KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

hackers

Video: Ham Radio for Hackers at HOPE XV

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This is a recording of my “Ham Radio for Hackers” talk that I gave at HOPE XV at St. John’s University in New York City on July 12, 2024. The fellow to my right is frantically trying to get my MacBook to talk to the A/V system in the room. In fact, that’s why I am hemming and hawing more than usual. In the beginning, I was giving the talk from memory.

Funny story (at least I think it is.) When I first walked into the room where I was giving the talk, I thought I was in the wrong place. One reason for this is that even though I was about ten minutes early, nearly all of the seats were already taken. Also, a slide was being projected for the talk that had just preceded mine. I got halfway to the front of the room, turned around, and started heading back.

I realized then that I had to be in the right place, and all the seats were filled because they actually wanted to learn more about amateur radio! By the time, I started speaking there were people standing in the back of the room and sitting on the floor.

You can check out all the talks from HOPE XV on the 2600’s YouTube channel. The channel has videos from all of the HOPE conferences dating back to 1994.

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.