It's relatively easy but you have to admit it's not as easy to assemble as through hole. If you disagree, you must have never built a through hole project (it's a walk in the park compared to SMD).
Just "ham" will do, it's no acronym. No need to capitalize anything in this hobby.
FWIW, I'm a ham experimenter, I homebrew things quite often. Ham radio is, and has always been, about experimentation and learning/discovery- everything else is ancillary. True, the numbers have dropped significantly since the advent of the internet and web but I'd argue that many of those were the "appliance operators" who played with ham radio simply because there was no good, technical alternative.
Today, ham radio operators make up about 1% of the population in the US, Canada and European countries (my own calculations done a couple years ago). The numbers are not staggering, but the technical prowess of this small cadre of hobbyists is huge. While not all in today's ham community are experimenters, in the past not all were experimenters then. Part of the reason of the decline in the DIY movement in ham radio is the obsolescence of through-hole parts for RF circuitry. The "IF can" is one such part I've been searching for recently. Toko, the largest manufacturer of this part, discontinued the line as more and more product manufacturers moved to SMT. Granted, there are plenty of parts to make plenty of radio kits and projects - I'm just citing one example of the trend.
Your assessment of the CB-ification of ham radio is spot on. That is the moment that hams will know the end is nigh. Already with the Morse Code requirement being lifted many old-timers said it would be the death of radio. It actually allowed license numbers to swell (relatively) following that shift. Morse Code as a method of communication is not ideal, but it has its uses as a hobby. There's no need to require anyone to learn Morse Code just as there's no reason to require every would-be programmer to learn Assembly. You can operate at a higher level and still enjoy the experience.
So why is ham radio still relevant? Because society still doesn't know everything about RF and propagation. Because hams are still making discoveries. Because ham radio is one of many outlets for the hardware hacker. Because we don't know what the future holds, but hams will continue to experiment and publish their findings which can be used in industry and further research in physics, astronomy and engineering.
Sure there's market value in the spectrum that has been set aside as a non-profit playground for a bunch of amateur hobbyists, should we sell it off because it's worth money? Why not sell off the National Parks system? They're not all making money hand over fist (if at all). All that land for sale could really make a fortune for the US government. (Imagine the view on those condos peering out over the peak of every hill and dale in Yellowstone - the rent on those things could be a real goldmine!) Selling a finite resource without putting aside some for recreation, enjoyment and research is short-sighted. Financiers swoop in and pay top dollar today for a resource you can never get back. That money is squandered on bureaucracy and waste and in no time the money is gone, yet your public loss of the resource perpetuates into tomorrow. What then? To what end are we willing to sell short tomorrow's playground for today's quick cash?
True, you can talk to someone around the world in a ton of different ways, but can you do it point-to-point without any other infrastructure? I'm still amazed at times when I talk from my home (or car) here in Northeast Texas to someone in California, Kansas or New York. (I can just flip on the radio and work those stations with a coat hanger for an antenna.) Or can you reach another person over 500miles away off of a radio running off a 9V battery inside an Altoids tin?
For me, it's the technical side of the hobby that interests me. Sure I can go buy a radio and spend hundreds of dollars on some new commercialized antenna design, but do you really know how that thing works? How about with a radio you built on a wire dipole you measured out and cut to the precise frequency? That's where the magic is. When you understand every step along the way that makes the electrons in your mic excite electrons on the other guy's speaker. It's fascinating to actually do. Reading it in a book or online, understanding the theory is cool, but actually doing it - that's where I get my enjoyment.
(Which is probably why I abhor the guys that just go buy an HT and talk on local repeaters and act like some bastard step-child of the local police or fire department.)
I think some of the luster of the hobby was lost when the technical understanding required in the hobby went out the window. So many guys use radios they've just bought and have little or no understanding of how radio works. So often guys have no notion of how AM, SSB, FM or CW are different. I don't know many guys that can crack open a radio and pin point where the "front end" of their radio is or find the oscillator - if something just stops working on their little mass-produced HT, they just buy a new one so they can check into their weekly net. To me, the true ham is a technically capable individual that has the skill set, equipment and ingenuity to see himself through a situation like the upper west coast has seen recently.
FWIW, the "ham" in ham radio radio is not an abbreviation. It's just ham.
There's no definitive answer on the matter, but it goes back to the days when ham radio operators had better sets than the old Navy radios (in spark-gap radio days). Amateur radio operators had more efficient radios and were more powerful than the "professional" radio sets at the time, when a Navy radio operator would try to use the frequency his set was tuned for he may hear some guys "hamming it up" on the air. After a while the saying was commonplace and the term "ham" stuck.
Officially it's known as Amateur Radio, but most people just refer to it as ham radio.
"And now you know the rest of the story, good day!"
I'm not 60.
A vast majority are, but ham radio was the "cool" thing when they were younger, now we have these new-fangled computers and Internets with it's tubes and everything. All the old-school hackers were hams. In the 70s and 80s they all moved toward computers. There's still a subset of younger hams (I'm 27 and almost always younger than anyone I meet on the air.).
Also of note is the fact that Morse code was dropped from ham testing almost a year ago. The jury was out on whether licensing would pick up or not change. After monitoring and graphing the growth in a horribly ugly script, the number are in and - nothing changed really. There was a spike of "lazy" or tone-deaf hams upgrading, but that was about it.
Here's my ugly graph: http://n5dux.com/ham/issued/
Right, you're not supposed to read the slides to your audience. Most of the time they can read it for themselves. (If they can't you might consider a new font/size)
Your points should be a clear, concise phrase about the subject of your point, not exactly what you're saying there. The presentation should be an outline of where you've been so your audience can better follow you.
I can't stand professors and lecturers that read to me from a powerpoint that (most likely) one of their assistants actually made for them.
I'm pretty sure this was on digg a few hours ago. Anywho, this is what I posted there:
Some of the items on here, while they suck in retrospect, they were awesome when they came out, but you can't judge the past based on today's terms. The impact of some of these spawned new products and ideas. I disagree with some of their inclusions to the "Worst Tech of all time". Especially the items listed in the (dis)honorable mention category. True, some of the products sucked, but I can think of worse offerings. What they got wrong: - AOL "was" cool before there were many dialup ISPs... most of you have been AOL users at one point or another. - Real "was" cool before they started hi-jacking the system and changing codecs nightly. - The IBM 75GXP was an awesome hard drive for some. (I still have mine) It never cratered on me... - The Timex Datalink watch was awesome. Period. - The Newton was cool before Palm. - Motorola Rokr. Was there a better alternative at the time? - The Zip Drive held more than most people's HDs when it came out. If it weren't for the low price of CD-R/RW drives, more people might still be using them.
Some products were cool, but their exection was poor. In this category: - 3Com Audrey it does have broadband support, you need a USB network adapter. I have one here. - PointCast had a great concept. Poor management and marketing. - CueCat sucked in reality. The plan was awesome, and they're a helluva lot of fun to play with now! (thanks eBay!)
I also don't like the use "of all time" in all of these online "Top/Best/Worst ___" Lists. I especially don't like how they sensationalize a short list of items that one guy dislikes... and "of all time" goes back to 1989? Is the author 17 years old?
This is great and all, but who's to say the argument won't spring up in another 3 to 4 years. The only reason ICANN actually has authority is because they say who has control of the root servers.
If an international body setup their own root servers and decided they would all use them, then only the US would have control of the current roots. Then, if you wanted your website to look the same to the rest of the world as it does to the US, you would have to deal with both governing bodies (US and world).
It could be a headache, and the only thing keeping the ICANN in control is that the majority of the world currently lets them be in control. It can be snatched away relatively easily.
For those of you looking to get a JuiceBox, but were discouraged to find your local WalMart or Target with a price higher than expected, call again; or go check again. After calling ahead yesterday to find the price ~$24.00, I went to Target expecting to pay that for the JuiceBox. I get there today, and find they have them marked down to half of that - now ~$12.00. I guess the price change went into effect here sometime over the last 24hrs.
Also, you will need the MP3 Conversion kit, which is also marked down to ~$11.00. And you will need 3 AA batteries, which happen to be available up in the $1-bins at the front of the store. (A 4-pack of Eveready for $1.00, not bad)
FYI : just check your prices again. Happy hacking.
I'm in East Texas, the nearest Target has them on sale for $24. What other stores have them marked down? Maybe give a store number if you can find it on target.com's store locator. That way, those of us that are not near a $12-store can say, "Hey Target #xxx has it for $12, why not you?"
On top of that, I'm not so much concerned with the kernel as a I am the usability of the Operating System. As long as the kernel executes and triggers what I tell it to, I could care less if it's the Windows kernel or Linux or what-have-you. Give me my bash, give me my/-tree.
Slashdot Mirror
No, no, no. They spent $100 Million to develop it, but it didn't cost that - there's a difference.
No, I'm not lumping BGA in with surface mount.
It's relatively easy but you have to admit it's not as easy to assemble as through hole. If you disagree, you must have never built a through hole project (it's a walk in the park compared to SMD).
Just "ham" will do, it's no acronym. No need to capitalize anything in this hobby.
FWIW, I'm a ham experimenter, I homebrew things quite often. Ham radio is, and has always been, about experimentation and learning/discovery- everything else is ancillary. True, the numbers have dropped significantly since the advent of the internet and web but I'd argue that many of those were the "appliance operators" who played with ham radio simply because there was no good, technical alternative.
Today, ham radio operators make up about 1% of the population in the US, Canada and European countries (my own calculations done a couple years ago). The numbers are not staggering, but the technical prowess of this small cadre of hobbyists is huge. While not all in today's ham community are experimenters, in the past not all were experimenters then. Part of the reason of the decline in the DIY movement in ham radio is the obsolescence of through-hole parts for RF circuitry. The "IF can" is one such part I've been searching for recently. Toko, the largest manufacturer of this part, discontinued the line as more and more product manufacturers moved to SMT. Granted, there are plenty of parts to make plenty of radio kits and projects - I'm just citing one example of the trend.
Your assessment of the CB-ification of ham radio is spot on. That is the moment that hams will know the end is nigh. Already with the Morse Code requirement being lifted many old-timers said it would be the death of radio. It actually allowed license numbers to swell (relatively) following that shift. Morse Code as a method of communication is not ideal, but it has its uses as a hobby. There's no need to require anyone to learn Morse Code just as there's no reason to require every would-be programmer to learn Assembly. You can operate at a higher level and still enjoy the experience.
So why is ham radio still relevant? Because society still doesn't know everything about RF and propagation. Because hams are still making discoveries. Because ham radio is one of many outlets for the hardware hacker. Because we don't know what the future holds, but hams will continue to experiment and publish their findings which can be used in industry and further research in physics, astronomy and engineering.
Sure there's market value in the spectrum that has been set aside as a non-profit playground for a bunch of amateur hobbyists, should we sell it off because it's worth money? Why not sell off the National Parks system? They're not all making money hand over fist (if at all). All that land for sale could really make a fortune for the US government. (Imagine the view on those condos peering out over the peak of every hill and dale in Yellowstone - the rent on those things could be a real goldmine!) Selling a finite resource without putting aside some for recreation, enjoyment and research is short-sighted. Financiers swoop in and pay top dollar today for a resource you can never get back. That money is squandered on bureaucracy and waste and in no time the money is gone, yet your public loss of the resource perpetuates into tomorrow. What then? To what end are we willing to sell short tomorrow's playground for today's quick cash?
"from the SRTADCAS/REELN dept"? WTF is that?
C'mon Slashdot, if you're going to use Morse code in the dept line, at least look it up and make something witty. My how things have changed here.
In his honor, I'd like to link to the 3D paper dragon that was created for Gathering for Gardner.
RIP Gardner.
So, basically, it sucks on its own merits.
Isn't this kinda old news? I thought UPS announced they were doing this a couple of years ago.
True, you can talk to someone around the world in a ton of different ways, but can you do it point-to-point without any other infrastructure? I'm still amazed at times when I talk from my home (or car) here in Northeast Texas to someone in California, Kansas or New York. (I can just flip on the radio and work those stations with a coat hanger for an antenna.) Or can you reach another person over 500miles away off of a radio running off a 9V battery inside an Altoids tin?
For me, it's the technical side of the hobby that interests me. Sure I can go buy a radio and spend hundreds of dollars on some new commercialized antenna design, but do you really know how that thing works? How about with a radio you built on a wire dipole you measured out and cut to the precise frequency? That's where the magic is. When you understand every step along the way that makes the electrons in your mic excite electrons on the other guy's speaker. It's fascinating to actually do. Reading it in a book or online, understanding the theory is cool, but actually doing it - that's where I get my enjoyment.
(Which is probably why I abhor the guys that just go buy an HT and talk on local repeaters and act like some bastard step-child of the local police or fire department.)
I think some of the luster of the hobby was lost when the technical understanding required in the hobby went out the window. So many guys use radios they've just bought and have little or no understanding of how radio works. So often guys have no notion of how AM, SSB, FM or CW are different. I don't know many guys that can crack open a radio and pin point where the "front end" of their radio is or find the oscillator - if something just stops working on their little mass-produced HT, they just buy a new one so they can check into their weekly net.
To me, the true ham is a technically capable individual that has the skill set, equipment and ingenuity to see himself through a situation like the upper west coast has seen recently.
FWIW, the "ham" in ham radio radio is not an abbreviation. It's just ham.
There's no definitive answer on the matter, but it goes back to the days when ham radio operators had better sets than the old Navy radios (in spark-gap radio days). Amateur radio operators had more efficient radios and were more powerful than the "professional" radio sets at the time, when a Navy radio operator would try to use the frequency his set was tuned for he may hear some guys "hamming it up" on the air. After a while the saying was commonplace and the term "ham" stuck.
Officially it's known as Amateur Radio, but most people just refer to it as ham radio.
"And now you know the rest of the story, good day!"
I'm not 60.
A vast majority are, but ham radio was the "cool" thing when they were younger, now we have these new-fangled computers and Internets with it's tubes and everything. All the old-school hackers were hams. In the 70s and 80s they all moved toward computers. There's still a subset of younger hams (I'm 27 and almost always younger than anyone I meet on the air.).
Also of note is the fact that Morse code was dropped from ham testing almost a year ago. The jury was out on whether licensing would pick up or not change. After monitoring and graphing the growth in a horribly ugly script, the number are in and - nothing changed really. There was a spike of "lazy" or tone-deaf hams upgrading, but that was about it.
Here's my ugly graph: http://n5dux.com/ham/issued/
73, de N5DUX (Extra with code)
CQ CQ CQ de N5DUX Any other hams up for some Meteor Scatter?
Right, you're not supposed to read the slides to your audience. Most of the time they can read it for themselves. (If they can't you might consider a new font/size)
Your points should be a clear, concise phrase about the subject of your point, not exactly what you're saying there.
The presentation should be an outline of where you've been so your audience can better follow you.
I can't stand professors and lecturers that read to me from a powerpoint that (most likely) one of their assistants actually made for them.
I'm pretty sure this was on digg a few hours ago. Anywho, this is what I posted there:
Some of the items on here, while they suck in retrospect, they were awesome when they came out, but you can't judge the past based on today's terms. The impact of some of these spawned new products and ideas.
I disagree with some of their inclusions to the "Worst Tech of all time". Especially the items listed in the (dis)honorable mention category. True, some of the products sucked, but I can think of worse offerings.
What they got wrong:
- AOL "was" cool before there were many dialup ISPs... most of you have been AOL users at one point or another.
- Real "was" cool before they started hi-jacking the system and changing codecs nightly.
- The IBM 75GXP was an awesome hard drive for some. (I still have mine) It never cratered on me...
- The Timex Datalink watch was awesome. Period.
- The Newton was cool before Palm.
- Motorola Rokr. Was there a better alternative at the time?
- The Zip Drive held more than most people's HDs when it came out. If it weren't for the low price of CD-R/RW drives, more people might still be using them.
Some products were cool, but their exection was poor. In this category:
- 3Com Audrey it does have broadband support, you need a USB network adapter. I have one here.
- PointCast had a great concept. Poor management and marketing.
- CueCat sucked in reality. The plan was awesome, and they're a helluva lot of fun to play with now! (thanks eBay!)
I also don't like the use "of all time" in all of these online "Top/Best/Worst ___" Lists. I especially don't like how they sensationalize a short list of items that one guy dislikes... and "of all time" goes back to 1989? Is the author 17 years old?
This is great and all, but who's to say the argument won't spring up in another 3 to 4 years. The only reason ICANN actually has authority is because they say who has control of the root servers. If an international body setup their own root servers and decided they would all use them, then only the US would have control of the current roots. Then, if you wanted your website to look the same to the rest of the world as it does to the US, you would have to deal with both governing bodies (US and world). It could be a headache, and the only thing keeping the ICANN in control is that the majority of the world currently lets them be in control. It can be snatched away relatively easily.
Avatar from the clip: pwn3d!
...and yeah, this is old news. HamSexy.com linked it the day of.
For those of you looking to get a JuiceBox, but were discouraged to find your local WalMart or Target with a price higher than expected, call again; or go check again. After calling ahead yesterday to find the price ~$24.00, I went to Target expecting to pay that for the JuiceBox. I get there today, and find they have them marked down to half of that - now ~$12.00. I guess the price change went into effect here sometime over the last 24hrs.
Also, you will need the MP3 Conversion kit, which is also marked down to ~$11.00.
And you will need 3 AA batteries, which happen to be available up in the $1-bins at the front of the store. (A 4-pack of Eveready for $1.00, not bad)
FYI : just check your prices again. Happy hacking.
I'm in East Texas, the nearest Target has them on sale for $24. What other stores have them marked down? Maybe give a store number if you can find it on target.com's store locator. That way, those of us that are not near a $12-store can say, "Hey Target #xxx has it for $12, why not you?"
...wow, it was a first post. Amazing, truly an honor.
This might be a first post - but probably not...
Eeeeexcellent! All the more reason you should move to Linux.
Instead of batteries, can I get a cigarette lighter adapter for this thing???
(see what i did there? har har)
I read /. from my cell phone's 'web browser' during a defensive driving class.
How about over lynx via an SSH connection when the web-proxy @ work went down?
(I also played TTYQuake over SSH too)
the kernel is still quite different from Windows.
/-tree.
On top of that, I'm not so much concerned with the kernel as a I am the usability of the Operating System. As long as the kernel executes and triggers what I tell it to, I could care less if it's the Windows kernel or Linux or what-have-you. Give me my bash, give me my
Dear Mac gamers,
Don't forget to Right-click when you want to zoom, call artillery, switch to the TNT plunger, etc.
Sincerely,
PC BF1942 players of the world.
wow. pretty neat seeing a story go up between Refresh clicks.