I and co-author David Sawicki, WA3DS, just finished the Ham Radio Reference. The book contains an extensive glossary of amateur radio terms, as well as some operating aids, Part 97 rules, and technical information. The book is available in both PDF and Kindle versions.
Yesterday, I sent copies to my colleagues at Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC). Rosy, KJ7RYV, our executive director, wrote back:
Dan, this is great! Thank you.
I wonder…what if we made a page on our website that was just a set of links to references like this. It could be helpful, especially for beginners. What do you think?
We had just created a list of other amateur radio resources for internal use, and had a similar thought about putting that list online. I replied:
I had a similar thought about creating an online resource after we created the list of amateur radio resources. Then, it occurred to me that someone had done this before: AC6V.Com. Unfortunately, as is noted on the website, “NOTE: AC6V.com is an archive of Rod/AC6V’s webpages, and is no longer being updated.” Rod became an SK 5 or 6 years ago, and there are lots of dead links and outdated information on the site, and there are a lot of new resources—like this book—that are missing.
Having said that, we could try to set up a “Wikipedia for ham radio.” It would be a lot of work, but if we could recruit a community of editors, then it might be doable.
So, I’m throwing this out there. Do you think it’s worth creating an up-to-date AC6V.Com? Would you be willing to help? Should it be a wiki or perhaps some other kind of website? Let me know here in the comments or email me directly.
Sam KJ7RRV says
I would definitely help with a ham radio wiki!
Sandip Nambiar says
Hello Dan, I believe that there is definite value for an up-to-date Wiki. Any and all reference material concerning amateur radio is always a plus. I’m happy to help with regards to an amateur radio Wiki. 73, Sandip EI7IJB
Steve Stroh N8GNJ says
My vote is Yes for an Amateur Radio Wiki sponsored (hosted) by ARDC. Doing so would actually bring the Wiki idea full circle as it was invented by Ward Cunningham K9OX. It would be a valuable service for Amateur Radio and I would contribute and be a volunteer admin.
Robert Williams says
An Amateur Radio Wiki is a wonderful idea. Would like to help but can’t at the moment.
Gareth Howell says
There’s definitely a need for a community-managed ham radio wiki, Dan. AC6V’s site was always problematic because it tried to capture your browser, which drove me made and caused me to ignore it thereafter.
I used to maintain my own wiki – which included ham-radio stuff – using tinywiki, but it really needed more contributors.
If we could find somebody to sponsor it (without also requiring any branding, censorship of their own products or preferential treatment) then so much the better. Otherwise seek to adopt the same approach as Wikipedia with similar editorial standards.
Bob K0NR says
The A6CV.com site seems to be mostly a collection of links, while a Wikipedia tends to be more like an encyclopedia with tutorial content that may also link to other sites.
There is also a need for curating the massive amount of video content relating to ham radio. There is a lot out there but the quality is inconsistent.
What approach are you thinking of? Or all of the above?
Bob
Dan KB6NU says
My initial thought would be to organize the wiki somewhat like AC6V.Com. Each of the “index” items would have its own page with a listing of links, and where appropriate, link to a page on the wiki for more information. I’m open to other ways of organizing that information, though.
Bob K0NR says
That probably is a reasonable approach.
I think the challenge will be to impose some kind of quality standard and not just link to everything that comes along.
Easy to say, harder to do.
Dan KB6NU says
Well, we’ll need a moderator, or a moderator committee, to enforce the rules. I’ll look into how Wikipedia and other wikis do it.
Noji Ratzlaff says
Happy to be a moderator or editor. Lots of experience, good corporate foundation in the English language for technical writing, etc.
Noji Ratzlaff says
If it contains *at least* these, including the pics, I’m all for it : https://noji.com/hamradio/glossary.php
Ed AB8OJ says
I definitely think it’s worth creating a successor to AC6V’s site. But I’m not sure which would be better – only organized links, or richer text content with links included sort of like Wikipedia. I can see it both ways, really.
The last thing I need is another project :-) but given my condo radio situation, this might be a really nice way to stay more involved with ham radio. So let me know how I can help.
Richard Bateman says
HamStudy would be happy to sponsor such an endeavor — with or without any public recognition. I think it’d be a great idea provided a solid core of people willing to moderate it in a fair and open-minded way.
John Gilmore says
Why not start creating it in the main Wikipedia encyclopedia, one article at a time? If the editors there will accept most of our contributions there, then they will benefit a much larger community, and will also benefit from a larger community of competent copyeditors.
Dan KB6NU says
Honestly, I hadn’t thought of that. What I had in mind, as a start, anyway, is to model the pages on the AC6V.Com website. These pages are mostly just lists of links with very minimal descriptions. Also, many of the pages contain links to commercial products. How would something like that be received on Wikipedia?
Adrian Perez says
The wiki is up https://ham-radio.fandom.com/wiki/Ham_Radio_Wiki