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I just submitted my vote for N2RJ. ARRL leadership has seemed out of touch for quite some time. They seem more interested in selling wildly over priced books th

by slr555 8y ago

I just submitted my vote for N2RJ. ARRL leadership has seemed out of touch for quite some time. They seem more interested in selling wildly over priced books than advancing the interests of the Ham community. Amateur radio may seem like a quaint hobby for old timers but there are a number of newer hybrid operating modes that play nicely with the digital world. Ham's need a strong advocacy voice so that relevant policy decisions don't overlook the needs of amateur operators. Amateur radio is a great way to learn physics and electronics. I was a liberal arts major and now have my Extra class license. What I learned getting there is so much more valuable than the rag chews and 73s. Keep Ham strong!

creeble 8y ago
I just joined ARRL 10 minutes ago. New ham, or more accurately, lapsed for 44 years and ham again since July. I fear I may be too late for a vote at this time, but can't find where I would cast it on arrl.net in any case. Any advice?
vvanders 8y ago
+1 I'd love to see lobbying for symbol rate limits replaced with bandwith limits for digital but it's not even on their radar.
- drmpeg 8y ago
  The ARRL did petition the FCC to drop the symbol rate rules in 2013. It was met with tremendous opposition. https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=RM-11708&sort=date_disseminated,DESC https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=RM-...
- burfog 8y ago
  Given that there is more space at higher frequencies, how would you express it? For example: It could be 1% of a band. It could be 0.1% of the center frequency, or perhaps 0.1% of the frequency at the lower edge. Maybe it needs to be expressed in some kind of log(Hz) unit, such as milli-Bel-Hz. I don't think this accommodates spread spectrum very well. One might want to do something like CDMA, spread across the entire band but down in the noise level from the perspective of a traditional transmission.
newman8r 8y ago
I got back into the hobby after letting my license expire years ago. SDR and GNU radio are what pulled me back in. I feel like it's a renaissance for amateur radio.
- jcims 8y ago
  That’s what got me into it. I’m not particularly social so qso’s around the planet aren’t really interesting to me beyond the basic astonishment of how far 5 watts can go. The ability to tx from a weather balloon at 20 miles up and having an emergency means to communicate are way higher on the list.
  - escherplex 8y ago
    Exactly. Terse QSOs get vacuous real quick. Most onair behavior seems to be stuck in the 1950s. With all the spectrum at your disposal, personal apps like (if in FL) monitoring red algae distribution using 23cm-band FPV on drones would be more interesting and practical.
- UncleEntity 8y ago
  Been pining over a SDR and that (well, TFA really) got me looking into renewing my license I let expire last year, luckily there's a 2-year grace period so all's not lost. Also been wanting to play with some 70cm transceiver chips I got a while back off ebay but never really messed with.
- madengr 8y ago
  FWIW, here is a GNU Radio based “parallel” scanner I wrote. You can listen to the entire 2m band at once. https://github.com/madengr/ham2mon https://github.com/madengr/ham2mon
- 8bitsrule 8y ago
  I sorely missed the experimental side of the hobby (and the Shack's easy parts access)- always a big kick - after that dropped away. What's the best place online to plug into what's going on in SDR?
xvf22 8y ago
I agree, as a mid 30s advanced I feel a bit out of place with the current leadership.

by slr555 8y ago

creeble 8y ago

I just joined ARRL 10 minutes ago. New ham, or more accurately, lapsed for 44 years and ham again since July. I fear I may be too late for a vote at this time, but can't find where I would cast it on arrl.net in any case. Any advice?

vvanders 8y ago

+1 I'd love to see lobbying for symbol rate limits replaced with bandwith limits for digital but it's not even on their radar.

drmpeg 8y ago
The ARRL did petition the FCC to drop the symbol rate rules in 2013. It was met with tremendous opposition. https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=RM-11708&sort=date_disseminated,DESC https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=RM-...
burfog 8y ago
Given that there is more space at higher frequencies, how would you express it? For example: It could be 1% of a band. It could be 0.1% of the center frequency, or perhaps 0.1% of the frequency at the lower edge. Maybe it needs to be expressed in some kind of log(Hz) unit, such as milli-Bel-Hz. I don't think this accommodates spread spectrum very well. One might want to do something like CDMA, spread across the entire band but down in the noise level from the perspective of a traditional transmission.

newman8r 8y ago

I got back into the hobby after letting my license expire years ago. SDR and GNU radio are what pulled me back in. I feel like it's a renaissance for amateur radio.

jcims 8y ago
That’s what got me into it. I’m not particularly social so qso’s around the planet aren’t really interesting to me beyond the basic astonishment of how far 5 watts can go. The ability to tx from a weather balloon at 20 miles up and having an emergency means to communicate are way higher on the list.
- escherplex 8y ago
  Exactly. Terse QSOs get vacuous real quick. Most onair behavior seems to be stuck in the 1950s. With all the spectrum at your disposal, personal apps like (if in FL) monitoring red algae distribution using 23cm-band FPV on drones would be more interesting and practical.
UncleEntity 8y ago
Been pining over a SDR and that (well, TFA really) got me looking into renewing my license I let expire last year, luckily there's a 2-year grace period so all's not lost. Also been wanting to play with some 70cm transceiver chips I got a while back off ebay but never really messed with.
madengr 8y ago
FWIW, here is a GNU Radio based “parallel” scanner I wrote. You can listen to the entire 2m band at once. https://github.com/madengr/ham2mon https://github.com/madengr/ham2mon
8bitsrule 8y ago
I sorely missed the experimental side of the hobby (and the Shack's easy parts access)- always a big kick - after that dropped away. What's the best place online to plug into what's going on in SDR?

xvf22 8y ago

I agree, as a mid 30s advanced I feel a bit out of place with the current leadership.