Bible
Verse
Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (New International Version)
President's Report
Hats off to both groups I visited at this years field day event. A lot of contacts were made and new deployment operations were performed. Next year I hope to see both groups together at an old location that many of you have never operated at. I hope next year we can have a field day like we have never had before, and by that I mean it should make more contacts then we've made in several years. Please try to make the meeting this coming Saturday morning to discuss plans for the next field day event.
Hope to see you there. 73's
Charles Grisham KB5SZJ
Next MARC Business Meeting
The next business meeting will be held at the Checker Board Restaurant on Saturday, July 5th, 2014 beginning at 10 A. M. Come join us for breakfast, coffee and fellowship.
New hams are different
By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU
This is going to be a bit of a ramble, but I need to get some thoughts down about new hams, and maybe get some feedback on these ideas from both new hams and guys that have been around for a while.
Recently, I visited the All Hands Active (AHA) maker space here in Ann Arbor. Several of the "makers" that use this space have recently gotten their ham licenses—-most of them in one of my one-day Tech classes. I was down there trying to get them interested in attending Field Day, and in particular, in operating the GOTA station.
There were four of us sitting around, talking about amateur radio, the projects they were working on, Field Day, and other stuff. In the past, they had also expressed an interest in doing something with WA2HOM, our station at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. While it was a great discussion, it was apparent to me that it was going to be difficult to get them out for Field.
It dawned on me that these new radio amateurs were just not interested in the “old” amateur radio. Sitting in front of short wave radios and exchanging fake signal reports with other guys sitting in front of short wave radios is just not their idea of a good time. I think that if you take a step back and try to look at it through their eyes, you’ll see where they’re coming from.
What are they interested in? Well, one guy is having a blast playing around with RTL SDR dongles. He’s also trying to figure out a way to rig up wireless link to light a light at bus stops around his house when a bus is approaching. Another is working on a Hinternet-type project. I helped him out a little bit last summer setting up a wireless node at his house.
This is perhaps one reason why there are so many more licensed radio amateurs these days, but yet there seems to be less activity on the HF bands these days. HF is just not where it’s at for these new guys.
One consequence of this is that the old amateur radio clubs don’t have much to offer the new guys. In fact, one of them told me that the one time that he attended the local club meeting, he got such a hostile response that he decided not to return.
I’m finding this all quite interesting. I do intend to pursue some kind of joint activities between the All Hands Active maker group and WA2HOM and see where that goes. They may not be interested in working DX on 20m, but they do seem to be interested in the IRLP node that we’re in the process of installing there.
I’m not sure where this is all headed, but what I do know is that these folks have a lot of energy and creativity. If we can couple that with our knowledge and experience, then I think that we’ll be a good fit for one another. It’s going to take open minds all around, though.
I'm really interested in hearing from all of you about this. Have your clubs made contact with the "makers" in your area? Do any of them have ham radio licenses? Are there any interesting ham radio/maker projects going on in your area?
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When he's not thinking about the future of amateur radio, Dan, KB6NU enjoys working CW on the HF bands, teaching amateur radio classes, and building kits. For more information about his operating activities and his "No-Nonsense" series of amateur radio license study guides, go to KB6NU.Com or e-mail cwgeek@kb6nu.com.
Mike Duke, K5XU is featured in "EMEPA Today"
Mike Duke, K5XU is featured in "EMEPA Today", which is a local publication for EMEPA members, and "Today In Mississippi", which is also a newsletter journal for Electric Power Associations in Mississippi.
Go to cover, p. 4 and p. 5 of Today In Mississippi
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