KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

The Service

What are amateur radio’s top three priorities in the next three years?

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Steve, N8GNJ, publishes a newsletter called Zero Retries. Steve describes the newsletter as “an independent newsletter about technological innovation in Amateur Radio (sic), promoting Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology.” It’s a great newsletter, and I’d encourage you to subscribe.

In addition to the newsletter, Zero Retries hosts a Groups.io mailing list. In the Zero Retries group, they discuss the topics covered in the newsletter. One of the latest topics is “Top three priorities, in the next three years, for Amateur Radio in the 21st Century? ” The purpose of this topic is “figuring out what should be the focus of efforts promoting amateur radio in the 21st century.”

Steve starts the discussion by listing three of his ideas:

  • US Amateur Radio reform to remove the symbol rate limits and (preferably) bandwidth limits for the US Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands.
  • Amore modern “single web page” directory for 21st century Amateur Radio that, for example, references Zero Retries, SARC The Communicator, the reference how.aprs.works for APRS, the upcoming ARRL book on digital networking, the RATPAC video conferences, references to HamSCI, etc. Something that someone thinking about coming into Amateur Radio would find relevant.
  • Some guide, book, web page, video tutorials… something… current… that discusses how to use GNU Radio and GNU Radio Companion for experiencing within Amateur Radio. Includes a directory of various GNU Radio flowgraphs relevant to Amateur Radio such as a flowgraph about 1200 bps AFSK packet radio.

There are a lot of other good ideas in the comments, including:

  • Better digital audio.
  • LoRa on the VHF and UHF bands, and maybe even voice over LoRa.
  • De-emphasize the emergency communications aspect of amateur radio and focus on the “fun” aspects of ham radio, such as POTA and SOTA.
  • Outreach to young professionals and college students.
  • A geosynchronous (or long orbital period) amateur satellite into orbit covering North America. Along with this, devise ground stations that are easy to reproduce on hobby budgets.
  • Make open, non-proprietary digital voice modes widely available, built in to equipment or as add-ons.
  • Develop open, non-proprietary DSP software for transmitter builders, with the goals of efficiency (polar modulation) and clean signals (amplifier linearization).
  • Development of inexpensive small all-mode radios for use in all microwave bands up to 100 GHz. Radios must have USB connection for various modes and content. Should be 12 Vdc powered.
  • Really good basic level publications on GNU Radio that will allow the majority of ham operators to understand and use this powerful tool.
  • Educate Technician class operators about the world of ham radio beyond a cheep handheld to kerchunk local repeaters…..

Take a look and see what you think. You can comment here, but I’d really encourage you to join the group and comment on the mailing list. It will add to the discussion.

Interesting posts from around the web: Defending our spectrum, tech-focused hams, and another dig at the ARRL

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Defending our spectrum

A blog post by Michelle, N5NYV, on the Open Research Institute (ORI) website does a nice job of describing the latest attempt to encroach on the 70 cm band. Michelle writes;

The amateur radio community has achieved a significant but limited victory in protecting the 430-440 MHz band from commercial satellite encroachment. AST SpaceMobile’s request for broad commercial use of amateur spectrum has been restricted to emergency-only operations for a maximum of 24 hours and only 20 satellites—but the fight isn’t over.

It’s limited in that while that the would-be encroacher was not given unfettered access to the frequencies, they are being allowed to use them for a limited time for “emergency” communications. Read Michelle’s post for more details.

Tech-focused hams

On QRZ.Com, Dave Jensen, W7DGJ, writes:

There’s a not-so-subtle change happening within the ranks of radio amateurs. New hams are coming into the hobby, but not for the same reasons that you and I had years ago. And these “new” hams have the potential of upending the market for products sold by the old guard — companies such as ICOM and Yaesu.

I and Steve, N8GNJ, have been writing about this for a while. Jensen thinks that these new hams are going to upend the market because they aren’t just in buying new radios, but instead building them as well. Time will tell, I guess.

Another dig at the ARRL

On his blog, KB9MWR writes opines that the ARRL needs to come up with a new “shtick,” for want of a better word. He writes:

In my opinion, the league should study the Raspberry Pi foundation, and attempt to follow in their footsteps. And to be clear, those footsteps are in working towards a goal of manufacturing partnerships to put some new technology in the hands of the masses. This is how you keep the bands active in my mind.

I think he’s on to something here. This idea also dovetails with the thoughts expressed by W7DGJ.

As always, I’d love to hear what you think about some of this.

Where’s the leadership in amateur radio?

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On Mastodon a couple of days ago, @vk2tty commented on the recent edition of Zero Retries 0210, a newsletter written by my friend Steve, N8GNJ. VK2TTY wrote:

Most striking though, was @n8gnj’s writing on the failure of our [national associations] to keep track of the threats to amateur radio spectrum allocations. He proposes another such body to take on the spectrum fight. I’m confident only that our incumbent [national associations] will undermine any newcomer, as they have before, with all the vigour they lack for that work they claim as their reason to exist. Voting out 100% of incumbents
in the next two ARRL Board of Directors elections might do the trick, though.

To which, Roland, @[email protected] replied:

I’d suggest that the big one is that individual amateurs who want to take a forward-looking view are too small in number, failing to organise, or both.

Steve, N8GNJ, then commented:

I reject that assumption. I believe that in this technological era, where most personal connectivity is radio, that some “X” development could vastly increase the numbers of amateur radio operators. And those will skew younger, techier, easier to self-organize for collective action.

To which, I repllied:

All I can say is that I hope you’re right. I’m not seeing any emerging leadership or collective action among the “younger, techier” ham population, but I certainly could just be out of touch. If they are out there, let me know what I can do to support them.

I think that this is a crucial discussion. Ideally, the ARRL would provide this leadership, but I rather doubt that they have the desire or the vision to do so. Instead, they are doing their damnedest to preserve the status quo, and if you’ve read my blog or Frank, K4FMH’s blog, you’ll see how far that’s gotten them. ARRL membership is dropping like a rock.

Hams aren’t dumb, and when they see all the anti-democratic maneuvering by the ARRL board, such as the by-law changes the board approved last week that will make any meaningful reform improbable, they just quit the League. And, I can’t say that I blame them. Why play the game when the game is rigged?

This exodus has created a vacuum that has yet to be filled. The National Amateur Radio Alliance is one group that’s trying to pick up the slack, but they’re still very small. I joined the NARA a month to give them some support, but they’re going to need a lot more members if they’re going to make much of an impact. There are other, smaller efforts, and they are doing good things, but like the NARA, unless they can scale up, I’m not sure they’re going to make much of an impact, either.

Where do we go from here?

If amateur radio is going to fulfill its promise, then we really need to start talking about this. I’m going to start recruiting some folks to hold a panel discussion on this issue at Dayton next year. Perhaps we could start a YouTube channel or podcast to start airing some of these ideas as well.

If you’re already working on these issues, let me know how I can support you. Maybe I can help you publicize your efforts or help you work on submitting an ARDC grant proposal. Maybe I can put you in touch with other folks who can help you with other things.

Without forward thinking, amateur radio is going to grind to a halt. In my humble opinion, that would be a shame. Let’s all do what we can to push amateur radio forward.

 

 

Hackers in amateur radio survey

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As many of you know, I’ve been teaching one-day Tech classes at various hacker conferences around the country this year. In July, I was at the HOPE Conference. In August, I taught at DEFCON. A couple of weeks ago, I was in Philly for JawnCon 0x1. And, in a couple of weeks, I’ll be in Newark, DE teaching at B-Sides Delaware.

These are definitely not “mainstream” amateur radio events, but I’m surprised at how many attendees have amateur radio licenses and how much interest there is in amateur radio. At both HOPE and DEFCON, for example, it was standing room only for my talk, “Ham Radio for Hackers.”

On my way home from Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me that I should try to more formally assess the state of amateur radio in the hacker community.  In addition, I’m hoping that this survey might give us a hint on how to make amateur radio more appealing to the hacker community.

So, I started making some notes about questions to ask. Here’s what I have so far:

What year were you licensed?
What class of license do you hold?
What sparked your interest in amateur radio?
From 1 to 10, with 10 being very active and 1 being inactive, how would you rate your level of amateur radio activity?
Are you happy with your level of amateur radio activity?
If not, what are some things that are preventing you from doing more amateur radio?
What kinds of amateur radio activities do you currently participate in? (Check all that apply.)
Casual operator
Traditional voice modes (SSB/AM/FM)
Digital voice (DMR, D-STAR, M17, FreeDV, etc.)
Digital communications (data communications, WinLink, packet radio, etc.)
CW (Morse Code)
Antenna design & construction
Homebrew/kit building
Restoring/operating vintage radios
Mobile operation
Portable operation (POTA, SOTA, etc.)
Remote operation
QRP operation
DXing, Expeditions
Special event stations
Contesting
Shortwave listening
VHF/UHF weak signal operation
Microwave communications
Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)
Satellite operation
Earth-Moon-Earth (EME, Moonbounce)
Radio astronomy
Radio direction finding (hidden transmitter hunts, ARDF)
Drone operation
High-altitude/mid-altitude balloon projects
Telemetry
HF ragchewer
Local ragchewer
Net participation
Emergency communications
Weather spotting/SKYWARN
Public service communications
Traffic handling
QSL cards
Awards
Teaching classes, coaching and mentoring
Youth events: YOTA/JOTA/TDOTA
What amateur radio activities would you like to participate in that you haven’t done already? (Check all that apply)
<same list of activites as above>
Are you an ARRL member?
If not:
What are some reasons you don’t belong?
Too expensive.
Not enough services.
Don’t see the point/ don’t know what they do.
Other reasons for not belonging.
If you’re not a member, what might the ARRL do to get you to join?
If so:
What are the main reasons that you belong to the ARRL?
Do you think you’re getting your money’s worth?
Do you plan to continue your membership?
Have you volunteered at all?
Other comments:
Demographic information
Year born:
Sex
Education
Work/ job/ profession
Years of work experience

Now, I have two questions for all of you:

  1. Can you think of other questions to ask?
  2. Do you know of any good, free or low-cost survey tools that I could use for this survey?
Please let me know. I’d like to get this survey rolling as soon as possible.

Will AI help us have more fun with amateur radio?

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“HAL, let’s work 20-meter FT8 this afternoon.”

In this morning’s email was a message from Inc. magazine with links to some articles in the magazine. At the top of the list was, “4 Unimaginable Ways A.I. Will Change Your Life Within the Next 5 Years, According to Bill Gates.” Gates says that in the next five years, you will have your own artificial intelligence assistant, or agent, that will be a frequent voice in your ear and will help you with everything from deciding where to go on vacation to managing your friendships and more. Let’s think for a minute about Gates’ 4 Ways and how they might help us enjoy amateur radio more.

1. You won’t bother with software or operating systems anymore.

How cool would this be. You could simply tell your AI amateur radio assistant, “Let’s operate 20-meter FT8 this afternoon,” and the agent would set up the radio and begin looking for contacts. If the band wasn’t open, it would come back and tell you, “I’m sorry, Dave, but propagation on 20 meters is terrible this afternoon. May I suggest 30 meters instead?”

2. Your agent will be a frequent voice in your ear.

Gates believes that most of us will wear at least one earbud most of the time so that our agents can talk to us whenever they need to. So, for example, it might be monitoring the activity on 6 meters and notify you when the band is open. Or, you might want it to notify you when a particular contest or operating event is coming up so that you don’t miss it. “Dave,” it might say, “remember that the 2-meter club net is at 8 pm tonight.”

3. Your agent will get involved in your personal relationships.

We often don’t think of amateur radio as having a personal aspect, but it really does. For example, don’t we enjoy talking to some people more than others? Your personal agent could monitor your club’s 2-meter repeater or 40-meter CW and notify you when your friends are on the air.

Gates also notes that you could have your AI assistant talk to your friends’ assistants and set up lunch for you. Well, you could also use that capability to set up an on-air sked.

4. It might even help you solve personal problems.

The article notes, “One of the most intriguing predictions Gates made is that your agent could also become your therapist” While many hams probably do need therapy, I’m not so sure how applicable this will be to amateur radio.

What I could see happening is using an AI assistant to help you choose your next rig or maybe help you troubleshoot a problem. Here are some scenarios:

  1. You ask your AI assistant what rig you should buy next. Since it already knows what bands you like to operate—and the state of your finances—it can analyze all the options and find a radio that meets your operating needs and fits into your budget.
  2. You might describe your backyard and the bands that you want to operate, and your AI Assistant could come back with antenna suggestions.
  3. You ask your AI assistant about a problem that you’re having with your rig. It comes back with, “Dave, if you would just RTFM, you will find the answer on page 67 of the operating manual.” Or, after scanning the appropriate online forums, it would tell you, “Dave, several other owners seem to be having a similar problem. Here’s what they’ve done….”

All of this sounds kind of fun to me, but I can understand some of you having reservations. What do you think? Can you think of other ways an AI assistant would make amateur radio more fun for you?

Amateur radio videos: amateur radio in Montana, dealing with noise, update on the IARU R1’s future of #hamradio program

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Ham Radio in Montana

This documentary has been praised by many in the amateur radio community. Here’s how Montana PBS describes the film:

Join us as we investigate the culture of Montana Amateur Radio Operators, or “hams”, as they recount their admiration for the global Amateur Radio community.  This niche hobby has produced long-lasting friendships between radio enthusiasts around the globe, and has been a pastime of choice for much of their lives.  Produced as part of a new Certificate in Documentary Film program, by students in the School of Journalism and the School of Visual & Media Arts at the University of Montana, this short film takes an in-depth look at the particular ways in which amateur radio enthusiasts remain active both locally and globally.

Dealing with Noise

A presentation by Ian, VK3BUF. He shows you how to deal with noise at your station.

IARU Region 1 programme “Shaping the Future”

This is an update to the IARU Region 1 program, “Shaping the Future.” This is a short video, and worth watching if you’re interested in the future of our hobby.

Amateur radio videos: Fast Fourier Transforms, worldwide ham populations, homebrew one-tube CW transmitter

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The most important algorithm of all time

The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is arguably the most important algorithm of all time. Whether it is or not, it’s certainly the most-used algorithm. I found it interesting that one of the first applications of the FFT wasn’t in communications at all, but rather for detecting underground nuclear explosions.

Worldwide ham radio operators (2000-2022)

A visual depiction of how the number of amateur radio operators have changed since 2000. What’s amazing to me is how the number of radio amateurs has declined in Japan. Watch it on YouTube to see how the author came up with the numbers.

A QRP one-tube CW transmitter (with an Arduino-based oscillator)

One of the attractions of amateur radio—to some at least—is that it includes both the most modern technology (FFTs) as well as those that have been around for 100 years or more (vacuum tubes). Here’s an example of the latter.

Do I need a new cover?

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Cover of my latest No Nonsense Technician Class License Study Guide.

A little over a week ago, I got the following email:

Hi Dan —

I was updating the link to your Technician study guide, and was VERY disappointed to see that you’ve changed the “human” image on the front cover from the gender, race and age neutral red blob to a white guy. I am so sad about this, you have no idea.

We’re working hard over here to expand the demographics of Amateur Radio and one of the things I most LOVED about using your manual with our courses was the non-specific image of the radio operator. Any way I can convince you to change it back? Actually NO image at all is better than this new one.

We have around 100 demographically mixed new students who are queued up to attend our next wave of courses that will be starting in about 3 weeks. PLEASE consider a quick change. At least just for the free PDF. I really don’t want to have to apologize to all of my students on the first day of every class about why Ham Radio materials continue to be so blatantly biased.

The cover from my 2018 study guide.

I was seriously taken aback by this. My intent was certainly not to be biased. Anyone who knows me that I am maybe the least biased when it comes to helping others get into and enjoy amateur radio. I never did like the “red blob” and I wanted to put a more human face on amateur radio.

I suggested deleting the cover on PDFs that were distributed to the students, but that suggestion was dismissed:

I don’t distribute the PDFs of your manual, just the link. So my deleting the cover for your product is not what I view as a good fix. I also know that you have long used unbiased covers for your books, so I should not need to provide suggestions.

My correspondent then provided a few links to articles about the need to be inclusive in advertising. She continued:

I feel very dismayed that you, of all people — a highly recognized online influencer in amateur radio, with a leadership role in AR|DC — believe that the continuation of the perception that a white male on the cover of your latest technician training manual IS “a good image for amateur radio.” Gender and race bias in any product, is NEVER appropriate, especially in U.S. ham radio and STEM, where people who are not white males often lack confidence and feel unwelcome. Speaking from personal experience over 4 decades as a licensed Ham, as well as in my professional career as an Engineer and Computer Scientist, I know very well that these perceptions are not imagined. Rather, it is because in some of these settings we are actually NOT welcome, can be treated as inferior, verbally chided, and even literally pushed aside (such as by not being given mic time or mentoring in club shacks, or relegated to non-technical roles in Ham clubs).

Cover from my 2014 Tech study guide.

We swapped a few more emails about what I could do. She suggested that I use pictures of amateur radio equipment instead of a person, but I’m bored with pictures of equipment. As shown at right, the 2014 Tech study guide actually did have an image of an HT.

I noted that the latest version of the ARRL license manual features a young woman on the cover, but she replied, “I’d say no on the female (as ARRL has, after many decades finally done), because that raises other issues — what race should the female be? ”

After all this, I’m still unsure about what I should do next. I’m definitely not going back to the “red blob.” It’s just too impersonal, and even though it’s gender-neutral, not a good image for amateur radio. On the other hand, I certainly don’t want this cover to dissuade anyone from taking up ham radio.

So the question is is there a way to put a human face on amateur radio and not be biased? I’m open to suggestions.

IARU R1 wants you to #BePartOfTheFuture

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More and more, I’m impressed by what IARU R1 is doing for amateur radio. The latest is their Ham Challenge 2022. The challenge is for hams to come up with game-changing idea that will attract more people to amateur radio and make amateur radio more fun for those already involved.

According to the official rules,

[IARU R1] expects you to come with new ideas that we will help you to bring to reality. The winning teams or individuals will bring their ideas to life in partnership with the amateur radio community. The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU R1) will provide guidance for these projects and will support them financially.

The ideas will be judged according to the following criteria:

  • Increases the fun and enjoyment of amateur radio.
  • Serves the global ham community.
  • Is experimental in nature.
  • Is innovative.
  • Increases radio amateurs’ knowledge.
  • Is valuable to society.

Unfortunately, this challenge is only available to amateurs in IARU R1, but I do have some readers in R1, so I hope that this message gets to them. I also hope that the IARU R2 folks get a good look at this and perhaps come up with something similar here.

The deadline for submitting ideas is May 31, 2022, and applicants must submit an abstract of their idea with short bio and a brief motivation statement. A committee will review and select the best proposals by June 10, 2022. The participants will then have 15 more days to prepare a more detailed presentation of their idea to be presented in person or virtually during HamRadio 22 in Friedrichshafen.

Cash prizes for the winners are as follows:

  • 1st place: €500
  • 2nd place: €200
  • 3rd place: €100
  • Youth prize (under the age of 26): €200

You’ll find the complete rules on the IARU R1 website.

IARU-R1: Shaping the Future

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Got this from Southgate and thought it was worth re-posting. I’ll be keeping an eye on this effort….73, Dan

Following their recent workshop IARU Region 1 have launched their Shaping the Future program

The IARU-R1 website says:

In October 2021 the Region 1 workshop for the future of amateur radio was organized online. About 50 countries and 100 participants joined the 5 days workshop and the 7 sessions.

For many years there have been discussions about the ham radio situation: what will our hobby look like ten years from now? Can we still take advantage of the radio spectrum to experiment, learn, or simply have a good time chatting with our friends?

So as not to let the future – or others – define this for us, we have decided to take matters into our own hands: The member societies of Region 1 have agreed to meet and reflect together on the direction they want to give to amateur radio.

After taking the time to analyze the current situation, a process of reflection was carried out to agree on the medium-term objectives and on the actions to be taken to make this ambition a reality.

We will shape our future together, to move amateur radio in the direction we have chosen.

Background
https://www.iaru-r1.org/stf/background/

Workshop result
https://www.iaru-r1.org/stf/workshop-result/

Program organisation
https://www.iaru-r1.org/stf/organisation/

Join us
https://www.iaru-r1.org/stf/join-us/