KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Elmering

A New Year’s Resolution for CW Ops

By Leave a Comment

I don’t normally make New Year’s resolutions, nor do I suggest that others make them, but with the imminent change in licensing requirements (i.e. the elimination of the Morse Code test), here’s one suggestion that I will make. I would like to suggest that every Fist member find a ham in their club or community with even a remote interest in CW and Elmer him or her, the goal being to make him or her into a proficient, active CW operator by the end of the year. 

If you can’t find anyone right off, don’t get discouraged. Talk up CW at club meetings, rig up your 2m FM rig to send modulated CW over your repeater, invite people over to your house to watch you work CW. Do these things consistently and pretty soon someone will come out of the woodwork.

You gotta work at it, but in the end, we’ll have more active CW bands and better operators, and isn’t that a worthwhile goal?

The Graying of Ham Radio

By 4 Comments

If you need more evidence that ham radio is becoming an old man’s hobby, you need look no further than the latest WorldRadio Subscriber Survey. The magazine polled 1,600 readers; 1,237 replied.

The first thing that jumps out at me is that less than 5% (4.5%, to be exact) of the respondents are less than 45 years old, and more than half (52.8%) are more than 65 years old! No wonder a friend of mine always seems to confuse the ARRL with AARP.

The problem, of course, is not that there are so many seniors in ham radio. I think that’s a good thing. The problem is that there are so few kids.

Why is this a problem? Well, I’m not sure of the demographics of the ARRL membership, but I’d bet it’s pretty much the same as in this survey. Being a membership organization, they do have to provide services to their members, BUT this shouldn’t be at the expense of looking out for the future of amateur radio. And it’s my opinion that this is exactly what’s happening.

I’m not sure what the answer is, but we really do need to start working on this. Ham radio has a lot to offer. We have to get it in front of kids again and make it an option for them.

Elmering is So Cool

By Leave a Comment

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of helping Colin KD8CCQ, a new ham, get set up. He had purchased an IC-706 and an SG-239 Smartuner, but was having some trouble figuring out how to hook it up. I didn’t see the manual, but according to this guy, it wasn’t much help anyway–at least not to the new ham.

Over the course of an hour or so, we discussed various antennas that he could set up, using the tuner, such as a long wire and a doublet (center-fed Zepp). He has a great setup in that he lives in an older neighborhood, and has two big trees more than 100 feet apart that he could use to support the doublet at 40 feet or more. He wasn’t sure that his wife was going to go for that, but I suggested that this really would be his best bet, and after a couple of months, she won’t even notice it.

It didn’t occur to me to search for information on the SG-239 on the Web. (Why I don’t know–there’s almost always a ton of info on just about any topic on the Web.) I did so this morning and found the SG-239 Antenna Coupler Tutorial.

What a great site! The site contains original material by Dave N9ZRT as well as links to other sites that describe applications of the SG-239. There are discussions of the various types of antennas to use with the tuner as well as how to build an inexpensive weatherproof case for the tuner.

Unfortunately, Colin does not yet have his General Class license, so he can’t do any transmitting, but he did set up the tuner and rig to do some listening. I got an enthusiast e-mail titled “Wow!” from him this morning, in which he exclaimed,

I wired things up upstairs last night while I was watching the game, threw a piece of wire onto the antenna tuner, switched the radio on 5 minutes ago and immediately picked up FM5BH who, as far as I can tell, is operating out of Martinique, South America! This is so cool!

Cool indeed–for him and for me.

Here’s One Way to Get Ham Radio Back Into Schools

By 3 Comments

Here in Ann Arbor, we have a “progressive” or “alternative” high school. It’s called Community High, but because of its (and Ann Arbor’s, for that matter) hippy-dippy reputation, it’s often affectionately called “Commie High.”

One of our members–Ralph KB8ZOY–has a daughter who is starting there this semester. In the course of getting his daughter enrolled there, he found out about Community High’s Community Resource (CR) Program. Through this program, someone with expertise in an area can develop and teach a course that high school students in Ann Arbor–not just Community High students–can take for credit. According to the CR Program Guide, this allows students to:

  • learn things beyond the traditional curriculum,
  • learn things in a different way than through traditional courses,
  • explore potential career options,
  • explore a particular interest, and
  • perform a community service.

Well, if you ask me, a course in amateur radio qualifies on all these counts.

The trick, now, is to structure the course to meet the requirements of the program. For example, our Technician Class course consists of two hours of instruction one night a week for eight weeks. A CR course, on the other hand, must include at least 45 hours of activities. So, now our task is to embellish the basic Technician Class license course so that we can show them that we have planned for at least 45 hours of activities over an 18-week semester.

I don’t think that this is as difficult as it may seem at first sight. Some of the ideas I’ve come up with include:

  • at least eight hours of “lab” time, during which students will perform experiments demonstrating the electrical and electronic principles taught in the class,
  • building a small radio or antenna as a class project, or
  • performing x number of hours of community service by operating public service events or volunteering at the Red Cross.

The point of all this is that if our school system is offering something like this, perhaps yours is too. I believe we are going to plow ahead with this, and when we get our course plan completed, we’ll make it available to any and all that want to use it. Please if you do want it, and I’ll put you on my mailling list.

It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Hobby!

By 1 Comment

After reading some of my posts on how to attract more kids into ham radio, Diane VA3DB writes, “I’ve also been struck at the lack of younger hams in the hobby. So in my discussions with a few younger hams, I have discovered they are interested because of the “geekier” side not the public service side. We are failing to get younger hams because of the way our promotion is slanted.”

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I got my license as a kid (16 years old), and it wasn’t public service that attracted me to the hobby; it was that I wanted to do cool things with radio. I think that when we talk to kids we should emphasize things like the integration of computers and radio and other cool things like working satellites and maybe even high-speed multimedia (HSMM).

Diane passed along the following article:

Amateur Radio is not your grandfather’s hobby

Amateur Radio is not your grandfather’s hobby with Morse code keys in a dusty dark basement and refrigerator-sized transmitters. Nowadays, Amateur Radio is an exciting dynamic hobby that brings both radio and computers together. Today’s operator combines computers, satellite operation, and state of the art digital signal processing to communicate for fun and even in emergency conditions when cell phones do not work.

Imagine, being able to see exactly where stations are located simply through the tie in of computers and radio and GPS. The Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) is used today by civilian volunteers in Search and Rescue missions, the Civilan Air Search and Rescue use APRS today, to help find downed aircraft using Amateur Radio.

Amateurs communicate on a daily basis via communication satellites built by amateur radio operators. The equipment need is simple, and any amateur–no matter how young–can do it. You can too! Amateurs also talk to the crew of the International Space Station (ISS), when the astronauts’ schedule permits.

During times of emergencies operators in this service are able to communicate when other communications systems fail. It takes time for the armed forces to mobilise and set up backup communication in an area struck by disaster, trained communicators are in your community already set up to supply badly needed outside communications.

The technology used by the modern amateur radio operator is nothing like you see in the movies. Todays radios are amazingly small and powerful compared to the equipment used even 10 years ago. And the combination of computers and radio is becoming increasingly sophisticated, allowing us to do many more cool things.

This is not your grandfather’s hobby. For further information see the Radio Amateurs of Canada website or the ARRL website.

(copyright © 2004 Diane Bruce, VA3DB)

If you’d like to use this article in your club newsletter, contact Diane. I bet she’ll give her permission.

Teaching Kids About Ham Radio

By 2 Comments

To go along with the item on getting kids into ham radio, Guido AB0SI offers the following tips on teaching kids what they need to know to get their licenses. He says:

As an ex-middle school teacher, I would suggest the following:

  • For code, use the same technique you’d use to teach old f**ts adults, only more so. Practice sessions should be 20 minutes MAXIMUM. (15 minutes is better.)
  • Don’t push the student if she becomes disinterested. Of course, there is a fine line between encouraging and pushing.
  • Reward her efforts, not her success, and remember that a reward is not the same as a bribe. Encouragement, such as frequently saying, “Way to go…” is important because at some point the student will have trouble getting over some hurdle or other. It is important that she sees that her efforts are valued, not merely her success.
  • Because many of the questions on the test require memorization (allowed frequencies, emmission codes, etc), it’s important to know the student’s learning style. Some students do best hearing the information, some by reading it, many by one of the above plus writing it. Whatever works is the right way. Find out the student’s style her style and help her that way. By the way, many kids learn best when they use “muscle memory,” so it might be a good idea to get her a code oscilator. Better yet, let her use your rig’s side tone with your headphones.

These are great ideas. If we, as ham radio educators, can teach ourselves how to be more effective teachers, we’ll be better able to draw in and retain more kids.

Getting More Kids into Amateur Radio

By 1 Comment

It used to be that ham radio clubs had quite a few teenage members. Our club even had a “youth net,” which met just before our regular Monday night net. Sadly, that’s not the case anymore.

Currently, we have four teenagers in our club (although one has just graduated from high school), and I’d like to have more. With that in mind, I got in touch with Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM, the ARRL’s 16-year-old contributing editor for youth in ham radio. She writes a column that regularly appears on the ARRL website.

At this year’s Dayton Hamvention, she gave a talk on youth in ham radio. Below, are excerpts from her talk:

  • Why Involve Youth?
    • They are Amateur Radio’s future.
    • They look up to their elmers; you have a chance to be their role model.
    • It is a great way to keep youth involved in intellectually stimulating activities.
    • It gives you the chance to teach youth about what you value and to make the world a better place.
  • Keys to Involving Youth in Amateur Radio
    • “Sell” ham radio—get them hooked.
    • Invite them to fun events, like Field Day.
    • Don’t make it seem “hard” or “boring.”
    • Respect them, just as you expect to be respected.
    • Involve them, and make them feel important.
  • Amateur Radio Selling Points
    • You get to do unique things with community service events.
    • You might get to meet a famous person.
    • You can talk around the world.
    • You can talk to astronauts.
    • It works, even when cell phones don’t.
  • Keys to KEEPING Youth Involved in Amateur Radio
    • Stick with them.
    • Encourage them to go to Amateur Radio events.
    • Encourage them to talk on the radio, check into nets, etc.

I think the key is finding those that have an interest in radio and then encouraging them. Make sure that they feel like they are part of the club and encourage them and challenge them to take part in ham radio activities. Let’s see if we can get more kids into amateur radio!

No Ham Left Behind

By 3 Comments

Here’s the text of an article I recently sent in to the ARRL for publication in QST’s Op-Ed section…

No Ham Left Behind

Dan Romanchik, KB6NU
Michigan Section Affiliated Club Coordinator

A recent item on QRZ.Com reported that the number of licensed radio amateurs on April 3, 2005 was 667,318, a net loss of 20,542 from the peak in April 2003. There are 28,869 Novices; 318,221 Technicians; 137, 093 Generals; 76,706 Advanceds; and 106,238 Amateur Extras.

Some of those that replied to this post used the decline in the number of licensees to predict the imminent death of amateur radio. While I’m not quite so alarmist as these guys, I do think the numbers point to a problem. The problem is not, however, the number of amateur radio licensees, but the number of active amateur radio operators.

While there have not been any scientific surveys, some have estimated that the number of licensees who are inactive-however you define that term-at between 25% and 50%. For whatever reason, these folks lost interest and are amateur radio operators in name only.

This is a shame, if you ask me. I think it is more important to have active, engaged amateurs than to have a large number of licensees. Inactive hams don’t show up for public service events or work CW or experiment with circuits. I would even argue that having a large number of inactive hams does more harm than good.

The question then is how to encourage amateur radio operators to be more active. The rules changes over the last ten to fifteen years have enabled many to obtain licenses, and I think overall that’s a good thing. But getting that first license is only a start, not an end in itself.

Let’s face it. If all an amateur knows is what the Technician Class license manual covers, all that he or she is really prepared to do is to buy an HT and talk on a repeater. That’s fun for a while, but the novelty quickly wears off. I’d bet that a very large percentage of Technician class licensees have simply abandoned amateur radio. I’d also bet that the majority of Novices are no longer active as well.

Note that more than half of all licensed amateurs are either Novices or Technicians. This means that more than half are still on the first rung of the amateur radio license ladder. Unfortunately, we really don’t have any programs for getting these hams involved. In effect, we’re leaving these hams behind.

If we want these folks to become active amateur radio operators-and I am going to assume that a more active amateur radio community is a good thing-we’re going to have to give them more help. It’s no small task to set up an HF amateur radio station; many things can go wrong, and without experienced help, it’s easy for new hams to give up in frustration.

One thing that I think the amateur radio community can do to help new hams is to develop more classes. I’m not talking about classes to teach people what they need to know to pass a test, but what they need to know to be successful amateur radio operators.

I’m talking about basic topics, such as how to solder, how to make voltage and current measurements, and how to make a dipole antenna. I think another very popular course would be how to choose an HF radio. This course would describe the terms manufacturers use on their spec sheets and help new hams (and undoubtedly some old ones) evaluate what’s on the market.

Ham radio instructors also need more support. Better materials for instructors will enable instructors to more easily set up and conduct training courses. Some training on how to teach would also go a long way.

I also think that the amateur radio community must provide better support for clubs. Clubs are where the action is. Good clubs bring hams into the hobby and turn them into active amateur radio operators. Bad clubs turn people away from amateur radio and foster bad stereotypes about amateur radio and amateur radio operators.

One way that the ARRL could help support clubs is by providing club officers with leadership training. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) makes available leadership training for its section officers. Here in the Michigan Section, we hope to offer a program like this very shortly, and I think it will help our amateur radio club officers and strengthen their clubs.

We should take a page from George W. Bush and vow to “leave no ham behind.” Increasing the number of licensees does no good if they lose interest and abandon the service, and helping those currently licensed will do more for ham radio than simply making more hams.

Open Shack Nights

By Leave a Comment

One of the problems amateur radio faces is that people are all very busy these days, and when push comes to shove, amateur radio is one thing that often gets shoved. It’s just not a priority with people.

This is understandable. Amateur radio takes a lot of time. Setting up a station, building antennas, and then actually operating all take time. BUT, so do other activities. To get the maximum enjoyment and benefit out of any relatively complicated activity, you have to be willing to put in the time.

Assuming that it’s a “good thing” that those with amateur radio licenses become more active amateur radio operators, the question then becomes how do you get people to put in the time? I think it’s a matter of education.

We’ve made it very easy for people to get amateur radio licenses. While it’s debatable as to whether or not it’s too easy, I don’t think you can argue, that nearly anyone of average intelligence can get a Technician class license. Unfortunately, many do not progress beyond the Technician license.

Yes, you can do many cool things with a Technician class license, but because the test is so easy, many Techs just don’t have the tools to do those cool things. So what happens is that their experience of amateur radio is a lot more limited than those who do know more and can do more.

For some hams, this is OK. They enjoy the camaraderie of belonging to a club and talking to their friends on a repeater. For many, however, they quickly find ham radio–at least their experience of it–to be boring. They file their license away and stick the HT in a drawer. Some even become critical of ham radio. This is not a good situation.

This is a shame because those of us who are experienced amateur radio operators know how much fun it can be. If you’re like me, you want to share your experience with others and help them have fun with ham radio. The question is how can we do this?

One idea that I either came up with or stole from someone (I honestly forget which) is “Open Shack Night.” The basic idea is to invite people into your shack, show them your equipment, make a few contacts, and answer their questions. The goal might be to talk about a specific topic, such as operating CW or PSK-31, or about operating on the HF bands in general.

I hosted my second Open Shack last night. Four hams–all Techs–who are currently in my General Class license course came over. None of them, I don’t think, had ever been on HF before, so my goal was to try to show them how cool it can be, and since I’m a big CW guy, I was trying to show them how particularly cool CW could be.

When the first guy arrived, I was having a contact with OE5IMD on 30m. I explained what was happening, but his signal was not that strong, and we were operating pretty fast, so I’m not sure he got that much out of it. For my next QSO, I QSYed to 40m and found someone that would work me at 10-12 wpm. I think that worked better, as my guest could copy at least some of our QSO.

The other guests arrived, and I worked a couple more people on 40m CW. I’m not sure how much of an impact this had on my guests, though, because even at 10 wpm, we were operating too fast for them to make much sense out of it all.

In an attempt to keep them interested, I decided to try to scare up a phone contact. I found an empty frequency, but repeated CQs went unanswered. That was really frustrating.

Giving up on that, we just started talking. Being on the cusp of getting their General tickets, they were interested in knowing how they should decide what HF radio to buy. We discussed the pros and cons of buying used gear and then talked a bit about the different levels new gear available today. I think that proved to be interesting and useful for them.

All in all, my Open Shack was successful, but perhaps, not as successful as it could have been. I’m going to have to rethink how I demonstrate the coolness of HF. Perhaps I should concentrate on making a few phone contacts first and then making a few CW contacts.

I do think that doing this was a good thing. I’m going to do more of them, and I encourage others to do the same. I think new hams are starving for this kind of information, and no amount of reading magazines or talking on the repeater is going to provide it. They need up-close and personal demonstrations and hands-on activities to make ham radio more real.

Encourage Hams to “Get On CW”

By Leave a Comment

On our club e-mail list, we’ve been doing a post-mortem on our Field Day operations. One of the cooler things was our “Get On The Air” (GOTA) station. At the GOTA station, a dozen different people made their first HF contacts, including a number of Technicians. It has spurred several of them to start working on their code so that they can upgrade to General.

Another thing that we noted is that while we made many more contacts this year, we scored just a few more points than last year. The reason, of course, is that all those extra contacts were SSB contacts, not CW contacts. We ran two phone stations, but only one CW station.

Next year, I’m proposing that we go to 4A and run two CW stations. I’m going to call the second CW station the “Get On CW” (GOCW) station. At this station, we’re not going to care how fast someone operates or how many contacts he or she makes. Instead, the idea is to show them how much fun it can be to work CW. I plan to be around as much as possible to demonstrate CW, coach those that want to operate, and help them make contacts (by logging for them and helping them copy the fast stations).

In addition, I’m going to talk to the guys in the club who keep talking about working CW, but never seem to find the time or the energy to do so and encourage them strongly (i.e. twist arms, if necessary) to operate for an hour or two. The idea being to get them over the hump as far as CW goes. I might even give out awards to the operator who made the most contacts, the operator who showed the most courage in sitting down and operating, etc.

I’d like to see this become a nation-wide FISTS effort. The GOCW stations could even congregate around the Fists frequencies–or designate some other frequencies around which to find one another–so that we can work one another without having to deal with the contest twits who are rude to slower operators.

You can participate in the Get On CW effort even if your Field Day operations don’t allow for a separate station. My suggestion would be to designate some time period at one of your stations for GOCW operation. If you do this, realize that you’re going to have to steal some prime time from the “real contesters,” though. You’re not going to have a successful effort if you schedule the GOCW operation from 2 am to 4 am Sunday morning.

Let me know what you think of this idea, and please e-mail me if you plan on participating. Also e-mail me if you have an idea of how to make the GOCW effort more effective.