Alan,
Anyone here into internet radio?
I am...because my neighborhood seemingly attracts lightning strikes
during thunderstorms. I'm a 2 time lightning strike survivor myself
(although I carry no electrical charge, and can be handled safely (hi hi)),
but I've also been under 2 tornadic funnel clouds, within a mile of 2 rain wrapped tornadoes, and nearly drowned in a flash flood over 40 years ago.
The QTH is what once was my parents home...my Dad died in February, 2007, with my wife dying 2 1/2 months later...and my Mom died in August, 2019.
My wife and I never had children, and my brother was almost killed in a
freak motorcycle wreck not 3 months after my wife died. Basically, we're
the last of our line.
Except for gender, he and I are as different as night and day, in
regards to hobbies, interests, etc. My late Mom's late brother was the
only other ham radio operator in the family. He knew I was licensed,
but he became a Silent Key nearly 20 years ago now. While I have the
hobbies of ham radio, the BBS, and square dancing, my brother has none.
While the "purists" vehemently declare that "any form of internet
radio is NOT ham radio", they fail to realize or accept that:
1) None of us is getting any younger.
2) One's health can change in the blink of an eye.
These are so true with me...in the last 6 weeks, I've had 2 attacks
of atrial flutter, and have been hospitalized twice. While I've never
smoked or chewed tobacco, or drank alcoholic beverages in my life, I
am wearing a heart monitor right now...and am leery about RFI.
An FCC official several years ago noted that "we are communicators
first, and ham radio operators second".
Recently, I was on one of these "internet modes" (i.e. CQ100, D-Star
with a ThumbDV, Packet Via Telnet, Echolink, D-Rats, and Winlink via
Winlink Express...which is what I operate), when I ran into an elderly
ham, who was in tears. He had been in the hobby all of his life, and his
health had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, where he'd have to go
to an assisted living center, where RF gear was a no-no, due to the
RFI that could cause medical devices to malfunction, resulting in
someone's death.
The old man was just devastated...and I told him that "you don't
have to give up the hobby...just how you operate". So, I told him
about those modes I noted above, and his tears of despair became tears
of joy. He asked "How can I ever thank you??", and I said to him "Think nothing of it". I was doing a forum at a hamfest in Russellville, Arkansas
2 years ago (before COVID-19 shut everything down), and when I noted "Even though I operate 'internet radio', I'm still on the air, and my license is
not just a sheet of paper"...I got an ovation of applause from the group.
Also, in central Arkansas, what D-Star and DMR repeaters are here,
are NOT on the gateway...you have to have a rig to use it. Yet, with
all the clubs around here bickering about which club is better (including handling severe weather), and no one wants to combine forces to work
together for a central Arkansas hamfest (the last one in Little Rock was
2016), I've concentrated my on air work outside of central Arkansas.
A couple of years ago, I went to a central Arkansas area high school,
to speak with their ham radio club, and to do a demo of internet radio.
Most kids are not rolling in money (have you seen the prices of some of
the rigs lately??), and some of these rigs could cost as much as either
a semester's college tuition, or the required textbooks!! The kids were thrilled that they could still get on the air (once they got their ham
radio license), and not have to worry about things like rigs, antennas,
towers, coaxial cable, power supplies, SWR meters, etc.
While I'm still webmaster for The Cabot Nightflyers Net, we can't get
a node to host it, and no one wants to be Net Control (the original one
had to quit due to work schedule, and burn out). I am the VE Team Liaison
for the University Of Arkansas At Little Rock (UALR) Ham Radio Club...
they have a license server that mirrors the FCC ULS.
I have a PDF file in my D-Rats shared folder, and in a link off of a hyperlink on my QRZ bio, to things like "Operating Internet Radio",
"Setting Up Netlogger", and "Ham Radio Humor", among several other
topics.
Also at that hyperlink, are Excel Spreadsheets of selected D-Star,
Echolink, and D-Rats Nets, in the 4 main US time zones (Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific), with at least 200 monthly nets (truly, too many
nets, and too little time). I started that because what was at the nets
page on dstarinfo.com was WOEFULLY OUT OF DATE (and I understand, STILL
IS). I originally began the page as a page for Echolink Nets, but then
added D-Star and D-Rats. There are some other pages for DMR, CQ100,
HamSphere, and Christian Related Nets, but I do NOT maintain them.
I started the net listing with a PDF file, but then with the help of
Gary, VA3GDZ, converted it to Excel Spreadsheets. You need Microsoft
Office, LibreOffice, or OpenOffice for the spreadsheets...and a program
such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, Fox-It, etc. to view the PDF files.
Now, I realize that if my power or internet are off, I am QRT. But,
I have far too many health issues now to worry about doing emergency communications. Never mind the fact that not even $1200 a month on
disability for me doesn't go very far. Besides, if you look in a ham
radio product catalog, and it says CALL/WEB, then that rig is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for you.
You will find tons of people ready, willing, and able, to check into
a traffic net, especially as "a bean for the count". But, don't even
think about asking them to be Net Control, a club officer, etc. --
because if looks could kill, you'd fall over dead!! I'm doing the nets
that I do (a file of such is at the hyperlink noted earlier), because
I enjoy it, and no one else wants to do the job as Net Control.
Many of these hams are what I refer to as "Hi, Bye, and QSY"...where
it's "Net Control, Please Checkin [Callsign], [Name], [Location], Short
Time, No Traffic"...and not a minute later, they're doing the exact same
thing on another net...sometimes several times in an evening. Rick, KA2BSM,
who works with the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in the Memphis, Tennessee area (he helped me get registered on the gateway), wonders "Do
these folks have a life outside of ham radio??".
There is NO PRIZE, BONUS, AWARD, CERTIFICATE, etc. for seeing how many
nets you can check into in an evening. To me, folks who are doing such are
in the hobby strictly for their ego. And, this is a HOBBY -- it should
NEVER take priority over things like church, family, health, job, or especially honey-do's -- in the latter case, that rig you have your eye
on for your birthday or Christmas, is going back to the candy store
(hi hi).
It has gotten to be such "a mad rush pileup" with other nets, that I
either wait toward the end of the net to checkin, or I don't even bother.
The main time I am on the air is for nets that I am running, to take a
net for another Net Control (as I had to do last night), or for a sked
request. I have other things in my life right now, that are far more
important than my hobbies ham radio, my BBS, or square dancing. Without
one's health, you have nothing.
Again, I agree with the what the FCC official said years ago:
"We're communicators first, and hams second".
More info on me is in my bio at the hyperlink noted above.
Daryl, WX4QZ
... Ham Radio QRP: When you care the most to send the very least.
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