Back in April, a friend of mine sent me this excerpt from a NY Times Opinion piece that tries to explain why gun ownership has become such a big thing:
I suspect that part of the reason for the rise of AR-15 fandom is the decline of other American hobby cultures: auto repair, darkroom photography, ham radio operation and the like. Automobiles have become hulking mobile computers that often can be repaired only by manufacturer-approved dealerships; anyone with a smartphone can now take high-quality pictures; no one needs limited-frequency radio bands anymore to talk with people on the other side of the world. Gun ownership is among the last preserves of community for those who might once have enjoyed the opportunities for the innocent pursuit of mastery and refinement afforded by those innocuous pastimes.
Is our technology too sophisticated?
First, I’m not sure that I would characterize auto repair and amateur radio as “innocuous pastimes.” That characterization belittles the value of these hobbies. Fixing your own car helps save money and amateur radio still provides society with a number of benefits.
Secondly, there are now more licensed radio amateurs per 1,000 people in the U.S. than there were when I was kid. I can’t say whether or not there are more shade-tree mechanics now than there were in the 1970s or 1980s, but there seems to be no shortage of auto parts stores. That would seem to argue that home auto repair is just as big a thing now as it was back in the good, old days.
What I have been wondering about, though, is if the technology we have today has advanced beyond what most people are capable of dealing with, at least on a casual basis. In ham radio, many DIY projects use surface-mount components and sophisticated software. Consider the (tr)uSDR. This little QRP rig uses many surface-mount parts and is powered by digital signal processing software!
It’s the same with cars, isn’t it? One of the reasons that there are now perhaps fewer shade tree mechanics than there were before is that automotive technology has advanced beyond what most people are capable of dealing with. There aren’t that many people who have the skills or the desire to tinker with the algorithms used in today’s engine control modules.
One way that ham radio might deal with this is by encouraging a company to come out with a radio that can really be tinkered with along with tools to do this. TenTec took a stab at it with the 506 Rebel, but as I recall, all you could really do was to change some of the control functionality. You couldn’t really change the way that the radio worked.
More recently, the Xiegu X6100 has been hacked, and because the radio is run by an embedded Linux computer, at least one fellow—R1CBU—has developed third-party software to control the radio. Of course, to be able to do this requires a big investment. To tinker with the X6100, one needs to invest the time and energy into learning Linux. That may be asking too much from most hams.
So, I ask again, is the technology we have today has advanced beyond what most people are capable of dealing with, at least on a casual basis? You tell me.
Merton Eastman AC7KY says
Well, I use Linux for everything including ham radio, and taught myself to solder SMT in an afternoon with the help of some Youtube videos. I’m currently building… and debugging… three kit transceivers (one a (tr)uSDX).. I don’t consider any of these more difficult than, say, learning Morse Code… something I’m currently struggling with.
Dick says
Only as sophisticated as you want it to be. Still low tech available. Buy a cw QRP kit, a soldering iron, a cw key, and voila. Problem is most ops would not be happy with a 1920s station. Time may come when that will have to do. 73 de F8WBD
Ed KC8SBV says
Check out KM9G on YT, he has played with the x6100’s firmware, and replaced it. It runs Linux underneath.. Being that it’s SMT throughout, not many hardware mods I see coming..
Chuck K4RGN says
It’s relatively easy to keep a 1960s HF radio on the air. It probably won’t be competitive for contesting, and it probably won’t be stable enough for most of the digital modes. But it’s more than good enough for routine DX, ragchews, and nets. I have a Heathkit HW-12 for exactly that purpose.
Some of us learned DSP in college, but we are a minority among hams. The number of hams with experience in DSP implementation is even smaller. Add the technologies in FT8 besides DSP, such as LPDC coding and Costas arrays, as well as the in’s and out’s of multiplatform software development… very few hams understand all of that. Just the way things are.
Tristan says
I think the default first radios are not easy to play with, or rather the risk is too high and the reward too low (except perhaps the Baofeng and co – but they’re still daunting). Do you even get circuit diagrams any more?
If you are so inclined, you can still do things, but perhaps the barriers are higher? There’s no longer many electronics stores you can go to and buy components and ask advice, you have to order on the internet, and often search for once common parts.
Where there is opportunity, is SDRs, but that seems to have left a lot of the ham community behind and the hacker/maker community is where its largely at. Maybe this is a divide in the ham community – those getting licensed coming from that direction are not being served by existing organizations?
Dave LeBlanc says
Dan,
The uBitX, designed by Ashar Farhan, VU2ESE, was specifiecally designed to be “hacked,” tinkered with, and/or modified. The schematics are available, the original design was intended to be a 2o meter SSB transceiver that could be built for 30 rupees, (about $5 American dollars) at the time, (some 20 years ago now.)
The new version is a fully tested surface mount circuit board, schematics are available, there is a GroupsIO forum for it, plus lots of blogposts and youtube videos by folks who have built or modified them. Link is here:
http://ubitx.net/
73,
Dave
KF7JAF
P.S. I’m a big fan of the ICQ podcast, keep up the great work!
Dan KB6NU says
Thanks for your kind words about the podcast, Dave.
Nathan Purdy says
Just found this site from a friend in my ham club (W0BLK).
Interesting talk, and being just two years into having a ham license (tech), I think I can speak to some of the issues contributing to the question of if the technology is too complicated.
Please bear with me, as I tend to be a ‘big picture’ sort of thinker. I also am closer to being retired than to a teenager.
1) Temperament aspect: As a broad generalization, as time passes, generations expect things to be easier/faster/more convenient. As was noted previously, if it doesn’t work easily/quickly, there is always something else to fill the gap.
2) Technology aspect: even simple handheld radios are fairly cheap and quite complex. Some more experienced hams in my club speak to when there was a simple transceiver with a handful of knobs and a tuning knob on a box. They would throw different kinds of wire antennae on it, and eventually find someone to talk to. Now, there are so many frequencies, side bands, modes of communication, and reachable sites that it is easy to get lost.
3) Organization aspect: Some clubs are more organized than others in arranging nets, but as stated above, if someone gets on a freq/band to seek a signal, will they find one? People tend to have their favorite band/frequency (from what I have seen) and mode of communication (morse, data, voice…) This can be a challenge to someone new who has ‘limited’ ability to talk. We all know we can listen on everything. (I think we should play to this last aspect).
4) Entertainment aspect: People like to be entertained. From poetry readings, to plays, to television, to movies, to computer games, to podcasts….people want to be entertained. But there seems to be an undercurrent of people feeling a lack of contact…human contact. Ham radio can help with this.
How do we ‘fix’ all this and get more interest in ham radio?
(sarcasm) Well, if the internet went down, that would certainly provide an interest boost.
But seriously, with the shrinking/aging population of ham radio users, we need a way to0 create a draw, and there might be some ideas here.
1) People enjoy podcasts, even just listening while they drive. Well, the same can be done for ham radio. People are always talking somewhere, and it is a matter of finding them and listening to them even if license privileges prevent speaking to them.
2) Start small/cheap. People don’t have a lot of time nor money. They need to be able to grasp baby steps quickly (think like a computer game tutorial), so they can start walking on their own once understanding has set in.
(concept) A modular radio. The initial investment would be moderate and have limited capability, but would be easy to use. The moderate cost would encourage people to really think before hopping into this hobby (Well, I spent all this money, might as well not waste it and really give it a go!) As their skills/interests develop, they could purchase add-on components which would enhance their ability and give them greater reach on the air. This continues as they become more capable and driven to do more with Ham radio.
For clarity, I’m not referring to antenna tuners and waterfall displays. I’m speaking more like starting from an upgraded walkie-talkie. Limited range, moderate cost, simple device to us to talk to local friends. Some may just want that level of participation. But others may want an add-on which will allow a greater reach. One such person can still keep in touch with their very local friend, while being able to reach further away for contacts. Remember: this was the first social media.
3) Education. This needs to be pushed in school. What happens in an emergency when the cell phone lines are jammed and the internet is down? (9/11 ring a bell?) We just need to pique interest. The teacher at some point may have an arranged contact with someone on the other side of the state. The teacher calls, the other responds, and there is conversation across the state. while the students listen and observe, and even participate. At another point, the teacher could have the transceiver scanning while teaching the lesson. When a contact is found, they could clarify that either the contact could become a two way conversation, or if the contact is beyond license allowance, they just listen.
*Homeschool groups would be PERFECT for this*
4) MAKE the new ham successful. Failure can be disheartening. How many people give up because ‘I hooked it up right, it should have worked’. This operator can speak to this, as I was up front with my club that I needed help. I needed an Elmer to help me figure out this hobby. Recently, I had another elder in the club use their vast array of testing equipment to figure out why my rig was not working. Was I frustrated at the lack of success? Yes, but I was willing to ask for help too. Not everyone is so willing to ask for help. There are a lot of introverts out there who would be awesome at this hobby. As experienced hobbyists, we need to do what we can to set them up for success. If not, this hobby could disappear.
I need to get off my soapbox now.
73
Nathan
KF0FLB