If amateur radio has a problem, it’s that shaking off an image of being the exclusive preserve of old men with shiny radios talking about old times remains a challenge. Especially, considering that so many amateurs are old men who like to talk a lot about old times. It’s difficult to attract new radio amateurs in the age of the Internet, so some in the hobby are trying new avenues. [Dan, KB6NU] went to the recent HOPE conference to evangelise amateur radio, and came away having had some success. We agree with him, hackers can be the future of amateur radio.
He’s put up the slides from his talk, and in them he goes through all the crossovers between the two communities from Arduinos to GNU Radio. We don’t need persuading, in fact we’d have added UHF and microwave RF circuitry and pushing the limits of the atmosphere with digital modes such as WSPR to the list as our personal favourites. It seems he found willing converts, and it’s certainly a theme we’ve featured before here at Hackaday. After all, unless it retains its interest, amateur radio could just die away.
Sadly that is how it is. I am an Electronics Engineer and have been a radio fan since I was 14. I got all the books and joined a course to get the HAM license i had longed for.
After a while i grew sick of all the old men complaining that the youth that had it too easy.
“they don’t even build their own radio”,
“they don’t even learn morse now”,
“they can buy everything cheaply, i had to pay for my equipment”,
“the tests are too easy now”,
and so on.
I dropped out of the course and sold the books, i have never felt so unwelcomed in my life.
I really looked forward to exchanging stories and knowledge but they can keep their mentality and dying hobby for themself.
Over and out.
Don’t let the old bed wetters turn you off. I am as old as dirt and even I do not want much to do with that crowd. Mostly I am a home brewer and build my own radios, which means I spend more time with a soldering iron than I do talking to people and then I am a stamp collector doing a couple of award schemes to collect new things and finally ham radio for me is about self-education.
I have no desire to talk to people about the past or about who is to blame for everything in the world, heck, mostly I have no desire to talk to anyone if I can manage it. Ham radio is a big hobby, find the thing you want to do and ignore all the rest. Talking to people is but one aspect and to many its not even an important one.
Yep, get your license and do your own thing. You dont have to talk to the old rag chewers. The point of amateur radio is experimenting so you do not have to follow anyone elses idea of how it should be or used to be.
I agree
I totally agree with you. I’m a builder also but it’s amature radio that got me started enjoying it. The exam in my day was difficult but it taught me to appreciate the hobby and gave me the the ability to build some equipment and understand how it works. Now I’m told the here in ve3 land that the exam is being rewoked to teach would be Hams to understand more about soldering coax connectors and circuitry.
I love this!! I’m a General class ham the old way with 13 WPM code, 2nd generation in the family operator and I got my ticket in the US Mail at 14! With 30 years of experience im experiencing these new digital modes and they are like presents under the Christmas tree for me!! K4MJG
I agree I’m a ham radio operator Kc8rbl I have been in the hobby since 2010 I believe and I’m loving it I’m only a technician but I’m planning on upgrading to general then the last one wich me luck
Ten years ago everyone was saying that electronic engineers are dying out, there are so many arduino-boys around. They don’t even know how to draw a PCB. Look at how many modules have appeared around. How many cool projects have appeared thanks to these modules. I really hope from the modules (LoRA, SA818, ESP32) there will be many more cool projects like ESP32 Walkie-Talkie, 818Transceiver.
Well, there’s some truth in both statements.
The thoughtfulness is lacking now, for example.
Those “arduino boys” give a damn about good practice, about proper shielding and safety aspects.
They’re like US house builders who have no idea about proper construction. 😂
I mean, hot-glue and cheap plastic chassis are ruling now.
There are concerns about cable management and the associated signal reflections etc.
Seriously, those “wannabes” should be more humble and willing to learn how to do things right.
Not for sake of pleasing others, but for self-improvement.
Just like musics who just started to learn to play the piano or guitar,
they will have to go the process of realization that they’re not on eye level with Mozart or Elvis Presley yet.
Reading old/new books about amateur radio or history of technology can give an idea how technology works and that there’s more to it than kit bashing.
Buying modules (blackboxes) and sticking them together like Lego isn’t much different to those gamers who pretend to be PC experts,
just because they can install a graphics card in a slot and install Windows drivers. Vy73s
As long as people are learning and having fun with electronics why is anyone bothered? Is their cable management ruining your life? As their projects become more extensive they will learn on their own about shielding, cabling, and chassis design. How is stacking modules like legos less than mindlessly soldering parts into an old Heathkit?
Do these “old timers” know how to write code to make all the lego modules work? Who has the right to tell you that you are not doing things “right” in their own projects. Why call them wannabes, do you assume that everyone wants to be like you.
BTW, I am a retired US Air Force electronics tech, trained by NASA in high reliabilitity connections, wiring, and soldering and I admire all aspects of electronics even the arduino users and the remaining “Elmers”. I also enjoy builds of PCs with off the shelf components. Could I build a video card…probably. Would I build one…nope. Got other interesting things to get to. Do I build everything to aerospace standards…no. I build to the requirement of my project.
You got the point.
Anything overdesigned over thr required specifications and needs a waste of time and resources.
This is no excuse though to refuse to learn how to do things right.
The attitude some tinkerers show is quite anti‐authorian.
I mean, no one forces them to apply the knowlege they may learn if they would listen.
And listen is something they didn’t learn, but should.
I mean, people these days brag about having an open mind, yet same time they don’t listen what oldtimers may could tell.
They have no patience anymore to read a book or start from the beginning.
Which is saddening, because it could really widen their horizon.
I forgot to mention something.
We should keep in mind that the ‘angry old men’ will leave this world soon enough.
Hitting 60+ combined with an unhealty lifestyle their days are numbered and they know.
The ‘issue’ will go away soon enough. And with it the possibility to ask them for some last advices.
“As long as people are learning and having fun with electronics why is anyone bothered? Is their cable management ruining your life? As their projects become more extensive they will learn on their own about shielding, cabling, and chassis design. How is stacking modules like legos less than mindlessly soldering parts into an old Heathkit?”
Because they are a threat to society?
Their badly installed gadgets may catch fire and cause a house fire.
Especially Arduinos and Raspberry Pis in cheap, unshielded plastic chassis with no fuses, with power cords that are too thin and can’t handle the current?
Really, the reasons aren’t too hard to figure out.
Then there’s RFI/TVI which no wannabe spends a single thought of.
The fact that their creations may ruin the fun for radio amateurs and other people on the block.
So what is freedom? Freedom is all that to do that doesn’t hurt or restricts others.
Personal freedom ends where it interferes with lives of others.
Aside from this, it’s also a matter of respects to others.
“Do these “old timers” know how to write code to make all the lego modules work? ”
Counter question: Do youngsters have the skills to fix hardware problems, program in assembly language or build something from scratch?
“Who has the right to tell you that you are not doing things “right” in their own projects. Why call them wannabes, do you assume that everyone wants to be like you.”
Ah yes, the typical “no one has the right to tell me anything” line.
I tell you something, everyone has the right to talk to people AND tell them all things they don’t wanna hear.
Same time, these people have the right to ignore such people and stick their fingers in their ears. 😁
We never say “over and out”. “Over” means “over to you” and it’s your turn to talk. “Out” means you’ve finished the conversation. So, “over and out” would mean it’s your turn, but the conversation is over, so I’m not listening.
I think the commenter knows of the implied meaning and purposefully used it. Given that the last words of the message were “they can keep their mentality and dying hobby for themself”
Even it wasn’t on purpose, it seems pretty fitting.
Doesn’t your reply kinda’ go along with what he was saying?
Anyway, I don’t know what kind of ASININE ham community he’s unfortunately stuck with, but it’s not like any I’ve ever seen. New blood is heartily welcomed.
Speaking of ASININE, the last ham radio club meeting I attended (20+ y.a.) had someone passing rank silent farts throughout the meeting. The room was about 20 x 20 feet in size. About 2/3rds through, one of the club officials called for a 15 minute break, and casually mentioned where the restrooms were located. After the break, the chemical attacks continued…
Sadly that sort of attitude is widespread, however it does not represent everyone in the hobby and by and large I have found hams to be very open to new technology.
If you push back against some of these comments it all boils down to resistance to change. Things aren’t like the old days, therefore they must be bad. Those guys probably heard the same sort of stuff when they started out, all the way back to Marconi.
I’m pretty sure they existed before Marconi and they heard their ancestors whine about how pep forget how to start a fire and how nobody knows how to skin a deer and use the leather to make a rag for smoke signaling.
I wonder, how many of those old hams use equipment they build, instead of store bought multiband transceivers that cost as much as a decent used car…
I’m planning to obtain my own license, not because I want to talk to other people, but because I want to DIY radio equipment and experiment with it. The problem with such approach is lack of parts and modern designs – most of them go back to 1970s-1980s. Last year I did some research on designing my own wideband frequency generator, and the problem I had was lack of PLL chips for driving a VCO – apparently no one is making them anymore, everything is for generating digital clocks. The same goes for frequency divider chips. I ended up purchasing salvaged Motorola chips. As soon as I have more free time, I’ll work on this project, and on license…
As for those old hams, the beauty of radio is that you can tune to different frequency. Or go to the band they can’t or won’t reach. The moaning and groaning of the old people about “today’s youth” is as old as pyramids, literally. Archeologists had found such inscriptions in Egypt, dating back a few thousand years ago.
Yeah its pretty difficult to find PLLs if you want to go above 150MHz.
I think its because all the commercial applications of it are just large enough volume wise to warrant an ASIC with built in DSP, so there’s not a large industry which makes discrete RF parts.
RF BJTs are pretty cheap and accessible but I but you’ll need a VNA or at least a decent oscilloscope to do anything interesting with them.
The PLL problem can be circumvented a bit, if there was a cheap and new frequency divider chip. There ain’t any. I was considering designing an 8-stage ECL flip-flop divider, but that seemed a bit complicated for a first major project.
Currently I’m working on two projects for work: a programmable linear lab PSU with high resolution control and higher resolution measurement, and on a cheap, active oscilloscope probe with 20-80dB selectable gain.
Not these days. Lmx2484 or some similar thing is a pll good for 18ghz. There are a heap of good microwave plls now. Also many other methods to get there
I have typically found that the shorter the wavelength, the younger the crowd. The cranky old hams stick to HF so they can find more cranky old hams to gripe with/at.
TI and Analog Devices both have a plethora of PLL chips that will drive a VCO. I’m not sure where you were looking, but those two vendors are the starting point.
Lots of hams do build their own antennas. You can build antennas that are as good or better than store bought ones, often at a lower price. If you built it, then you will also be able to repair it when the next storm takes it down.
I doubt there are very many hams using homebrew radios as their main HF or VHF transceiver. It’s very difficult to design and build a radio that works nearly as well as a low end store bought radio.
Of course if you are interested in anything above 10GHz, then there isn’t much equipment available off the shelf, so you will be building most of it yourself.
Like you I am an EE, and love building kits and antennas. On field day I bring a new 6m antenna every year. I do digital modes, definitely no sad hams there. Also on field day I enjoy helping out the other guys who bring the big HF antennas, “teamwork makes the dream work”.
I found a club in my area (First State ARC) and found many like minded people who I now call friends. Along with Field Day, we also have many social events such as going to a park for BBQ and portable operations, and holiday parties. There are also many other activities like POTA and SOTA, which challenge operators to get out doors and enjoy the day.
There are so many other hobbies in the ham radio hobby. You shouldn’t let sad hams drive you away.
Yep. That is my experience as well.
So you consign a whole world to the dust bin of history because old men are cantankerous. Idk what you were expecting man
I totally hear you.
I like to build radios. I’m not all that excited to talk on them, because it taxes my introversion rather heavily. I’m no kid, either. I’m in my 60s, and I don’t have a lot of patience for rambling conversations about the current opinion about Chinese radios. At the same time, I don’t like hearing YouTuber “preppers” talking about buying a bunch of Baofengs so he can lend them to his friends when they all go riding snowmobiles. No, none of them have licenses, and he laughed about it.
These days, while I’m learning Morse code again for the 3rd or 4th time, I do a bunch of FT8, mostly because there’s no way to complain on it. I get the same kick at reaching a DX station with FT8 as I do from CW, so for me, that’s good.
But I still hear the whining about it.
The spark guys hated AM. The AM guys hated SSB. The SSB guys hated FM. They all hated digital modes… Until you point out that CW is technically a digital mode, then they grumble under their breath.
All this curmudgeonly griping is driving people away from the hobby.
There is this thought that you must join some local group or attend meetings or enter dx contests or learn morse or whatever. This is an experimenters hobby whose stated charter and reason for government support of frequency allocation is advancing the state of the art and providing essential emergency communications. At least thats how ARRL has been lobbying the government for years. So, if the old fossils think morse over HF is advancing the state of the art vs low power, long range digital modes, they are the ones killing their own hobby. Building the stuff like it was done 50 years ago advances exactly nothing. If you believe the government is clamoring for morse code access to a disaster area vs high speed digital comms then you have no idea what emergency comms is today. The moral of the story is do your own thing, have fun, learn from the past to do soemthing new and exciting.
For what’s it’s worth, I’ve been a UK radio ham for over 40 years, and have just obtained my Canadian license after moving here 10 years ago.
I don’t particularly enjoy the “rag chewing” and moaning about the past. I’m far more interested in technology and digital communications, and have just started experimenting with DMR, after a long history with packet radio. You can keep HF DXing and contesting. I’m simply not interested in them. Does this mean that I’m not a “real” ham? Probably in the opinion of some, but I’m not bothered…
Not all of us old men are the same. You just have to get in with the right bunch.
The test has destroyed hsm radio. Its created a buch of ignorant know it alls thaat memorised a question pool with no undertand of electronics
The test proves nothing. Its just a memory test.
The tv radio test i took to get my repair license in the 80s was 2 hrs long with over 200 questions no question pool you actualy had to know the theory.
Not a one of these know ot alls could pass the test we took. I am sick ofvignorant hsms that think gounding is the fix for everything. You try to explain how to get ridvof alternator noise and what ripple is and get shouted down by a higher class saying gounding isvthe problem.
The future is gmrs
Get yiur licence and join gmrslive.com no trouble makers are allowed.
All the ham testing needs to stop and the fcc neds to take over like they do for gmrs.
Gmrs repeaters dont require cordnation and no one has any trouble.
Freq allication on ham us a mess clubs ate holding channelsvtgatvare not used for anything but IDs. these slots should monitored abd pulled. Ir the entire cirdniation process should end because gmrs has proven its not needed.
Gmrs needs to be made the novice oart of ham with no test giving access to the uhf ham bands.
Some gmrs ysers went and took the ham test but once they find out who is on the bands they go back to gmrs.
Nation wide talk is posdible on gmrs live
We need more real electronics techs to join.
Is this satire?
I really hope it is, or they’re exactly the kind of person who’s ruining the hobby and putting people off.
You should investigate POTA, SOTA and WWFF, totally different to what you described, the challenge of hiking up mountains to activate a mountain top or a designated Park completely change this part of the hobby, there is also Shires, Silo’s and other different activity’s that you can enjoy, if you don’t want to hike up mountains or explore parks you can be a Hunter, and operate from your shack.
My first experiences of Ham radio were very similar, I was told repeatedly that I wasn’t smart enough, that they were so much better than everyone else because they’d done an exam, that only they posessed the technical knowledge to build and use radios.
All whinging on their Yaekencom black box radios on the local 2M repeater.
And 35 years ago.
The faces of the grumpy old gatekeepers change but the attitudes don’t so don’t be put off, go for it, get your licence and find your niche, have fun.
(I also forgot to add, I was working as a repair tech for a UK importer of Ham and CB radio gear at the time and repaired an awful lot of the gear they’d ballsed up )
We have quite a few young hams in buffalo ny. It makes the hobby feel brand new again. What are you doing to encourage new young hams? I would probably guess nothing other than just complaining. We also have a very active uhf repeater which is great starting place for new hams. When was the last time you talked on your local repeater?
I trace my interest in ham radio back to the Remco diode/transistor radio kit I got for Christmas when I was 10 or 11 years old. That was followed with uilding a KnightKit Space Spanner regenerative radio the following year. Then there was the HeathKit AR3 a couple years later. Then, my Novice license at age 15. That led to studying Electrical Engineering in college. I relicensed in 1978 and have been active in ham radio ever since. You might say, I had the “knack”.
i’ve taught Morse Code with LICW and regularly take “refresher” courses. I’ve written Python code to produce my own “code tapes”.
Today, at 80, I own several ham radios and regularly participate in POTA and some contesting. To old to build, I own 3 QRP Labs QMX.
I may even be buried with a rig or two. Love to try communicating from beyond.
.
I could have spent my life complaining but I had a lot more fun doing.
Yes, I’m a hacker and proud of it.
73, Rick K8BMA
It’s ‘over or ‘out’. Never both…..
Ham radio, it’s the greatest I’ll be in the world. I’ve been a licensed ham operator for well over three decades and use it everyday. I’m sorry you didn’t find the right bunch of Elmer’s to help you out.
When I started in computers and electronics. I built my first computer at the kitchen table. Soldering every component onto the circuit board. When I wanted to play with radio at a young age. I went to New York Cities Canal street and bought a HF radio that was broken. I repaired it also at the kitchen table. It was the self taught education in electronics that helped me build the required coils. You came to radio and computer electronics on a different path. This was back in the Heath Kit days. You bought your stereo as a kit and built it. I had a young friend who bought a color TV that needed repair. So he learned how to repair it and did. That family had the first color TV set in the building. We were curious and handy. You built and designed what you wanted. This is what the old men and women in radio. taking the tests to get my first broadcasters license was like passing you CCNA. this is the only difference. Thus I have always built my own computers. Even today. You build exactly the computer and network you want. Go Well.
Agreed, we have just setup a new club due to the reasons you state, original club was split between those that wanted to meet face to face (old school) and others using tech to ‘meet’. Meetings will be twice a month on Zoom and we also have a digital meet on XLX305D on Thursday evenings utc.
Have a look on YouTube for ‘pennine ham’ .. we have members in USA, S Africa, Belgium, Germany, UK of course and interest in our mailing list from VK land.
We had a training course for the new regulations at the hackspace in Berlin, overall very nice, diverse group in all areas. They were “approached” through chaos congress and prepared about 1/2 a year for the upcoming tests. Definitely a market there and maybe people who are interested in things like meshtastic, who then want to improve their antennas etc.
Its just a reflection of society at large. Talking to people is less preferred than sending a text message or email.
Maybe HAMs should transmit text and have sort of “chat” version of 90s IRC chatrooms (limited by TX power and geography of course). That could be fun
We do. Packet, APRS, PSK, RTTY, js8call, VARAC, Hellschrieber to name just a few off the top of my head
They do, it’s called ft8. Very popular among the younger hams.
Real good too, I’ve talked from Georgia to Arizona on 5W before.
Shoot, meant JS8. FT8 was what it was based on.
Look up Meshstastic.
As you can see, there are about 25 different ways to do this precise thing :)
We all chat using HaD comments. “HaD has killed amateur radio” – discuss!
The internet killed HAM.
“Video killed the radio star!”
MTV killed the music video!
To revive ham (not an acronym btw) they should lift the ban on encrypted transmissions and let it become a wild west. That would draw some real interest from a wide new audience and allow it to become a web1.0 which everybody desperately misses
No, just no. Part of why hams have so much freedom is because of discipline and self-regulation.
Because they can be trusted.
People who talk about encryption over and over again don’t really care about ham radio and what it stands for.
All they want is the frequency spectrum, free of charge. This is parasitic behavior.
Without encryption, amateur radio is fundamentally incompatible with the modern Internet
We’ve had local EOCs decline to cooperate with local hams because their systems use modern Internet standards, so using backup RF links would be illegal.
(Yes, in an emergency, you can do pretty much anything. But if you can’t *test it* outside of an emergency, it should not be a part of your plan.)
Hell. NO.
It’s bad enough that the nutjobs are using LORA and JS8Call for their whackadoodle EMCOMM conspiracy theory fantasies.
Absolutely. The current over-regulated state of ham radio exists for what purpose, exactly? To enable old men to talk about their radios, on their radios? If that’s the end result of regulation, we should do away with it. I’d happily get into amateur radio if I could actually use the thing for something (anything) fun. Let me play music, swear, and talk privately if I want to. The old geezers have had their time, and did nothing of note with it. Time to give it up.
Computer networks got me into HAM radio, so there is that. It’s radio all the way down :p
1. Radio
2. ???
3. Turtles
The spread of ideas in technology must be a force for good. Not all Hacks are “dark stuff” as the media would have us believe. I’m as old as the hills and a Ham, but still have a productive mind and a positive outlook. My first foray into computing was a cobbled together set up to hack into a work stats system. The satisfaction of talking to someone at great distance without any phisical contact is imense. The crossover in tech will enable more and more of these contacts, and the development of other modes. Digital radio did not exist until a crossover was envisaged. Surely development must be worth a few “during the war” conversations.
One must make room in the world for the dark stuff as well
Got my Tech license last year after putting it off for nearly 3 decades. Most of the hams in my area are self-labeled “appliance operators” with very little interest in exploring tech. They like to spend money on gear, ready to plug and go, and ragchew. I’ve had to take the attitude of “If it’s to be, it’s up to me” and start working on a digital ham network for my area. I’ve taken to using Meshtastic and a “gateway drug” to find others who are interested in exploring this aspect, and perhaps they will get hooked and license/level up.
(“as” a “gateway drug”)
lol, basically same situation on a different continent
There seems to only be a few of us now, but maybe if we keep it up, we can “be the change” and network effect will kick in on our side rather than against it.
Meshtastic is a great gateway drug, but the problem is LoRa is patented. Most of us can’t legally use the modulation under amateur license conditions (i.e. higher power, different frequencies) even now it’s been reverse-engineered. So it will stay just a gateway drug :(. But there are a lot of patent-unencumbered things we can do to make digital comms better. CATS is a big step in the right direction.
I got my tech ticket on January and my General last month. I’m a dad of two kids under 4, so my time is limited. The thing that’s got me interested in radio is the “choose your adventure” nature of it all. I picked up a yagi antenna and have heard the repeater on the ISS multiple times (though have yet to get my voice repeated). Today, I’m getting my first LiFePO battery and Anderson power poles to hook up a 15 year old FT-857. My aim is to do summit activations (climb mountains and make contacts) with a manpack-style radio. It’s a fun hobby that gets me outdoors. Very different than base station hams who rag chew.
Good for you. I’m trying to get my 12yo grandson interested because I believe it would help him in school, especially the STEM subjects.
The only reason the holdouts want to see their diversion propagate, is so that they don’t lose their little-used, overly-generous spectrum. There’s nothing altruistic about it.
Why isn’t reliable/well spread slow internet over HAM?
For the rest I use Meshstastic.
BBS over ham band would work best, IMO. And those computers could also interconnect over the phone, cellular or landline. To make internet-like network over radio work one would need some kind of packet protocol that could be routed like all the current network protocols. That would probably create too much traffic on the band, especially as number of users grows…
Packet radio with protocols such as AX.25 does this. We even have our own address space – 44.0.0.0/9, 44.128.0.0/10.
The AX.25 is also a sibling to X.25 protocol, which was the main protocol of international packet-switched networks in the 70s/80s.
X.25 was also an alternative to TCP/IP, UDP etc in days of early internet.
It’s a shame history books don’t really honor X.25 protocol.
“That would probably create too much traffic on the band, especially as number of users grows…”
Not with DAMA, Demand Assigned
Multiple Access.
https://www.qsl.net/lz4ny/info/dama.htm
We used it since early 90s here in Europe.
Our TNCs had it integrated into the firmware (TF, The Firmware).
Packet radio sort of does this. For real internet access is is tricky because generally, amateur radio communications are not allowed to be encrypted (at least where I live)
There is. It’s HAMNET – Highspeed Amateurradio Multimedia NETwork.
An independent internet that works on 13cm ham band (2,4 GHz).
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAMNET
Been helping host build-a-thons for years. $30 and you walk away with a receiver, transmitter, or other useful shack compoment. We often provide the tools. Yes they are usually single-frequency CW (morse code). But they get you on the air!
In fact Lobstercon is happening in Maine this weekend for the low-power enthusiasts in the north east. Come visit the coast and get some QRP and Lobster. There will be a kit building!
Modern problems with HF operation – large, visible antennas are VERBOTEN! and many kids live in apartments which are just chock full of very efficient manmade noise sources.
Modern problems with the former free communications advantage of ham radio – cell phones and the Internet.
Trying to get new blood in the hobby should concentrate on things they can’t do in any other way, like monitoring telemetry of amateur spacecraft, “going fishing” in QRP digital modes using any easy to make, ambient noise rejecting antenna like this:
https://www.kk5jy.net/rx-loop/
Neither of those activities involve transmitting and, thus, do not require a license, but they can act as an introduction to communications electronics.
I used to have a military portable radio from 1980s that used steel rope with plastic beads on it to form a folding antenna. One only had to tension the rope to make it into monopole. It was only 3 meters long (IIRC), but I’m pretty sure it can be scaled up. I have another idea, too, but I won’t share it just yet – I need to prototype it first…
Someone somewhere on HaD mentioned once hiding an antenna inside a flagpole so HOA won’t ban it. Someone should start production of 40/80/160m band quarter-wave flagpoles…
And some HOAs prohibit flagpoles…
(Sigh!)
Shouldn’t someone prohibit HOAs?
Also wouldn’t prohibiting a flagpole be considered an attack on freedom of speech, because flags on flagpoles are a form of expressing one’s patriotic feelings?
The pole itself isn’t protected. Only the US flag, which an HOA can’t prohibit. My HOA prohibits every other flag though. Not sure that would survive in court.
My HOA has quite a few illegal rules. They require approval in direct violation of the FCC OTARD rules and rulings. On a house I own.
No, An HOA is a voluntary association.
An alternative to shortwave is the QO-100 payload on geostationary Es’hail 2 satellite now.
It’s also a nice opportunity to learn something new and fresh.
All it needs is some energy, hombrew skills and enthusiasm.
The antenna can be an parabolic dish win an ordinary LNB (formerly known as LNC).
For transmitting, an Helix antenna can be mounted atop.
Some links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Es%27hail_2
https://youtu.be/WXcdyRSUvvA
Really, it’s time to get past shortwave and the mean old guys on 80 metre band which are talking about their geriatric diseases and politics.
Let’s be leading edge again. Work with *modern* technology.
Our dusty old shortwaver radios can still be used as receiver/transmitter through use of converters. 10m, 2m, 70cm, 23cm etc..
For reception, an RTL SDR dongle can be used for reception (739 MHz LNB IF).
An Adalm Pluto can be used as a frequency generator and a source for an linear amp. A WiFi booster, for example.
There’s so much information available. Let’s do it! 😃👍
I forgot to mention, there’s another geo sat in the planning (two actually).
The next one will cover Canada and southern USA, if I understand correctly.
In the US, a workaround is to put up a TV antenna with a mast that doubles as a HF antenna. By law, a HOA is not allowed to ban or unreasonably restrict the installation of an outdoor TV antenna.
I have always been interested in RF, not really ham though, more sensors/signals/data transfer. Back when I was in college and even after RF was hard to get into, the Hackrf didn’t exist, the Yardstick One didn’t exist and so on. I still remember when the Hackrf came out, I desperately wanted one but it was ~$500 back then.
I finally was able to actually get into RF a few years ago. Its amazing how much more accessible it is. The Hackrf is less than $200 on aliexpress. CC1101’s and MCUs are prevalent and cheap.
Yardstick One is still my favorite piece of kit though.
I wrote a lot of words to not really say much. Heh
“I have always been interested in RF, not really ham though, more sensors/signals/data transfer.”
Ham radio is also about this, it’s not just FM repeaters and shortwave.
An licensed amateur may also spend his time programming on a computer, playing chess, do soldering for non-radio electronic projects.
To give an idea, many computer freaks in the 70s/80s were hams.
They had designed interfaces for IBM PC, Amiga or C64, too.
The guy who made the Apple II used to be a ham, as well.
Ham radio is about loving to work with technology and exchanging ideas with people.
It’s not just the mean old men that complain about the youth.
I know they exist, but they’re just the loudest. There’s a silent majority of hams that’s nice but invisible.
With all the choices today for communications, there’s no interest by the non-grey haired generation.
One disaster (think Houston right now) where there has been no power for what, the last 9 days?
When people usually think of a disaster, they’re thinking earthquakes, floods, hurricanes etc.
While not a disaster in that sense, being without power or potable water for an extended period of
time is also a sort of disaster. Kid sees ham radio: “So? I can do that with my cellphone”.
Ham: OK do it in the middle of the woods with no cell service. :) I was taught by Grandfather, never
knock the old ways. There was a power outage at the shopping center where my mother worked.
Know who could do business? The older crowd that learned to always carry some cash for “just in case”.
ATM cards? Useless. :) Yes, ham radio is old, but hams are resourceful. That old abandoned telephone
line? It’s an antenna. That old washing machine motor? Hand crank generator.
Hams always like to learn about new things and I suspect that will keep going on long after I’m taking
a dirt nap. If kids don’t want to learn about ham radio and would rather keep their noses in their phones, that’s their choice. You can’t teach an ignorant mind.
You touched on an important point.
I belong to a “prepper cooperative” (that is not an oxymoron), many members are interested in becoming ham radio operators, we even had some OFs come and speak at a meeting. They covered a lot of topics from daylight to digital modes. It may have been a bit more productive if they had been “prepped” (pun intended) ahead of time on the audience, as lot of the topics were beyond the scope of emergency communications.
But overall the audience is still ready to become hams. NB: the audience was ~50 – 70 years old.
Meanwhile the RSGB won’t even let you take the foundation license test on linux, because they want to spy on potential members.
I have fun throwing some wire together and see how well it works. I have a base setup but I enjoy portable especially when not so hot out. I’ve been a general class for little over a year. I’ve had my share of rude hams and one was a DX contact with a German that told me that I need a hex beam with a tower. It was the way he said it then I searched his call sign and found a forum or two talking about how big of a butt that he was. I would never tell anyone what they should do or like. Plenty of things I would like to learn like how to put together PCB, Arduino type stuff, and many other things. I learn something all the time and still don’t know much. Some of the older cats will make comments that are rude and discouraging but I don’t let em bother me. I got interested in ham radio around 12 years old then I gave up and started chasing the ladies among other things which I got licensed at 42 where I had my own place, time, and stability.
Citation needed.
I have said many times and even gave a talk at a ham fest once say that if they want to bring in the younger crowd, they need to focus less on the talking to people and focus more on the talking to things. Show how ham radio can be used to bring telecommunications to your maker projects. A lot of these like packet, RTTY, RC control, etc already exist in ham radio, but you don’t usually hear much about them from the outside. You usually hear about DXing. Who cares about “talking around the world” when the internet exists. But let me use ham radio to remotely control a robot over a good distance with FPV video being sent back? Yeah, that I am interested in. And I can do that using a tech license. Which is why I’ve keep my license up all these years even though I haven’t actually talked on a ham radio is over a decade.
Yes, in regards to talking to others, and enticing younger members; we need to realize the younger generation(s) prefer texting across the restaurant table to actually speaking.
Best of best regardses!
B^)
Where did “HAM” in all caps come from?! Ham is not an acronym, we amateur radio operators are hams or ham radio operators. :-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio
There’s a thriving Ham scene on both Mastodon and a few that live on discord e.g. https://www.oarc.uk/ and none of them tolerate racism/sexism or the like, but there’s plenty of advice and help for newcomers.
If you’re in the UK and not currently a ham, you can do all of the training online at your own pace for free, maybe buy the RSGB Foundation guide, and take the exam online.
Ofcom recently changed the licencing rules, upped the power, allowed Internet control, and most interestingly made it permissable for Foundation license holders to design and build their own transmitters.
I see it very easily: the old people have “their group”, so the new ones also group together, at the end of the day, all radio amateurs, right?
Went to my first and last meeting of a club here in California that’s actually disbanding by next year because of lack of interest. Listened to some old guy complaining that certain digital modes should be excluded from counting as legitimate contacts. I just remember thinking “Go on buddy, once you’ve discouraged everyone else, I’ll be at you estate sale to buy all your radios that your family has zero interest in.”
Go get you technicians license. It’s so easy a kid can do it and it’s cheaper than a Raspberry Pi.
Local library has free classes occasionally. When they do, testing is also free. I took the class because I’ve always been interested but never got around to it. I went into exam day expecting to get my Technician’s license, but they convinced my to take all three exams. Walked out with my General license. Barely missed the Amateur Extra. Had I known I could take all three exams at once, I may have prepared a little for the other exams ;)
Moral of the story: It can be entirely free, and there are radios cheaper than a Raspberry Pi to get one started, if that’s all they can afford.
I am a fix-it person by nature. I always enjoyed a challenge, specially with electronics where others would give up, I would succeed. I have a number of procedures publish where the big companies. But I was put out to pasture in year 2000 when the throwaway era overtook the service industry. Becoming him was always an issue with me because I am a poor with Reading and writing some Morse code was very difficult for me. But a couple years ago, my brother got into Ham Radio so I followed him and I found it was quite easy to get my license. Got my General license with only missing one question. I’m considering now to get my Extra
My wife asked me why I wanted to get into Ham Radio with the Advent of Internet and cell phones. I responded why does people still farm with horses? (she loves horses) she understood. Now in the morning, I get onto a group that discusses a Bible text with some friends. I really enjoy it and look forward to it. Over the last couple years, our group has grown. Our youngest member is in his 50s. My sister-in-law even has her license. We’re finding others that are asking questions and showing interest in joining us of all ages. The bottom line is it’s just not a bunch of old men sit around talking about old times.
I just wanted to say that I’m a ham and I got my license in 93 and still somewhat old school and new school. But, anyway ham radio won’t die. All hams are hackers in one way or another. We have to manipulate software, hardware, to achieve what we need to accomplish. So no ham radio won’t die. De N9SQQ.
Though I agree there are lots of grumpy old ham ops, there are also those super sensitive ones that get easily bothered by them. I’m somewhere in the middle of the road (old but not as old)and I learned a lot from those grumpy older hams, since my ham carrier started when I was already considered by many older. Think of it as being the new kid on the block, you’re going to take some punches, but eventually you’ll blend and find that many hams are not the old crabs we are portrayed to be. We need younger guys to pass on this wonderful hobby and there are many hams willing to tach new hams old tricks.
Although the majority of members of the Mesilla Valley Radio Club (in Las Cruces, NM) fit the stereotype, there are exceptions. They have a subgroup called the Builders Club that are constantly learning and exploring new technologies, not all of it strictly radio related. The driving force behind this (for many years) has been WA5DJJ. Dave is far from a spring chicken, but he has the mindset to keep interesting projects going. Dave also builds his own circuits, Manhattan style (many quite complicated). Sadly, I no longer live in Las Cruces, so can’t participate any more.
I have been a HAM for decades, and like any other hobby there are self-nominated, self-important gatekeepers. but really, HAM has always been about learning, experimentation and trial and error until you get it right, Some people just get comfortable with things as they are, but hacking is integral to HAM, it always has been.
Are Hackers the future of Amateur Radio? well Yes, of course, but the are also it’s past and present.
I’ve just joined the Ham community this past spring, and am aiming for my advanced hopefuly this coming fall/winter. Just got dual band Icom radio. It may be digital-and portable, but wish to get my feet wet with severe weather comms first, at least…VE3EBN :)
Amateur radio operators are hackers. Always was.
Ham spirit absolutely lives in hackaday blog, also in rtl-sdr and in newsletters like Zero Retries. Let’s move on from the classical transceiver and voice contacts. This is now more about tinkering with boards and software, linking everything by diverse means, texting rather than talking. Great to read so many insightful comments.
Just get the training and get the license, if ham group is not welcoming, find another group. Always make a note of the wisdom these grey beards give, i dont fight i just listen to them, if the are nostaligic about their old habits, the listen to them and ask questions so that you learn more. I see old hams are treasure throve of knowledge, I am there to learn and as get as much knowledge as I can to share to next generation.
I started from RTL-SDRs, gnuradio, gqrx, adsb, baofengs, hackrf,and got suck into the HAM radio rabbit hole, now that i got my license it has open more doors and capabilities for me! So embrace their behaviour and listen to them take what is valuable and drop whats not, 73! Vk2dep
Jenny List said: “After all, unless it retains its interest, amateur radio could just die away.”
The real problem with amateur radio is it is too hard to put up an antenna. Ever since I left my parent’s home to attend University many years ago, it has been impossible for me to erect a half-way decent HF antenna due to restrictions imposed by various landlords and homeowner associations (HOAs). Years ago we had one chance to change this situation by passing a law making it a right for licensed amateur radio operators to be able to erect an HF antenna, but in the USA the ARRL threw that opportunity away and capitulated to the powerful.
I obtained my license with a strong interest in digital modes, such as packet and mesh networking. I attempted to help establish a mesh Wi-Fi network on ham frequencies, but the older Hams didn’t consider it real ham radio, and there was a steep learning curve due to the involvement of computers. However, a Part 97 ham license is required to use Wi-Fi frequencies like Channel -2 (2397 MHz), made possible by OpenWRT firmware hacks such as AREDN. The traditional view of amateur radio focuses on voice communication, Morse code, and analog methods. However, the digital age has introduced new modes of communication that leverage the power of computers and the internet. Digital modes like FT8, DMR, and of course mesh networking. Hackers, are more comfortable with technology, are pushing the boundaries, they are experimenting with software-defined radios (SDRs), integrating radio systems with the internet, and developing innovative uses for radio frequencies. This shift is not without its challenges, as it requires a different skill set and a willingness to embrace change. The resistance from traditionalists highlights a cultural divide within the amateur radio community. However, the future of amateur radio likely lies in a blend of the old and the new. While the traditional methods will always have their place and charm, the incorporation of digital technologies ensures that amateur radio remains relevant in a world increasingly dominated by digital communication. By embracing these advancements, Hams can continue to innovate and expand the possibilities of amateur radio.
I am encouraged by the numerous comments that get it exactly right – ham radio has *always* been about hacking. Marconi recognized that. The golden age of ham radio may be the five years centered on when you got your license, but hacking and innovation are our past, present, and future.
Thanks, I enjoyed the article and responses. I built my first radio 1944, 80 years ago, a crystal set. At 88, I’m still a hacker. I’m always happy with a soldering gun , long nosed plyers, transistors and wires. I enjoy SWL, and building my own stuff. My motto is: “Aun apriendo”, or “I am always learning”.
When I started I was one of the youngish people. I organized booths at the SF makerfaire. played with APRS and arduinos.
Here is a fun adafruit magTag project: https://github.com/mpechner/sunweather
I am just starting on a project to attach a bunch of sensors to parachute jumpers and feed it out over APRS. https://github.com/mpechner/PM_hub
Ignore the guys on the prostate net. have fun. use the frequencies. Find the radios with hackable software.
Honestly, if you like to hike and have good ears, learn code. i have not.
Play with the digital modes.
Not old guys on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@K6ARK
He does SOTA and POTA, builts antenna, radios
https://www.youtube.com/@OH8STN
Shows off grid means. cool review of gear.
de NE6RD
It will be sad if it dies out. People need to appreciate what they have. Amateur bandwidth is kind of sacred turf. When multinational corporations are bidding gazillion dollars for a bit of spectrum for a new cellphone band a handful of those same grumpy old men have successfully beaten them off quite a few times. It’s because this was basically the start of communications. Back when electronics was a new thing it basically was radio and these were the people pioneering everything for the most part. That’s still culturally embedded. There are great tracts of microwave spectrum there for experiments for the price of the licence of a few dozen bucks a year and you get all of it. Corporations are greedily looking at all that spectrum and wanting to take it all
When my son got his technician license he was proud and happy. We went to a local radio club meeting where we were pretty much ignored. One guy came up to talk and asked what license we held. My son told him he was a technician. The mans replay was, “Oh you are just a technician”, and walked away. My son was done with Ham radio at that point and now wants to have nothing to do with it. So much for including the young folks in our hobbie.
Have to agree 90% of my content absorbed comes from non ham RF SDR Micocontroller producers , all the ham licence allows me to transmit got VK limited no code ticket in 1988