Author Archive
Amateur Radio Website Technology Patent Causes Uproar
December 30th, 2009 | 
Author: The popular amateur radio forum website iHam announced today that it has received a patent for a recycling technology developed by their staff over the past several years. The proprietary process enables iHam staff to turn fecal matter into text which is then posted on their website in the form of an article. The technology eliminates the need for humans to author articles, a process which requires time and effort. It also eliminates the need for editors to review the material, reject bad articles, and correct mistakes, misinformation, and mispellings in articles. iHam staff indicated that they can "have anyone be an editor now, even those without any editing inclination or experience", noting that feces can be fed into the system and one merely pushes a button for the article text to appear on the iHam website.
Rival forum website QRM is expected to file a lawsuit to block the patent citing prior art by providing articles from its website dating back to 2003. One insider familiar with QRM's process I spoke with on the condition of anonymity and a free case of Yuengling Lager stated that a QRM lawsuit would be unsuccesful. "Their technology is quite different from iHam's." he said. "Although their process also recycles fecal material, they use monkeys in a room to fling it onto a whiteboard to form the article text. iHam's process is much more high tech and efficient. I think you can see the difference in the quality of articles when comparing iHam to QRM. QRM has had only limited and sporadic success with its technique, but iHam has had its patented technology work consistently for the past several years."
It's been reported that several cable news networks, a UNIX operating system intellectual property litigation firm, and a propagation prediction report are interested in licensing and using the technology. However, even without merit, the lawsuit may delay iHam's plan to monetize the patent, the proceeds of which have been slated to buy more colors and modern fonts for the popular website.
The amateur radio advocacy group Radio Amateur Remembrance League (RARL) may also be jumping into the fray and is rumored to be examining the patent to see if it infringes on material they had used previously for a regulation by bandwidth proposal and by a digital subcommittee that rubber-stamped a popular HF email standard. When asked about their position on the patent, Worldcommunications Online responded that their statement would be online in the February 2010 issue which was going to press next week and slated for uploading to their website in a month and a half.
The patent has certainly created a lot of noise in amateur radio and is starting out 2010 with a bang. Stay tuned.
(After coming to my house and eating all my crackers and licorice, The K3NG Report legal team has informed me that I have to tell all viewers that the above story is fictional satire, and not a real news story. The names have been changed to protect the guilty and any resemblance to any organizations or websites, living or dead, is purely intentional. There is no confidential informant and I haven't gotten anyone to talk with a free case of beer. Actually, there were several cases of beer and it was my legal team drinking it and doing a lot of talking. I'm told only political TV networks pretending to be news channels are allowed to create news articles that are totally fictional. No animals were injured in the making of this blog article, however the egos of several amateur radio operators may be bruised when reading it. I'm told that's OK.)
We Are Not Amateurs
I've felt for a long time that the moniker radio amateur is outdated. I think the term ham is even worse, bringing to mind old, crusty, cynical ultra-conservative balding overweight white men, even if the stereotype is largely accurate. I avoid using the term ham, though I find many non-amateurs in the general population don't recognize what I'm talking about until I call this hobby....errr service....ham radio. But I digress.
We have to consider how amateur radio has changed over the past 60 years. We're no longer a group that the gubermint is going to call up for radio operators like they did in WWII. We're not inventing any cutting edge technology. Today we merely play with new ways to do things, mainly with computers and software, and we have developed new applications like APRS but it's still the same basic communication. Industry is not coming to us for the next 5G wireless technology. Amateur communications used to mirror commercial communications on HF, with CW and Q signals, and a lot of jargon and equipment that was nearly interchangeable. Today the military doesn't use HF, MARS (at least one branch I think) has dropped CW, and commercial HF maritime operation has become more a historical and preservation endeavor. We have evolved amateur radio in a sort of time capsule over the years while the rest of the world has changed around us. Contesting has evolved into its own sport with roots perhaps in the old days of radio relay networks when DX was 100 miles. Our Emcomm efforts, while noble efforts by those who donate their time, energy, and equipment, are largely exercises in preparation for events in which our services will unfortunately not be requested or required by agencies. If the big nucular bomb hits, I doubt any of us are going to be playing radio.
We do have a thriving and diverse community within amateur radio, or perhaps I should say communities. We have the QRPers, the contesters, the Emcomm folks, digital people, AMers, Slow Scan TVers, CW afficienados, satellite fans, APRSers, foxhunters, D-STARs, and 80m phone roundtable dweebs. Each group practices and refines their amateur radio art to some extent. And it is an art.
Even the FCC recognizes the term art in Part 97.1(b):
" Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art."
1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
2. the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: a museum of art; an art collection.
3. a field, genre, or category of art: Dance is an art.
4. the fine arts collectively, often excluding architecture: art and architecture.
5. any field using the skills or techniques of art: advertising art; industrial art.
6. (in printed matter) illustrative or decorative material: Is there any art with the copy for this story?
7. the principles or methods governing any craft or branch of learning: the art of baking; the art of selling.
8. the craft or trade using these principles or methods.
9. skill in conducting any human activity: a master at the art of conversation.
10. a branch of learning or university study, esp. one of the fine arts or the humanities, as music, philosophy, or literature.
11. arts,
a. (used with a singular verb ) the humanities: a college of arts and sciences.
b. (used with a plural verb
12. skilled workmanship, execution, or agency, as distinguished from nature.
13. trickery; cunning: glib and devious art.
14. studied action; artificiality in behavior.
15. an artifice or artful device: the innumerable arts and wiles of politics.
16. Archaic. science, learning, or scholarship.
I tried to nail amateur radio down to one of the above definitions but found that many apply. Even number 13 applies at times.
We no longer parallel professional communications, but we are not amateurs -- we are artists and we're preserving an art independent of what is going on in the outside world.... But more than just artists, we engage in a craft and we are craftsmen.
We are
Radio Artisans
May Peace Be With You This Season…
...whether you're at home, stranded in a hotel by the airport, or in an unfriendly land far away....if you're with your family, with strangers, or you're all alone....if you have faith, are unsure, or don't have faith....if you had a successful year or if you've been down on your luck....whether you celebrate for tradition, religion, or not at all... May peace be with you this season.
RTTY Got Me Into Amateur Radio
When I was a wee little lad in the 70s, I used to go to my grandfather's house on Saturday. He was a ham radio operator since 1956 and had a modest station. There was a 60' tower in the backyard with a Mosley TA-33 Junior tribander and a 6 meter beam at the top and 80 and 40 meter dipoles. His main rig was a set of Kenwood-Trio 599 Twins, probably the last of the silver front Kenwood rigs, with a separate transmitter and receiver. In the shack was also a Clegg Venus VHF rig, a Gonset G-20 6 meter AM rig, and some kind of Hallicrafters receiver from the 60s, all of which he rarely turned on. He was mostly a phone op who would ragchew, though I found out in later years he was quite a CW op in the early days.
After dinner I would be watching TV in the living room (I think Hee Haw or Lawrence Welk was usually on) or perhaps coloring a picture in a coloring book or something little kids would do. Grandpa would be back in the hamshack playing with radios. I'd hear him tuning across an HF band, probably 40 meters considering all of the broadcast station heterodynes you would hear flying by. There might be some phone signals which I always thought sounded funny. And then I'd hear that signal, that undeniable warbling sound. Back then I couldn't really describe the sound, but I always knew immediately that Grandpa would soon be turning on the old Model 15 teletype in the shack.
The Model 15 was nearly spotless and looked new, despite being maybe 30 years old. Grandpa somehow got it after the war, World War II in which he served, brand new in a crate. He built some kind of big metal box that it sat on which contained the electronics to decode the magical signal off the air. It was about three feet tall, about 20" wide, two and a half feet deep, black, and had lots of lights, switches and knobs on it. They weren't those wimpy little knobs and switches you buy today, they were big. Each switch was labeled with a blue colored Dymo label. The big black box had a round CRT picture tube about 3" in diameter that drew a bright green trace on the white screen. The whole box was built like a tank, or at least it seemed to a young aspiring radio engineer like me. The Model 15 was black with a crinkle paint finish and a typewriter-like keyboard on the front with dark green keys that almost looked like bakelight. The keys had the usual assortment of QWERTY keys, but all sorts of other different keys like FIGS, BELL, and BREAK that I never saw on a typewriter but I knew served some special function.
Upon hearing the warbling signal from the living room, I'd drop whatever I was doing and would run into the hamshack. Grandpa would be turning the big knob on the radio to get the signal tuned in just right. He somehow knew exactly what it was supposed to sound like. He would then flip some switches in sequence on the big black box and it would begin to come to life. The CRT screen would warm up and I would see the familiar green dot in the middle appear faintly and then grow bigger and brighter. And then he would flip on a big recessed switch on the Model 15 teletype. The unit would kick on and there was a nice warm hum and whirring sound that would emanate out of it, filling the room. As it warmed up, it had a distinct smell that is hard to describe....that "old radio" smell. The big black box and Model 15 would sit for perhaps a minute warming up, waiting to do its weekly duty.
At the right time, Grandpa would take a cable terminated with a quarter inch headphone plug and plug it into the Kenwood Twins receiver headphone jack. The teletype would spring into action and the CRT display drew all kinds of squiggly lines on the screen, like a madman trying to draw with a spirograph.
I could see and hear the teletype mechanism inside the big Model 15 rhythmically jumping up and down. It was like insides of a typewriter, with little metal arms sitting in a semicircle. The teletype then started tapping away, striking letters on ink tape and writing on the beige colored paper. I would sit there entranced by the whole event, watching the teletype type and looking at the secret message encrypted in the warbling signal travelling over the ether as it was revealed to me. Grandpa might adjust a few knobs on the big black box to tweak the green pattern on the screen.
Sometimes the teletype would make a mistake and miss a letter or two or misspell a word. I would read out the message to Grandpa and figure out what the misspelled words were. Occasionally the teletype would really mess up and would throw a bunch of line feeds out and jump the paper in the middle of a word or paragraph. If the signal was really bad it would start to spew several inches of paper at a time and Grandpa would quickly unplug the jack from the radio, flip some switches on the big black box, or try to tune the signal in better. The show would last 15 or 20 minutes and afterwards Grandpa would sometimes let me put headphones on and tune around the band and listen to Morse code or foreign broadcasts coming in from far off lands.
Later in my teens I got my ticket and operated mainly phone for several years and got into electronics. Years later when I was in my 20s and off to college and making my way into the real world, I became mostly inactive in amateur radio. The Kenwood Twins were displaced with a Kenwood 820 and Grandpa sold the Model 15 and used the extra space for his computer.
Safely Hamming In the Woods In Hunting Season
In recent years it's become popular to operate amateur radio while hiking or in wilderness areas, with activities like the Spartan Sprint and Polar Bear Moonlight Madness. On one reflector last week the topic of hamming in the vicinity of hunters came up. (Unfortunately the moderator squashed the discussion.) Non-hunters often are scared of hunters and fear being harmed, and often in my opinion due to lack of knowledge of the law and some simple common sense practices. There's a lot of misinformation going around which doesn't help the situation. Here are some common hunting myths:
Hunters often shoot at noises. It's illegal (and extremely stupid) to shoot at noise and you would be hard pressed to find any hunter worth their salt who shoots at noise. Anyone who does such a thing isn't a hunter, they're a criminal.
Hunters dislike non-hunters in the woods. Hunters don't want non-hunters to disrupt their hunting, but the more people who enjoy the land means more funding and protection for public wilderness in the future.
Hunters have more rights to be in public woods than non-hunters. At least here in Pennsylvania, all citizens have the same rights to use state land.
Hunting is inherently unsafe and/or is unsafe to non-hunters. According to the 2008 PA Hunting Shooting Incident Report there were 35 hunting-related shooting incidents, 3 of which were fatal. 40% of the total accidents were self-inflicted (not involving anyone but the hunter/victim himself). In only two of the total incidents the victim was a non-hunter, none of which were fatalities. Last year there were 3.84 incidents per 100,000 hunters, nearly the lowest rate on record. The chances of getting injured while hunting or doing a non-hunting activity in a public hunting area is quite low, arguably safer than walking down the street in many urban areas.
So what should you do to safely and successfully operate amateur radio in the woods with hunters around?
When in Rome, do as the Romans do; wear fluorescent orange like hunters do. Hunters may not know of hams, hikers, geocachers, mushroom hunters and mountain bike riders in the woods, but they know how to positively identify humans wearing fluorescent orange. Go to Walmart and buy a fluorescent orange hat and vest combo and wear it in the woods during hunting seasons. This hunting season I bought a new hat and vest set at my local sporting goods store for a mere $8. If a hunter sees orange and it's on you, you're a human, plain and simple. Also, if you want to put orange tape on a tree for good measure, it doesn't hurt, but do it 360 degrees around the tree and up as high as you can get it. But absolutely have an orange cap and a vest on and you're safe in nearly all circumstances. Don't wear red as red looks like brown 100 yards away and certainly don't wear just brown in deer season or just black in beer season.
I'm amazed that in 37 years of hunting, I can't ever recall seeing a non-hunter in the woods who wore fluorescent orange. It's such a small investment and exponentially increases one's safety in the woods in hunting seasons.
Know what the hunting seasons are. Google for your state's game commission or fish and wildlife department website and know what's in season before you out.
Look for hunters before setting up. When you go to setup your operating position in the woods, stop for a minute. Look around 360 degrees. Do you see any orange? If not, wait another minute or two and do another 360. If you don't see any orange, setup your station. If you see orange, relocate. If you're having difficulty finding a location without hunters in it, or you're hearing a lot of close gunfire, you may want to reconsider whether this is an area you want to operate from.
In Pennsylvania, turkey hunters and late season (post Christmas) muzzleloader hunters are not required to wear orange while stationary (although they must have an orange tree marker in place), and they're usually camouflaged, so you may not see them. If you're wearing orange they will see you and they will probably flash orange to make their presence known as they don't want you in the area scaring the turkey away any more than you want to be in their area and in potential danger.
If you take a dog with you, put an orange vest on the dog as well. However, it's a very bad idea to let your dog run loose during hunting seasons. Leave Fido at home during hunting season.
If you hear close gunfire while operating, don't panic. Just stay put and listen. If you see orange from another hunter, take your orange hat and wave it so they're sure to see you. If you are very concerned, let out a yell or a whistle. Whatever you do, don't get up and approach the hunter or pack up and leave until several minutes later. Stay cool, stay put, and wait a bit.
It's quite easy and simple to enjoy the woods in hunting seasons. Buy an orange vest and use some common sense.
Polar Bear Goes Deer Hunting
Today I participated in another Polar Bear Moonlight Madness Event, but this time while deer hunting. Instead of the Yaesu FT-817 and the SGC "I've-fallen-and-can't-get-tuned-up" tuner, I packed the K1 and the venerable BLT tuner. Instead of the heavily modified Whiterook paddle I usually use afield, I was equipped with a homebrew straight key. I forgot how nice of a CW rig the K1 really is and how fun a straight key is. Surprisingly this was the first time I've used a straight key while operating on a hike or hunt. Even with cold, numb fingers I was able to send decent CW unlike when using an iambic paddle. Straight keying is quite a bit more forgiving of timing errors and the irregularity of straight keying is somewhat charming and gives the code more personality.
The operating position
Homebrew straight key and log book
Close-up of the homebrew straightkey
View from the operating position before the snow came
GRRRRRRR and BRRRRRRRR
I made three polar bear contacts on 40 meters, logging W1PID, VA2SG/PM, and WA2FBN. I also heard N0EVH calling CQ but unfortunately he couldn't hear me. 20 meters was dead and I couldn't get anyone on 30. All in all, another good day in the field. Later in the day it started snowing and we got three inches of snow. Yeaaahhh!
Update: Here's a Youtube video from Jean-Pierre VA2SG having a QSO with me... Good stuff!
