About six months ago, I blogged about the “memristor,” a new, basic component type. The memristor is a resisitor with a memory. That is to say that its resistance changes when you change the voltage across it. Below, see the video that explains how it works:
Archives for December 2008
FCC Calls on Amateur Radio Service for Assistance with Digital TV Conversion
Here’s an interesting item that passed through my inbox from the ARRL’s PR Mailing List. Should ham radio operators become the FCC’s tech support group?
FCC Calls on Amateur Radio Service for Assistance with Digital TV Conversion
Earlier this week, the ARRL received a request from the FCC asking that ARRL members to provide technical educational assistance to their communities concerning the FCC-mandated digital television (DTV) conversion scheduled for February 17, 2009.
According to ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, Amateur Radio clubs across the country are being asked to develop and implement plans to provide information throughout January and February about the DTV conversion in their areas. The FCC is leaving it up to the clubs to decide how to do this, as local groups understand the communities in ways that the FCC does not. Each community is a little different, Pitts said, so plans carried out by the clubs will vary from community to community. Interested groups should contact their ARRL Section Manager.
Pitts stressed that hams should not make “house calls,†sell any equipment or do actual installations; the request is only to distribute technical information and FCC materials. He commented: “As we all know, some folks just never get the message until too late. Materials for presentations, education and many other activities are available online. Beginning early January, FCC staff will contact Section Managers and leaders of interested clubs and, where possible, arrange to meet to share even more information, audio, visual and printed materials, as well as and training aids, with the clubs involved this effort. We know the time is short, but your aid in this now will be appreciated.â€
In early January, Pitts said that the FCC will ask Section Managers for the names and contact information of the volunteering groups. The FCC staff will then make contact with the groups, learn their plans and provide them with the media, brochures or other materials groups may need in this effort. Materials also can be downloaded from the DTV Conversion Web site. FCC regional staff members may even come and visit with larger groups to aid in implementation of the group’s plans.
“I really appreciate the willingness of the ARRL to actively participate in helping Americans with the transition to DTV and your helpful suggestions,†said George Dillon, FCC Deputy Bureau Chief for Field Operations. “The DTV transition will be an historic moment in the evolution of TV. Broadcast television stations can offer viewers improved picture and sound quality and new programming choices. All-digital broadcasting also will allow us to significantly improve public safety communications and will usher in a new era of advanced wireless services such as the widespread deployment of wireless broadband. Our goal is to engage the amateur community on a cooperative basis to help with the DTV outreach and to educate consumers.â€
Dillon continued that local Amateur Radio clubs might consider offering technical advice to consumers via telephone to those consumers who may encounter difficulty with the installation and setting up of their converter box. “Any assistance…will greatly help in the efforts of the FCC to ensure a smooth transition to DTV on February 17, 2009.â€
Pitts advises interested groups to keep in mind that they are to provide technical educational help only: “At no time should the hams enter someone else’s home or install equipment. They should not broker or sell conversion boxes in any way. Clubs can provide such things as a call-in telephone number for technical help, make presentations at meetings, do demonstrations at malls or give talks to other groups — whatever works in their community.â€
Recruiting Hams vs. Recruiting ARRL Members
After the recent election–which I unfortunately lost–our division director, K8JE, asked me to share some ideas with him about recruiting. It seemed to me that he was lumping together the idea of recuiting new hams and recruiting new ARRL members. To many of us, being a ham and being an ARRL member is synonymous. When it comes to recruiting, however, recruiting new people into amateur radio and recruiting ARRL members are two separate issues. I’ll explain.
The first issue is recruiting people into the hobby. I think that this is easier than we often make it out to be. There are lots of people out there who would become hams if they:
- knew more about amateur radio.
- are given the opportunity to take classes and take the test.
Let’s discuss the first part – getting the word out about amateur radio. I think that lately the ARRL has been doing a good job promoting amateur radio. I like the publicity campaigns that Allen Pitts, W1AGP, has developed. Not only that, he has done a great job involving ARRL members in helping him promote ham radio.
Now, we need to raise our profile even more. By that I mean that we need to target people and organizations that might benefit by getting involved with amateur radio or that we want to attract to amateur radio. We need to identify these groups and find a way to get our message to them.
What groups might benefit by getting involved with amateur radio? How about:
- Skywarn groups,
- school groups,
- science museums,
- universities,
- public libraries,
- senior citizens’ groups,
- robotics clubs,
- “Maker” clubs.
Now, how do we reach these folks? Well, let’s take the maker clubs as an example. Makers are “do-it-yourself” technologists who get involved in a lot of different things. Ham radio should be one of them. Every year, MAKE: magazine holds two “Maker Faires.” The ARRL should be there in force.
We also need to reach more school groups. Yes, the ARRL conducts the Teacher Institute every year, but how about also addressing the state and national science teacher association conventions?
Once you start getting the word out, people will respond. At that point, you have to be ready to accomodate them. Let’s take our experience here in Ann Arbor, for example.
In the fall of 2007, we decided to run our first One-Day Tech Class. We had about twelve in that class, and 11 out of the twelve passed (one or two had to take the test a second time). We didn’t hold the next one until May 2008. We again had twelve in the class. This time, 11 passed. We held our third class in September 2007. This time, we had 14 in the class, and 13 of 14 passed.
We just held our fourth session. This time, fourteen were in the class. Four people decided not to take the test. Of the remaining ten, nine out of ten passed. I’m going to keep on top of those four to make sure that they get licensed. In the meantime, I’m going to claim that we’re still batting 90% when it comes to attendees of the one-day class passing the test.
The interesting thing about this session was that we had a long waiting list. Because of the classroom we were able to get, and to keep down the workload of our VEs, we decided to only take 15 students. We had to put more than ten on our waiting list. Now, these people will be all set to attend our next session in three months.
And we do intend to do this again in three months. I think that holding regularly-scheduled classes is one of the keys to our success. By holding these regularly every three months, people know that even though they may not be able to attend one session another will come along in three months. Not only that, they’ll tell family and friends about the upcoming class and get them to also attend. Word-of-mouth really works!
The new Michigan ACC, Scott W1BIC, and I are planning to take this show on the road. We’ll identify areas that might be ripe for a one-day class, find some VEs to accompany us, and then make some new hams. Not only that, we’re also planning to identify hams in those areas who we can get to sit in on our session, so that they will be able to run their own one-day classes three or six months later.
I think the ARRL needs to implement this kind of program nationally. Every section should have an Education Coordinator whose job it is to help clubs set up classes such as this one (as well as General Class and Extra Class classes). And, if it can’t find a ham radio club to work with, find another group such as a high school, university, or maker club that it can work with.
That’s enough for this post. I’ll rant blog about recruiting new ARRL members later.
ARRL HQ Welcomes New Membership Manager
Posted to the ARRL website a couple of days ago:
(Dec 4, 2008) — The ARRL is pleased to welcome Membership Manager Diane Petrilli, KB1RNF, to the Headquarters staff in Newington. Petrilli’s key areas of responsibility include programs and activities that directly affect membership growth, engagement and retention. Petrilli is taking over the position from Katie Breen, W1KRB. Breen left in October.
full story
Breen, W1KRB, left the ARRL on October 3, 2008. She was with the League for about two and a half years. Unfortunately, I don’t think Katie got much of a chance to really work on membership recruiting and retention. A quick scan of the ARRL news shows that she got sucked into a lot of other activities, such as managing the ARRL Expo at Dayton and working on W1HQ, the station at ARRL headquarters. Here’s hoping that Petrilli gets a chance to actually focus on membership.
Petrilli is quoted as saying, “While I have quite a bit of experience working in an association setting, I am new to the field of Amateur Radio and so I may be reaching out to many of you in the upcoming weeks. I will be graciously asking for your help — to share your knowledge, your ideas and passion for the Service.” If she does contact you, please respond graciously. I know I will.
Numbers Station on 3528.5 Last Night
If you have listened to shortwave broadcasts or utility stations, you will no doubt have run across the “numbers stations.” Wikipedia says,
Numbers stations (or Number stations) are shortwave radio stations of uncertain origin. They generally broadcast artificially generated voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters (sometimes using a spelling alphabet), tunes or Morse code. They are in a wide variety of languages and the voices are usually women’s, though sometimes men’s or children’s voices are used.
Evidence supports popular assumptions that the broadcasts are used to send messages to spies. This usage has not been publicly acknowledged by any government that may operate a numbers station, but in one case, Cuban numbers station espionage has been publicly prosecuted in a United States federal court.
Last night, I was tuning around the 80m CW band and came across a strong signal on 3528.5 kHz and copied the folllowing ABOUT 2300Z:
QFWNX OLJFL XYNQD ZDVLX OBOZM OOXWO
BRHSH RZFMB KIALN JQMNF CMUCB ZYREI
TLHAR TZTXR YWCXJ ….. ….. …..
This kind of random-letter group continued for as long as I listened.
It was kind of amusing, but a little disconcerting that this kind of operation was right in the middle of a ham band. Google “numbers stations” for links to a whole bunch of sites that speculate about the origins and utility of these stations.
What Do You Think About the ARRL’s Website?
Yesterday, I got an interesting call from the marketing company that’s working on a redesign of the ARRL website. I had an interesting chat with a young woman there who asked a bunch of questions about how I use the site, but I’m guessing that this wasn’t a typical user interview. For one thing, I’d bet that I was the only one she interviewed that develops and maintains websites for a living. I may also be the only one who’s run for an ARRL board position.
I asked her quite a few questions myself, trying to get an idea of the direction that the redesign was going to take. My guess is that very few of the other people she interviewed asked those same questions.
Now, I don’t know how you feel about it, but I think the ARRL website is OK. The design could use a little updating, but that’s pretty much always the case. I’m of the opinion that the graphic design of a website should be redone every two or three years.
The navigation could perhaps be simplified a little, but there’s so much information there that simplifying it will be difficult. I have used the site so much that I rarely have difficulty finding what I want. When I do, I use the search engine, which does a pretty good job of finding what I’m looking for.
The biggest problem that I see with the ARRL website is that much of the information is out of date. The two sections that I’m most familiar with are the clubs section (I used to be the Affiliated Club Coordinator for the MI Section) and the volunteer instructor sections. The content of both of those sections is showing its age.
This is really the crux of the problem. A fancy, new design is not going to solve the content problem. I’ve designed websites for clients that languished because they didn’t work at keeping the content up-to-date and useful. I fear that the new ARRL site, once launched, will meet the same fate. It will have a great new design, but the same old content.
When confronted with this, ARRL staffers usually fall back on the old saw, “We just don’t have enough resources.” I don’t doubt this, but when I volunteered my services to work on the instructor section, I was basically ignored. I said this in my election campaign, and I’ll reiterate it here. The ARRL must find a way to get the members more involved. My feeling is that there are lots of talented people out there who would be more than willing to work on ARRL projects, but the headquarters staff are just unwilling to get them involved. I’ve never been able to figure out why exactly, but my theory is that Newington has a severe case of the “not invented here” syndrome.
We also discussed how the ARRL might include some social networking features into its new website. This really is something that the ARRL should jump on, imho. The ARRL website should have a feature I’ll call “hambook,” something akin to facebook. Actually, there’s probably not even any need to develop this, but rather somehow use the facebook API to let facebook do most of the work. There are also other websites out there with social networking tools, such as ning.com, that the ARRL could use to promote social networking amongst hams.
The ARRL might even want to get crazy and do something along the lines of Twitter. After all, aren’t the DX spotting websites just an earlier, very specialized form of “tweeting”?Somehow, we should be able to expand on that concept and do some interesting things with the packet network and/or D-Star. This is obviously still a partly-baked idea.
At any rate, I’d love to hear from you on what you think about the current ARRL website and what kind of features the new website should have. I’m going to email the company working on the new website and maybe they’ll even monitor this post to hear what you have to say.
25 Years of ISS Contacts
Since we have a Space Station QSO scheduled for December 26, 2008 at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, I found this to be quite interesting……..Dan
From the ARRL PR mailing list:
This week marks the 25th anniversary of Amateur Radio in space. Owen Garriott, Amateur Radio call sign W5LFL, blasted into space aboard Columbia’s STS-9 mission on November 25th and landed on December 8, 1983. During the flight, Garriott made several contacts with Amateur Radio operators (otherwise known as hams) on Earth. Since that time, nearly every shuttle and ISS mission has featured ham radio contacts between astronauts and cosmonauts, nearly all of whom are licensed Amateur Radio operators, and radio operators on the ground. Today, Amateur Radio transmitters and receivers are permanently installed on the ISS. The Station also is outfitted with repeater radios that allow hams to relay voice and text messages to other hams worldwide.
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Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, Chairman of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), said, “Those first contacts allowed each of us to share the excitement of space exploration through Owen’s first-hand eyewitness accounts. Owen’s ham radio legacy enabled space travelers that have flown on the space shuttle, the space station Mir and now the International Space Station (ISS) to share their journey of exploration.â€
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On October 12, Garriott’s son Richard, W5KWQ, also made history when he became the sixth private person to fly to the ISS. Within two hours after his arrival, Richard began making contacts with Amateur Radio operators on the ground, just as his father pioneered 25 years ago. Additionally, Richard began sending Slow Scan Television (SSTV) pictures to hams on Earth. SSTV is a method of sending pictures over ham radio—a decades-old technology that predates fax machines and still finds use today. Some of these images can be seen at http://www.amsat.com/ARISS_SSTV/. “What other hobby, except Amateur Radio,” Bauer wondered, “could or would open the communications lines of space travelers beyond that of the space agencies or international heads of state?”
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During December and January, several special events are being planned by the ARISS. According to Bauer, certificates will be available for those who communicate with ISS, either in a direct, two-way contact, or by reception of SSTV or voice downlink. Any person with a scanner can listen to 145.800 MHz to receive transmissions when the ISS is in view and receive a certificate. To find out when the ISS is in the vicinity, go to http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/sightings/.
CW and Text Messaging
I’m listening right now to a program on NPR that’s discussing the use of text messaging. Being a big computer user, as well as a CW operator, I’m surprised that so few text messaging abbreviations haven’t worked their way into radiotelegraphy. I’m guessing it’s because most of us still working CW are OFs (old farts).
We already have Q signals and our own abbreviations that mean the same thing as some if the text messaging abbreviations, and I’m not advocating that we replace those with text messaging abbreviations. For example, instead of sending BRB (be right back), we send “QRX 1.” Instead of LOL (laughing out loud), we send “HI HI.” But, we don’t have equivalents for many of the text messaging abbreviations.
Several that come to mind are F2F (face to face), IMHO (in my humble opinion), and JK (just kidding). Maybe if we used these on 40m CW, our conversations would be a little “richer,” and it would make Morse Code a little more appealing to a younger crowd.