7 ms·

It's an incredibly broad hobby. I just got my first award by downloading digital images (SSTV) from the ISS using a $35 handheld radio, and that didn't require

It's an incredibly broad hobby. I just got my first award by downloading digital images (SSTV) from the ISS using a $35 handheld radio, and that didn't require any talking at all. There are tons of things you can do, so many that it's hard to sum up. It also combines well with other hobbies. Or it can be a symbol or inspiration of its own kind, an objective reminder that more science in your life is a good thing. One of the biggest advantages is the practically free education. If you upgrade your license you'll learn a lot of really fascinating stuff. I really wish I knew about propagation and differences between the various bands and band schedules back when I was a kid, fooling around with my dad's Patrolman radio. I also learned how effective logging can be, and have applied that in just about every area of my life. Finally, there's just something about breaking the silence and making that call when you're out in the middle of nowhere. Even if you're the world's biggest introvert, you might end up helping somebody by keeping your radio turned on and tuned in. https://old.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/9c9n0q/my_forthever_contact_was_an_emergency/ https://old.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/9c9n0q/my_for...

nopacience 8y ago
care to explain how to download from ISS via radio ?
- themodelplumber 8y ago
  Sure, when the ISS passes over (and is transmitting SSTV--check the ARISS blog or issfanclub.com), tune your radio to 145.800, turn squelch off, and hold up your speaker to (for example) your smartphone which is running a decoder like Robot36. That's just one specific way...the app will auto-save an image to your phone when it's done. Example video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAHJfE7EBlI&t=12s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAHJfE7EBlI&t=12s You can use an app like "ISS Detector" to get alerts when the ISS is over; that one also has an IAP that will show you any amateur radio satellite that's over your head, as well as the uplink and downlink frequencies. (Last time I was listening to cubesat AO-92, my social "nerd antenna" apparently went up to about 1 MW transmitting and I ended up pointing into the clear blue sky a lot while explaining to interested random passers-by why people still use ham radio. :-))
  - ObsoleteNerd 8y ago
    That's so cool, and single-handedly just convinced me to take the plunge and buy a radio to learn more. I've been tempted for a while but had no idea you could do this. I liked the idea of talking to people from far away, but being able to receive stuff from ISS is just next-level awesome.
    - themodelplumber 8y ago
      Right on! You picked a great time in history, with a ham operator (Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor) currently on the ISS and making contacts. It's exciting stuff. :-) Here's one operator's contact from this last Saturday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwm-6tf7KCs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwm-6tf7KCs (That amazing feeling post-contact...funny that he left in those clips, but I definitely identify with the adrenaline rush. :-)) Be sure to check out #hamradio and #hamr on Twitter, and /r/amateurradio on Reddit. Edit: And your local club, too! And welcome!
  - proctor 8y ago
    here's an example of the decoding process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkH5yV4__3U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkH5yV4__3U
  - avip 8y ago
    I can't figure out why, but that clip really made my day. Thanks for sharing it.
cnnrro 8y ago
> I also learned how effective logging can be, and have applied that in just about every area of my life. This statement really piqued my curiosity. Would you mind expanding on it?
- themodelplumber 8y ago
  Sure, as a radio operator, even just a listener-operator, you quickly find that A) you are expected to keep a log, and in many situations _must_ keep a log (contests are a good example), and B) a log easily runs circles around your memory. As it turns out, logs also provide a helpful context for bridging the gap between the subjective and objective lenses, both of which are helpful and needed for solving problems, reaching goals, etc. no matter the activity. In many areas of life, I knew I was really far too subjective due to my research into my personal psychology (I'm a professional coach) and wondered about different ways I could be _more_ objective without actually becoming an external sensing-measuring device. :-) Reading about logging tools like SINPO[0] helped me intuitively identify new ways of logging & spreadsheeting my way through different activities and situations. As an example, when I get sick, I now engage this logging skill rather than just feeling my way through the illness, and I get to see some really cool emergent properties of this new personal system. I usually monitor my vitals in addition to writing down some subjective 1-10 ratings of how I feel in terms of general wellbeing, nausea, depression, and anxiety as the day passes. I have an autoimmune condition and while I can't just take a pill and cure that, my logs have shown me the peaks and troughs of amplitude within every passing hour of severe illness, when those illnesses come. I discovered that as I watch this data I can be more nuanced about the way I treat my sick time, and ended up actually getting productive work done that I _wanted to get done_ while "sick", by recognizing the high points and patterns in rest and energy buildup. "Riding the waves" with more precision, so to speak. There is also the analytical side of this, where I'll occasionally look back through my logs and see icons like a circled "!!!" which means "wow you tried something new here and it worked amazingly well, please add this to your toolkit for this activity from now on." Because you're effectively engaging more of your "sensor suite," you kind of feel more like the space ship that can navigate the asteroid field vs. the one that really gets banged up. When you fold in the analysis step, it's like you're now better able to approach even more treacherous asteroid fields--your machinery is getting upgrades over time. Incidentally, when I meet up with a doctor, I can be much more accurate about what happened and when. I do the same logging thing at work, and now keep logs as part of just about every project. In some cases this is a literal mini-blog on a web page, and in other cases it's a text file tucked somewhere 15 folders deep, and in still other cases it's a small mark in the margin of a paper journal page. I also discovered that this helps with other hobbies. I run RPGs for my kids and develop my own table-top RPGs, and keeping a log is a huge tip for a really effective campaign. Later on the log can become a published, written narrative (e.g. Record of Lodoss War), or mined for new ideas. I used to struggle to keep a personal journal, but I've since found that I can more easily approach the practice by starting from the "Stardate" mindset and being a tad more robotic regarding current circumstances than I can by trying to keep the personal history that used to come to mind when I'd consider journaling. Another thing I've learned is that we are extremely brittle about this practice, as a society. Our thinking about keeping logs tends to be black & white (a common sign of lack of education on the matter) and we hesitate or think in terms like "OCD" when people around us really leverage this practice[1]. IMO this is really unfortunate. Anyway I hope this expands on it a bit! 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO_code 1. https://qz.com/507727/a-man-who-recorded-his-every-sneeze-for-five-years-might-have-a-fix-for-your-pollen-allergy/ https://qz.com/507727/a-man-who-recorded-his-every-sneeze-fo... (example)
wrmsr 8y ago
> Finally, there's just something about breaking the silence and making that call when you're out in the middle of nowhere. Even if you're the world's biggest introvert, you might end up helping somebody by keeping your radio turned on and tuned in. Words to live by.

nopacience 8y ago

care to explain how to download from ISS via radio ?

themodelplumber 8y ago
Sure, when the ISS passes over (and is transmitting SSTV--check the ARISS blog or issfanclub.com), tune your radio to 145.800, turn squelch off, and hold up your speaker to (for example) your smartphone which is running a decoder like Robot36. That's just one specific way...the app will auto-save an image to your phone when it's done. Example video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAHJfE7EBlI&t=12s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAHJfE7EBlI&t=12s You can use an app like "ISS Detector" to get alerts when the ISS is over; that one also has an IAP that will show you any amateur radio satellite that's over your head, as well as the uplink and downlink frequencies. (Last time I was listening to cubesat AO-92, my social "nerd antenna" apparently went up to about 1 MW transmitting and I ended up pointing into the clear blue sky a lot while explaining to interested random passers-by why people still use ham radio. :-))
- ObsoleteNerd 8y ago
  That's so cool, and single-handedly just convinced me to take the plunge and buy a radio to learn more. I've been tempted for a while but had no idea you could do this. I liked the idea of talking to people from far away, but being able to receive stuff from ISS is just next-level awesome.
  - themodelplumber 8y ago
    Right on! You picked a great time in history, with a ham operator (Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor) currently on the ISS and making contacts. It's exciting stuff. :-) Here's one operator's contact from this last Saturday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwm-6tf7KCs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwm-6tf7KCs (That amazing feeling post-contact...funny that he left in those clips, but I definitely identify with the adrenaline rush. :-)) Be sure to check out #hamradio and #hamr on Twitter, and /r/amateurradio on Reddit. Edit: And your local club, too! And welcome!
- proctor 8y ago
  here's an example of the decoding process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkH5yV4__3U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkH5yV4__3U
- avip 8y ago
  I can't figure out why, but that clip really made my day. Thanks for sharing it.

cnnrro 8y ago

> I also learned how effective logging can be, and have applied that in just about every area of my life. This statement really piqued my curiosity. Would you mind expanding on it?

themodelplumber 8y ago
Sure, as a radio operator, even just a listener-operator, you quickly find that A) you are expected to keep a log, and in many situations _must_ keep a log (contests are a good example), and B) a log easily runs circles around your memory. As it turns out, logs also provide a helpful context for bridging the gap between the subjective and objective lenses, both of which are helpful and needed for solving problems, reaching goals, etc. no matter the activity. In many areas of life, I knew I was really far too subjective due to my research into my personal psychology (I'm a professional coach) and wondered about different ways I could be _more_ objective without actually becoming an external sensing-measuring device. :-) Reading about logging tools like SINPO[0] helped me intuitively identify new ways of logging & spreadsheeting my way through different activities and situations. As an example, when I get sick, I now engage this logging skill rather than just feeling my way through the illness, and I get to see some really cool emergent properties of this new personal system. I usually monitor my vitals in addition to writing down some subjective 1-10 ratings of how I feel in terms of general wellbeing, nausea, depression, and anxiety as the day passes. I have an autoimmune condition and while I can't just take a pill and cure that, my logs have shown me the peaks and troughs of amplitude within every passing hour of severe illness, when those illnesses come. I discovered that as I watch this data I can be more nuanced about the way I treat my sick time, and ended up actually getting productive work done that I _wanted to get done_ while "sick", by recognizing the high points and patterns in rest and energy buildup. "Riding the waves" with more precision, so to speak. There is also the analytical side of this, where I'll occasionally look back through my logs and see icons like a circled "!!!" which means "wow you tried something new here and it worked amazingly well, please add this to your toolkit for this activity from now on." Because you're effectively engaging more of your "sensor suite," you kind of feel more like the space ship that can navigate the asteroid field vs. the one that really gets banged up. When you fold in the analysis step, it's like you're now better able to approach even more treacherous asteroid fields--your machinery is getting upgrades over time. Incidentally, when I meet up with a doctor, I can be much more accurate about what happened and when. I do the same logging thing at work, and now keep logs as part of just about every project. In some cases this is a literal mini-blog on a web page, and in other cases it's a text file tucked somewhere 15 folders deep, and in still other cases it's a small mark in the margin of a paper journal page. I also discovered that this helps with other hobbies. I run RPGs for my kids and develop my own table-top RPGs, and keeping a log is a huge tip for a really effective campaign. Later on the log can become a published, written narrative (e.g. Record of Lodoss War), or mined for new ideas. I used to struggle to keep a personal journal, but I've since found that I can more easily approach the practice by starting from the "Stardate" mindset and being a tad more robotic regarding current circumstances than I can by trying to keep the personal history that used to come to mind when I'd consider journaling. Another thing I've learned is that we are extremely brittle about this practice, as a society. Our thinking about keeping logs tends to be black & white (a common sign of lack of education on the matter) and we hesitate or think in terms like "OCD" when people around us really leverage this practice[1]. IMO this is really unfortunate. Anyway I hope this expands on it a bit! 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO_code 1. https://qz.com/507727/a-man-who-recorded-his-every-sneeze-for-five-years-might-have-a-fix-for-your-pollen-allergy/ https://qz.com/507727/a-man-who-recorded-his-every-sneeze-fo... (example)

wrmsr 8y ago

> Finally, there's just something about breaking the silence and making that call when you're out in the middle of nowhere. Even if you're the world's biggest introvert, you might end up helping somebody by keeping your radio turned on and tuned in. Words to live by.