands of dollars and popping the lid on it to see if we can modify it to make it better. You do not have to look hard to find myriad articles on how to modify different pieces of Amateur Radio equipment. So, it is not surprising that we might feel the same way about the software we use.

Open-source software and Amateur Radio are a natural fit. Few operators ever would buy a piece of radio gear if it came with a license that said they could not modify it, and it’s natural to see why a lot of us navigate toward open source in general and Linux in particular.

I encourage you to pick up this copy at the newsstand if you are not a subscriber

Tinkering & Innovation

About this time a year ago I wrote about the same thing. I pointed out that you cannot sit back and expect the big ham manufactures to come out with new technologies. As that is what we are supposed to be doing.

John Hays, K7VE was recently interviewed by Computer World magazine. The article has a good theme on Reviving innovation in the hobby.

Reviving innovation

Decades ago, amateur radio operators were on the forefront of scores of technological innovations, including television, digital communications, solid-state design and cellular networks. The hobby's roots trace back to radio pioneers such as Guglielmo Marconi and FM-inventor Edwin Armstrong.

But in recent years, as many potential new hams were attracted to computers, the Internet and other technologies that they could explore without passing a licensing exam, some veteran hams worried that ham radio was at risk of gradually sliding into stagnation and was perhaps even on the road toward technological irrelevance. Over time, many old-timers worried, experimenters would gradually be replaced by hams more focused on the hobby's operational aspects, such as restoring antique radios and providing communications services for community parades and other charity events.

Other hams, however, believed that the hobby was actually entering a new era of innovation, one driven by the same type of people lured away from ham radio by advancing digital technologies. They reasoned that a streamlined licensing system, capped by the FCC's elimination of Morse code testing two years ago, would, over time, revitalize the hobby. This would happen by attracting technically skilled innovators who were interested in more than merely tapping a telegraph key.

Whatever the reason, a budding corps of innovators is now working to restore at least some of ham radio's past glory, focusing on projects ranging from satellite construction to power-line communications to testing long-range Wi-Fi links. "Ham radio provides the broadest and most powerful wireless communications capability available to any private citizen anywhere in the world," says Allen Pitts, a spokesman for the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), a national association of ham radio operators based in Newington, Conn.

And along the same lines the Wall Street Journal just had an article on how Tinkering is making a comeback amid the economic crisis.

Occupying a space somewhere between shop class and the computer lab, the new tinkerers are making everything from devices that Twitter how much beer is left in a keg to robots that assist doctors. The experimentation is even creating companies. With innovation a prime factor in driving economic growth, and corporate research and development spending tepid, the marriage of brains and brawn offers one hopeful glimmer.

Engineering schools across the country report students are showing an enthusiasm for hands-on work that hasn't been seen in years. Workshops for people to share tools and ideas -- called "hackerspaces" -- are popping up all over the country; there are 124 hackerspaces in the U.S., according to a member-run group that keeps track, up from a handful at the start of last year. SparkFun Electronics Inc., which sells electronic parts to tinkerers, expects sales of about $10 million this year, up from $6 million in 2008. "Make" magazine, with articles on building items such as solar hot tubs and autopilots for robots, has grown from 22,000 subscribers in 2005 to more than 100,000 now. Its annual "Maker Faire" in San Mateo, Calif., attracted 75,000 people this year.

Club/ equipment crossroads?

Here is the Letter to the Editor I wrote for the Green Bay Mike and Key Club, (my local club) Keyclicks newsletter in December 2008.

The thoughts in this article are that of my own, and do not necessarily represent those of the GBMK. I'll admit to having a digital interest/bias.

The Green Bay Mike & Key Club is at an equipment crossroads. The 147.12 and 147.36 are nearing the end of their 30 year life. They both do need upgrading, and I'm sure many doubt this.

But it seems there is more to it than that. It's more a question of where will ham radio be in another 10, 20 and 30 years? More importantly, where do you the members and hams of the area want and envision it to be?

I also feel that there is little doubt that the GBMK is the prominent club/voice for ham radio in this area. The community infrastructure they decide and provide for the area ham populous does in effect impact the future of ham radio in this area.

My personal feeling is that one of the three systems the Green Bay Mike & Club maintains should be able to do something more that it has for the last 30 years. I feel strongly that one of these systems should at least be "digital ready," meaning that the hardware can support or be upgraded to support some digital format.

Weather that be D-Star, APCO-25, NXDN, or something else is for members to decide.

All I know is locking the community into another 30 years of the same capabilities doesn't sound very smart for the future of the hobby.

73'

Steve, KB9MWR

Unfortunately it fell upon deaf ears. I did receive a couple notes from people who seemed to agree or thought it was a good point/well written.

The club chose replace the 147.360 Micor with a Kenwood analog radio. When put on the spot, the reason for not considering digital was because there wasn't enough of a potential user base. Hardly any members had digital capabilities. That coupled with the question of which digital format would take over and not wanting to invest in the wrong thing.

While I can understand the reasoning. The door swings both ways. Most hams won't take the plunge and buy a new radio without infrastructure in the area. Which is also understandable.

Trying to be good spirited I even helped with a tune-up when the new repeater was moved to the Bellin hospital site. For a few weeks the excitement was high, and there was a lot of use of the new system.

So lets look at it now:

During the month of October I logged the transmitter activity on the 147.360. On average it saw less than 1 hr of total transmitter time daily.

So to me the argument that a digital counter part was not warranted due to potential use has been invalidated.

I guess the core issue here is in generating and keeping interest in the hobby. It also seems wise to not duplicate resources, but instead try something different.

For instance there are about analog 10 repeaters in Green Bay. How many hams per day do you think get on all these machines?

So I don't see how a narrow band push is logical, for the sole purpose to accommodate everyone's request to put up a repeater.

Just my $.02

Tonight's Family Guy

Tonight's Family Guy titled "Quagmire’s Baby" featured some ham radio references.

Peter goes to Quagmire’s garage sale and buys a Ham radio. He uses that radio to talk to a ghost of Ronald Reagan. Peter eventually ends up going back to return the radio.

More references can be found here:
http://www.qsl.net/kb9mwr/files/ham/cartoon/cartoon.html

A second way to convert an analog repeater to D-Star.

Until just recently if you wanted to make your own d-star repeater at a fraction of the cost, there was one way. That was the Satoshi GMSK node adapter.  

To build this adapter the cost about $70 as compared (+ your analog radios) to the cost of a Icom RPC-2 Controller plus a RF band module at about $2900.

As one can imagine the GMSK node adapter is very popular. There are a number of other revised clone boards out there  to feed the need and address small board errors in the original design.  

The problem being is that there is not always credit due to the base designer and PIC code author Satoshi Yasuda 7M3TJZ/AD6GZ. Currently, the PIC code is in a state of being re-written to satisfy that it doesn't infringe on his rights.
 
In this impasse Jonathan Naylor G4KLX's sound card based GMSK / D-Star repeater controller project has gained a lot of attention and advancement.

Will the Digital Revolution Crush Amateur Radio?

Amateur radio must seek change - and welcome it when it comes. It is essential to seek change. When change does occur, it often comes with confusion. It amateur radio is to survive, it must not run from change, it must be prepared to run toward it. Change imposed by the digital revolution is an opportunity if amateur radio can solve the problems therein related.

From 73 Magazine - March 2000 - Bill Parker W8DMR