Ham Radio Is Changing

About every three months my ham club, the Highland Lakes Amateur Radio Club, holds a Sunday afternoon workshop on some topic that is of interest to enough people to make it worth while. The workshops are not limited to members and anyone who is interested can attend. The Club has held construction workshops where we built antennas for emergency use, technical lectures about antenna principles, practical workshops on the use of the new power connectors, the use of an antenna modeling program and several workshops on how to set up, configure and use the digital keyboard modes. We try to stay abreast of established and changing technology in our hobby. All of the workshops held have had a pretty good turnout and almost everyone attending has commented that the workshops are very helpful.

Not too long ago I attended an informal get-together of hams where there was a discussion of the coming digital revolution in our hobby. During the discussion of digital voice one old timer commented that it was regrettable that the world of ham radio as we know it was changing. After thinking about that for a minute I told him that I thought it was a good thing, which was met with a “Harrump, I beg your pardon.” I told him that ham radio is a constantly changing hobby. It changed when AM came on the scene. It changed again when single sideband arrived. It is changing again as digital emissions become the primary mode of operations. I said that we should be thankful it did and does or we would all still be using spark gap transmitters.

There are many digital keyboard modes: that is, computer via radio to radio and computer. They run the gamut from slow and narrow bandwidths to fast and wide bandwidths The descriptions of each mode along with how each one sounds are are found at: http://www.wb8nut.com/digital.html Have a look and listen at your leisure. Hams have and are working on improving email like messaging from station to station via radio and station to Internet via radio. In emergencies hams can transmit such messages for emergency agencies and for health and welfare inquiries.

Then there is digital voice. One manufacturer has a system called D-Star, which is somewhat popular but uses a privately owned vocoder. Other manufacturers also offer primitive digital voice systems but they likewise use proprietary vocoders. See http://www.hamradio-dv.org/ What is a vocoder? It is the hardware and software that converts analog voice to digital and digital to analog voice. Your cell phone contains one. Ham radio will progress much faster when hams come up with a standard non-proprietary vocoder and I believe that will happen in the not too distant future. See below.

Most human beings naturally resist technological change. The older we get the more we resist changes in our lives. For the most part, however, change has been good for humankind. It has brought us the marvelous age in which we live and promises even more wonders in the future. Some of my older ham friends still use AM (bloated bandwidth mode) below 21 MHz. Some think that all true hams can and still do operate CW. To those friends I say enjoy your modes of operation. There is room for all of us in this hobby. Make sure, however, that you make room for and do not interfere with the new modes for they are the future of Ham Radio.