WARNING: What follows is a partly-baked idea.
Please help me more fully bake it. 😀
In January, I hooked up again with Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), joining their Grant Evaluation Team (GET). Today at our GET meeting, we heard from ARDC’s board president, Bdale Garbee, KB0G, who spoke to us about ARDC’s values and  mission.
One of those values is encouraging experimentation. Experimentation is part of the fabric of amateur radio. Part 97.1 (b) notes that one of the bases and purposes of amateur radio is the “continuation and extension of the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.” Recognizing this, many of ARDC’s grants go to groups who are developing amateur radio and digital communications technology.
Many bemoan the fact that there isn’t much experimentation going on in amateur radio and that hams don’t build their own gear anymore. I’m not so sure that’s really true, though. There are lots of ongoing projects that are “advancing the state of the radio art.” The M17 Project and FreeDV are two projects that have been funded by ARDC grants. WSJT-X has been around a long time, but the developers are still pushing it forward. Commercially, QRP Labs and HF Signals are both developing interesting hardware and software. And, there are still some QRP clubs, such as the Four State QRP Group (4SQRP), CalQRP, and the Michigan QRP Club that promote home brewing and experimentation.
Perhaps what’s needed is something like “Experimenting 101 for Ham Radio Operators.” This would be kind of the opposite to what I’ve been doing lately, that is teaching ham radio to hackers. Â This would be more along the lines of teaching hacking to ham radio operators.
Along those lines, here are some partly-baked ideas that have come to mind:
- Is it possible to teach people how to become good experimenters? What are some of the characteristics of a good hacker?
- Could we set up some kind of “ecosystem” to promote hacking in ham radio? I envision this ecosystem giving both financial and psychological support to ham radio hackers.
- What do I mean about financial support? Well, inevitably hackers are going to blow things up at some point. Our hacker ecosystem could perhaps help soften the financial losses somehow.
- What do I mean by psychological support? Having a hack go wrong can take a mental toll on a hacker. Our ecosystem would help the nascent hacker get over the disappointment and discouragement and get on with their hacking. I’m not sure how exactly, but providing some kind of support group would go a long way.
- Parts of this ecosystem may already be in place in the form of makerspaces and public libraries. Maybe I could get an ARDC grant to develop this kind of class to be taught at one of the two makerspaces here in Ann Arbor.
As I say, these are partly-baked thoughts. Please comment if you have any thoughts about this.
I think such an ecosystem should include a regular drop-in session, where folks could come and hack with others, ask questions, get advice, and help others. Think of it as a cross between a build night and The Clinic we used to hold at Barry’s. Part social, part hacking.
Most amateur radio operators pass the test by rote memorization and are
unable or unwilling to expend the effort required to attain the technical skills
to do anything other than operate. The license exam is at best, a literacy test.
Most consumers just want their ham radio, car, cell phone, personal computer
etc. to work and could care less about what goes on in inside. When the device
quits,they buy another one and manufacturers actively promote this behavior.
I agree. And the fact that a major Amateur Radio magazine publishes projects for the wealthy certainly puts the brakes on people that don’t have that kind of money for the components, or the thousands of dollars of equipment needed to test with doesn’t promote this hobby much.
73 Phil
Hello, I used to think that ham radio required a tower with huge antennas and expensive equipment (along with an EE degree). Recently watching Youtube videos from channels like “saveitforparts” and others made me realize I was wrong. Now, at the age of 60, a new world opened up.
I’ve always been fascinated by antennas. My first project is a wire dipole for an old Radio Shack 40-channel CB transceiver that’s been in storage since the early 90’s. With inexpensive parts. Just to do it. Will it work? Let’s find out!
(That’s how I found your web site – researching the magic number 468. Excellent site, BTW.)
Perhaps there are other people like me who want to learn and experiment with radio but don’t realize doing so is more accessible in terms of cost and expertise than they might think?
Jason–
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you found my website and hope that you’ll get a ham license. (If you haven’t already done so, download my FREE study guide!) And, when you get your license, give me a call if you ever hear me on the air.
Hi Dan,
Quick follow up to say hello. I passed my Technician license test last week and thanks to quick turnaround by the VECs and FCC I am officially licensed!
I look forward to contacting you on the air in the near future. Thank you for your blog and all you do.
73
Jason
Excellent! Please do give me a call if you ever hear me on the air.
My vision is a place where you are coached how to fix and build your own electronic equipment, by doing and experiencing.
To execute this properly, you need to tech technical people who are interested in transferring skills and knowledge to a new generation, how to coach this new generation into curiosity. Curiosity is the greatest gift and the greatest driver in learning new skills. As we are talking about skills to repair and build, knowledge is automatically absorbed in process or asked for as the need arrises. This is by far one of the most joyful and efficient way of learning I know.
Physical needs
– A save, warm and well lit pace with worktables
– Electronic parts
– Test Equipement
– Tools
Teaching skills;
This is about building skills and skills build confidence.
1. Teach to take apart tech with simple tools is first steps in skill building
2. Teach to recycle parts from dead equipment (skill building and tech about components how to desolder how to test them and where to store them in the workshop for later use, This is great skill building for recognising parts and start to build skills in using tools and tets equipment, It also builds curiosity, patients and insight how to handel al kinds of tools and equipment.
3. Teach to trouble shoot and repair. There is a structure to the art. Learn to ask the right questions. Check the obvious. Fuzes, plugs polarity. Next steps, check power on PCB, is the first step in learning fault isolation. Best way is to get hands dirty and a coach how asks a lot of good and silly questions, to guide the trouble shooting proces.
4. Teach to build
Best to build something that is badly needed by the person. E.g. no power supply at home, what do you need and how can you build it, what parts are available in the workshop to build the desired peace of equipment with?
This builds skills in both analytical and creative thinking needed in selecting the right path to realisation. E.g. from buying a kit to start out with bar schematics and start sourcing parts. Ask what is needed to build this project, and let the person spell it out and write it down form A – Z. This develops important planning skills
5. Teach to design
Next step, for person with an electronics background, This is about coming up with a first simple design to solve a practical proble and making the necessary calculations.
The whole process should be demand driven. E.g. People come in with broken equipement or the need to build a power supply. This is not a course to remember things, it’s a process to learn skills and acquire the needed knowledge in the process.
I repeat this is not course, it is a process of discovery and is curiosity and need driven, where you start to take things apart and wonder and in the process learn all kind of odd thing like color code of resistors and how to check if the required voltage is actually present. Coaches with enough technical knowledge are present to ask guiding questions and point the way to parts, equipment and knowledge on the internet. Participants are on an exiting journey to take apart, repair and build things.
This is how I envision a supporting and exiting environment to dive in the world of electronics. Ham radio is just a part of the exciting world of electronics. Want to talk on the radio and keep in contact while at home?Cool, you can learn that here too!.
Remember ham radio is a part of the exciting world of electronics, so focus on building skills and confidence in handling electronics in general, don’t err in exclude non Ham electronics cause that’s the fastest way to kill curiosity and lose people with broad intersets. Every one interested in the exciting world of electronics is welcome.
If we not approach this as; “How do we encourage more experimentation in amateur radio?” but instead “How do we encourage more experimentation in amateur radio?” we lose the barrier and fix the problem that hold back young people back to join into the hobby of enjoying experimenting with electronics which radio’s and ham radio is is an intrinsic part of.
73’s Bart