I've been having luck on John's (KA0KMJ) 444.725+ (127.3 PL) hybrid-mode C4FM repeater lately. He's very proud of his upgraded repeater (and justifiably so) at its new site in Dayton, and it's attracting some light local traffic. This repeater is going to move to 444.450+ in a few weeks, so update your radio memories accordingly. Yesterday, I ran into my old friend KD0KJI (Al) on the .725, who expressed some (shared) frustration with the cliquish and elitist social environments on some of the popular VHF repeaters. I think that there's a "market" of sorts for those that aren't "cool enough" to hang with the more snobbish operators, but the difficulty is in getting all of those people to coalesce on one repeater that they can all reach. The problem isn't that there's a dearth of alternative repeaters, but rather that there's too many.
Also yesterday, I ran into new ham KE0CRW (Greg) on the Robbinsdale 444.775+ (114.8 PL) machine. I was testing some adjustments that I had made to my new CS700, and he came across me while scanning. Greg has been operating HT-only (with duck) for several months, and it's been heartening to see someone try to make that work, especially out here in Plymouth. The standard 'wisdom' is that we're all supposed to have full-powered rigs and nice roof-mounted ground-plane antennae, and that anything less comes under the heading of "wasting your time". On the other side, a high percentage of new hams have an inflated idea of what an HT/stock duck can actually do. Replacing the stock duck with an after-market rubber duck is really only working on the margins, as this arrangement has no ground-plane (other than your body). And indoor operation on VHF is a steep challenge, compounded by the scarcity of operators on that band willing to tolerate less-than-perfect signals. This essentially leaves only UHF available as a practical recourse.
To be fair, Greg can get in to several (mostly UHF) repeaters just fine with an HT/stock duck -- but all of them have only negligible activity. So, in theory, an HT/stock duck operator could have a wonderful time on local FM if activity were significantly higher. In my conversation with Greg yesterday, though, I learned that he was bowing to the inevitable and exploring other antenna options. The most likely seems to be a dual-band ground-plane in his attic. He certainly gave it a noble effort, I have to say.
When I first got my licence, I only had a UHF monoband HT. My experience on GMRS had disabused me of the magical powers of the stock duck, and I moved straight into an outdoor mag-mounted whip. It was an arrangement that actually worked quite well, even from Plymouth. A 1/4-wave UHF ground-plane would have made it even better. Someone that lived in Minneapolis proper could surely make even an indoor 1/4-wave ground-plane with an HT work on UHF, hitting the vast majority of repeaters with an acceptable signal.
The problem is that we all want to get on VHF, like the "big boys". That means more power, a bigger antenna, and no indoor options for antenna-restricted operators. And, with activity so low, we need to access a variety of repeaters in order to find someone to talk to.
It's ironic because there are enough operators in town that are in antenna-challenged arrangements that a single, commonly agreed-upon UHF repeater could be quite popular. In such a case, even an indoor three-element Yagi aimed at that particular repeater would allow reasonable apartment or condo operation from the suburbs. N0BVE (Don) has gone a long way to making this a reality with the linked, cross-band HandiHam network. The UHF coverage in the northern suburbs, however, is almost non-existent. And the UHF .650 is the obvious weak link, despite its central location. Coverage is spotty, and the short time-out on the link is not only maddening, but makes accessing it for nets unthinkable. It's mostly a south metro network, as far as UHF goes, and even the possible restoration of the 444.850+ wouldn't change that.
On the other side of the metro, K9EQ (Chris) has established a power-house UHF repeater on 444.525+. I have trouble reaching it well with an indoor antenna from Plymouth, however, and outdoor HT operation in several areas of south Minneapolis has been disappointing. It certainly transmits well, but one or two remote receive sites (or links to other repeaters) would make it an absolutely perfect candidate for such a default repeater.
An "outside the box" option would be the WINET 442.075+ (110.9 PL) in Arden Hills. I can work this UHF repeater with an indoor HT/stock duck from all the way across the metro. Like the other two previously-mentioned repeaters, it has EchoLink access. The "problem" is that it's linked to the Wisconsin Interstate Network (WINET), and accessing it re-transmits traffic all across a state-wide network of UHF repeaters. It's quite possible that WINET would be less-than-amused at having this repeater be the default for local (and out-of-state) UHF traffic.
There's also the 'emergency' machines on 444.500+ and 444.175+. I've had trouble "ker-chunking" the .500 in St. Anthony and New Brighton, but I haven't really explored the coverage of the .175 much. Certainly, they both transmit well. Having actual activity on these machines would make them more useful for emergencies, in my opinion, but the people operating them might well disagree with that assessment. Still, it might be time to have that discussion.
The Bayport 443.375+ is, sadly, a tremendous "alligator" (big mouth, small ears) that would require not only a quality outdoor antenna, but at least 15W to use. The St. Paul 442.600+ has an excellent signal as well, but I've had difficulty getting in to it with low power on the western side of Minneapolis proper.
The Minneapolis 444.425+ is centrally situated, well-maintained, and has an excellent signal. It also has EchoLink. I've heard of people in the SW suburbs having difficulty reaching it, though. There are plans in the works to make this a cross-band repeater, and possibly to add remote receive sites or links to other machines. If this materialises, it could be a good default repeater option for UHF.
With the nature of UHF, and the barrier of the downtown skyscrapers, it seems unlikely that a single-site UHF machine can really "do it all" and be the default option for indoor, low-power operators. Using an indoor Yagi could make most of these options more attractive, and the size of such an antenna would make it inconspicuous. Beyond that, the next challenge is found in convincing local operators that UHF is a viable, vibrant option. As always, it takes a core group of five or six operators to create activity on a regular basis. Between word of mouth and scan lock-ups, the rest should take care of itself.
Sunday, 26 April 2015
Saturday, 18 April 2015
Loose Notes 4/18/15
Just a few scattered observations over the past week, none of which merit their own separate posts:
- I finally ran into someone on the Maplewood UHF .825 repeater! The 444.825+ (114.8 PL) is yet another "under-utilised" UHF machine in the metro, and one that covers St. Paul strongly. For whatever reason, St. Paul seems to have several great UHF repeaters that go unused. Last weekend, I had a nice conversation with WB0VHF (Ed) as he was on his way home from the gym. I was running 25W into an indoor mag-mounted whip here in Plymouth when Ed came back to my sign. The .825 is located on the 3M building in Maplewood, which is the same site that the VHF 147.120+ (no tone) operates out of. Per Ed, I was a bit noisy but readable. I've "ker-chunked" the .825 in my car with a 10W mobile many times, but never had a contact. Try it out and maybe submit a propagation report on RepeaterBook so that other people can get an idea of the repeater's coverage radius.
- After a day of maintenance, N0AGI's (Nagi) various machines are back on the air. Nagi runs a fantastic APRS gateway (N0AGI), a UHF C4FM repeater on 442.175+ (100.0 PL), and an APRS gateway for the International Space Station (ISS) on 145.825 from his home in Prior Lake. Nagi also supports the effort to re-vitalise the 1.25M band by cross-band linking his UHF repeater to the 223.900- (100.0 PL) repeater in NE Minneapolis through WIRES-X.
- KE0NA (Dave) has succeeded in his effort to put a Raspberry Pi (RPi) APRS I-Gate on the air. Combined with KC0VRV (Matt) publishing his instructions for setting up a RX-only I-Gate with UI-View and an analogue scanner, the mystery of establishing an APRS gateway has been demolished. Dave has taken extensive photos, and will probably publish his "how-to" over the course of the next month. His gateway, KE0NA-11, gated my packets last night through the K0YTH-13 digipeater. Dave is operating the only gateway in NE Minneapolis, which is serving as "proof of concept" for the Doer Coop. This inexpensive and simple design can be employed in many situations, including rural areas, to gate packets received by digipeaters. With the addition of a Bluetooth module, you could set up a temporary gateway at your lake cabin using a smart-phone. Anyone interested in EmComm should explore the RPi option for search-and-rescue APRS communications, and those interested in expanding packet APRS in remote areas as well.
- KD0LVH (Matt) has taken over Net Control (NC) operation for the Friday Night Tech Net on the HandiHam network. It seems that more than a few newer hams are stepping forward to take the reins locally.
- K0LAV (Paul) continues to tackle packet coverage issues, and he could use your help. He's on the the VHF .850 regularly, so volunteer to keep packet infrastructure solid into the future.
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
It's Time to Recruit The Elderly
Todd and I have done a really good job explaining the current state of the amateur radio hobby on this blog: The numbers of licenses are declining. The remaining minority of vocal shrewd-pill HF operators kill any attempt to analyse or reconsider new ideas and activities. And recruiting "kids" under the age of thirty is failing.
It's time to move this discussion forward.
People like this I just want to slap across the face, and wake them up. Who the hell does this complaining ham think gets new people into the hobby? Everyone other then himself, an active operator?
Sometimes our worst enemy stares us in the face each morning in the mirror.
We can do this by changing how we think about how the current death by people dying is being framed: We are allowing a minority of vocal HF ham operators define and carry the discussion.
I was in Austin, Texas over the weekend. My wife and I met up with a fellow fantasy-fiction writer that Megan had met at a writers conference in New York a year back. The fella, Walt, had just gotten his first advance on his third novel - a story based loosely on his experiences at war in Vietnam - but mostly focused on character development. It was a sizable advance for what will be Walt's first published book, and he was feeling like treating us out to breakfast.
By no surprise, Walt was superbly knowledgeable about the dying publishing business. He rattled off which publishing house was being purchased by whom, who was still publishing paperback books in the fiction genre and how the number of square feet for fantasy fiction books was declining at a steady rate within brick-and-mortar bookstores.
Walt said "Maybe it's Face book, or the Internet, or XBOX. But it doesn't matter why; there is now more competition for less space, and the publishers know that. That's why they are accepting fewer books each year, and why actually getting an advance is such a huge stroke of luck for me. I don't want the money, it's nice. I just want people to read my writing."
Walt is the kind of grandpa-like fella who enjoys mentoring others. He clearly enjoys my wife Megan's company and enjoys working hard for the sake of doing so. In his professional life, he was a lawyer at a county or state level, and retired into a wealthy community of homes with green lawns and land care staff. I noticed no fewer than six workers per block tending the neighbourhood as we snaked through the gated streets to navigate outside of the wealthy housing development.
We had a nice breakfast, where I shared my insights of working with people: I have always been well served by hanging around and associating myself with geeky, passionate people. We finished breakfast, and hopped back into his Mustang. I explained that I enjoyed listening to him talk about his writing passion, and that I am passionate about amateur radio.
"I know about Ham radio people, and I can think of nothing but good things to say about them!"
"Oh?" I was surprised. This was not my experience with Emergency Managers, first responders or anyone who has to share the rooftop of a commercial building with a ham repeater.
"Back in Vietnam, ham radio people let me talk to my family for five minutes on the phone, once a quarter. It was called ARMY-MARS or something."
I told him that he would probably be surprised to hear that MARS still exists, even though there is no need for the service, and it needs to be dismantled. I explained that some old timers kept it going, even though cell and satellite phones have completely displaced the need for it.
Walt snickered, "...not necessarily."
There was a moment of silence in the car, as I considered what he just had said.
And he was right. The MARS program keeps a bunch of retirees happy. They get to play radio, doing the same thing they have done for years and years. And they get to keep doing the thing that they found a personal sense of pride and communal usefulness back in 1972, at the height of the Vietnam War.
It's only after speaking with someone so knowledgeable in the world do I realise that I have been framing the entire discussion wrong. The HF operators go on and on about needing to get "kids" into the hobby -- but why? Because the hobby needs a huge population of people under the age of 30, with money to invest in radios. More importantly, under the current license scheme, people under the age of 30 will be licensed for decades into the future. And *that* current license pool of youngsters would keep the hobby going another ten years or so.
We need to change the discussion. We need to get wealthy retirees into the hobby.
First, wealthy retirees understand how to get along with others in society enough so that they have accumulated wealth. (You don't get rich by spending it, or not earning it in the first place!) Wealth is something that thirty-somethings have, because they are employed. But it's not an exclusive club: Many current retirees have pensions that are paying handsomely enough to afford multiple homes, so much so that many people in Minnesota are snow birds. Snow birds migrate to their second home in Florida in the wintertime to escape the nastiness of the weather Minnesota brings to their first home. Buying enough amateur radio equipment to operate year-round would mean equipping two homes with radio gear, thus selling twice as much equipment then the one-and-done radio stuff I, as a thirty-something, buy. (I only have one house, and one car to equip with radios. So I only buy one of each.)
Second, it changes the who is at fault discussion. If "young-ins" are not joining, they are at fault for the hobby dying. Changing the recruitment to people who understand the era in which our hobby springs from makes recruitment significantly easier. There's no cultural barrier to overcome. There's no language barrier to catchup or learn.
They share common motivation for retirement learning: Learning something new for the sake of doing something enjoyable, learning a new hobby. Retirees understand that some of life's endeavours don't necessarily have to lead anywhere - just meeting people and being present is sometimes reward enough.
People under the age of thirty five do not have this motivation: They are learning programming and apps on phones because it's new technology and could some day lead to something they need to survive and make more money. It's not that apps and the Internet have replaced people's attention - they have - but the motivations for each age group are different. The world of 2015 is a far cry from the cultural norms of 1972.
Retirees don't have this "itch" and "survival need" to stay current, thus making them prime candidates to learn more about an old-school hobby like amateur radio.
They share common motivation for retirement learning: Learning something new for the sake of doing something enjoyable, learning a new hobby. Retirees understand that some of life's endeavours don't necessarily have to lead anywhere - just meeting people and being present is sometimes reward enough.
People under the age of thirty five do not have this motivation: They are learning programming and apps on phones because it's new technology and could some day lead to something they need to survive and make more money. It's not that apps and the Internet have replaced people's attention - they have - but the motivations for each age group are different. The world of 2015 is a far cry from the cultural norms of 1972.
Retirees don't have this "itch" and "survival need" to stay current, thus making them prime candidates to learn more about an old-school hobby like amateur radio.
Third, it changes the constant on-air complaining about "the other". I believe Albert Camus had a great book on calling groups of people "others" and "them". The complaining creates a bigoted conversation that nobody of any age wants to hear or participate in. Conversations like this push people away. Being more accommodating to newcomers in the hobby means accepting everyone; including your own peers.
Retirees have common, shared experiences with many of the cranky HF ops that we have on the air now: They lived in an era when the Vietnam War, a war were people were drafted into service, and have a shared life event. Everyone from that era served, dodged or had a brother that was impacted by the draft. Everyone had their life impacted by Vietnam. Retirees remember a time when the hobby was relevant, amazing. And there's plenty of "technical stuff" to "catch up on" in the hobby, however antiquated. Most importantly, they have unlimited time on their hands to devote to becoming someone who will stick with the hobby and regularly operate.
Retirees have common, shared experiences with many of the cranky HF ops that we have on the air now: They lived in an era when the Vietnam War, a war were people were drafted into service, and have a shared life event. Everyone from that era served, dodged or had a brother that was impacted by the draft. Everyone had their life impacted by Vietnam. Retirees remember a time when the hobby was relevant, amazing. And there's plenty of "technical stuff" to "catch up on" in the hobby, however antiquated. Most importantly, they have unlimited time on their hands to devote to becoming someone who will stick with the hobby and regularly operate.
My favourite on-air tactic when some old timer gets on the air and starts into this young people are at fault discourse goes like this:
Old Man (OM) : "We really need to get younger people, like yourself, into the hobby. More techs, like yourself, into the hobby to keep it alive. I have been a ham 28 years, and almost never talk to anyone, like yourself."
*eyes roll*
ME (Myself): "Well, each year I have been licensed I have gotten one person into the hobby. I help them get started studying, and schedule the exam for them. I drive them to breakfast and then pay for the license exam session for them. I guess that's how I give back to this hobby, by sharing it with others. And about a third of the people I have gotten into the hobby have been old timers, like yourself. Or at least you sound kind of old. Anyway, how many people have you gotten into the hobby since you got licensed? Oh, never mind that. How many people have you helped get licensed before or after becoming a ham? I mean, ever in your life? I have been a ham 22 years, and have 22 people licensed."
*grins* and *pokes*
OM, Frustrated: "Well, nobody. I mean, I wanted to be an Elmer. Nobody ever asked me. I mean, we have a club that does VE testing. So I joined that club, because they are VE testing people."
People like this I just want to slap across the face, and wake them up. Who the hell does this complaining ham think gets new people into the hobby? Everyone other then himself, an active operator?
Sometimes our worst enemy stares us in the face each morning in the mirror.
*snark*
So, basically, what OM just said was: [Well nobody, ever. I had a dream once were I helped someone get started in the hobby. Then I found joining the local club for ten or twenty bucks much easier, and was waiting for someone from the radio club to ask me to mentor someone. But nothing too serious, because after all, helping other people was just a dream or good intention I had once. Also, my ten or twenty bucks gives me full license and privileges to complain about nobody else to talk to. Or at least nobody who stays current with pop culture, who I would have an interesting conversation to talk to. I am entitled to complain endlessly about this and that, after all I joined my local club. I gave money to somebody once.]
*in conclusion*
It's now on the grouchy old-timers to recruit people who are their own age. Retirees speak the language of retirees. Mentoring a fellow 70-year-old person into something that you yourself enjoy might not fit into the current on air rhetoric, but you will have made a friend with common interests. You will have shared something with another person that you, yourself, are passionate about. By doing so, you will have shared your time, a part of your life - sharing yourself. And best of all, you will have licensed another operator - even if its just for a few more years, while you're still around operating.
Saturday, 11 April 2015
A really bad idea
I came across a post on KB6NU's (Dan) blog this week. I don't follow his blog regularly, but I was shocked to come across a highly-delusional post about someone else's licence restructuring proposal.
This is not, I hasten to add, some FCC proposal. It's just two guys spit-balling, but it's a fairly frightening look at the 'logic' of hams and 'solutions' to the few problems that are actually admitted to exist.
The problem that is attempted to be solved here is that "kids" aren't going in to the hobby. Now, in ham terms, "kids" can be anyone under 30, but Dan seems to be talking about actual children here. The solution, unsurprisingly, is to go backwards. Prior to 1978, the Novice licence was non-renewable; you were expected to move up to General Class within two years or abandon the hobby. Naturally, returning to this is proposed as the way to revitalise the hobby.
This is pretty compacted delusion, broken logic, and failure to grasp a point, but read this statement by K1BG (that KB6NU endorses):
Where to begin? It seems that these two guys believe that a major problem is that it takes too long to get your callsign. With today's technology, it could be faster than it was before. Guess what? We have today's technology today, and it's not a "same-day" process. How many people are there in the country, kids or not, willing to study for and stand for the exam, but not willing to wait a week or so to get their callsign? I've never heard anyone say, "I'd like to get a ham licence, but waiting that week...forget it!" You're probably going to wait a month or so for an exam session, anyway.
It's the sentence "We need to go to back to what worked" that is profoundly delusional. Do these people fail to understand how different the world of 1978 was compared to today? Technology was limited, and there weren't too many options other than ham radio to explore. There was no internet. Kids couldn't decide to take up C++ coding and work on apps, for example. They couldn't get a Raspberry Pi board, write and compile an Arduino program, and test it out. There was no gaming industry, and they couldn't work on pixel rendering algorithms. Soldering together components, mostly from kits, was "high-tech" back then.
But look at what communications were like back then. Cable TV was relatively new, for Christ's sake. Most countries had short-wave stations, and they broadcast in multiple languages. A lot of the world got their news that way. FM stereo had only been a reality for less than ten years at that point. Calling someone in Duluth on the telephone was an expensive long-distance call, and you counted the seconds you were on the line. No email, no BBS, no dial-up modems. When you were in your car, you couldn't be reached. And answering machines weren't even that common. People sent telegrams! Does anyone even remember what those are?
Being able to string up an aerial and talk to people on the other side of the country was an exciting prospect, much less being able to reach Europe. People didn't do that. Two-metre repeaters had only been in the metro for a few years, and a lot of VHF radios still worked on crystals. Compared to today, it was the Bronze Age.
It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to see that amateur radio meant something different in 1978 than it does today. There were real, solid, practical reasons to go into the hobby -- and none of those reasons are valid any more. You were motivated to learn the code and study for the upgrade, because it was the only game in town. Guess what, Grandpa? Those days are gone.
We already have a Technician licence that's renewable. What's happening with that? A whole lot of people find out pretty quickly that "it's not for them". Make it a "move up or move out" proposition, Mister Tough Guy, and you'll find that a whole lot of people choose "out". I know several people that have upgraded, and they don't spend hardly any time on HF. Gosh, maybe it's not the magical thing that it was forty years ago.
A Tech today can run 200W on HF using CW. Few do, because CW is a dead language that only a minority of hams know. Yet, when Gateway to HF was announced, it was absolutely clear that new licensees would fall all over themselves to learn the code. Of course they would, because everybody wants to get on HF, right? Now, though, Grandpa has figured out that phone is the thing that all of the teeny-boppers are crazy about. Gee, if we're "going back to what worked", wasn't CW a big part of that? It seems that HF isn't all that of a compelling draw, if the current licensees can't be bothered to pick up CW in order to get in on that magic world of yesterday.
They're "getting in", they aren't "getting hooked", but they are "moving on".
"Move up or move out". Really? When did the General Class become some kind of lofty realm of geniuses? It's okay if you stagnate there, because that's the pinnacle of human knowledge? This whole idea of pressuring people to advance is counter-productive. FM is fine for a lot of people, but you can't go too long without somebody's grandpa telling you that it's your job to advance, can you? If anything seems to "work" in the hobby right now, it's the Tech Class. Instead, you have miserable bastards harping on Techs to move up, for no good reason. Why? To be like you? Maybe consider what a stellar example you are before brow-beating others to emulate your glorious path. You probably haven't explored anything new in twenty years, HF or otherwise.
KB6NU weighs in:
Just look at the decline in activity across the board -- even on HF. That's your "indication of the health of amateur radio" right there. People that can get on the air, aren't. Even Generals, Grandpa. Is it only me that notices the contradiction between being willing to toss thousands out of the hobby and the goal of bringing new people in?
But suppose we find out that "the health of amateur radio" is poor? What hare-brained scheme is next? Making it harder to get a licence, so that people will appreciate it more? That sounds stupid enough to be real.
Realistically, we all know what would happen. There would a few delusional straws that would be grasped at for the first year or so, probably along the lines of, "people don't know about the new licence".
For the next two years, we'd be told to "give it a chance!", and both kids that would join would have their faces plastered all over the ARRL website as 'proof' that the plan is working. By then, we'd see that "move out" is a real winner of an option, and there would be angry, bitter screeds all over that would amount to "Good riddance!".
Then, the real idiocy would rear it's ugly head. Obviously, the problem would be that it's too easy to get a licence, so that being a ham "doesn't mean anything". Hey, if you want to hear the fascinating story of someone's hernia surgery, you're just going to have to learn CW at 15 wpm. Otherwise, you're gonna miss out. And, as the numbers take a nose-dive, the brilliant geniuses that created this mess would slip off into dementia.
We've basically defined amateur radio as HF operation for decades, even though about half of all licensed hams really don't have real HF privileges. I know that it's heresy and all that, but maybe we could start to realise that HF really isn't that attractive to most people in today's technological environment.
Suppose, just for the sake of discussion, that:
The best way to get young people in to the hobby is to get the elderly out, so be really careful about making this your major cause, Grandpa. Nothing says "this isn't for me" to a young person than finding out that 75% of the people on the air are retired. Maybe, in some dream you had, there are 17 year-olds that are so intent on hearing your tedious stories that they will take an exam and spend a lot of money to do so. But, they're in that same dream where new episodes of Mary Tyler Moore are still coming out.
Honestly, I can't even imagine what a kid would say to most of the geezers on HF. There's a cultural abyss there that has nothing to do with the licensing process. Fortunately, actual conversation isn't highly prized on HF. But the same kid that can IRC chat (an obsolete mode) with someone on another continent -- regardless if "the band is open" or not -- is not likely to be impressed by a scratchy SSB conversation on a noisy band.
If anything, allowing entry -level hams digital mode operation at 10W would be more appealing than 50W phone. HF is noise, where FM is quiet, and digital modes are silent. Is everybody in the family going to want to hear the garbled SSB voices, the heterodyning of signals, the white noise, the inconsiderate operators barging in, etc? Long-time operators don't even hear that kind of thing, but those new to the hobby do -- and it's not "magical".
I'd say drop the Gateway to HF and it's CW fantasy. Give Techs 10W digital mode access, instead of phone. Maybe even give 6M to the Generals -- they seem to be the only ones that see value in it. And don't give Techs access to anything higher than 900 MHz, because they'll fry their eyeballs. I've given Gateway to HF a fair chance, and it sucks rocks. There's a de-facto 15 wpm "proficiency test" built in, because nobody will QRS. I guess we already have a "move up or move out" philosophy for CW. How's that working? I chose "move out", rather than waste my time on snobs.
Again and again, we see hams living in the past and truly believing that "what worked" then will work now. They don't know any actual kids, except perhaps their grandchildren, and everyone around them has learned not to tread on their precious delusions. Any kid can already get on Grandpa's HF rig under the control operator provision and experience the "magic" squall. But, by the time you'd explain the complex rules and procedures of making a contact, their eyes would glaze over and they'd be thinking of an excuse to get out of the room. They won't be "hooked", that's for sure.
About a year ago, I put my tablet in front of a 17 year-old tuned to an online websdr receiver. After ten minutes, they said "This is really boring!". They didn't express any interest in actually talking to any of those people. Now, you can say, "That's just one kid", but there was no fascination whatsoever. Obviously, what you would rather do is pretend that kids today are exactly like you were back in the Bronze Age. Yeah, that's not dishonest or delusional, is it? And, if you find one kid that is interested in HF, you'll suddenly be willing to extrapolate that single case to an entire generation, won't you? Weird how that works in only the one direction.
The problems with the hobby aren't based in the licensing. They're based on the relevance of amateur radio in the current technological climate, the skewed demographic found on the air, the isolation from the real world of those operating, the rigid conformity and tightly-controlled conversations, and the bizarre belief among hams that they are some kind of technical elite. Hams have become so accustomed to lying to each other about the state of the hobby, that they are actually believing their own "spin".
This is not, I hasten to add, some FCC proposal. It's just two guys spit-balling, but it's a fairly frightening look at the 'logic' of hams and 'solutions' to the few problems that are actually admitted to exist.
The problem that is attempted to be solved here is that "kids" aren't going in to the hobby. Now, in ham terms, "kids" can be anyone under 30, but Dan seems to be talking about actual children here. The solution, unsurprisingly, is to go backwards. Prior to 1978, the Novice licence was non-renewable; you were expected to move up to General Class within two years or abandon the hobby. Naturally, returning to this is proposed as the way to revitalise the hobby.
This is pretty compacted delusion, broken logic, and failure to grasp a point, but read this statement by K1BG (that KB6NU endorses):
We need to go back to what worked. A simple Novice test, limited power (50 watts to avoid the RF exposure documentation), HF phone privileges, and a two year, non-renewable license. Move up or move out. Given today’s technology, you could take the test with a general class or higher licensee, have him/her go online, and have a callsign (NA1AAA – NZ0ZZZ, designating that you are a Novice) the same day. When you upgrade, your call does as well. Done. Get the kids in, get them hooked, and move on.
Where to begin? It seems that these two guys believe that a major problem is that it takes too long to get your callsign. With today's technology, it could be faster than it was before. Guess what? We have today's technology today, and it's not a "same-day" process. How many people are there in the country, kids or not, willing to study for and stand for the exam, but not willing to wait a week or so to get their callsign? I've never heard anyone say, "I'd like to get a ham licence, but waiting that week...forget it!" You're probably going to wait a month or so for an exam session, anyway.
It's the sentence "We need to go to back to what worked" that is profoundly delusional. Do these people fail to understand how different the world of 1978 was compared to today? Technology was limited, and there weren't too many options other than ham radio to explore. There was no internet. Kids couldn't decide to take up C++ coding and work on apps, for example. They couldn't get a Raspberry Pi board, write and compile an Arduino program, and test it out. There was no gaming industry, and they couldn't work on pixel rendering algorithms. Soldering together components, mostly from kits, was "high-tech" back then.
But look at what communications were like back then. Cable TV was relatively new, for Christ's sake. Most countries had short-wave stations, and they broadcast in multiple languages. A lot of the world got their news that way. FM stereo had only been a reality for less than ten years at that point. Calling someone in Duluth on the telephone was an expensive long-distance call, and you counted the seconds you were on the line. No email, no BBS, no dial-up modems. When you were in your car, you couldn't be reached. And answering machines weren't even that common. People sent telegrams! Does anyone even remember what those are?
Being able to string up an aerial and talk to people on the other side of the country was an exciting prospect, much less being able to reach Europe. People didn't do that. Two-metre repeaters had only been in the metro for a few years, and a lot of VHF radios still worked on crystals. Compared to today, it was the Bronze Age.
It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to see that amateur radio meant something different in 1978 than it does today. There were real, solid, practical reasons to go into the hobby -- and none of those reasons are valid any more. You were motivated to learn the code and study for the upgrade, because it was the only game in town. Guess what, Grandpa? Those days are gone.
We already have a Technician licence that's renewable. What's happening with that? A whole lot of people find out pretty quickly that "it's not for them". Make it a "move up or move out" proposition, Mister Tough Guy, and you'll find that a whole lot of people choose "out". I know several people that have upgraded, and they don't spend hardly any time on HF. Gosh, maybe it's not the magical thing that it was forty years ago.
A Tech today can run 200W on HF using CW. Few do, because CW is a dead language that only a minority of hams know. Yet, when Gateway to HF was announced, it was absolutely clear that new licensees would fall all over themselves to learn the code. Of course they would, because everybody wants to get on HF, right? Now, though, Grandpa has figured out that phone is the thing that all of the teeny-boppers are crazy about. Gee, if we're "going back to what worked", wasn't CW a big part of that? It seems that HF isn't all that of a compelling draw, if the current licensees can't be bothered to pick up CW in order to get in on that magic world of yesterday.
They're "getting in", they aren't "getting hooked", but they are "moving on".
"Move up or move out". Really? When did the General Class become some kind of lofty realm of geniuses? It's okay if you stagnate there, because that's the pinnacle of human knowledge? This whole idea of pressuring people to advance is counter-productive. FM is fine for a lot of people, but you can't go too long without somebody's grandpa telling you that it's your job to advance, can you? If anything seems to "work" in the hobby right now, it's the Tech Class. Instead, you have miserable bastards harping on Techs to move up, for no good reason. Why? To be like you? Maybe consider what a stellar example you are before brow-beating others to emulate your glorious path. You probably haven't explored anything new in twenty years, HF or otherwise.
KB6NU weighs in:
I kind of like the idea of going back to some kind of Novice test that expires in a year or two. For one thing, it would eventually clear the database of all the Techs that got licenses and then never did anything with them. This would give us a much better indication of the health of amateur radio.Yeah, be careful what you wish for, Dan. This is the dream of all the "old-timers": separate the serious hams from the dabblers. Amateur radio is serious business, as we all 'know'. Once all of the dabblers are run out of the hobby, it'll be just the serious people, and the hobby will thrive. It's not like you guys have been wrong before about this kind of thing, right? See, we've already got a whole lot of deadly serious people on HF, and people aren't crowding in to rub elbows with them. Maybe it's not 1978 any more.
Just look at the decline in activity across the board -- even on HF. That's your "indication of the health of amateur radio" right there. People that can get on the air, aren't. Even Generals, Grandpa. Is it only me that notices the contradiction between being willing to toss thousands out of the hobby and the goal of bringing new people in?
But suppose we find out that "the health of amateur radio" is poor? What hare-brained scheme is next? Making it harder to get a licence, so that people will appreciate it more? That sounds stupid enough to be real.
Realistically, we all know what would happen. There would a few delusional straws that would be grasped at for the first year or so, probably along the lines of, "people don't know about the new licence".
For the next two years, we'd be told to "give it a chance!", and both kids that would join would have their faces plastered all over the ARRL website as 'proof' that the plan is working. By then, we'd see that "move out" is a real winner of an option, and there would be angry, bitter screeds all over that would amount to "Good riddance!".
Then, the real idiocy would rear it's ugly head. Obviously, the problem would be that it's too easy to get a licence, so that being a ham "doesn't mean anything". Hey, if you want to hear the fascinating story of someone's hernia surgery, you're just going to have to learn CW at 15 wpm. Otherwise, you're gonna miss out. And, as the numbers take a nose-dive, the brilliant geniuses that created this mess would slip off into dementia.
We've basically defined amateur radio as HF operation for decades, even though about half of all licensed hams really don't have real HF privileges. I know that it's heresy and all that, but maybe we could start to realise that HF really isn't that attractive to most people in today's technological environment.
Suppose, just for the sake of discussion, that:
- 45-second QSOs with boring people isn't as compelling as you imagine it is.
- Spending a nice weekend on your ass in front of a radio collecting "rare DX" is on the same level as collecting Pokemon trading cards or bottle caps.
- A whole lot of people in the real world can't put up towers, or don't have the real estate for long dipoles. Ever heard of an HOA? A lot of people in the real world have, buddy.
- Boring people that are far away are about as interesting as boring people that are close at hand.
- Many people have computers, tablets, and cellphones that allow them to "magically" communicate with the other side of the planet more reliably and more magically than 50W phone privileges will allow them to.
- If kids really want to talk to boring geezers, they can call their Grandpa on their cell phones.
- Kids have an entirely different and vibrant tech world available to them today, and working with steam-engine HF "tech" is the last thing that we need them working on.
The best way to get young people in to the hobby is to get the elderly out, so be really careful about making this your major cause, Grandpa. Nothing says "this isn't for me" to a young person than finding out that 75% of the people on the air are retired. Maybe, in some dream you had, there are 17 year-olds that are so intent on hearing your tedious stories that they will take an exam and spend a lot of money to do so. But, they're in that same dream where new episodes of Mary Tyler Moore are still coming out.
Honestly, I can't even imagine what a kid would say to most of the geezers on HF. There's a cultural abyss there that has nothing to do with the licensing process. Fortunately, actual conversation isn't highly prized on HF. But the same kid that can IRC chat (an obsolete mode) with someone on another continent -- regardless if "the band is open" or not -- is not likely to be impressed by a scratchy SSB conversation on a noisy band.
If anything, allowing entry -level hams digital mode operation at 10W would be more appealing than 50W phone. HF is noise, where FM is quiet, and digital modes are silent. Is everybody in the family going to want to hear the garbled SSB voices, the heterodyning of signals, the white noise, the inconsiderate operators barging in, etc? Long-time operators don't even hear that kind of thing, but those new to the hobby do -- and it's not "magical".
I'd say drop the Gateway to HF and it's CW fantasy. Give Techs 10W digital mode access, instead of phone. Maybe even give 6M to the Generals -- they seem to be the only ones that see value in it. And don't give Techs access to anything higher than 900 MHz, because they'll fry their eyeballs. I've given Gateway to HF a fair chance, and it sucks rocks. There's a de-facto 15 wpm "proficiency test" built in, because nobody will QRS. I guess we already have a "move up or move out" philosophy for CW. How's that working? I chose "move out", rather than waste my time on snobs.
Again and again, we see hams living in the past and truly believing that "what worked" then will work now. They don't know any actual kids, except perhaps their grandchildren, and everyone around them has learned not to tread on their precious delusions. Any kid can already get on Grandpa's HF rig under the control operator provision and experience the "magic" squall. But, by the time you'd explain the complex rules and procedures of making a contact, their eyes would glaze over and they'd be thinking of an excuse to get out of the room. They won't be "hooked", that's for sure.
About a year ago, I put my tablet in front of a 17 year-old tuned to an online websdr receiver. After ten minutes, they said "This is really boring!". They didn't express any interest in actually talking to any of those people. Now, you can say, "That's just one kid", but there was no fascination whatsoever. Obviously, what you would rather do is pretend that kids today are exactly like you were back in the Bronze Age. Yeah, that's not dishonest or delusional, is it? And, if you find one kid that is interested in HF, you'll suddenly be willing to extrapolate that single case to an entire generation, won't you? Weird how that works in only the one direction.
The problems with the hobby aren't based in the licensing. They're based on the relevance of amateur radio in the current technological climate, the skewed demographic found on the air, the isolation from the real world of those operating, the rigid conformity and tightly-controlled conversations, and the bizarre belief among hams that they are some kind of technical elite. Hams have become so accustomed to lying to each other about the state of the hobby, that they are actually believing their own "spin".
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
Now You Can Derail Any Discussion!
In my role of 'educating' new hams, I'm going to explain a few very effective (though clumsy) techniques amateur radio operators use to derail discussion of the hobby.
When I started this blog, it was about "news, discussion, and commentary". There was news (though local in nature), and commentary (a/k/a 'heresy"), but "discussion" never happened beyond "Shut the hell up". I was really surprised to discover that hams don't "do" discussion. Instead, I noticed common and recurring patterns used by disparate operators. There was too much similarity for it to be coincidence.
Look over the techniques below. Familiarise yourself with them, and soon you can boldly join the vanguard devoted to flattening independent thought and trenchant discussion in all its ugly forms.
- "There are exceptions!" (TAE). This handy technique is a proven winner, both for online and on-air discussions. Rather than address the point being made, it's much easier to ignore the premise and attack whatever generalisations or terms are employed by those attempting to engage in discussion. This ensures that the discussion never gets off the ground, and instead dwells safely in the realm of quibbling over semantics and the credibility of the person brazen enough to initiate discussion. TAE is best employed in an outraged tone, and it's essential to portray yourself as someone "who has been around" because this 'logically' means that the other person is inexperienced and not worth listening to.
Let's practice this. Suppose someone says something innocuous like, "Generally speaking, amateur radio uses radios to communicate". In response, you bellow an exception to that statement. If you immediately thought, "Echolink", then good for you. If you completely ignored the words, "generally speaking", then I'm impressed. By making an initial effort to define the hobby, very dangerous ground is being trod upon, and you're just the person to put a stop to that. Start with something like, "Obviously you've never heard of Echolink! People use it all of the time, and you don't even need a radio to use it." Even if you loathe Echolink, you should present yourself as someone who's defending Echolink users from being dismissed and excluded. You could include the URL echolink.org, but that gives the other person too much credit for intelligence. Instead, suggest that they "do a Google search" (a separate technique in its own right) for Echolink. You've now 'helpfully' informed of them the existence of Google, on top of everything else. Nobody will listen to that other person now.
A more practical example might be in response to someone saying that amateur radio operators are predominantly over 50. Again, ignore the word "predominantly". You have a discussion to shut down, and you can't be distracted by things like this. TAE comes to the rescue here, as well. Think hard. Maybe you read about a "young" ham who is only 46. Maybe you knew a 46 year-old ham ten years ago. It doesn't matter. Bring it up, and make it sound good. Remember, if there's one example, there must be millions of others, so you're on steady footing here. The important thing is that the focus of the discussion has now shifted, and the hobby is safe from unsanctioned introspection.
TAE is used continually on this blog by critics. Any discussion of rude or unconstructive behaviour by other operators can always be neatly neutralised by pointing out that "everyone isn't like that". Obviously, if everyone isn't like that, then no one is like that. Simple logic, right? Problem solved.
- "The Anomalous Example" (TAE). Yeah, it's the same acronym because it's the flip side of "There Are Exceptions". While "There Are Exceptions" requires that any critical statement made be absolutely, 100% true for every case, "The Anomalous Example" allows you to make positive sweeping generalisations based on only one case. Sure, the rules are different, but you're the good guy here so the rules don't apply. Maybe the discussion is about CW, and it's leaning toward the idea that most hams don't use the code any more. You can stop that by mentioning a single case of a 12 year-old and their Trans-Pacific CW QSO. Broadly state that kids are learning the code in unprecedented numbers, that it's more popular than ever before, and that it's the wave of the future. That one example is all of the proof you need, buddy. You've shut down that dangerous discussion, and hams everywhere thank you.
This also works when someone starts talking about low activity on the repeaters. Whoa! Wait a minute. There was a weekly net that one time that had thirty check-ins! It lasted an hour, so the other 167 hours of the week must 'naturally' be active as well. That net may have had numbers like that four months ago, but it's still one example, so you can extrapolate it however you please.
If anyone points out the anomaly of your anomalous example, it's time to raise the volume, thus 'proving' your case in the ham world. Turn the discussion to the validity of that one example, not its frequency of occurrence. "It's absolutely true! There were at least thirty people that one time! I was one of them!" You've now bravely distracted anyone from pondering why activity continues to decline, and instead focused it on someone calling you a liar. Well done!
- The Selective Memory (TSM). This is a dandy technique that, rather than directly shutting down discussion, simply renders it pointless. It's often used in conjunction with with the broadly popular "I've Never Seen That!" (INST) technique. Suppose that someone is complaining about ill treatment by the regulars on a repeater. You've got a lot of options at hand to keep anyone from considering if there really is a problem that could be addressed. Both variants of TAE can be employed, but INST might be your first move. INST not only politely implies that the other person is a liar (thus discrediting anything they might say), but it also places you in the position of an expert who would be aware of anything happening anywhere. Because, surely, if your broad experience hasn't exposed you to that, then it simply doesn't ever happen. Gosh, you've searched your memory and can't recall that ever happening, and you would know if it did. This is TSM, and it's entirely possible that you were one of those operators that mistreated someone. TSM works on your absolute certainty that you are one of the good guys, so therefore you wouldn't do something bad, and therefore you can't remember it. You're smart, so you never said that stupid thing, because a smart person wouldn't say that.
Many long-time hams simply cannot remember getting hysterical over the threat of Chinese radios, for example. Or their numerous predictions of doom over dropping the code requirement, Gateway to HF, Echolink, or new hams. Nope. Not you. Sure, some people said stuff like that, but they're the stupid ones, and you're one of the smart ones. In fact, the more that you 'remember', nobody ever said stuff like that. You can now use INST to attack anyone that mentions any of these things.
TSM allows you to make any ridiculous prediction, outrageous parallel, or false claim. When it becomes untenable, it simply evaporates. And, why have a discussion when everything that someone says was never 'said'?
One example that I personally experienced was when I was talking about how rude and cranky operators kept me from being interested in HF. Several hams used INST to deny that this situation existed. I pointed out that, only two weeks previous, they had all bitterly complained about the abundance of rude, inconsiderate, and generally stupid HF operators during a contest. Nope. TSM convinced them otherwise. None of them admitted even hinting at such a thing, but it was in my scribbled notes over the course of the previous conversation, along with their callsigns. So there isn't a problem, and we can't discuss a problem that doesn't exist, can we? Can't imagine where I got that idea.
- The Scripted Response (TSR). Nearly all of the common ham radio topics have been discussed before, and there are neat little responses that have developed into a script. They have become well-worn ruts, and very many hams don't even listen to what is actually said. Instead, some "trigger word" activates their Pavlovian reaction, and they bleat out an unrelated response.
Sadly, this is one that I see far too often on this blog. Rather than reading a post, some operator skims through it and hits a trigger word. They now 'know' what I'm 'saying', and they rattle off the proper scripted response. It has nothing to with the discussion at hand, but they have "set me straight".
One example is that whenever I talk about Gateway to HF and try to have a discussion on what more sensible Technician HF privileges might be, I mention that Technicians are restricted to CW except on ten metres. For some really strange reason, something about that statement sets off a trigger word. In an amazing number of cases, people truly believe that I just said that there's a code requirement for the Technician licence. They inform me that the code requirement has been dropped, usually in a quite smug manner. Now, as a Tech myself, wouldn't I know that already?
I could provide at least a dozen other examples. When we arrive at a juncture where we already 'know' what everyone else is saying in advance, and we know exactly which pat response to offer, then what point is there in discussing anything?
TSR places minefields in discussions. One trigger word derails everything. Even when you explain the discrepancy, it persists because that script is essentially the limit of the other person's input. Since you really aren't 'supposed' to have discussions that wander outside of the pre-ordained scripted boundaries, TSR does a fine job -- and it does it unconsciously.
You now have a basic introduction to a few of the tools that you can use to shut down "unapproved" discussions of amateur radio. Even though the hobby of amateur radio is strong, vibrant, and compelling, it's also simultaneously weak, fragile, and easily undermined. Don't ask how that can be possible, or we'll have to shut that discussion down. Just know that it would be A Very Terrible Thing if hams started to move beyond technical discussions and into contemplating what the hobby is really about, where it is going, and why it's the way it is.
Your job, as a licensed operator, is to be vigilant for any signs of introspection and critical thinking. You have more in your toolbox than "Shut the hell up", and you should bravely tackle this insidious threat with proven techniques.
When I started this blog, it was about "news, discussion, and commentary". There was news (though local in nature), and commentary (a/k/a 'heresy"), but "discussion" never happened beyond "Shut the hell up". I was really surprised to discover that hams don't "do" discussion. Instead, I noticed common and recurring patterns used by disparate operators. There was too much similarity for it to be coincidence.
Look over the techniques below. Familiarise yourself with them, and soon you can boldly join the vanguard devoted to flattening independent thought and trenchant discussion in all its ugly forms.
- "There are exceptions!" (TAE). This handy technique is a proven winner, both for online and on-air discussions. Rather than address the point being made, it's much easier to ignore the premise and attack whatever generalisations or terms are employed by those attempting to engage in discussion. This ensures that the discussion never gets off the ground, and instead dwells safely in the realm of quibbling over semantics and the credibility of the person brazen enough to initiate discussion. TAE is best employed in an outraged tone, and it's essential to portray yourself as someone "who has been around" because this 'logically' means that the other person is inexperienced and not worth listening to.
Let's practice this. Suppose someone says something innocuous like, "Generally speaking, amateur radio uses radios to communicate". In response, you bellow an exception to that statement. If you immediately thought, "Echolink", then good for you. If you completely ignored the words, "generally speaking", then I'm impressed. By making an initial effort to define the hobby, very dangerous ground is being trod upon, and you're just the person to put a stop to that. Start with something like, "Obviously you've never heard of Echolink! People use it all of the time, and you don't even need a radio to use it." Even if you loathe Echolink, you should present yourself as someone who's defending Echolink users from being dismissed and excluded. You could include the URL echolink.org, but that gives the other person too much credit for intelligence. Instead, suggest that they "do a Google search" (a separate technique in its own right) for Echolink. You've now 'helpfully' informed of them the existence of Google, on top of everything else. Nobody will listen to that other person now.
A more practical example might be in response to someone saying that amateur radio operators are predominantly over 50. Again, ignore the word "predominantly". You have a discussion to shut down, and you can't be distracted by things like this. TAE comes to the rescue here, as well. Think hard. Maybe you read about a "young" ham who is only 46. Maybe you knew a 46 year-old ham ten years ago. It doesn't matter. Bring it up, and make it sound good. Remember, if there's one example, there must be millions of others, so you're on steady footing here. The important thing is that the focus of the discussion has now shifted, and the hobby is safe from unsanctioned introspection.
TAE is used continually on this blog by critics. Any discussion of rude or unconstructive behaviour by other operators can always be neatly neutralised by pointing out that "everyone isn't like that". Obviously, if everyone isn't like that, then no one is like that. Simple logic, right? Problem solved.
- "The Anomalous Example" (TAE). Yeah, it's the same acronym because it's the flip side of "There Are Exceptions". While "There Are Exceptions" requires that any critical statement made be absolutely, 100% true for every case, "The Anomalous Example" allows you to make positive sweeping generalisations based on only one case. Sure, the rules are different, but you're the good guy here so the rules don't apply. Maybe the discussion is about CW, and it's leaning toward the idea that most hams don't use the code any more. You can stop that by mentioning a single case of a 12 year-old and their Trans-Pacific CW QSO. Broadly state that kids are learning the code in unprecedented numbers, that it's more popular than ever before, and that it's the wave of the future. That one example is all of the proof you need, buddy. You've shut down that dangerous discussion, and hams everywhere thank you.
This also works when someone starts talking about low activity on the repeaters. Whoa! Wait a minute. There was a weekly net that one time that had thirty check-ins! It lasted an hour, so the other 167 hours of the week must 'naturally' be active as well. That net may have had numbers like that four months ago, but it's still one example, so you can extrapolate it however you please.
If anyone points out the anomaly of your anomalous example, it's time to raise the volume, thus 'proving' your case in the ham world. Turn the discussion to the validity of that one example, not its frequency of occurrence. "It's absolutely true! There were at least thirty people that one time! I was one of them!" You've now bravely distracted anyone from pondering why activity continues to decline, and instead focused it on someone calling you a liar. Well done!
- The Selective Memory (TSM). This is a dandy technique that, rather than directly shutting down discussion, simply renders it pointless. It's often used in conjunction with with the broadly popular "I've Never Seen That!" (INST) technique. Suppose that someone is complaining about ill treatment by the regulars on a repeater. You've got a lot of options at hand to keep anyone from considering if there really is a problem that could be addressed. Both variants of TAE can be employed, but INST might be your first move. INST not only politely implies that the other person is a liar (thus discrediting anything they might say), but it also places you in the position of an expert who would be aware of anything happening anywhere. Because, surely, if your broad experience hasn't exposed you to that, then it simply doesn't ever happen. Gosh, you've searched your memory and can't recall that ever happening, and you would know if it did. This is TSM, and it's entirely possible that you were one of those operators that mistreated someone. TSM works on your absolute certainty that you are one of the good guys, so therefore you wouldn't do something bad, and therefore you can't remember it. You're smart, so you never said that stupid thing, because a smart person wouldn't say that.
Many long-time hams simply cannot remember getting hysterical over the threat of Chinese radios, for example. Or their numerous predictions of doom over dropping the code requirement, Gateway to HF, Echolink, or new hams. Nope. Not you. Sure, some people said stuff like that, but they're the stupid ones, and you're one of the smart ones. In fact, the more that you 'remember', nobody ever said stuff like that. You can now use INST to attack anyone that mentions any of these things.
TSM allows you to make any ridiculous prediction, outrageous parallel, or false claim. When it becomes untenable, it simply evaporates. And, why have a discussion when everything that someone says was never 'said'?
One example that I personally experienced was when I was talking about how rude and cranky operators kept me from being interested in HF. Several hams used INST to deny that this situation existed. I pointed out that, only two weeks previous, they had all bitterly complained about the abundance of rude, inconsiderate, and generally stupid HF operators during a contest. Nope. TSM convinced them otherwise. None of them admitted even hinting at such a thing, but it was in my scribbled notes over the course of the previous conversation, along with their callsigns. So there isn't a problem, and we can't discuss a problem that doesn't exist, can we? Can't imagine where I got that idea.
- The Scripted Response (TSR). Nearly all of the common ham radio topics have been discussed before, and there are neat little responses that have developed into a script. They have become well-worn ruts, and very many hams don't even listen to what is actually said. Instead, some "trigger word" activates their Pavlovian reaction, and they bleat out an unrelated response.
Sadly, this is one that I see far too often on this blog. Rather than reading a post, some operator skims through it and hits a trigger word. They now 'know' what I'm 'saying', and they rattle off the proper scripted response. It has nothing to with the discussion at hand, but they have "set me straight".
One example is that whenever I talk about Gateway to HF and try to have a discussion on what more sensible Technician HF privileges might be, I mention that Technicians are restricted to CW except on ten metres. For some really strange reason, something about that statement sets off a trigger word. In an amazing number of cases, people truly believe that I just said that there's a code requirement for the Technician licence. They inform me that the code requirement has been dropped, usually in a quite smug manner. Now, as a Tech myself, wouldn't I know that already?
I could provide at least a dozen other examples. When we arrive at a juncture where we already 'know' what everyone else is saying in advance, and we know exactly which pat response to offer, then what point is there in discussing anything?
TSR places minefields in discussions. One trigger word derails everything. Even when you explain the discrepancy, it persists because that script is essentially the limit of the other person's input. Since you really aren't 'supposed' to have discussions that wander outside of the pre-ordained scripted boundaries, TSR does a fine job -- and it does it unconsciously.
You now have a basic introduction to a few of the tools that you can use to shut down "unapproved" discussions of amateur radio. Even though the hobby of amateur radio is strong, vibrant, and compelling, it's also simultaneously weak, fragile, and easily undermined. Don't ask how that can be possible, or we'll have to shut that discussion down. Just know that it would be A Very Terrible Thing if hams started to move beyond technical discussions and into contemplating what the hobby is really about, where it is going, and why it's the way it is.
Your job, as a licensed operator, is to be vigilant for any signs of introspection and critical thinking. You have more in your toolbox than "Shut the hell up", and you should bravely tackle this insidious threat with proven techniques.
The Big Condescension
Over the past two years, the approach to "new" hams (i.e. anyone that doesn't pretend to know everything) has changed. The snarling hostility designed to sort out the "worthy" and "serious" from the mere dabblers proved to be disastrous. Some were willing to stick it out, especially if they found a friendly corner of sanctuary. Many, many more decided that it wasn't worth the effort and abandoned the hobby. We arrived at a strange situation, where licence numbers were at record levels, but activity was extremely low.
This hit the amateur community "where they live", so to speak. There isn't a lot of self-reflection or introspection to be found (or even tolerated) among the 'elite'. There isn't really a good term to describe the long-time operators with very insular tendencies that use the hobby to create an artificial world where they can portray themselves as intellectual giants, leaders of men, and powerful rulers of their micro-domain. Some use "old guys" or "old-timers", but age isn't the determining characteristic of this phenomenon. Most of these operators are old, of course, but that's because most hams in general are old.
Whatever term that you use, the 'discussion' immediately focuses on the term, and not the phenomenon. It's one of several ways that this particular type of operator uses to derail discussion, rather than engage in introspection. I'm going to use the term 'elite', because this type of operator sees themselves as superior. They have "paid their dues" by spending long years working their way up a (vanished) totem-pole, and they are all about reaping the "rewards" of that status. You can't be superior without having a healthy population of inferiors, after all. The paradigm that these people embraced when they cut their teeth in the hobby is gone. You spent long years, even decades, sucking up to your social "betters", and you learned which opinions are acceptable and which are heresy. You memorised stock responses to parrot regarding every issue -- the 'right' ones -- and you got a little pat on the head every time that you said the 'proper' thing. You learned the well-worn methods to deflect any discussion that ventured outside of the scripted domain. Most of all, you learned not to question the wisdom of your "superiors", and to avoid looking at any problems in the hobby itself. From time to time, your superiors would provide you with fear-mongering "threats" to the hobby -- always some nebulous, unwashed "other" wishing to destroy everything for some unfathomable (but diabolical) reason -- and you would bleat the approved phrases. Then, after a good go-round of declaring amateur radio as "the greatest hobby in the world", the evil menace would be driven away by the solidarity of your applause. And, when your turn came, you would take your place as one the "superiors".
This paradigm, I'll concede, served a purpose in a different time. But that time is past, and I've written about this before. It's not surprising that friction developed between "old" and "new" hams. The "old" hams were completely willing to accept "new" hams into the hobby -- under the terms of the old paradigm.
Instead, the "old" hams encountered a brash breed that didn't acknowledge the unwritten rules. They didn't "know their place". They expressed opinions, almost as if they were unaware that were considered to be on the same level as children. They actually considered themselves to be equals in the community. They weren't interested in the approved menu of conversations. They didn't bark the right responses on cue. They didn't find your old stories about dead people fascinating. They associated with people that were the "wrong" status, and avoided the boring (but "superior") operators who deserved deference and allegiance.
And so began The Great Snarling, in which those that embraced the old paradigm bravely stepped up to the plate to sort out the worthy from the unworthy. Many were found to be "not serious", and we all know that amateur radio is SERIOUS BUSINESS. It's not so much that those who failed to meet the standards of the 'elite' were run off the air. It's more that it was made abundantly clear that there wasn't any place for them in the established structures. The failures could stick around if they wished, but they would never be accepted or find any enjoyment. The Great Snarling was supposed to leave the hobby strengthened with new blood of "the right sort". Of course, the strategy was 'proven' to be a great success by the increase in licences. People were thronging in to rub elbows with the 'elite' and take their place at the bottom of the pile.
It was the very lack of introspection regarding the hobby that made putting the brakes on this strategy so difficult. And the time-tested means of derailing discussion were employed in a knee-jerk fashion that frustrated those who saw the inevitable result of this course. Activity declined, new people mysteriously failed to get on the air, club memberships dropped, and segregation increased. Stupid 'explanations' for this situation abounded: everyone was getting on HF instead of repeaters, it's those damn Chinese radios that disappointed new hams, people want things handed to them, it's those other cranky guys that are the problem, because my crankiness is endearing, etc.
The Great Snarling gradually gave way to The Big Condescension. Sure, we all know that new hams are stupid and oblivious to the unwritten rules of the old paradigm, but they can be educated. They need someone to patiently explain that cheap radios aren't "cool", and that spending a lot of money is something that's expected of you, for example. Hey, we'll even offer you advice on how to spend your first thousand. Rather than jumping down your throat over petty issues, we'll talk down to you as if you were a small child and explain how the grown-ups do things. You don't want to use EchoLink, little one. That's not what real hams do. Forget all of those other things that you're interested in. We have a nice, pretty path all laid out for you, with well-worn conversations that you can nod along with. Don't talk to strangers; they have weird ideas and say things that piss us off. Oh, that's cute what you just said, but that's what the grown-ups call "heresy", and we will get very angry if you say that a second time. When someone says this, you're supposed to say that. No, don't improvise. Use the exact words that we taught you.
This pathetic substitute for mentoring is really just a way to 'educate' inferiors in how not to irritate your superiors. What ends up happening is the mentor discovers that, the stupider they can imagine their student to be, the more 'help' they can offer. And, the stupider your student is, the easier it is to ignore what they want and focus instead on what's 'best' for them. Also, since your student is stupid, you don't have to listen to them, either. Thus, the inferior/superior paradigm is maintained.
The Big Condescension doesn't just apply to "new" hams, of course. Anyone that doesn't project a "know everything" air is fair game. As a "superior", the things that you don't know about automatically become inconsequential, weird, a waste of time, and possibly dangerous. You develop flip, reflexive phrases to dismiss discussion of those topics, and you 'know' that everyone wants to emulate you and will avoid those things. You know what's important. You don't ask questions, you give answers. And, of course, that's not arrogant at all. You're completely willing to take the time to teach your inferiors the proper ways to please you, and that's mighty big of you.
I was unbelievably lucky to find good people that didn't buy into this ugly mess. Some had decades of experience, but still treated me as a equal. They offered honest opinions, coherent explanations, and had a genuine interest in helping me explore the hobby on my own terms. I also met new people that were willing to puzzle things out, experiment with new things, and listen to the stories of exploration by others. There was no 'status'. Some people knew more, but that didn't make them better -- it made them a potential resource for the development of others.
Like it or not, believe it or not, amateur radio is a social phenomenon. Your skills for interacting with people on an effective basis are far more valuable than your technical expertise. If someone calls me on the telephone, I am not especially interested in their comprehensive knowledge of the public switched telephone network. I'm interested in what they have to say, and how I fit into that. Now, you can dismiss this idea by using the magic word "appliance operator" if you wish. You can imagine that your knowledge of an arcane method of communication places you above "the common man", but don't expect the common man to envy you or even acknowledge your putative superiority. Much of the old paradigm is about minimising communication, or at the very least constraining it into tightly controlled parameters. It creates standards for quality over quantity, and those valued qualities are odd. Distance, for example, trumps content.
Personally, I find it interesting to see how far I can reach with a given setup, but I would much rather have one interesting conversation with someone ten miles away than ten boring, brief, meaningless conversations with people a thousand miles away. You can say that I don't 'get' the magic of RF or whatever. You'd be wrong, though. If that were the case, I wouldn't have spent my life playing with radios. You might like horses, but also realise that obsessing over the distance you can ride on horseback is not a compelling aspect of that hobby in the modern world. If you're trying to interest someone in horseback riding, telling them about a 200 mile ride you made might not be the best pitch. You probably would want to mention the solitude and quiet, the bond with the animal, the time for contemplation, and the interesting things that you saw on the way that people driving a car would miss entirely. Likewise, with amateur radio, your best pitch would be the sense of community, the interesting conversations, new people that you meet, and the experimentation that you engage in that people on their computers never experience. Unfortunately for the hobby, those are all things that the 'elite' (for lack of a better term) are intent on stamping out or pushing into little niches away from sight.
The Great Snarling cost the hobby dearly in terms of the ability to adapt to the future. The Big Condescension is, at best, an effort to hold on to what we still have. The future is being sacrificed in order to allow some oblivious people the opportunity to believe that the post-cellphone, post-internet world never happened, and to maintain their irrelevant status of Lords of a declining realm. Worst of all, we can't discuss this because we've spent decades teaching people effective methods to derail discussion and praising them for expressions of unwarranted optimism.
This hit the amateur community "where they live", so to speak. There isn't a lot of self-reflection or introspection to be found (or even tolerated) among the 'elite'. There isn't really a good term to describe the long-time operators with very insular tendencies that use the hobby to create an artificial world where they can portray themselves as intellectual giants, leaders of men, and powerful rulers of their micro-domain. Some use "old guys" or "old-timers", but age isn't the determining characteristic of this phenomenon. Most of these operators are old, of course, but that's because most hams in general are old.
Whatever term that you use, the 'discussion' immediately focuses on the term, and not the phenomenon. It's one of several ways that this particular type of operator uses to derail discussion, rather than engage in introspection. I'm going to use the term 'elite', because this type of operator sees themselves as superior. They have "paid their dues" by spending long years working their way up a (vanished) totem-pole, and they are all about reaping the "rewards" of that status. You can't be superior without having a healthy population of inferiors, after all. The paradigm that these people embraced when they cut their teeth in the hobby is gone. You spent long years, even decades, sucking up to your social "betters", and you learned which opinions are acceptable and which are heresy. You memorised stock responses to parrot regarding every issue -- the 'right' ones -- and you got a little pat on the head every time that you said the 'proper' thing. You learned the well-worn methods to deflect any discussion that ventured outside of the scripted domain. Most of all, you learned not to question the wisdom of your "superiors", and to avoid looking at any problems in the hobby itself. From time to time, your superiors would provide you with fear-mongering "threats" to the hobby -- always some nebulous, unwashed "other" wishing to destroy everything for some unfathomable (but diabolical) reason -- and you would bleat the approved phrases. Then, after a good go-round of declaring amateur radio as "the greatest hobby in the world", the evil menace would be driven away by the solidarity of your applause. And, when your turn came, you would take your place as one the "superiors".
This paradigm, I'll concede, served a purpose in a different time. But that time is past, and I've written about this before. It's not surprising that friction developed between "old" and "new" hams. The "old" hams were completely willing to accept "new" hams into the hobby -- under the terms of the old paradigm.
Instead, the "old" hams encountered a brash breed that didn't acknowledge the unwritten rules. They didn't "know their place". They expressed opinions, almost as if they were unaware that were considered to be on the same level as children. They actually considered themselves to be equals in the community. They weren't interested in the approved menu of conversations. They didn't bark the right responses on cue. They didn't find your old stories about dead people fascinating. They associated with people that were the "wrong" status, and avoided the boring (but "superior") operators who deserved deference and allegiance.
And so began The Great Snarling, in which those that embraced the old paradigm bravely stepped up to the plate to sort out the worthy from the unworthy. Many were found to be "not serious", and we all know that amateur radio is SERIOUS BUSINESS. It's not so much that those who failed to meet the standards of the 'elite' were run off the air. It's more that it was made abundantly clear that there wasn't any place for them in the established structures. The failures could stick around if they wished, but they would never be accepted or find any enjoyment. The Great Snarling was supposed to leave the hobby strengthened with new blood of "the right sort". Of course, the strategy was 'proven' to be a great success by the increase in licences. People were thronging in to rub elbows with the 'elite' and take their place at the bottom of the pile.
It was the very lack of introspection regarding the hobby that made putting the brakes on this strategy so difficult. And the time-tested means of derailing discussion were employed in a knee-jerk fashion that frustrated those who saw the inevitable result of this course. Activity declined, new people mysteriously failed to get on the air, club memberships dropped, and segregation increased. Stupid 'explanations' for this situation abounded: everyone was getting on HF instead of repeaters, it's those damn Chinese radios that disappointed new hams, people want things handed to them, it's those other cranky guys that are the problem, because my crankiness is endearing, etc.
The Great Snarling gradually gave way to The Big Condescension. Sure, we all know that new hams are stupid and oblivious to the unwritten rules of the old paradigm, but they can be educated. They need someone to patiently explain that cheap radios aren't "cool", and that spending a lot of money is something that's expected of you, for example. Hey, we'll even offer you advice on how to spend your first thousand. Rather than jumping down your throat over petty issues, we'll talk down to you as if you were a small child and explain how the grown-ups do things. You don't want to use EchoLink, little one. That's not what real hams do. Forget all of those other things that you're interested in. We have a nice, pretty path all laid out for you, with well-worn conversations that you can nod along with. Don't talk to strangers; they have weird ideas and say things that piss us off. Oh, that's cute what you just said, but that's what the grown-ups call "heresy", and we will get very angry if you say that a second time. When someone says this, you're supposed to say that. No, don't improvise. Use the exact words that we taught you.
This pathetic substitute for mentoring is really just a way to 'educate' inferiors in how not to irritate your superiors. What ends up happening is the mentor discovers that, the stupider they can imagine their student to be, the more 'help' they can offer. And, the stupider your student is, the easier it is to ignore what they want and focus instead on what's 'best' for them. Also, since your student is stupid, you don't have to listen to them, either. Thus, the inferior/superior paradigm is maintained.
The Big Condescension doesn't just apply to "new" hams, of course. Anyone that doesn't project a "know everything" air is fair game. As a "superior", the things that you don't know about automatically become inconsequential, weird, a waste of time, and possibly dangerous. You develop flip, reflexive phrases to dismiss discussion of those topics, and you 'know' that everyone wants to emulate you and will avoid those things. You know what's important. You don't ask questions, you give answers. And, of course, that's not arrogant at all. You're completely willing to take the time to teach your inferiors the proper ways to please you, and that's mighty big of you.
I was unbelievably lucky to find good people that didn't buy into this ugly mess. Some had decades of experience, but still treated me as a equal. They offered honest opinions, coherent explanations, and had a genuine interest in helping me explore the hobby on my own terms. I also met new people that were willing to puzzle things out, experiment with new things, and listen to the stories of exploration by others. There was no 'status'. Some people knew more, but that didn't make them better -- it made them a potential resource for the development of others.
Like it or not, believe it or not, amateur radio is a social phenomenon. Your skills for interacting with people on an effective basis are far more valuable than your technical expertise. If someone calls me on the telephone, I am not especially interested in their comprehensive knowledge of the public switched telephone network. I'm interested in what they have to say, and how I fit into that. Now, you can dismiss this idea by using the magic word "appliance operator" if you wish. You can imagine that your knowledge of an arcane method of communication places you above "the common man", but don't expect the common man to envy you or even acknowledge your putative superiority. Much of the old paradigm is about minimising communication, or at the very least constraining it into tightly controlled parameters. It creates standards for quality over quantity, and those valued qualities are odd. Distance, for example, trumps content.
Personally, I find it interesting to see how far I can reach with a given setup, but I would much rather have one interesting conversation with someone ten miles away than ten boring, brief, meaningless conversations with people a thousand miles away. You can say that I don't 'get' the magic of RF or whatever. You'd be wrong, though. If that were the case, I wouldn't have spent my life playing with radios. You might like horses, but also realise that obsessing over the distance you can ride on horseback is not a compelling aspect of that hobby in the modern world. If you're trying to interest someone in horseback riding, telling them about a 200 mile ride you made might not be the best pitch. You probably would want to mention the solitude and quiet, the bond with the animal, the time for contemplation, and the interesting things that you saw on the way that people driving a car would miss entirely. Likewise, with amateur radio, your best pitch would be the sense of community, the interesting conversations, new people that you meet, and the experimentation that you engage in that people on their computers never experience. Unfortunately for the hobby, those are all things that the 'elite' (for lack of a better term) are intent on stamping out or pushing into little niches away from sight.
The Great Snarling cost the hobby dearly in terms of the ability to adapt to the future. The Big Condescension is, at best, an effort to hold on to what we still have. The future is being sacrificed in order to allow some oblivious people the opportunity to believe that the post-cellphone, post-internet world never happened, and to maintain their irrelevant status of Lords of a declining realm. Worst of all, we can't discuss this because we've spent decades teaching people effective methods to derail discussion and praising them for expressions of unwarranted optimism.
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
CARLA Link System and more white "educators"
I am visiting the San Francisco, California / bay area most of this summer. During my visits I have been using, and finding great new people to meet with on the local bay area ham repeaters, especially on a link system named C.A.R.L.A. I have befrended one of the system co-owners, Tom N6MVT, and his 15-watt "System 2 - N6MVT Repeater San Francisco, Beep" on 442.075 MHz. I have become somewhat of a regular 8-12 hour a day listener his C.A.R.L.A. linking system during my past week-long visits to the area. So after moving slightly south of San Francisco to a suburb named Daly City, I have continued to enjoy monitoring and talking on this open linking system.
Tonight was the exception, however. I had been monitoring the link system for about 9 hours today, and heard three conversations. My conversation about the hit-or-miss nature of eBay and Amazon.com with Desmond, KC6VHG was one of the three 20 minute conversations that composed the total one-hour of key-down time the system had the entire day.
Around 9:30pm, I found myself at a bus stop in Colma, California waiting 30 minutes for the next pickup, so I decided this would be a fine time to attempt to strike up a conversation on C.A.R.L.A. My hope was to find a nice new person to meet and have a fun chat with to kill the silly situation that I had accidentally gotten myself into: A long wait in the dark at a bus stop in a new city. Unfortunately for me, it is the evening hours that attract all the LIDS and old "educating" white guys to the C.A.R.L.A. System.
Todd has blogged extensively on the topic of old white guys getting on and "educating" new users to repeaters in Minnesota, and it amazed me that the same nonsense could happen in a very different place than the great american midwest. (Perhaps Todd will read this and add links to his other blog posts that I can't seem to locate at this very moment.)
I threw my sign out several times over the course of 15 minutes, along with the name of the system I was on and my location. "This is N0YNT listening on CARLA system 32, Colma, portable." After the third call, an old guy came back to me and we exchanged the usual pleasant greetings of name and location. Apparently he believed that we were on the same repeater system on the link system, so he suggested that we both change our PL tones, as not to tie up 30 or so repeaters on the link system, "...for such a short distance conversation," he said.
A quick aside. While this link system was somewhat hard to understand from just getting on the air and using, the online documentation is excellent. Along with explaining that the system is open for everyone to use and rag chew on, it also explains that if you find yourself on the same repeater as another operator, you should consider switching to the "local" PL tone and carry on your conversation. Specific examples are given: When I am using the link PL tone of 167.9 Hz, my voice is heard on 30 repeaters across the entire CARLA system. (Some might say I am "wastefully" using 30 repeaters to hold a short conversation. With so little use today I disagree.) I un-key, and receive two "dee dee" beeps back. If I hear the same two "dee dee" beeps when the other station un-keys, then he/she is also using the same repeater, or node, on the link system. Conversations that are two people going back and forth with "dee dee" followed by more "dee dee" are a sign that both people are on the same repeater node. In this case, the lower PL tone is 114.8 Hz, and de-links the individual repeater or "node" off the C.A.R.L.A Link System for three minutes. We both can then carry on a long rag-chew on the individual repeater or node using 114.8 Hz, and receive a single "beep" each time.
Tonight was different, though. When the other station I was taking to un-keyed, I heard the "beep", which indicates that the other dude is on a different repeater somewhere. I explained - "I don't think we are on the same repeater, as I am hearing a single beep when you un-key. I get a double beep when I un-key. I am on CARLA system 32, on 440.725. Are you on that repeater?"
His response: "Well, you should switch to CARLA 19. I think we are on the same repeater. I am switching to the local PL tone."
And with that, he was gone.
In the mean time, another useless operator I have spoken with in Lake Tahoe came on to "educate" me on the system. Apparently he had forgotten meeting me on the air just three weeks ago when I was in San Francisco. No bother, I had not forgotten my first conversation with this repeater trolling LID.
"This is KC6SUV. It sounds like you're confused about PL tones. The local tone on all repeaters in your area is lower than the one you're using. Use a lower PL tone to talk on the local repeater."
Wow. Totally useless. There are 23 possible PL tones, and I could be here awhile attempting the dozen (or more) "lower PL tones" then the current 167.9 Hz. I asked him what the lower PL tone was for System 19, and what frequency. He replied with information that I already had - that the repeater I was on was System 32, on 440.725 and the Local PL tone was 114.8 Hz. Jessh, thanks. (Great to hear that he was listening, as I just gave all of that information out already moments before he jumped on.) He then proceeded to re-explain the same information that we had established in our conversation three weeks ago, like a human robot who's job it is to parrot the same information to newcomers. Additionally, a second "repeater link system troll" came on the air to further confuse the situation.
Second troll: "You see, if you're on the same repeater, you can use the local PL tone and not tie up the link system. For such a local contact, you should switch to System 19 and use the lower PL tone."
After several more minutes of this nonsense, we had established that I "wasn't a local," and was "just a visitor to the area" and that I usually used the San Francisco CARLA System 2, which has completely different local PL tone of 100.0 Hz and link tone of 163.2 Hz. I had to repeat back exactly what the first SUV troll said for him to understand that I already knew all the information he told me, and then added that I would wait for the original old guy to get back on the link PL to so that we could chat / finish up. I also apologized for the two Troll's confusion, but asked "what am I getting wrong here?, and what is System 19's frequency?"
First Troll: "We all have the systems programmed into our radios, and refer to each repeater by it's system name. So I don't know the frequencies."
Second Troll: "443.725. And the local PL is the same PL that you are using on System 32, 114.8."
I thanked the second troll for finally answering my question and said I would QSY. Opening the second VFO on the radio, I overheard the two Trolls saying that they would listen on both System 32 and System 19 to see if I went over there. As if I needed some training wheels on operating a two-way radio. Super insulting.
I moved over to System 19 in about 7 seconds, as I am a bit of wiz with keypad programming the Baofeng radio that I purchased two months back. (Actually, it took only 2 hours of playing with the radio the first day I purchased it to memorize the menu key sequences so I could "touch type" they keypad. No mo' lookin' at the radio on my belt for this guy.) The original station came back to me, and the repeater was totally S1 - super noisy, barely readable. I received about 30% of what he said back to me. Apparently he was able to copy everything I said, because I said I would QSY back to the first system I was on -- System 32, with the link PL. He informed me that he could not hit that repeater, so he would also "QSY" or just "Switch" to the link PL.
Meanwhile on the link system, the two trolls were finishing up congratulating themselves on my education. After they settled down, I announced my presence back on the link PL, and said:
"Well, guys, thanks a lot for the education on the CARLA system. I never learned this much while using System 2 in San Fran. I will be certain to refer to the systems by their names, and not their frequencies from now on. That's totally my mistake. Also, I would have never thought to use System 19 before you mentioned it, so thanks for that. Interesting experiment. Unfortunately, this experiment failed - I was able to work System 19, but not able to copy it on a portable radio at this bus stop. Perhaps it's not near me, or I am in a hole where System 19 does not cover, but either way it was barely breaking the squelch. I also adjusted my squelch to open, and was able to copy less than a third of the other station's voice."
The original old guy then got back on the link system, and asked why I was using the CARLA link system. Hadn't I heard of the Diablo Canyon repeater? "That one kicks butt" he said.
I said: "No, I haven't! Tell me more."
(Anytime I can learn something about the local scene, even if it involves trolls, I am game.)
He came back with "706".
I asked: "I want to make certain that I understand you correctly. Do you mean 147.060, and what PL tone?"
In a sarcastic and reluctant tone, he replied: "Yes, that's what I said, and it's a positive offset, PL of tone 100.0."
(It was as if discussing another repeater frequency unrelated to CARLA violated some kind of on-air rule about not-discussing-other-repeaters. By asking for the exact frequency and PL tone, I had made the old man commit a faux pas.)
I signed: "Sounds like fun! I'll give that a try with you after I get off the bus. It's been 20 minutes, and my bus is here. Have a great night. 73, N0YNT."
I switched off my radio, took the bus ride 20 minutes back to the condo I am staying in, and switched it back on. The first Troll and the old guy that had originally came back to me were still talking, and the conversation was entirely about the CARLA link system. So much for not wastefully using the link system. Amazing.
So, tonight the old guy and two trolls gave me an on-air "white man education" in:
1. When you discover another ham that is far away from you, as in Car ride far away or I feel amazed how far I am talking you can use the link system for an extended rag chew. And the topic should always be how amazing the CARLA link system is. And how far you are talking. ...Wait, Huh?
The exact distance that two people talking on the link to be in violation of this on air, troll-enforced usage is a bit hazy. The mantra "we are a short car-drive away, and it's not amazing to talk to a place I drive all the time" I guess could be applied here.
2. The CARLA link system is for making calls on, discovering that you are on different repeaters close by, and moving to a third repeater system unrelated to CARLA. No rag chews here; just simply calling and moving. ...WTF? Why The Frequency change, Willis?
3. The link system should never be used for two stations that are unable to communicate directory (simplex) or just want a quick time-killer chat, which a newcomer like me would expect. While the original old guy that came back to my "listening" call was sufficiently far enough away that we didn't have a single repeater in common (that I was aware of), instead of suggesting a repeater that we would both have in common (Colma to the other side of the bay) other higher-powered mobile-radio stations made me (with a hand-held radio) switch frequencies, twice. Who does that? ...FFS! For Frequencies (changing) Sake!
What's sad is that four people wasted 45 minutes and nobody had a conversation about anything of substance. We never found that we had friends, family or interests in common. We never discovered that we both work in technology. Or that we both enjoy certain aspects of life in and outside the bay area.
Even worse, this on-air education practice is common to not just the midwest - the silliness is also present in the bay area. This changing to a local PL business was so drilled into the first old guy that we had to make a failed attempt to use the same local repeater -- that only he was on. And even after the attempt failed to use a local node of CARLA, he insisted that we have our generic ham radio chat on yet another local repeater. It's like the need to experiment with ways to communicate was more important then just meeting a new person and having a quick conversation about the weather. "Many people can hear us talking on the link system" was explained to me with the intonation that many listening ears was somehow bad. Perhaps it is more important that we spend endless time attempting to subvert others listening and joining the conversation -- just in case it gets interesting. If it gets interesting, we would want to keep that little conversation all to ourselves, right? Selfish, anyone? ...ROFL! Radio Offline Frequency Listening!?
In Minnesota, I wish more people from outside the metro would work the repeaters I own and operate. I wish there was more activity on them. And most of all, I wish newcomers would get on more regularly and be greeted and thanked for being active in the hobby.
But that's not the culture that white, male, retirees have setup for our hobby. Perhaps the young, new hammies that I have chatted with have a legit complaint. The last friend that I got on the air boxed up his radio, tossing it in the closet. He later told me in person "I would get on the air, but those other people start talking." And by other people, my friend means the repeater trolls and other crazies. Another friend who I got licensed once said "I would listen more, but I never hear conversations that I am interested in."
If we want there to be an inviting, fun hobby for the next generation of young hammies to come towards, it might be time to start letting the old timers die off. Perhaps it's time to re-ham-test anyone over the age of 45. It seems to this young ham that the old-timers, with a few exceptions, just don't get it.
Tonight was the exception, however. I had been monitoring the link system for about 9 hours today, and heard three conversations. My conversation about the hit-or-miss nature of eBay and Amazon.com with Desmond, KC6VHG was one of the three 20 minute conversations that composed the total one-hour of key-down time the system had the entire day.
Around 9:30pm, I found myself at a bus stop in Colma, California waiting 30 minutes for the next pickup, so I decided this would be a fine time to attempt to strike up a conversation on C.A.R.L.A. My hope was to find a nice new person to meet and have a fun chat with to kill the silly situation that I had accidentally gotten myself into: A long wait in the dark at a bus stop in a new city. Unfortunately for me, it is the evening hours that attract all the LIDS and old "educating" white guys to the C.A.R.L.A. System.
Todd has blogged extensively on the topic of old white guys getting on and "educating" new users to repeaters in Minnesota, and it amazed me that the same nonsense could happen in a very different place than the great american midwest. (Perhaps Todd will read this and add links to his other blog posts that I can't seem to locate at this very moment.)
I threw my sign out several times over the course of 15 minutes, along with the name of the system I was on and my location. "This is N0YNT listening on CARLA system 32, Colma, portable." After the third call, an old guy came back to me and we exchanged the usual pleasant greetings of name and location. Apparently he believed that we were on the same repeater system on the link system, so he suggested that we both change our PL tones, as not to tie up 30 or so repeaters on the link system, "...for such a short distance conversation," he said.
A quick aside. While this link system was somewhat hard to understand from just getting on the air and using, the online documentation is excellent. Along with explaining that the system is open for everyone to use and rag chew on, it also explains that if you find yourself on the same repeater as another operator, you should consider switching to the "local" PL tone and carry on your conversation. Specific examples are given: When I am using the link PL tone of 167.9 Hz, my voice is heard on 30 repeaters across the entire CARLA system. (Some might say I am "wastefully" using 30 repeaters to hold a short conversation. With so little use today I disagree.) I un-key, and receive two "dee dee" beeps back. If I hear the same two "dee dee" beeps when the other station un-keys, then he/she is also using the same repeater, or node, on the link system. Conversations that are two people going back and forth with "dee dee" followed by more "dee dee" are a sign that both people are on the same repeater node. In this case, the lower PL tone is 114.8 Hz, and de-links the individual repeater or "node" off the C.A.R.L.A Link System for three minutes. We both can then carry on a long rag-chew on the individual repeater or node using 114.8 Hz, and receive a single "beep" each time.
Tonight was different, though. When the other station I was taking to un-keyed, I heard the "beep", which indicates that the other dude is on a different repeater somewhere. I explained - "I don't think we are on the same repeater, as I am hearing a single beep when you un-key. I get a double beep when I un-key. I am on CARLA system 32, on 440.725. Are you on that repeater?"
His response: "Well, you should switch to CARLA 19. I think we are on the same repeater. I am switching to the local PL tone."
And with that, he was gone.
In the mean time, another useless operator I have spoken with in Lake Tahoe came on to "educate" me on the system. Apparently he had forgotten meeting me on the air just three weeks ago when I was in San Francisco. No bother, I had not forgotten my first conversation with this repeater trolling LID.
"This is KC6SUV. It sounds like you're confused about PL tones. The local tone on all repeaters in your area is lower than the one you're using. Use a lower PL tone to talk on the local repeater."
Wow. Totally useless. There are 23 possible PL tones, and I could be here awhile attempting the dozen (or more) "lower PL tones" then the current 167.9 Hz. I asked him what the lower PL tone was for System 19, and what frequency. He replied with information that I already had - that the repeater I was on was System 32, on 440.725 and the Local PL tone was 114.8 Hz. Jessh, thanks. (Great to hear that he was listening, as I just gave all of that information out already moments before he jumped on.) He then proceeded to re-explain the same information that we had established in our conversation three weeks ago, like a human robot who's job it is to parrot the same information to newcomers. Additionally, a second "repeater link system troll" came on the air to further confuse the situation.
Second troll: "You see, if you're on the same repeater, you can use the local PL tone and not tie up the link system. For such a local contact, you should switch to System 19 and use the lower PL tone."
After several more minutes of this nonsense, we had established that I "wasn't a local," and was "just a visitor to the area" and that I usually used the San Francisco CARLA System 2, which has completely different local PL tone of 100.0 Hz and link tone of 163.2 Hz. I had to repeat back exactly what the first SUV troll said for him to understand that I already knew all the information he told me, and then added that I would wait for the original old guy to get back on the link PL to so that we could chat / finish up. I also apologized for the two Troll's confusion, but asked "what am I getting wrong here?, and what is System 19's frequency?"
First Troll: "We all have the systems programmed into our radios, and refer to each repeater by it's system name. So I don't know the frequencies."
Second Troll: "443.725. And the local PL is the same PL that you are using on System 32, 114.8."
I thanked the second troll for finally answering my question and said I would QSY. Opening the second VFO on the radio, I overheard the two Trolls saying that they would listen on both System 32 and System 19 to see if I went over there. As if I needed some training wheels on operating a two-way radio. Super insulting.
I moved over to System 19 in about 7 seconds, as I am a bit of wiz with keypad programming the Baofeng radio that I purchased two months back. (Actually, it took only 2 hours of playing with the radio the first day I purchased it to memorize the menu key sequences so I could "touch type" they keypad. No mo' lookin' at the radio on my belt for this guy.) The original station came back to me, and the repeater was totally S1 - super noisy, barely readable. I received about 30% of what he said back to me. Apparently he was able to copy everything I said, because I said I would QSY back to the first system I was on -- System 32, with the link PL. He informed me that he could not hit that repeater, so he would also "QSY" or just "Switch" to the link PL.
Meanwhile on the link system, the two trolls were finishing up congratulating themselves on my education. After they settled down, I announced my presence back on the link PL, and said:
"Well, guys, thanks a lot for the education on the CARLA system. I never learned this much while using System 2 in San Fran. I will be certain to refer to the systems by their names, and not their frequencies from now on. That's totally my mistake. Also, I would have never thought to use System 19 before you mentioned it, so thanks for that. Interesting experiment. Unfortunately, this experiment failed - I was able to work System 19, but not able to copy it on a portable radio at this bus stop. Perhaps it's not near me, or I am in a hole where System 19 does not cover, but either way it was barely breaking the squelch. I also adjusted my squelch to open, and was able to copy less than a third of the other station's voice."
The original old guy then got back on the link system, and asked why I was using the CARLA link system. Hadn't I heard of the Diablo Canyon repeater? "That one kicks butt" he said.
I said: "No, I haven't! Tell me more."
(Anytime I can learn something about the local scene, even if it involves trolls, I am game.)
He came back with "706".
I asked: "I want to make certain that I understand you correctly. Do you mean 147.060, and what PL tone?"
In a sarcastic and reluctant tone, he replied: "Yes, that's what I said, and it's a positive offset, PL of tone 100.0."
(It was as if discussing another repeater frequency unrelated to CARLA violated some kind of on-air rule about not-discussing-other-repeaters. By asking for the exact frequency and PL tone, I had made the old man commit a faux pas.)
I signed: "Sounds like fun! I'll give that a try with you after I get off the bus. It's been 20 minutes, and my bus is here. Have a great night. 73, N0YNT."
I switched off my radio, took the bus ride 20 minutes back to the condo I am staying in, and switched it back on. The first Troll and the old guy that had originally came back to me were still talking, and the conversation was entirely about the CARLA link system. So much for not wastefully using the link system. Amazing.
So, tonight the old guy and two trolls gave me an on-air "white man education" in:
1. When you discover another ham that is far away from you, as in Car ride far away or I feel amazed how far I am talking you can use the link system for an extended rag chew. And the topic should always be how amazing the CARLA link system is. And how far you are talking. ...Wait, Huh?
The exact distance that two people talking on the link to be in violation of this on air, troll-enforced usage is a bit hazy. The mantra "we are a short car-drive away, and it's not amazing to talk to a place I drive all the time" I guess could be applied here.
2. The CARLA link system is for making calls on, discovering that you are on different repeaters close by, and moving to a third repeater system unrelated to CARLA. No rag chews here; just simply calling and moving. ...WTF? Why The Frequency change, Willis?
3. The link system should never be used for two stations that are unable to communicate directory (simplex) or just want a quick time-killer chat, which a newcomer like me would expect. While the original old guy that came back to my "listening" call was sufficiently far enough away that we didn't have a single repeater in common (that I was aware of), instead of suggesting a repeater that we would both have in common (Colma to the other side of the bay) other higher-powered mobile-radio stations made me (with a hand-held radio) switch frequencies, twice. Who does that? ...FFS! For Frequencies (changing) Sake!
What's sad is that four people wasted 45 minutes and nobody had a conversation about anything of substance. We never found that we had friends, family or interests in common. We never discovered that we both work in technology. Or that we both enjoy certain aspects of life in and outside the bay area.
Even worse, this on-air education practice is common to not just the midwest - the silliness is also present in the bay area. This changing to a local PL business was so drilled into the first old guy that we had to make a failed attempt to use the same local repeater -- that only he was on. And even after the attempt failed to use a local node of CARLA, he insisted that we have our generic ham radio chat on yet another local repeater. It's like the need to experiment with ways to communicate was more important then just meeting a new person and having a quick conversation about the weather. "Many people can hear us talking on the link system" was explained to me with the intonation that many listening ears was somehow bad. Perhaps it is more important that we spend endless time attempting to subvert others listening and joining the conversation -- just in case it gets interesting. If it gets interesting, we would want to keep that little conversation all to ourselves, right? Selfish, anyone? ...ROFL! Radio Offline Frequency Listening!?
In Minnesota, I wish more people from outside the metro would work the repeaters I own and operate. I wish there was more activity on them. And most of all, I wish newcomers would get on more regularly and be greeted and thanked for being active in the hobby.
But that's not the culture that white, male, retirees have setup for our hobby. Perhaps the young, new hammies that I have chatted with have a legit complaint. The last friend that I got on the air boxed up his radio, tossing it in the closet. He later told me in person "I would get on the air, but those other people start talking." And by other people, my friend means the repeater trolls and other crazies. Another friend who I got licensed once said "I would listen more, but I never hear conversations that I am interested in."
If we want there to be an inviting, fun hobby for the next generation of young hammies to come towards, it might be time to start letting the old timers die off. Perhaps it's time to re-ham-test anyone over the age of 45. It seems to this young ham that the old-timers, with a few exceptions, just don't get it.
Saturday, 4 April 2015
The Doers Coop
The Doers Coop has been in 'official' existence for about a year. I was there at the beginning, and I'm still part of it now, but I still don't know what to say when people ask me what the "Doers" do.
It started as we struggled to get The Aggrandizer on the air, after the TCRC bravely extended a middle finger in response to our offers to get a replacement 1.25M repeater for the 223.540 up. As we cast about for advice and tenable solutions, we found several people working on novel projects and experimenting with exciting solutions.
For some weird reason, clubs are now about the absolute most anti-experimenter faction in the entire hobby. Sure, they might have workshops every other year to build an antenna or something, but you'd better not colour outside of the lines or start getting ideas about different ways to do things. They've honed the art of detecting independent thought into quite a formidable skill, and they have glib, ready-made 'answers' for any ideas. Most of them are marginally-clever variations of the standard, "Shut the hell up, before we label you as a weirdo!" non-answer that most hams employ on a knee-jerk basis.
"The way that we've done things for forty years is just fine, and who do you think you are to have ideas about anything? Maybe you think you're smart or something. Eh, mister smart guy? I could give you a dozen reasons why your smart-guy idea wouldn't work, but I'm old and tired and think that you're really just an idiot, so I'll forget that you ever said anything. Fair enough, smart guy?"
And so we stumbled upon various people with novel ideas that clubs wouldn't touch. There were RPi (SVXLink) boards that could link repeaters without EchoLink. There were non-mysterious APRS solutions. There were people tinkering with controllers, and Arduino, and digital modes. But, most of all, there were people who could think outside of the goddamn box and find answers. They still saw exciting potential in the hobby, beyond collecting grid squares and having scripted thirty-second 'conversations' on HF. They were unafraid, and unaware of the stock solutions mindlessly parroted by their 'superiors' in the hobby.
This ad-hoc collection of experimenters became the Doers Coop. It's not a club. There are no dues, nor elected officers, nor club politics or club bureaucracy. You have an idea, and you throw it out to the group. If anyone else finds it compelling, they will join you. The others will remain open to any developments that could help you, and they will encourage you.
If you ask five people in the Doers Coop what it's all about, you'll get five different answers. From my perspective, it's about projects that involve making or re-purposing something that serves the amateur radio community in a way that isn't currently being addressed effectively. Everything is supposed to be documented and open, so that others can duplicate your solution and even build upon it. There are no secret projects. There are no egos in play, nor control freaks insisting that they get their way. What you learn, you share. And you remain open to other alternatives.
(EDIT: Just want to emphasise that this is my personal perspective, and that I am not speaking for the Doers Coop. Thought that was obvious, but it's not.)
One of the things that has slowly developed is a hazy idea of where we should be going, rather than just solutions in search of an application. This is the 'dangerous' part, to those dwelling in the past. Which areas of the hobby aren't being served, or aren't reasonably accessible to more than an 'elite'? What would you, ideally, want to be able to do as a member of the amateur radio community that you can't do now? Eventually, it begins to dawn on people what (and who) is maintaining these barriers to progress.
The Aggrandizer was the first project, with a goal of allowing virtually any ham to set up a basic and inexpensive repeater. From there, they could learn hands-on about controllers, duplexers, split site operation, propagation, antennae, etc.
Other projects were larger in scope, and will take time to develop, joining bits and pieces of the puzzle together. Some projects, such as N0AGI's ISS packet gateway, are just now springing into fruition. There are plenty of ideas just waiting for others to join in and get them "un-stuck".
Who doesn't belong in the Doers Coop? Personally, I'd say that if your first impulse is to write a big check for an off-the-shelf solution whenever you encounter a problem, then you don't have any business in the Coop. Likewise, if you want to play "The Great White Mentor" to the lowly, unwashed fools and explain the only 'right' and 'proper' way to accomplish something, then you should keep moving. You really have to be open-minded and collaborative, and think in terms of making things happen, instead of reaching for glib and smug reasons to not even try. And you have to be completely willing to give your ideas and solutions away for the greater good of the hobby.
Here's a simple test for your suitability. Suppose someone had an idea for an automated weather warning system that would operate on GMRS. Is your first impulse:
It started as we struggled to get The Aggrandizer on the air, after the TCRC bravely extended a middle finger in response to our offers to get a replacement 1.25M repeater for the 223.540 up. As we cast about for advice and tenable solutions, we found several people working on novel projects and experimenting with exciting solutions.
For some weird reason, clubs are now about the absolute most anti-experimenter faction in the entire hobby. Sure, they might have workshops every other year to build an antenna or something, but you'd better not colour outside of the lines or start getting ideas about different ways to do things. They've honed the art of detecting independent thought into quite a formidable skill, and they have glib, ready-made 'answers' for any ideas. Most of them are marginally-clever variations of the standard, "Shut the hell up, before we label you as a weirdo!" non-answer that most hams employ on a knee-jerk basis.
"The way that we've done things for forty years is just fine, and who do you think you are to have ideas about anything? Maybe you think you're smart or something. Eh, mister smart guy? I could give you a dozen reasons why your smart-guy idea wouldn't work, but I'm old and tired and think that you're really just an idiot, so I'll forget that you ever said anything. Fair enough, smart guy?"
And so we stumbled upon various people with novel ideas that clubs wouldn't touch. There were RPi (SVXLink) boards that could link repeaters without EchoLink. There were non-mysterious APRS solutions. There were people tinkering with controllers, and Arduino, and digital modes. But, most of all, there were people who could think outside of the goddamn box and find answers. They still saw exciting potential in the hobby, beyond collecting grid squares and having scripted thirty-second 'conversations' on HF. They were unafraid, and unaware of the stock solutions mindlessly parroted by their 'superiors' in the hobby.
This ad-hoc collection of experimenters became the Doers Coop. It's not a club. There are no dues, nor elected officers, nor club politics or club bureaucracy. You have an idea, and you throw it out to the group. If anyone else finds it compelling, they will join you. The others will remain open to any developments that could help you, and they will encourage you.
If you ask five people in the Doers Coop what it's all about, you'll get five different answers. From my perspective, it's about projects that involve making or re-purposing something that serves the amateur radio community in a way that isn't currently being addressed effectively. Everything is supposed to be documented and open, so that others can duplicate your solution and even build upon it. There are no secret projects. There are no egos in play, nor control freaks insisting that they get their way. What you learn, you share. And you remain open to other alternatives.
(EDIT: Just want to emphasise that this is my personal perspective, and that I am not speaking for the Doers Coop. Thought that was obvious, but it's not.)
One of the things that has slowly developed is a hazy idea of where we should be going, rather than just solutions in search of an application. This is the 'dangerous' part, to those dwelling in the past. Which areas of the hobby aren't being served, or aren't reasonably accessible to more than an 'elite'? What would you, ideally, want to be able to do as a member of the amateur radio community that you can't do now? Eventually, it begins to dawn on people what (and who) is maintaining these barriers to progress.
The Aggrandizer was the first project, with a goal of allowing virtually any ham to set up a basic and inexpensive repeater. From there, they could learn hands-on about controllers, duplexers, split site operation, propagation, antennae, etc.
Other projects were larger in scope, and will take time to develop, joining bits and pieces of the puzzle together. Some projects, such as N0AGI's ISS packet gateway, are just now springing into fruition. There are plenty of ideas just waiting for others to join in and get them "un-stuck".
Who doesn't belong in the Doers Coop? Personally, I'd say that if your first impulse is to write a big check for an off-the-shelf solution whenever you encounter a problem, then you don't have any business in the Coop. Likewise, if you want to play "The Great White Mentor" to the lowly, unwashed fools and explain the only 'right' and 'proper' way to accomplish something, then you should keep moving. You really have to be open-minded and collaborative, and think in terms of making things happen, instead of reaching for glib and smug reasons to not even try. And you have to be completely willing to give your ideas and solutions away for the greater good of the hobby.
Here's a simple test for your suitability. Suppose someone had an idea for an automated weather warning system that would operate on GMRS. Is your first impulse:
- listing three reasons why we don't need such a thing
- GMRS is stupid, and it's for people too stupid to get their ham licence
- if this really were a good idea, somebody else would have done it already
- sounds like a lot of work
- there's no money in that
- my answer depends on who is proposing the idea
Mid-winter Madness 2015
Last weekend, I went to the MGRC's "Mid-Winter Madness" event in Buffalo. I think the schedule got changed to a Spring date, so it wasn't "mid-winter", and I didn't see a lot madness, either. It was my first hamfest, and it was more fun than I had expected. I didn't buy anything, but I learned a lot simply by socialising.
I had a pleasant drive in to Buffalo. One by one, repeaters slipped out of range of my 10W mobile on both bands. I was able to hold on to UHF 444.500 and VHF 146.700 all of the way out to Buffalo, but the VHF .030, .060, and 145.450 failed to come back before I had really even reached Rockford. On UHF, even the Plymouth 444.375 refused to be "ker-chunked". Aside from N0FWG's (Jerry) 444.375+ repeater operating out of his home in Buffalo, there isn't much opportunity to use UHF in that area. It's a completely different radio environment than I have available to me here in Plymouth, even with all of my limitations. A station like mine couldn't exist in Buffalo, or would be so narrowly limited as to be hardly worthwhile.
When I arrived, I was surprised by how hard it was to find a place to park. I was arriving late (around 11 am), so I had expected things to be thinned out, but the lot was almost full. I got a ticket, but I didn't find an actual barrel to put my stub in, so I didn't win any door-prizes. Probably for the best. I was looking for the Doers Coop table, but I also looked over several tables on my way there. There were several really old radios that looked cool, but I knew that they would bring endless trouble even if I had a good opportunity to work HF. As an amateur musician, it was nice to look at the speakers and amps on display, but I've got all of the gear that I really need. I didn't spend a lot of time looking at gear and components, really, because I had got there so late and I wanted to see the people in the Doers Coop.
Right away, I ran into KE0NA (Dave), and he showed me The Aggrandizer repeater. It was actually working, though running an indoor mag-mount 1/4-wave whip and without a duplexer. The lack of an internet connection had prevented a D-Star repeater from being put to use, but it was still on display. There was free coffee and banana bread, I was told. Then Dave started playing some disco music to accentuate the disco lights he had added to the 1.25M repeater, and began talking to some other interested 'customers'. I went over and talked with Jason (whose callsign I don't remember) about DMR. I knew that Jason, along with N0YNT (Matt) had set up the 442.425+ DMR repeater on the East Bank campus, and I soon found out that they had added a second repeater in St. Paul.
I've been seriously thinking about getting the Connect Systems CS-700 UHF DMR HT for months, but I had been waiting for a "code-plug" to be developed that would make programming a lot easier. Jason told me that such a code-plug already existed, and he had an CS-700 right there on the table. So I resolved to order a CS-700 right away, and I'll write about it when it arrives. Jason also showed me through the Motorola programming software, and did a great job explaining some of the finer details of DMR. He also told me that he had "ker-chunked" the Minneapolis 442.425 earlier, though he couldn't from inside the building. Not bad, if it's reaching out to Buffalo.
Brandon also talked to me about D-Star and digital modes in general. Even though the Gopher Radio Club's D-Star offering isn't currently connected to the internet, I pointed out there's another machine quite nearby it on 444.875+, and that it also had a nice analogue machine operating on the same frequency at the same site.
After some more chatting, and a first face-face meeting with K0LAV (Paul), it was clear that things were winding down. I said my good-byes and made my way out to my car. The strangely silent and barren Buffalo air-waves were my company on the drive home.
I had a pleasant drive in to Buffalo. One by one, repeaters slipped out of range of my 10W mobile on both bands. I was able to hold on to UHF 444.500 and VHF 146.700 all of the way out to Buffalo, but the VHF .030, .060, and 145.450 failed to come back before I had really even reached Rockford. On UHF, even the Plymouth 444.375 refused to be "ker-chunked". Aside from N0FWG's (Jerry) 444.375+ repeater operating out of his home in Buffalo, there isn't much opportunity to use UHF in that area. It's a completely different radio environment than I have available to me here in Plymouth, even with all of my limitations. A station like mine couldn't exist in Buffalo, or would be so narrowly limited as to be hardly worthwhile.
When I arrived, I was surprised by how hard it was to find a place to park. I was arriving late (around 11 am), so I had expected things to be thinned out, but the lot was almost full. I got a ticket, but I didn't find an actual barrel to put my stub in, so I didn't win any door-prizes. Probably for the best. I was looking for the Doers Coop table, but I also looked over several tables on my way there. There were several really old radios that looked cool, but I knew that they would bring endless trouble even if I had a good opportunity to work HF. As an amateur musician, it was nice to look at the speakers and amps on display, but I've got all of the gear that I really need. I didn't spend a lot of time looking at gear and components, really, because I had got there so late and I wanted to see the people in the Doers Coop.
Right away, I ran into KE0NA (Dave), and he showed me The Aggrandizer repeater. It was actually working, though running an indoor mag-mount 1/4-wave whip and without a duplexer. The lack of an internet connection had prevented a D-Star repeater from being put to use, but it was still on display. There was free coffee and banana bread, I was told. Then Dave started playing some disco music to accentuate the disco lights he had added to the 1.25M repeater, and began talking to some other interested 'customers'. I went over and talked with Jason (whose callsign I don't remember) about DMR. I knew that Jason, along with N0YNT (Matt) had set up the 442.425+ DMR repeater on the East Bank campus, and I soon found out that they had added a second repeater in St. Paul.
I've been seriously thinking about getting the Connect Systems CS-700 UHF DMR HT for months, but I had been waiting for a "code-plug" to be developed that would make programming a lot easier. Jason told me that such a code-plug already existed, and he had an CS-700 right there on the table. So I resolved to order a CS-700 right away, and I'll write about it when it arrives. Jason also showed me through the Motorola programming software, and did a great job explaining some of the finer details of DMR. He also told me that he had "ker-chunked" the Minneapolis 442.425 earlier, though he couldn't from inside the building. Not bad, if it's reaching out to Buffalo.
Brandon also talked to me about D-Star and digital modes in general. Even though the Gopher Radio Club's D-Star offering isn't currently connected to the internet, I pointed out there's another machine quite nearby it on 444.875+, and that it also had a nice analogue machine operating on the same frequency at the same site.
After some more chatting, and a first face-face meeting with K0LAV (Paul), it was clear that things were winding down. I said my good-byes and made my way out to my car. The strangely silent and barren Buffalo air-waves were my company on the drive home.