Welcome to Handiham World!

Net or not?

We have been urging our readers and listeners to monitor 14.305 MHz for activity before we begin a new Handiham HF net on that frequency. I have heard some stations on 14.305 in the early afternoon Minnesota time. Lyle, K0LR, suggests that an afternoon time might find the band conditions being “short”, meaning that we could possibly get more stations checking in from the United States. If we were to look at evenings, I think the band has been dead as often as not, so we cannot wait until it is too late in the day. During the morning hours the band is open, but the skip is longer. As I write this at 09:30 local time, I hear a Spanish-speaking station on 14.305.

As important as band conditions is the question of when our members can get on board with the net! It does not matter if conditions are perfect if everyone is working at their jobs or otherwise busy and can’t get on the air. The original net schedule was set up for 9:30 in the morning Minnesota time, but most of us are busy at that hour. I’m not saying that we should keep the morning hour schedule, but nothing kills a net like bad timing! Before we decide to just keep the 9:30 morning hour but shift frequency from 14.265 to 14.305, let me know your thoughts. One successful Friday evening schedule we used to keep was on 17 meters, and I can’t call it a net, because the informal gathering started by Alan, K2WS, was a “non-net get together”, as Alan always reminded us. After all, the unofficial rule is that nets do not belong on 17 meters, at least not formal nets.

20 meters is different and nets are all right, even scheduled formal nets. Can we narrow it down to daytime or evening? And what day? Monday? Friday? Saturday or Sunday? Remember, we want to pull in working folks, so scheduling it in the middle of the work day may not be the best idea.

One of our repeater hosts, Chris, KG0BP, mused that we might not really need a daily Echolink net if net control stations are too hard to find. So what about that? Do we add a few HF nets and pare down the daily Echolink schedule?

Also at this time we are asking for HF net control volunteers. You will need at least a General Class license and an HF station with a 20 meter antenna.

George, N0SBU, has pointed out that once nets are suspended for the summer as many clubs do with their nets, it is usually pretty difficult to get those nets going again. The lesson to be learned from that is to keep your nets running! Taking time off or reducing your net schedule means that you may never get those times and frequencies back again. George would also like to see the Wednesday night Echolink net be used more often for training purposes, maybe every Wednesday night.

A couple of you thought that having the Echolink nets every other day, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, then on Saturday would be enough activity to keep things running.

Every net needs to have a critical mass of users. This is a basic truth: If you don’t have enough regular participants checking in, you will not keep your net running. That means paying attention to having the net on at a time when you can get people away from whatever they are doing and to the radio. Band conditions, in the case of HF at least, have to be suitable. If band conditions are not right, you may have few check-ins no matter how convenient you make the time and day.

Another concern is that we have competent net control stations. Every time a net is poorly run, we lose some stations who either give up while waiting to check in or simply get annoyed by the poor operating practices they encounter on the net. Every net has this challenge, too, not just ours. I have heard some terrible operating on HF nets whose participants were long-time license holders and whose net control station held a higher class of license.

As we continue with our planning for nets, keep these handy net control practices in mind:

• Begin your net with a preamble explaining the purpose of the net, who may check in, and anything else about how the net will be conducted. This is the time to tell participants if the net is formal or informal and whether you need to be a net member to check in. The end of the preamble is the place to tell stations how to check in, namely, “Check in with your callsign only”, or other appropriate instructions.
  
• Call for stations in this order:
  
  • Stations with emergency or priority traffic
  • Mobile stations
  • Portable stations
  • Stations on “short time”
  • Stations with announcements of interest to the net
  • General check-ins (and limit the crowd by geography, type of technology used to check in, callsign area, or whatever.) Example: “I will now take check-ins from stations outside North America.” or “I will now take check-ins from repeaters only.”
    
• Be sure you have firm control of the net. Do not allow stations to simply give their callsigns and then start rambling on about the weather, their computer problems, and how their dog has fleas. Make it clear that stations checking in must give their callsigns and be recognized before the net control allows them to have their say! Do not let stations grab the air and take over. Net control stations should do the controlling.
  
• You can make the net more interesting if you have a net topic. Sometimes the net will enjoy discussing a topic introduced by one of the stations checking in.
  
• Don’t forget to call often for stations throughout the net time. Always allow enough time for emergency check ins to get your attention. You never know when the system may need to pass emergency traffic.
  
• Be patient but firm, and always polite. Insist that everyone use their callsigns. This will help everyone keep track of who is on the air.
  
• When the net winds down, thank the participants and the repeater and system owners, and mention when the net will be on again, then sign off.

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice, [email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

Sadly, the big news today is the earthquake disaster in Haiti. I wanted to get this right up front, as the Salvation Army net is active on 14.265 MHz, which is the regular Handiham 20 meter net frequency. As always, all Handiham activity on the frequency will cease whenever the Salvation Army is running emergency nets. We will soon be choosing a new 20 meter net frequency and time anyway, so that we will not run into any conflicts with the Salvation Army net. More about new net frequency proposals later.

The earthquake disaster in Haiti is unparalleled in our lifetime. We are told from the news reports that nothing of this magnitude has occurred on the island since the 1770s. I will be providing you with some amateur radio links later on in this edition, because amateur radio is often the most reliable form of communication at times when widespread disaster causes communications infrastructure failure. Unfortunately, this earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince, the largest city in Haiti and one with a very high population density. Many of the buildings in Haiti are constructed of concrete that is not reinforced in the way modern building codes would require in first world countries. Haiti, the poorest Third World country in the Western Hemisphere, already suffers from poor utility services and overcrowding. You can imagine the effect of a magnitude 7 earthquake in such a place. Unreinforced concrete buildings came tumbling down, trapping people. Because the earthquake came late in the afternoon on a winter day, there would be little daylight remaining to assess the disaster and begin recovery efforts. Because of this, it is expected that much more information will be available now that the sun has risen on a new day in Port-au-Prince.

It was in the mid-1970s that my friend Don Newcomb, W0DN, and I decided on the spur of the moment to take a short trip to Haiti, a place that I had never been. I was living in the Caribbean at the time, and Don was visiting me. Since I was teaching school and had a break, the short trip to Port-au-Prince would be fun. Also, Don could speak French. That would certainly prove to be valuable in French speaking Haiti. A year later, Don and I would form the antenna company known as Butternut Electronics, but of course that is another story!

Even the plane ride to a Third World country can be memorable. The old airplane that carried us to Port-au-Prince leaked oil from the engines, and I remember watching the streaks of oil trail across the wing that I could see through the window. As is traditional, everyone cheered and clapped when we landed safely. Neither of us brought along any ham radio equipment on the trip, as we didn’t want to deal with import or customs problems.

Our short visit was mainly in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area. I do still remember the concrete buildings, most of which do not exceed three or four stories in height. Nonetheless, I am glad that I did not know about the unreinforced construction and the possibility of earthquakes while I was visiting. Had I known, I guess I would have been pretty nervous! In fact, we had a wonderful short visit, typical tourist stuff, and I bought an oil painting showing a Haitian market scene from a street vendor. I still have that painting on my wall today. Of course as a tourist I had to see the presidential palace. This morning, watching the scene of devastation on television, the collapsed presidential palace brought back that same sick feeling that I recall watching the video of the World Trade Center towers falling on 9/11. I had seen both places and was struck by how fragile even seemingly iconic buildings can be, toppled by disasters that we seem unprepared to deal with and that are more or less unpredictable. My heart goes out to the people of Haiti.

That is why as amateur radio operators we should always be ready for an emergency. Monday morning quarterbacking does no good when communications infrastructure fails and we need to make way for emergency communications traffic. The next emergency could come anywhere at any time. Will you be ready?

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice, [email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

This week is a busy one with back to back meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday, so that accounts for this late (and shorter) edition of your weekly Handiham World. I hope you all had a pleasant holiday season and are ready to get back into the routine of getting on the air every day.

I did want to let you know that Santa was good to me this year, because a brand-new Icom IC-7200 was under the tree on Christmas morning. I plan to learn a bit more about the 7200, then I’ll write a more thorough review from the our particular Handiham perspective. The best points about the rig so far:

• Front-firing speaker
• Easy to use numeric keypad
• Built-in speech for blind users, no extra module needed
• USB interface on the back panel
• Easy to read display
• Great receiver

So how’s that for starters? I’ll put together some more detailed thoughts later on, but I have to say that the new IC-7200 is really a step up from the IC-706 Mark 2 G that I had been using for HF. And I’m thrilled that manufacturers are finally including voice frequency readout that doesn’t cost extra!

Now, stay tuned for two new year’s resolutions. That means you!

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice, [email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

As you know, this is your last issue of the Handiham World for 2009. I’m supposed to be on vacation, but I’m sneaking one final e-letter in. The audio for our year-end print edition follows the audio from this short holiday week newsletter. Today’s test HTML editing program is Open Office Writer, which saves documents in HTML format. Last week’s edition was done with Microsoft Expression Web, and I ran into publishing problems when The list server would not pass the HTML code. Thus far, I have not been able to determine exactly what caused this problem. Although last week’s edition was published on time on Wednesday, the listserv never actually sent out the mailing. I had to reformat into plain text and send again on Thursday, which of course meant that you did not receive your weekly e-letter on time unless you read it online or subscribe to the podcast, both of which were available as usual last Wednesday. I have been using Microsoft Expression Web for the final HTML “cleanup” for well over a year, so I’m not sure exactly what the problem is. Clearly, something in the HTML was non-compliant with the Freelists.org system that does our mailings. This may come down to something as simple as a single unacceptable character, but whatever it was turned out to be enough to jam up the system, for which I apologize. There is no evidence that Microsoft Expression Web added any characters that were noncompliant, but in order to get this newsletter out on time, I don’t want to take any chances.

In your mailbox this week, if you are on our postal mailing list, you will receive a print edition of our annual year end Handiham World newsletter. Inside the four-page print edition is an annual giving envelope. You may use this envelope to support the Handiham system so that we can continue our good work into the coming year. Sometimes Handiham members will set the envelope aside because it is a postage-paid envelope. Then they will use the envelope to order study materials or pay their membership dues. Unfortunately,, this is not a good idea because instead of saving postage on your membership renewal or study material order, anything in the envelope will be processed as a donation. The reason is that the bar code on the envelope directs it to a processing center for donations, not to the Handiham office. The bar code also assures that donations placed inside the envelope are credited to the Handiham program. If you can support us with a gift, which is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law, we would really, really appreciate it.

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice, [email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

A few little changes…

Well, we have made it almost to the end of another year of publishing your weekly e-letter and podcast. Since I am taking a week of vacation between the holidays, this is your last weekly e-letter for the year of 2009. When we meet again in 2010, we are looking toward an exciting new decade in amateur radio. Just think about it — the next sunspot cycle, Cycle 24, is underway and sunspot activity should begin to climb in earnest in 2010. The 10 m band, which has languished in the seemingly endless solar minimum, will start showing signs of life again. It will be possible to work amazing amounts of DX with low power and small antennas. Even Handiham members living in apartments and condominiums will find that DX is within reach.

As the decade moves forward, we will learn about new technologies. Ham radio is about innovation and experimentation in communications, so I think that’s a safe bet! I believe we will see advancements in accessibility for people with disabilities, partly because of software development and partly because of the now-assumed handshaking between amateur radio equipment and computers. Could it also be possible that manufacturers will build accessibility features right in instead of having users buy and install extra modules?

Amateur Radio education is going to be quite different in the next decade. You can see the change coming as we can access more and better online courses, and instructional materials in multimedia formats that are delivered in new and better ways. I feel confident that we are on the right track at Handihams when we stopped reading instruction manuals and instead began offering audio training based on a more practical method of simply teaching our members how to use their radio equipment. In the same way, we have stopped reading licensing manuals and instead teach online in a way that makes sense to our members with disabilities. No one is suggesting that books are going away, but they will be in new digital formats, available as digital downloads on portable electronic devices. The jury is out on whether these digital books will be accessible to readers who are blind or have reading disabilities and require audio readout of the text. Although it is easy to do with today’s technology, there is some fear among publishers that users will get a free audio book when they have only paid for a print version. Thus, some of our biggest hurdles remain social and political rather than technological!

Legal disputes over content management rights and patents could also cloud the future of accessibility. If software is found to violate a patent and must be withdrawn or changed, accessibility features within the software might be affected. This is a complicated area where technology and the law intersect and where breaking new ground is more likely to be the norm than the exception. I can only hope that accessibility does not go on the back burner in favor of time being spent to resolve other pressing issues in software design.

Still, I remain optimistic. In the natural tug-of-war between rapidly evolving technology and the legal system, there is enormous pressure to make content more easily accessible in spite of the efforts of those who simply can’t change with the times and learn to work with the new technology.

In the world of amateur radio software, rig control will become an expected feature and manufacturers will have to meet these expectations. If accessibility is built-in from the get go, we will not have a problem. On the other hand, if inaccessible features are placed on the software’s front end interface just to create a “pretty” screen, we may be in for an uphill climb. It is not, mind you, that we are insisting that software interfaces need to be bland and uninspiring. It is just that the functions of the software need to be accessible to people who must access computers by voice dictation or through screen readers. Traditional menu bar features really should be retained if at all possible. If a program presents a front-end interface designed for users without disabilities, that is only acceptable if there is an accessible alternative. I would like to hear from some of our readers and listeners who are knowledgeable about software. Specifically, what features must be designed into the software to make it accessible? Frankly, if we do not put our expectations on the table, we should not be surprised when new amateur radio software is designed for users without disabilities only. Yes, I know that this is the 21st century and people should know better, but I have learned that it is best not to assume that everyone really knows what they are doing! It is not that software designers purposely exclude people with disabilities. Rather, design is sometimes driven by a marketing department that is more concerned with the “look and feel” of the software’s interface and the engineers work toward that goal, unaware that users with disabilities may have difficulty using the software. In short, there is still plenty of ignorance out there!

In the past few weeks, I was notified that a user could not access all of our links in the newsletter. Even though we are aware of accessibility issues, it does show that problems will still crop up from time to time. In 2010, improving accessibility in the newsletter, website, and podcasts will be on our agenda. In fact, this very newsletter is now being produced using a new, state-of-the-art HTML editor, Microsoft Expression Web. Although Microsoft FrontPage has been a workhorse for us for over a decade, new web standards dictate that we needed to move forward with better editing tools. The Drupal content management system that we now use for Handiham.org also brings us into better accessibility compliance and offers us the opportunity to update web content more frequently and from anywhere, thus better serving our members and the amateur radio community.

One issue that I still struggle with is maintaining backward compliance. A reader informed me that a link would not work in Pine. I was surprised that this would come up, but it does show that there are legacy e-mail systems that are still in use and work perfectly well, provided that newer technologies maintain backward compliance. The question for me is, “how do I know what will be backward compliant?”

The answer is that sometimes I don’t, and that means that I depend on our readers and listeners to let me know when something does not work for them. We will do our best to maintain accessibility, though there may come a time that the new technology will become so obviously better and widely accepted that it may no longer pay to support backward compatibility. Believe me, this is a common problem in the world of technology. One obvious change that is certainly coming in the next decade is the retirement of the venerable Library of Congress four-track audio cassette. Maintaining backward compatibility for this old system right now means that we are converting MP3 files to a cassette system that is decades old. Most of us are familiar with a conversion from analog television to digital, a situation where the technology changed so radically that maintaining backward compatibility became somewhat of a political issue. In the world of radio, HD radio is now being promoted by broadcasters, both commercial and public. In amateur radio, you will find some communities that have really embraced D-Star repeaters while others live firmly and confidently in the world of analog repeater systems.

When does the big change get made? There is no firm answer to this. Taking the example of digital repeater systems and radios, there will always be a period of transition with people who are so-called “early adopters” leading the way and plucking down big bucks for the latest digital technology. Most users of repeater systems will take a wait-and-see attitude. After all, new repeater systems are expensive and require a lot of effort to change out. A radio club has to be able to not only pay for the cost of a new repeater system, but they also have to promote the new digital technology to all of the club members and prove that it is so much better that it is worth the money that each member will have to spend for a new digital-compatible radio. This is a huge hurdle to overcome because most of us have perfectly good analog equipment and many of us use their repeater system only occasionally. This makes it hard to justify spending several hundred dollars for new equipment. I think what needs to happen is that there needs to be a “critical mass” of users before everyone jumps on board with new technology. Holdouts who refuse to change at that point will simply be left behind or find it necessary to form a new user group for the old technology.

It will be interesting to see the new ARRL website next month when it comes online. The League has been careful to maintain accessibility on its website and I’m looking forward to using the new website and learning how its accessibility features compare to the current website. Most website developers these days do not provide plain text alternatives. The reason is that common web authoring software and content management systems provide for accessibility as long as they are used correctly. The assumption is that the user with a disability will upgrade his or her software system as the technology advances. This means using a reasonably current voice dictation system or screen reader program to access the new content or new software interfaces. At some point there is a critical mass of users with disabilities who are comfortable with the new technology and at the same time the number of users with old technology who cannot access new software and content falls below a critical mass necessary to continue support for backward compatibility.

I am confident that sometime in the next few years the number of users of the old four track tape system will drop below critical mass. With only a few users left, it will no longer be economically feasible to continue to produce materials for them. They will have to make the choice to move on to the new technology or provide some way themselves to get the new technology converted to the old technology format.

One thing that I would like to see in every amateur radio equipment review is a paragraph on accessibility. I am willing to reach out to our readers and listeners to discuss this topic and to exchange e-mails with anyone who is writing a review of equipment. The only thing is that I am not an expert on accessibility in the same way that our users are. After all, I can use my hands to type or control the knobs and buttons on a radio. I can see the radio’s display and I can view the computer screen and use a mouse. That means I’m likely to only be able to give superficial advice on accessibility. If any of our readers and listeners can help, I would certainly appreciate it. We will share your contributions with our audience on the website and credit you with your name and callsign if you wish. As we move into the next decade, let’s make sure that accessibility is job one.

Welcome to Handiham World!

What’s on your wish list for the holidays?

Besides world peace, I mean? If you have asked Santa for some new ham radio gear, I hope your wishes are fulfilled. (I’m not holding my breath about getting one of those most excellent $11,000 Icom transceivers like the one I posed with for a photo op at HRO, but then again, I might rate something more affordable for Santa’s budget.)

Yes, I have placed a new HF rig on the wish list at the WA0TDA QTH. The reason is that I’m tying up my Icom IC-706 M2G on 2 meters and 70 cm, sometimes using it as an Echolink node, and that leaves me only an old Yaesu FT-747 for HF. Alas, the Yaesu has seen better days. I had acquired it around 20 years ago as a result of a lightning strike on my tower. My wife and I were at home when the storm moved through the Twin Cities, and we about jumped out of our shoes when the blinding flash of lightning lit up the neighborhood like a million camera flashes. The thunder was instant and loud, and that meant just one thing to me: We had just taken a lightning strike, because the thunder came at the same time as the flash of light. I opened the door to the ham shack and my old FT-101B was smoked. Literally. There was even an outline of the metal louvers on the bottom of the rig burned into the wooden desktop.

So I replaced that rig with the FT-747, which worked like a champ for 10 years. It started flaking out in subtle ways. Once I called CQ on what I thought was a clear frequency, only to be chastised by some guy whose QSO I’d interrupted. A bit of sleuthing with a plastic probe led me to an intermittent on a circuit board that had muted the receiver. After that fix, I had a couple more years of trouble-free operation out of the 747 until the display started to disappear at random, accompanied by a total receiver failure. That was also an intermittent, because you could prod the rig and wiggle connectors to get the display and receiver back to normal. Many tries later, both by me and our shop volunteer CJ, K0CJ, and the problem still crops up at random. But the rig really started to annoy me when it would decide to suddenly shift frequency about 500 Hz or so, also at random. This thing was definitely getting on my nerves!

In the 23 years since the FT-747 came out in 1987, the technology built into ham radio transceivers has evolved – a lot! Although the Icom IC-706M2G is a decade newer, its design is still dated. I would like a better receiver section and more options for signal processing. So a new transceiver in the $1000 class went on my Santa list.

Will Santa deliver? Have I been a good boy? Stay tuned to the Handiham podcast and weekly e-letter news to find out!

Welcome to Handiham World!

Photo: Ralph Andrea, W0FCO, became a silent key in 1993. (Thanks to George, N0SBU & the History Project for this photo of Ralph posing with a handheld radio.)

Recently I had a phone call from the elderly mother of a long-time Handiham member. She explained to me that her son needed some help with his radio. Of course we visited on the phone for awhile so that I could learn a bit more about the radio and what it was and wasn’t doing, but then we got to talking about how her son had gotten help from a Handiham volunteer in past years.

“Ralph Andrea used to come over to the house and help us with the station”, she said. Ralph had passed away long ago, and now her son needed help again.

I remember when I first started with the Handiham program myself. It was 1991, and one of the first people Sister Alverna, WA0SGJ, told me about was Ralph, W0FCO. “Ralph”, she explained, “will never miss an opportunity to tell someone about the Handiham System – even complete strangers.”

It was true. If Ralph saw someone who used a wheelchair or a white cane, he would introduce himself and start his sales pitch about how much fun ham radio was and how the Handiham System could help them get started. He was an awesome volunteer, and I was privileged to meet him and work with him in the Handiham System for two years, until his death in 1993. There was almost no volunteer job that Ralph wouldn’t handle. He would pay calls to members who needed antenna work or station setup help. He kept a massive collection of electronics parts in his basement, which was jammed with floor to ceiling shelves like a commercial repair shop. If someone needed a left-handed resistively-coupled doofrazzle, Ralph was going to find one in that collection, because everything was neatly stacked, organized, and labeled.

When Ralph got sick and spent his final days in the V.A. Medical Center in Minneapolis, I got the feeling that he was still very much the Handiham volunteer. During one of my visits to his hospital room shortly before his death, he wanted to make sure that I would take good care of the Handiham System. That was the kind of guy Ralph was. Other people, especially Handiham members, came first.

It was a sad day when we had to say goodbye to such a kind and dedicated friend of Courage Center. After Ralph became a silent key, Doris, his XYL, got help from the local ham community to sell the parts collection and radios, donating the proceeds to help us and even setting up a special fund to help Handihams into the future. The parts sale was so big that it filled the garage and the wide driveway. Hams from the 3M Amateur Radio Club and the St. Paul Radio Club as well as others pitched in to help.

That gift of support still helps us offer services today, and I know that some of you, our readers and listeners, will step up to the plate and help keep the Handiham System healthy. Maybe you can give your time to help someone else. Perhaps you can teach a ham radio licensing class at your local radio club or school. Some of you will be able to help with gifts of financial support. Ralph did all of that stuff, but I sometimes wonder where he found the time. The thing is, if you truly want something in life, you are more likely to make it happen. He liked ham radio and made the special mission of the Handihams his priority.

I want you to think about Ralph Andrea when someone asks you to help set up a rig or teach a class. Or yes, write a check to support us. Working together, we are sure to succeed when we have something as exciting as amateur radio to share.