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For What it's
Worth … © 2007 CQ Communications, Inc., All Rights Reserved
Archaic? You can learn a lot from your kids… The other day, I was driving with my son, Dan (KC2OOM), and talking to someone on a local repeater (if you read my November editorial, yes, I found someone to talk to). This gentleman was basically grousing about the current state of ham radio, and came to the conclusion that "with all the new technology around today, I hate to admit it, but ham radio is archaic." I unwittingly took the bait and started talking about how other so-called "archaic" ways of doing things -- such as fishing, sailing and horseback riding -- are flourishing. But when I paused to take a breath, Dan interjected, "Software defined radio is archaic?" And I realized he was absolutely right, and that I'd fallen into the trap of believing our own negative propaganda, even if I was defending our continuing relevance in the face of such adversity. I'm not the only one. Recently, there was a generally positive story about Morse code and ham radio in the Wall Street Journal, but the underlying message was that Morse code is archaic, is dying out and is only being preserved by a shrinking group of nostalgic hams. The truth, however, is quite different. Morse code is still the mode of communications that will get through when nothing else will, the only "digital" mode that can be produced and decoded without the need for a terminal unit or computer. In addition, it is not dying out, at least not among hams. In fact, since the code test requirement was dropped this past February, all indications are that code activity on the bands has increased significantly. Plus, our CW contests continue to show increased participation, with record numbers of logs being submitted year after year. We needn't try to justify CW's continuing relevance in the face of being archaic, because it isn't. The same applies to ham radio in general. Software-defined radio is not archaic. Satellites are not archaic. WinDRM is not archaic. (What's WinDRM? It's the ham radio version of Digital Radio Mondiale, the international standard for digital shortwave broadcasting. See December CQ's Digital column for an introduction.) Digital voice in general is not archaic, and hams are finding ways to adapt commercial DV standards to the unique needs of communicating on the amateur bands. Meteor scatter and moonbounce are not archaic, nor is the research being conducted by hams on low-frequency allocations (experimental here in the U.S., open to all in some other countries). If ham radio is archaic, why is a ham station on board the International Space Station and why are virtually all current space travelers strongly urged to get ham licenses as part of their training? Yes, the ham station's primary role is to further NASA's educational mission through crew contacts with schools around the world, but it also serves as a crucial backup communications system, with a network of operators around the world able to receive and relay messages, who can be called into service on a moment's notice (as they were earlier this year during a docking procedure that damaged a station antenna). Even our traditional modes of HF SSB and VHF/UHF FM and repeaters are not archaic -- they work when all the supposedly more-advanced systems fail, and by that definition alone, they are not archaic. The use of Echolink and IRLP to route local repeater communications from stricken areas to the National Hurricane Center has helped give forecasters there a better picture of conditions on the ground and improved their ability to put out accurate and timely warnings. This system provides an additional message path in case internet connections in an area manage to stay up but HF stations are temporarily off the air. Our ability to get messages through when nothing else is working certainly is not archaic. One of the problems we do have is that not enough of our people are getting themselves involved in cutting edge technology and equipment. But popular perceptions aside, this is nothing new. The introduction of CW was met with great resistance for many years by the "spark forever" crowd; AM phone had an uphill battle against the code purists; SSB phone was introduced to ham radio in the 1950s, but I still remember hearing plenty of AM signals and squawks about "silly sideband" and "Donald Duck" when I came into the hobby in the early 1970s. Even today, RTTY purists won't allow other digital keyboard modes such as PSK-31 "count" in contests, and it will be a long time before digital voice is commonly used on the ham bands. Overall, we tend to be a very conservative group (and I'm not talking politics here), and we don't adapt to changes quickly or easily. On the other hand, the technology is out there for those who want to pursue it.
A few people who don't think ham radio is archaic: Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr. (Ret.), N4OC, former Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, interviewed in the October 2007 issue of CQ: "I think that what's important is that amateur radio in today's world can provide some real fundamentals for kids in terms of science and technology that they can't get from their computers and cell phones … This country has always had innovators, experimenters. One of the great things about amateur radio is that it encourages that. That's what drew me to it." Dr. Tony Tether, K2TGE, Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), interviewed in the November 2007 issue of CQ: "(Ham radio is) a life-changing experience. You will learn more than you would naturally learn about a whole lot of things, and on top of that, you'll have a tremendous amount of fun." Gordon England, ex-W3AWO, Deputy Secretary of Defense, interviewed in the December 2007 issue of CQ: "I believe the greatest threat to our country is not being competitive in science and technology. We need to expose young people to things like amateur radio to get them interested." Vice Admiral Scott Redd (Ret.), K0DQ, Director, National Counterterrorism Center, interviewed for the January 2008 issue of CQ: I think there are things that you gain by being in amateur radio that you don't get other places. First and foremost, the RF spectrum is … something which just permeates everything we do, … so I think familiarity with that is one of the things that you get in ham radio which you don't get elsewhere. And number two is that sense of experimentation… Obviously, it's no secret, it's a graying hobby, and it's harder to attract the youth, but I think it's … certainly something which is very important for us to continue to push as an educational thing, and as something that contributes to our national security, in the broadest sense."
Archaic? Hardly.
--------------------------- For What it's Worth… "For What it's Worth … " is a series of online commentaries from CQ magazine. These commentaries generally will be on important topics unable to be covered in the monthly editorials, or essays by guest commentators. When written by the magazine's editor or publisher, they represent the editorial position of the magazine. If written by a guest commentator, they represent only the views of the writer. It is anticipated that these commentaries will be posted on the CQ magazine website and/or distributed via e-mail to those who have signed up to receive news and other information from CQ magazine. These commentaries may also appear from time to time in print, in CQ.
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