AmateurRadio.com

I'm on 40 meters doing some casual search and pounce this evening.  Between the ARI DX Contest, the New England QSO Party, the Indiana QSO Party, and the 7th Call Area QSO Party, it's rather busy and you have to listen real close to be sure who's operating what contest.  There seems to be some RTTY thing going on as well, but that goes without saying....

....but I placed first for the third year in a row competing in the QRP division in the Pennsylvania QSO Party.  It's the only contest I get excited about these days and it has reasonable hours that let you get some sleep between Saturday and Sunday operating.  And it helps that I actually live in Pennsylvania.... :-)

Lost another 2N2222 in the rig.  Looks like I have to ride to Radio Shack this weekend for another five pack of them...

A few days ago I received another one of those email requests to update one of my online QSL logbooks.  I receive these periodically and they're somewhat annoying, though I should probably just delete my online logs.  I've found online QSLing to be just more of a PITA than it's worth, especially Logbook of the World (LOTW).  As I've mentioned in previous blog articles, I think LOTW is over-engineered.  I know ARRL designed it the way they did in order to minimize forged QSLs, but it's still horribly easily to forge paper cards or game the QSL manager system to get cards for QSOs that never occurred.  Perhaps some folks who chase awards need to wrap some sort of security or authentication around the whole QSLing process in an attempt to give it more prestige or relevance, but to me it's rather pointless in the grand scheme of things.

I love the KISS approach VA7VV has created, where you can just go to his site and print out a QSL card.  I intend to take a similar approach soon, though not as "self-serve" as VA7VV has done, but migrating to a PDF format where I'll just email a QSL card to anyone who requests one.

But I was thinking the other day, why not just do over-the-air QSLing?  With public/private key encryption it's easy to take some text or data and create a key that can be used to authenticate the information back to the originator.  There could be a program or website to generate keys on the fly.  I'm wondering if a key could be shaved down to maybe 10 alphanumeric characters that could be exchanged over the air like: "Here ya go Bob, here's yer QSL key: Gulf Delta Charlie One Foxtrot Zed Five Nine Yankee Three.... Good DX and 73!"  You record that in your log and if someone wants to authenticate it back to the station, they can grab his public key off of the 'zed or at ARRL and plug it into the program or a website.  I'm not sure how many bits the encryption would have to be decreased to to make the QSL key exchanged over the air short enough or make the encryption a reasonable enough level to prevent most forgeries.

Ah....maybe it's more trouble than it's worth and I should stick with emailing QSLs...

Today on xkcd there was this comic on Twittering and earthquakes... This reminds me of the things we amateurs tend to do in natural disasters where making radio contact is more important than personal safety.  However, this comic really brings home the fact that readily available communications technology in the hands of many more people in the general public can supply more real-time information than a handful of amateur radio operators.  It's really only when this infrastructure that supports handheld wireless devices goes down, amateur radio emcomm can be useful.  But I digress. Coincidentally, National Public Radio (NPR), came out with this story today entitled Ham Radio Growing In The Age Of Twitter. Here's a quote from Allen Weiner at Gartner:

"If [amateur radio] creates its own experience, that's really what's key here," he says. "If it just emulates an experience that you can get online, it's not going to grow."

I'm sure the anti-Echolink/IRLP/ARoIP crowd will perk up, but this quote touches upon a key point that it's the unique experience we need to provide, and it's not necessarily about the technology.  We definitely shouldn't attempt to compete with the Internet or mobile wireless; that's a battle that is impossible to win and foolish to wage.  However, we can certainly augment the amateur radio experience with the Internet, even if it means not involving wireless at some point in some instances, for the sake of providing the amateur radio experience to some people.  The experience will lure new folks into amateur radio.

A QRP record was shattered this week when Bob Goblosovits, W9RJX, after making a contact on 40 meters with a homebrew QRP rig in a tunafish can using 1 watt into a dipole, exclaimed on the QRP-L reflector "QRP really works!".  This was the 239th time Goblosovits made the claim on a reflector, beating out Algernon Smith, WB2ACH, who previously held the record at 238 reflector messages in his ham career.  Smith unfortunately passed away last year after succumbing to a heart attack at his workbench while soldering a surface mount kit rig.

It's expected that Goblosovits will be nominated and inducted into the QRP Hall of Fame this year at Dayton.

Last year, through the efforts of a fried of mine, I was able to talk to Red Hot Chili Pepper's lead vocalist, Anthony Kiedis, and bassist Mike Balzary (better known as Flea) about Amateur Radio. It hasn't been reported often, but both Anthony and Flea are hams and in between tours operate out of their California homes. We stopped over at Flea's house. In the driveway he points out his self-supporting 200 foot tower.

"I've got it loaded up for 160...the whole tower. Radials all over the [expletive] place. Damn thing was hell to put up!" he said.

Kiedis and Flea laugh as we walk inside. Flea's living room filled with old tube gear of every kind and parts are lying everywhere on tables, shelves and the floor. Amid the mess, various Hallicrafters, Collins, and Drake rigs can be seen, though Flea's affinity for Johnson equipment is obvious as it dominates the landscape.

"I love AM. A bunch of wankers told me AM was old and too wide on the band. I told 'em to [expletive] off and I went to AM and never looked back."

Flea takes us into a back room. A four bay Gates AM transmitter graces the room which is amazingly spotless in contrast with the previous room. Flea flips on a huge breaker mounted to a piece of plywood on the wall and the beast comes to life and a deafening roar of fans and tube air blowers fills the room. We go into the next room which is soundproof and contains his operating position with a mixing board and a high-end Heil microphone on a boom.

Kiedes explains that he currently doesn't have a station, though he often comes over to Flea's shack on the weekend and operates while having a few beers and grilling steaks.

(This is a brief excerpt from my upcoming book, Unknown and Undercover Amateur Radio, due out in September from Simon & Shuster.. )

Today Pope Benedict XVI announced in Rome that Morse code proficiency has been added to the requirements for being considered for recognition as a saint.  In a brief statement the Pope said:

"It has been known throughout the ages that knowing and using Morse code makes one a more whole person.  We today officially make it a requirement of canonization....one must know the code to be recognized a saint."

The move was applauded by millions in countries throughout the world.  "This should keep the quality of saints high" noted one blogger in France.  One person interviewed in Times Square in New York City exclaimed "It's about time.  This should keep the riff-raff out of sainthood.  Several hundred years ago you had to perform real miracles to become a saint.  Today you can just feed a few million starving people and, like, instantly you're considered for sainthood.  Having to know Morse code will finally raise the standards back to where they need to be."

SWITZERLAND - The ITU has officially declared Texas a new DXCC entity.  Texas's amateur radio prefix will be TX, which is currently allocated to France.  French authorities have agreed to allow France to be annexed with Texas rather than giving up the prefix and angering French amateurs.

The United States FCC will no longer issue amateur radio licenses to Texans; all licenses will be issued out of the Republic of Texas government office in Houston.  Texan amateur radio licenses will automatically include a concealed weapons permit and VIP parking permits for Chilis restaurants.

Texas, as part of the United States secession agreement, will also assume responsibility for the portion of national debt incurred by Texans.  This has been calculated at nearly $5 trillion, or roughly 39% of the current US national debt.

The new Texan TX prefix will become active April 2 at 00:00 UTC and is eligible for DXCC credit.

The New York Post is reporting that Radio Shack may be courting suitors, namely electronics retailer Best Buy.  If you have the cash lying around, you can pick up your very own electronics...errrr cellphone store chain for a cool $3B.

Could this be the next or perhaps last chapter of our once great electronic hobbyist mecca?

On Saturday I had several folks over for an antenna party.  My two element 10/12/15/17/20 meter quad lost the 10 meter driven element wire over the winter and I was wanting to take the quad out of service.  Quads are great antennas, perhaps magical, but from a maintenance and installation point they are a nightmare.  This quad went through two ice storms and survived, but that wasn't without much gnashing of teeth.  Quads are three-dimensional antennas, so one big disadvantage is they take up a lot of vertical real estate on a tower.  Since originally putting this tower and quad up, I got interested in six meters but I couldn't put a six meter beam up on the tower.

Rather than hinging down the 40' (12 m) Rohn tower as usual I rented a 45' (14 m) manlift locally.  This was a good decision.  This model had a 500 pound (227 kg) platform capacity, so two people plus gear could fit in it.  Once I figured out how to operate the controls, it was a very nimble piece of equipment.  We wore harnesses and clipped into the platform railing with lanyards for safety.

Yesterday President Obama shocked everyone at a follow-up press conference on healthcare reform by acknowledging a connection between amateur radio and the healthcare reform plan just signed.

"Today the Shortwave Intelligence Task Force, a part of the CIA, intercepted radio transmissions in what is known as '80 meters', an amateur radio communications band.  Several amateur radio hams discussed the details in the healthcare reform package to harvest organs from aging ham radio operators."  Upon hearing this the press corp chuckled but was interrupted by Obama who raised his hand and gave a serious look across the audience.  "The claims are true.  Amateur radio operators are crucial to healthcare reform.  A large portion of healthcare costs are due to patients with failing organs and there just aren't enough organ donations to support the growing need.  Nearly every other modern civilized country in the world has universal healthcare.... and they all harvest organs from their ham radio operators."

The media, understandably, was abuzz after the announcement.  CNN reported last night that they attempted to determine the exact source of the amateur radio transmissions in order to interview the radio amateurs who discovered the sinister plan, but were unsuccessful, noting the amateurs were part of a secret organization known simply as "Four Land".  On Fox "News", Glenn Beck spent the first half of his daily TV show explaining the difference between broadcast radio and ham radio and them proceeded to sob uncontrollably for the remaining half hour mumbling something about his kidneys.  Rush Limbaugh, who has been off the air for the past week attempting to find a new home in a country that, in his words "has running water and electricity but not socialized medicine", didn't do a live radio show but I'm curious what he has to say.

ARRL praised the plan on their website but reminded amateurs that they could not receive renumeration for donating organs while on the air.

...if everyone used Yaesu FT-817s and dipoles....

(post your 'imagine' thoughts in the comments below....)

The FCC released a legal decision regarding a radio amateur who had felony convictions, in particular sexual predator type offenses.  The text is located here.  I won't go into the details about the case as it's been reported in detail elsewhere.  The FCC as I understand will attempt to revoke the license of an amateur convicted of a felony on the grounds that they lack the requisite character requirements to be an FCC licensee.  I can understand this for commercial services such as broadcasting where the licensee interacts directly with the public, but I question how relevant or practical this is in the amateur radio service.

First, let me make clear my position on sexual predators.  I think they should be punished and attempts should be made to rehabilitate those who can be rehabilitated.  However, there are those who are simply incorrigible who should spend the rest of their lives rotting in prison.  (The worst should probably be executed but that is problematic on several levels.)  I'm not going to make any judgement of the radio amateur involved in this case as the facts are in the decision text.

The FCC action in this case and other felony conviction cases just doesn't make much sense to me.  The judge in the case makes a very lucid statement regarding the defendant and amateur radio.  Quite simply, even if it was proven that he was still a sexual predator, amateur radio wouldn't be a tool he would use to commit crime.  Frankly, unless someone was into white, balding, overweight, older men, they wouldn't find many potential victims in amateur radio.  The odds of a sexual predator being a threat to radio amateurs is about nil.  Revoking a license really isn't a deterrent to committing a felony, and I'm sure someone would argue that revoking a license is additional punishment for a crime that already had a conviction and punishment specified.

Thinking back to past character license revocations, I can think of one for a convicted murderer spending life in a federal pen, and a ham that was convicted of long distance fraud.  The murderer spending life in prison isn't going to have access to an amateur radio and long distance fraud isn't very relevant to amateur radio.  Call me overly pragmatic, but it just doesn't seem to make sense to spend the time and effort to revoke licenses in these situations.

I recently dealt with a radio amateur who clearly lacked character.  I won't go into detail, but he got caught in his own online web of lies and when he was exposed he made more lies.  But amateurs, unaware or in agreement with his deception, praise him for his work.  No character, but people lacking character like this are likely more detrimental to amateur radio than most of the FCC license revocation amateurs, and we tend to look the other way.

If you have a felony conviction, you probably lack character, but if you lack character in amateur radio, you probably don't have a felony conviction.  Character in amateur radio isn't the FCC's responsibility, it's our responsibility.  Those lacking character who threaten amateur radio don't appear on any legal docket, but they are in our midst.  When we ignore those lacking character, we condone and encourage them.