Perturbation

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Danger in Calm Seas

Posted: 30 Dec 2015 07:33 AM PST
http://ke9v.net/2015/12/30/danger-in-calm-seas/


Its tempting to say that amateur radio is about to close the book on its
best year ever.

The number of licensees is up, attendance at Dayton Hamvention was up,
participation in contests and other on-the-air operating events is up, the
number of ARRL members is up too. The League has spent much of the year
promoting the Amateur Radio Parity ActÂ*in Washington and is seeing real
progress on that front.

When it comes to publicity, ham radio is HOT. Not a day goes by without a
news item about our activities appearing in major publications weve
finally figure out how to proselytize our service!

Yes, its been a very good year for ham radio and its certainly nice to
savor this moment

There. Enough.

Now lets look at the work that lies ahead in the New Year

Amateur radio has weathered all kinds of storms, and there seems no
immediate threat to our service. Of course, that might have been said by
almost any US ham radio enthusiast on December 6, 1941 too. Still, our
position seems as secure as it can as we face another year. But just like
owning a home, our hobby requires constant maintenance and attention if we
want it to be a secure dwelling that lasts a long time.

Theres always room for improvement, but Ive compiled here a list of just
three things that I believe to be the most vexing to the amateur radio
service. These three things present a clear and present danger to our
continued growth and enjoyment of the radio hobby.

Intentional Interference to DXpeditions

Whether you enjoy it or not, DXing is the crown jewel of amateur radio.
Theres nothing else that we do that captures the imagination of fellow
hobbyists and the unwashed masses, the way a DXpedition can. The human
spirit craves adventure, like climbing into a boat to cross dangerous
stretches of ocean only to arrive at some of the most remote and
inhospitable places on the planet, for the sole purpose of handing out
contacts to home-bound hams half a world away.

It is exhilaration squared!

But sadly, there are a few around the globe who derive pleasure from
interfering with the activities from these exotic locales. And its enough
of a problem to erode the patience of even stalwart DXers to continue the
practice. After all, major DXpeditions require untold hours of planning and
preparation. Large sums of money must be raised and passage on planes and
boats booked. Permission must be obtained from whatever country pretends to
be in charge of some rock in the ocean. And having cleared those hurtles
and being completely at the mercy of HF propagation, to beat all those odds
only to be foiled by some idiot intent on jamming the operation who
wouldnt throw in the towel?

With no hope of convincing all of the mentally disturbed people around the
planet who own transmitters to cut it out, the big operations are turning
to technology for a solution. Maybe it will work or maybe it will become
such a hassle that we all just give up in despair?

This is a big problem not only because we could lose an integral activity
inside the hobby, but if a handful of radio terrorists can so easily ruin a
DXpedition, then its fair to question the value of our service during an
actual emergency.

And yes, these same mentally ill terrorists jam those communications too.

Were Losing Ground in the Brain Game

Life on this planet is driven by technology yet shockingly few of its
inhabitants have a clue about how anything works. Im purposely trying to
avoid the phrase, the dumbing down of amateur radio, because it might
offend, but I believe it captures the essence of a festering problem. Our
hobby is based on radio which in turn, is based on electronics. The days of
new radio discoveries made by teenage radio hams burning the midnight oil
in their basement laboratories is long past. But there needs to be at least
a modicum of knowledge to keep this thing moving forward.

I dont believe this trend was caused by changes in amateur radio licensing
methodology. Eliminating the code requirement didnt suddenly make people
ignorant. Rather, it mirrors the trend of the general populace who now
carry more technology in their shirt pocket than we took to the Moon in
1969 and yet have no clue how any of it works or harbor any interest in
finding out.

Fortunately, radio has advanced to the point where high-quality equipment
can be purchased ready to use. We no longer have to build our stations from
parts salvaged from a junked television chassis. Not all of us will have
the knowledge or wizardry to design advanced electronic circuits or develop
cutting edge software. But all of us have the ability to understand
antennas, radio propagation, to learn how to properly check into a net,
pass traffic, or prepare for emergency communications.

If the sum of your radio knowledge is how to work the push-to-talk button
and chew the fat with your buddies, you might have an amateur radio
license, but youre not a radio ham.

Local clubs could take the lead here. We need a no ham left behind training
policy. It is virtually impossible to run out of ideas for club meetings.
Sessions on how to build a dipole, soldering, how and when to best use
radio filters, repairing a rotor, working a satellite with a handheld, how
to call CQ, how to work DX including a lesson on split operation. The list
is endless once you fully buy into the notion that every radio ham needs to
know a hundred things and needs to be curious enough to learn a thousand
more.

Its no coincidence that Apple has become the most valuable corporation on
the planet by selling high-tech gadgets that just work. That attitude may
work (for a season) in the outside world, but the contagion of not knowing
and not caring to learn technical things is a certain slow death for
amateur radio.

Declining Activity and Interest

Ive saved our biggest problem for last. While amateur radio licensing may
be on the upswing in the United States, interest in our hobby continues to
wane. Weve gotten really good at getting them in the door, but were
downright lousy when it comes to inspiring them to take advantage of all
this hobby offers.

All of us use the excuse of not having enough time to do all the things we
would like to do. But thats something of a cop out. The number of hours in
a day, week, month or year havent changed from one generation to the next.
What we choose to do during those hours is subject to change. Its an
attention deficit problem. During those times Ive become very passionate
about a particular activity, Ive managed to pursue it almost without limit.
Admit it, you have too.

Over 700,000 licensees in the FCC database yet only about one-third of
those are actually active.

350,000 Technician licensees are floating out there yet one of the biggest
complaints in all of hamdom is that thousands of repeaters sit silent and
unused. When the random stranger does break squelch, no one answers his
call.

Full participation isnt realistic. There are doubtless thousands who
continue to hold a license yet now reside in a nursing home or senior
living facility without access to radio. Some are young and busy with
career or starting a family. Others have taken time off to pursue a degree
or specialized training. Since licenses are issued for ten years with a
grace period before cancellation, it wouldnt be surprising to discover that
thousands of licensees are dead their call signs not yet purged from the
database.

Approach the data any way you like, its a major problem.

Were going to have to discover new methods for getting hams motivated and
activated. Sorry, the old ways are no longer valid. Just coming up with a
new contest, for instance, wont cut it because our lifestyle arrangements
are considerably different in this new century. Were more mobile,
constantly on the move. Few of us under 60 years of age want to be
quarantined in a radio shack for an entire weekend.

(I predict two-hour sprints will completely replace contest weekends in the
coming decade).

The ARRL may have a hit on its hands with the upcoming National Parks on
the Air event where theyve combined the opportunity to operate from the
trail with online leaderboards to encourage further participation. I dont
know if this was intentional or merely leftover serendipity from their
hugely successful Centennial QSO Party but its brilliant and we need more
like it.

The decline in solar activity certainly wont help motivate HF operators so
were going to have to think outside the box. More VHF/UHF activities, six
meters, and Im hopefully optimistic that we will soon see a lot more ham
radio activity in space given the many new planned transponders and even a
geo-synchronous payload.

Rekindling the flame for many who have lost interest and become radio
inactive wont be easy but it should become our top priority. In fact, I
would suggest that clubs who are too busy cranking out new licensees to
focus on this problem are actually hurting the amateur radio service.

We dont need more licensees. We need more active hams. Chew on that and see
what you can come up with because, we need a solution and we need it fairly
soon.
Filed under: Ham Radio Tagged: challenges

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Contest University 2016 - Dayton, OH

Posted: 30 Dec 2015 03:58 AM PST
http://ke9v.net/2015/12/30/contest-u...016-dayton-oh/


Contest University will be held on Thursday May 19, 2016, from 7:00am to
5:00pm, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dayton, Ohio.Â* This is the day before
the Dayton Hamvention officially opens.

I am proud to announce that student registration is now open for 2016
Dayton Contest University (CTU) to be held all day on Thursday May 19, 2016
at the Crowne Plaza in Dayton, Ohio

Tim, K3LR
Filed under: Ham Radio Tagged: 2016, contesting, hamvention