eHam.net News

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Youth Take Up Amateur Radio from Inside Central Victorian Bus in the Bush:

Posted: 17 Feb 2017 04:15 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38671


Castlemaine student Kezia Hamilton is a product of radio communications, so
to speak -- her parents met while talking on CB radio as teenagers. "They
had this certain station where they would meet people and would go on a
separate frequency to chat," Kezia said. "They decided they would like to
meet outside my mum's house, kind of like the equivalent of Facebook in
those days." The 17-year-old is part of a group of eight Castlemaine
Venturers learning amateur radio in a converted bus located on a bush block
on the outskirts of town. "It's pretty cool talking to other people! We
once had someone from France and we talked to a couple of people in New
Zealand," Kezia said. But it is not just the fun factor of amateur radio
that appeals to Kezia. "I think it could be very useful in emergencies and
stuff because sometimes the phone towers break down," she said. In the
digital age of mobile phones, instant messaging and social media, many
swear by amateur radio's resilience.


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Group Puts Skills to Test at Winter Field Day:

Posted: 17 Feb 2017 04:14 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38670


The Gaston County Amateur Radio Society hosted a Winter Field Day event at
the home of George Poteat (NC0G) Jan. 28-29. Ten club members and two
guests made more than 180 national and international radio contacts, using
a variety of modes of radio communications. Winter Field Day is an event
with the purpose of encouraging amateur radio emergency preparedness under
extreme weather conditions. "Since emergencies and disasters are
unpredictable by nature, the goal is to enhance radio communication skills
in a less than favorable weather scenario," said Tom Agerton, a member of
the group. "Being prepared is the key to a timely response during any
emergency event and this is what is expected of amateur radio operators by
local authorities and the general community."


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Radio-Heads Give Bhubaneswar a Peep into Airwaves from the Past:

Posted: 17 Feb 2017 04:13 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38669


Spread over three days from February 12, the exhibition was held to mark
the World Radio Day on February 13. The centre of attraction was a radio of
the General Electric Company make dating back to 1906. Sanjeev Manna, the
proud owner of the radio, said he had bought it from a man in Madras (now
Chennai). It was touted as the oldest radio at the fair. A self-proclaimed
radio activist, Subrat Kumar Pati, also the organizer, said: "The fair
brought ham radio, old and new radio sets and broadcasting equipment under
one roof." He added that his romance with the radio started early on in
life. His fascination for the equipment saw him working with every aspect
of it over the years.
A valve radio, the predecessor of transistor, was also a top draw. Its
owner Akshay Patnaik said, "I collected it from one of my friends at
Manikagada in Khurda." A radio collector, Patnaik is credited with having
over 350 radio sets. His set, one of the oldest at the exhibition, dates
back to the 1920s, said Pati. "Who says the popularity of the radio is on
the decline?" asked Pati with an online radio station making its debut at
the fair. People bought as many as 2,000 new sets from the fair, which
points to the growing popularity of the radio, added Pati. The 'Outreach
International Radio Fair', as the exhibition was called, lived up to its
name with the participation of three international broadcasters.


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The Social Media of 1939:

Posted: 17 Feb 2017 04:12 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38668


In the first two decades of the 20th century, a new subculture embraced a
new technology. Ham radio operators built their own transmitters, traded
and modified each other's designs, negotiated complicated covenants that
let them share the unregulated ether, and formed groups to enforce the
rules. They battled the military (figuratively speaking) for the right to
use the airwaves, and they invented broadcasting at a time when virtually
everyone assumed that radio would be used only for point-to-point
communication. They were often young, often anonymous, and often prone to
pranks. They were the social media of a century ago, and you can draw
whatever parallels you'd like between their subculture and the subcultures
of today. Before long the government would be regulating the airwaves,
broadcasting would be professionalized, and the ham operators would be
confined to their own segment of the spectrum, where the rules they
followed became more strict. But on that reservation they kept their kind
of social media alive. Here is an artifact from that middle period of
amateur radio, after the anarchic early era but before it stopped seeming
unusual to hear live voices from another side of the world: a 1939 "Pete
Smith specialty" called Radio Hams.


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Ham Radio for Dummies Books Available:

Posted: 17 Feb 2017 04:11 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38667


With the explosive growth in amateur or ham radio, the Cedar Creek Amateur
Radio Club decided to spread the word about the over 100-year-old hobby.
There are now more licensed hams than at any time in history. And no
wonder. You don't need the Internet or Wifi or cell plans. Just a simple
walkie talkie that now costs as low as $30 can connect you to repeater
systems that will send your voice across the world. So how are new people
exposed to the hobby? Through a book called "Ham Radio for Dummies" by Ward
Silver. It is part of the "Dummies" series that explains topics and things
in simple terms. And now that the ham license no longer requires a code
test, anybody from age 5 to 95 can easily join in. The Radio club, financed
in part by a grant from LDG Electronics of St. Leonard, MD, set out to put
a copy of that book in most every school and public library in the
tri-county area. The task of being the "Johnny Appleseed" of ham radio fell
to Glenn Hughes, a club member and former teacher. Glenn visited with
librarians, superintendents and key administrators as he delivered the
books. Here are a few of their comments. "I delivered the books to the
Junior High and High school libraries and visited with the Lead Librarian.
She was very excited about sharing something new with the students," said
Brad Koskelin, Asst. Supt. of Mabank ISD.


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Foundations of Amateur Radio -- #89:

Posted: 17 Feb 2017 12:45 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38666


Ask anyone who "knows" and they'll tell you
that this is a hobby on Death's door with an
ancient membership who are dying and taking
our hobby with them. "Amateur Radio is
irrelevant in this age of the Internet" and
we just have to learn to make do with the
shrinking population we communicate with. In this week's episode we
discover that as
Mark Twain put it, "the report of my death
was an exaggeration" to say the least. Our
community attracts new entrants at an
increasing rate, but our retention lets us
down. What can we do to make new Amateurs
keep coming back?