Ignite talks are fast, fun talks about just about any topic you can think of. You get 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. I’ve just volunteered to give an Ignite talk here in Ann Arbor on Thursday, November 7. The working title for the talk is “Ham Radio: Do they still do that?”
I’ve been working on the slides this morning, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
Herman Munster photo
Whenever I tell someone that I’m an amateur radio operator, the first question I get is, do they still do that?
When they think about amateur radio, they conjure up images like this one from the 1960s.
Graph showing the growth of amateur radio licensees
That’s nowhere near the current reality, though. There are now more than 750,000 licensed radio amateurs, and we’re doing all kind of cool things with radio technology.
Cubesats
Explosion of amateur radio satellites
Simple equipment needed to work the satellites
QO-100
First amateur geo-stationary satellite
Walmart Parking Lots on the Air
WMPLOTA is one of the crazy things that satellite operators do.
WG0AT on a summit somewhere
Summits on the Air (SOTA)
W8TAM at a beautiful Michigan state park
Parks on the Air (POTA)
Me operating position at the Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse
Lighthouses on the Air
FlexRadio 6400M
Of course, we still do “traditional” kinds of ham radio things, but the equipment is a lot more sophisticated.
Computer driven, software-defined radio
Remote operation on an Android phone
FT8 screen shot
The digital modes have tak
AREDN mesh network
The WiFi in your home is actually radio, and some of the frequencies that your WiFi router uses are in amateur radio bands. Amateur radio operators use modified WiFi gear to set up wide-area networks to support emergency communications or public service events.
Tornado
Working with the Washtenaw County Emergency services, amateur radio operators are on the lookout when severe weather threatens.
UBITX photo
Ham radio operators were arguably the first hackers, and we’re still hacking away. This is one example of how we use Arduinos in building our own amateur radio equipment.
Another example of hardware hacking??
GNU Radio example
Ham radio operators also do software hacking. GNU Radio is a free, open-source, software-development toolkit that provides signal-processing functionality that enables developers to implement software-defined radios and signal-processing systems.
ARROW/UMARC Field Day photo
We have two great clubs here in Ann Arbor – ARROW and the UM ARC.
Want to get into amateur radio? Contact me: [email protected]
My mission is to help people have fun with amateur radio. I conduct classes in and around Ann Arbor, have written a series of study guides for the amateur radio license examinations, and love helping folks get started in amateur radio. How can I help you?
It’s still a little sketchy, and as you can see, I don’t have anything for slide #18 yet, so I’d love to get your input on this. Please feel free to comment below or email me directly.
Jack Vaughan says
Looking good!
Rob W4ZNG says
Four slides per minute is really motoring along. Sounds like work! Looks like a good talk you’ve got going, so many bases to cover and you’ve gotten nearly everything in. Because you asked…
Ideas for that empty slide:
– something about solar or other aux power? Tie in with the field day slide? Solar panels always draw attention when my club’s doing a camp-out.
– a screenshot of a contact map? People always ask “how far can you reach?” Show a bunch of lines to DX contacts and say “that’s a typical afternoon.”
Ideas for hardware hacking:
– a picture of something with big components: inside a tuner, inside a tube amplifier, etc. Maybe winding a toroid. Everybody’s used to seeing little components on a board, show something big and hands-on.
– antennas: mag loops, mysterious-loooking j-poles, zepps, DIY UHF ground planes, beams, etc. Again, big and hands-on.
Maybe some of those ideas will help.. Dan, please post your slides after the talk, and let us know how it all goes.
Stan Mason says
I think you have a great plan. A couple of years ago I came back to ham radio after decades and you’ve hit everything that excites me about the hobby/service today.
Tom AJ4UQ says
How about public service supporting a local 10k, or an ARISS school contact?
Ed kc8sbv says
You wouldn’t get my interest without a DIY slide showing a homebrew tx or rx being used…That always was my draw…
Dennis Finegan says
Too bad you didn’t put the slides here – I’m not going to spend the time looking for them, sorry. 20 slides in 5 minutes does sound pretty fast though.
Dan KB6NU says
I didn’t include them here because I haven’t created the slide deck yet. What’s above is just a description of what I plan to do.