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Re: [RFI] New ARRL Mission statement > Was solar fix

To: "Dave (NK7Z)" <dave@nk7z.net>, "Hare, Ed W1RFI" <w1rfi@arrl.org>
Subject: Re: [RFI] New ARRL Mission statement > Was solar fix
From: David Eckhardt <davearea51a@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 18:21:28 +0000
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
You've seen and experienced both sides:  digital and analog.  While I was
still working, it was excruciatingly difficult to find engineers who could
bridge both disciplines.  Thus the finger pointing:  a)  its an analog
problem....b)  its a digital problem.  No single engineer could address
both, myself included.

Very early in my career which started in 1969 right out of college, I
became very adept at programming in machine language.  I did that for three
years, but looked in the mirror one morning, and it became crystal clear.
I'm an analog/RF type at heart.  I still love weilding a soldering pen and
home brewing to realize my own creations.  I typically design and build
what I need anymore.  Outside of a couple of vintage early solid state
transceivers, yes, my main ham rigs are computers inside (FPGAs) with the
Icom 7300 and 7610.  I do NOT relate to the latest FT8 craze!!!....  I have
used ECHO (part of the WSJTX suite) at 2.5, 5.0, and 10-watts on 160 and
80-meters to detect my signal propagating around this rock on which we
reside.  Two other hams in Berthoud, Co. did the same with similar results
( ±135 ms echo delay).

Since I am copying Ed Hare, W1RFI, to this post, some may want to know Ken
Wyatt, WA6TTY, for health reasons has been forced to move from his Woodland
Park, Colorado, location at nearly 9000 feet elevation.  I've known Ken
since our collective Rockwell International days in S. Cal.  He has moved
to Windsor, Co., at roughly 4940 feet elevation with Sheila, his wife who
is on oxygen.  He also very recently underwent open heart surgery in
Denver.  The surgery also addressed a few other  "getting older" problems.
He is on oxygen until he "completely heals" (doctor's words) and came home
from Denver a week ago this past Saturday.  He has the same emails.  He's
doing well with much less recovery pain than my other friend who also went
through open heart surgery a couple of years ago.

Dave - WØLEV

On Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 5:33 PM Dave (NK7Z) <dave@nk7z.net> wrote:

> Dave E,
>
> I do not disagree with you here...  However, had we not made it easier
> for folks to get tickets, I doubt Amateur Radio would be even as good as
> it is today...  We need numbers, and we were not getting them...  The
> folks that replaced us, are now playing with computers, and digital
> devices, not loose parts...  I used to be able to repair my own radios,
> I can not do that anymore...  My radio is a computer now...
>
> The hobby has become far less technical in nature than it was 40 years
> ago, however, it has become far more technical with regards to
> computers, and digital.  I suspect there will be far more computers than
> discreet parts in our futures, so I am not sure which way is best...
>
> All I know is I still like to take out test gear and play...  I will
> until I die...  I also program, (and have for decades), so I am lucky, I
> have seen both sides of this ride...
>
> 73, and thanks,
> Dave (NK7Z)
> https://www.nk7z.net
> ARRL Volunteer Examiner
> ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
> ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources
> I never learned from a man who agreed with me. (HeinLein)
>
> On 7/30/24 08:17, David Eckhardt wrote:
> > Sad to agree we are viewed as glorified CB operators.  Tune across
> > 75-meters any evening (or 7.200 and 14.310) and the reason for that
> > impression is clear.  That's the main motivation for my placing Segal's
> > "The Amateurs Code" at the end of my QRZ page.  Not that anyone seems to
> > care these days, but at least I made the statement.
> >
> > Dave, I won't belabor the point, but when the FCC let us go to volunteer
> > examiners, multiple guess exams, and the "study guides" which fosters
> > memorize-and-forget, any technical prowess within the hobby was
> > ultimately doomed.  You can gather I'm technical and a classic nerd, but
> > I find it rather difficult to land a rewarding QSO these days on our
> > phone bands.  I still prefer CW, but those portions of our bands have
> > become rather empty (FT8??).
> >
> > Amateur radio isn't the hobby it was when I was first licensed almost 65
> > years ago.  But one thing in life is absolutely certain: change.
> >
> > Dave - WØLEV
> >
> > On Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 2:36 AM Dave (NK7Z) <dave@nk7z.net
> > <mailto:dave@nk7z.net>> wrote:
> >
> >     Hi Dave E,
> >
> >     What you are doing is not at all what I am talking about...  I do
> >     exactly the same thing here, I have a relationship with the cable
> >     company.  I locate leaks in their system, and they fix them...  It
> >     works
> >     great.  I recently got contacted by one of their Network engineers
> >     about
> >     a very high BER on one of their amps...  We tracked it to a local
> ham,
> >     and the cable company's leaky system.  They terminated the loose
> drop,
> >     and the BER dropped to an acceptable level for them, and one more RFI
> >     source in my area bit the dust.
> >
> >     Of late, the local cable company, (get this), has, by written decree
> >     within the management, allowed unterminated drops on all move outs.
> >     They are learning that this is not working...  This is the second
> >     instance of this I am aware of in the last month...  So...  No grass
> >     roots movement needed...
> >
> >     Yes, again unfortunately, I think we have also lost it with the DOD
> as
> >     well...
> >
> >     I believe the FCC, (not all within the FCC but a good part of the
> FCC),
> >     now looks at Amateur Radio as a sort of glorified CB radio service,
> >     with
> >     only slightly smarter operators.  Yes that hurts...
> >
> >     One of the ways to change that perception is by careful
> >     orchestration of
> >     contact with the FCC...  We need to look like pros, we need to act
> like
> >     pros, and we need to prove we are not a dispirit group of CB
> operators
> >     to the FCC.  I believe the best way to do this is via the ARRL's
> >     efforts...
> >     73, and thanks,
> >     Dave (NK7Z)
> >     https://www.nk7z.net <https://www.nk7z.net>
> >     ARRL Volunteer Examiner
> >     ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
> >     ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources
> >     I never learned from a man who agreed with me. (HeinLein)
> >
> >     On 7/29/24 14:54, David Eckhardt wrote:
> >      > QUOTE (DAVE, NK7Z): We are just lucky we USED to have emergency
> >     status,
> >      > we don't
> >      >                                           have that anymore in
> >     the FCC's
> >      > eyes, so the rules are different.
> >      >
> >      > We also had the attention of DoD.  Is that still in place, or has
> >     that
> >      > gone down with the emergency loss as well?
> >      >
> >      > I hear you on a coordinated effort through ARRL.  But I have
> >     graciously
> >      > done several individual problems with my equipment. for hams  All
> >     have
> >      > been the "fault" of our power provider in the county and out of
> the
> >      > cities.  Here in N. Colorado in the county, we have a very good
> >      > relationship with them.  Once reported, they were on it the next
> day.
> >      >
> >      > Are you proposing to tie my hands behind my back with such
> >     efforts?  I
> >      > do not charge anything for hams.  Nor do I do solar installation
> >     as they
> >      > are a given.
> >      >
> >      > If I can't help others with my equipment and training as an
> EMC/RFI
> >      > engineer, its time for my pine box.
> >      >
> >      > Dave - WØLEV
> >      >
> >      > On Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 9:43 PM Dave (NK7Z) <dave@nk7z.net
> >     <mailto:dave@nk7z.net>
> >      > <mailto:dave@nk7z.net <mailto:dave@nk7z.net>>> wrote:
> >      >
> >      >     Hi,
> >      >
> >      >     I would think that we would want a single voice speaking for
> >     us.  Not a
> >      >     bunch of discordant, non organized, not communicating between
> >      >     themselves, citizen groups, all talking to the same companys
> >     the ARRL
> >      >     has spent a few years creating working relationships with,
> >     and then one
> >      >     of them threatening an entity with a lawsuit.  The first time
> >     that
> >      >     happens, is the last time the threatened entity, (and maybe
> >     all of
> >      >     them), talks to the ARRL or anyone else for that matter,
> >     without a
> >      >     lawyer reviewing everything said and done.  At that point the
> >     focus
> >      >     shifts from RFI corrections, to a game of legal cover ass...
> >      >
> >      >     I guarantee you-- someone sometime soon, will threaten a
> >     lawsuit to one
> >      >     of the companies the ARRL is currently working with, and crap
> >     up the
> >      >     relationship the ARRL has worked so hard to create...
> >      >
> >      >     That is why you discourage people from forming grass roots,
> >     anti RFI
> >      >     groups, that are not affiliated with the biggest dog the
> Amateur
> >      >     community has right now, the ARRL.  This HAS to be a
> >     coordinated effort!
> >      >
> >      >     We need to wake up and realize that the cat is already out of
> >     the bag,
> >      >     some of the foreign, (and probably some of the American
> >     manufacturers),
> >      >     have already discovered they can submit a test article to a
> >     lab, obtain
> >      >     a pass, get FCC blessing, and then remove components and sell
> >     the "new"
> >      >     device without a low pass filter in it, saving them tons of
> >     money,
> >      >     (while spraying RFI all over), until they get caught.
> >      >
> >      >     We are no longer in the PROACTIVE FCC world we grew up in, we
> are
> >      >     now in
> >      >     the REACTIVE FCC world that exists today, and will NEVER go
> >     back to
> >      >     PROACTIVE FCC again...
> >      >
> >      >     I suspect if the FCC were to hit the companies doing switch
> >     game with
> >      >     meaningful punishments, (read that as millions of bucks in
> >     fines, and a
> >      >     hiatus on importation, or sale into the US markets, for at
> >     least one
> >      >     year), things would get somewhat better.
> >      >
> >      >     The fact of the matter is we are small potatoes to the FCC,
> >     and the
> >      >     vendors.  We are just lucky we USED to have emergency status,
> >     we don't
> >      >     have that anymore in the FCC's eyes, so the rules are
> >     different.  We
> >      >     need to adapt to the new environment...  We all know what
> >     happens to
> >      >     species that fail to adapt...
> >      >
> >      >     73, and thanks,
> >      >     Dave (NK7Z)
> >      > https://www.nk7z.net <https://www.nk7z.net> <https://www.nk7z.net
> >     <https://www.nk7z.net>>
> >      >     ARRL Volunteer Examiner
> >      >     ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
> >      >     ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources
> >      >     I never learned from a man who agreed with me. (HeinLein)
> >      >
> >      >     On 7/29/24 09:24, Mike Fatchett W0MU wrote:
> >      >      > Why would we want to discourage people from actually
> >     organizing a
> >      >     grass
> >      >      > roots movement and make our case heard.
> >      >
> >      >     _______________________________________________
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> >      > RFI@contesting.com <mailto:RFI@contesting.com>
> >     <mailto:RFI@contesting.com <mailto:RFI@contesting.com>>
> >      > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
> >     <http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi>
> >      >     <http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
> >     <http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi>>
> >      >
> >      >
> >      >
> >      > --
> >      > *Dave - WØLEV
> >      > *
> >      >
> >      >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > *Dave - WØLEV
> > *
> >
> >
>


-- 

*Dave - WØLEV*
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