Subj : internet radio
To   : Daryl Stout
From : Alan Beck
Date : Fri Sep 03 2021 10:36:40

Daryl,

Thank you for sharing.

Alan

 DS> Alan,

 AB>> Anyone here into internet radio?

 DS>   I am...because my neighborhood seemingly attracts lightning strikes
 DS> during thunderstorms. I'm a 2 time lightning strike survivor myself
 DS> (although I carry no electrical charge, and can be handled safely (hi
 DS> hi)), but I've also been under 2 tornadic funnel clouds, within a mile of
 DS> 2 rain wrapped tornadoes, and nearly drowned in a flash flood over 40
 DS> years ago.

 DS>   The QTH is what once was my parents home...my Dad died in February,
 DS> 2007,  with my wife dying 2 1/2 months later...and my Mom died in August,
 DS> 2019.  My wife and I never had children, and my brother was almost killed
 DS> in a  freak motorcycle wreck not 3 months after my wife died. Basically,
 DS> we're  the last of our line.

 DS>   Except for gender, he and I are as different as night and day, in
 DS> regards to hobbies, interests, etc. My late Mom's late brother was the
 DS> only other ham radio operator in the family. He knew I was licensed, but
 DS> he became a Silent Key nearly 20 years ago now. While I have the hobbies
 DS> of ham radio, the BBS, and square dancing, my brother has none.

 DS>   While the "purists" vehemently declare that "any form of internet radio
 DS> is NOT ham radio", they fail to realize or accept that:

 DS> 1) None of us is getting any younger. 2) One's health can change in the
 DS> blink of an eye.

 DS>   These are so true with me...in the last 6 weeks, I've had 2 attacks of
 DS> atrial flutter, and have been hospitalized twice. While I've never smoked
 DS> or chewed tobacco, or drank alcoholic beverages in my life, I am wearing
 DS> a heart monitor right now...and am leery about RFI.

 DS>   An FCC official several years ago noted that "we are communicators
 DS> first, and ham radio operators second". 

 DS>   Recently, I was on one of these "internet modes" (i.e. CQ100, D-Star
 DS> with a ThumbDV, Packet Via Telnet, Echolink, D-Rats, and Winlink via
 DS> Winlink Express...which is what I operate), when I ran into an elderly
 DS> ham, who was in tears. He had been in the hobby all of his life, and his
 DS> health had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, where he'd have to go to
 DS> an assisted living center, where RF gear was a no-no, due to the RFI that
 DS> could cause medical devices to malfunction, resulting in someone's death.

 DS>   The old man was just devastated...and I told him that "you don't have
 DS> to give up the hobby...just how you operate". So, I told him about those
 DS> modes I noted above, and his tears of despair became tears  of joy. He
 DS> asked "How can I ever thank you??", and I said to him "Think  nothing of
 DS> it". I was doing a forum at a hamfest in Russellville, Arkansas 2 years
 DS> ago (before COVID-19 shut everything down), and when I noted "Even
 DS> though I operate 'internet radio', I'm still on the air, and my license
 DS> is  not just a sheet of paper"...I got an ovation of applause from the
 DS> group.

 DS>   Also, in central Arkansas, what D-Star and DMR repeaters are here, are
 DS> NOT on the gateway...you have to have a rig to use it. Yet, with all the
 DS> clubs around here bickering about which club is better (including
 DS> handling severe weather), and no one wants to combine forces to work
 DS> together for a central Arkansas hamfest (the last one in Little Rock was
 DS> 2016), I've concentrated my on air work outside of central Arkansas.

 DS>   A couple of years ago, I went to a central Arkansas area high school,
 DS> to speak with their ham radio club, and to do a demo of internet radio.
 DS> Most kids are not rolling in money (have you seen the prices of some of
 DS> the rigs lately??), and some of these rigs could cost as much as either a
 DS> semester's college tuition, or the required textbooks!! The kids were
 DS> thrilled that they could still get on the air (once they got their ham
 DS> radio license), and not have to worry about things like rigs, antennas,
 DS> towers, coaxial cable, power supplies, SWR meters, etc.

 DS>   While I'm still webmaster for The Cabot Nightflyers Net, we can't get a
 DS> node to host it, and no one wants to be Net Control (the original one had
 DS> to quit due to work schedule, and burn out). I am the VE Team Liaison for
 DS> the University Of Arkansas At Little Rock (UALR) Ham Radio Club... they
 DS> have a license server that mirrors the FCC ULS.

 DS>   I have a PDF file in my D-Rats shared folder, and in a link off of a
 DS> hyperlink on my QRZ bio, to things like "Operating Internet Radio",
 DS> "Setting Up Netlogger", and "Ham Radio Humor", among several other
 DS> topics. 

 DS>   Also at that hyperlink, are Excel Spreadsheets of selected D-Star,
 DS> Echolink, and D-Rats Nets, in the 4 main US time zones (Eastern, Central,
 DS> Mountain, and Pacific), with at least 200 monthly nets (truly, too many
 DS> nets, and too little time). I started that because what was at the nets
 DS> page on dstarinfo.com was WOEFULLY OUT OF DATE (and I understand, STILL
 DS> IS). I originally began the page as a page for Echolink Nets, but then
 DS> added D-Star and D-Rats. There are some other pages for DMR, CQ100,
 DS> HamSphere, and Christian Related Nets, but I do NOT maintain them.

 DS>   I started the net listing with a PDF file, but then with the help of
 DS> Gary, VA3GDZ, converted it to Excel Spreadsheets. You need Microsoft
 DS> Office, LibreOffice, or OpenOffice for the spreadsheets...and a program
 DS> such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, Fox-It, etc. to view the PDF files.

 DS>   Now, I realize that if my power or internet are off, I am QRT. But, I
 DS> have far too many health issues now to worry about doing emergency
 DS> communications. Never mind the fact that not even $1200 a month on
 DS> disability for me doesn't go very far. Besides, if you look in a ham
 DS> radio product catalog, and it says CALL/WEB, then that rig is WAY TOO
 DS> EXPENSIVE for you.

 DS>   You will find tons of people ready, willing, and able, to check into a
 DS> traffic net, especially as "a bean for the count". But, don't even think
 DS> about asking them to be Net Control, a club officer, etc. --  because if
 DS> looks could kill, you'd fall over dead!! I'm doing the nets that I do (a
 DS> file of such is at the hyperlink noted earlier), because I enjoy it, and
 DS> no one else wants to do the job as Net Control.

 DS>   Many of these hams are what I refer to as "Hi, Bye, and QSY"...where
 DS> it's "Net Control, Please Checkin [Callsign], [Name], [Location], Short
 DS> Time, No Traffic"...and not a minute later, they're doing the exact same
 DS> thing on another net...sometimes several times in an evening. Rick,
 DS> KA2BSM, who works with the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in
 DS> the Memphis, Tennessee area (he helped me get registered on the gateway),
 DS> wonders "Do these folks have a life outside of ham radio??".

 DS>   There is NO PRIZE, BONUS, AWARD, CERTIFICATE, etc. for seeing how many
 DS> nets you can check into in an evening. To me, folks who are doing such
 DS> are  in the hobby strictly for their ego. And, this is a HOBBY -- it
 DS> should  NEVER take priority over things like church, family, health, job,
 DS> or  especially honey-do's -- in the latter case, that rig you have your
 DS> eye  on for your birthday or Christmas, is going back to the candy store
 DS> (hi hi).

 DS>   It has gotten to be such "a mad rush pileup" with other nets, that I
 DS> either wait toward the end of the net to checkin, or I don't even bother.
 DS> The main time I am on the air is for nets that I am running, to take a
 DS> net for another Net Control (as I had to do last night), or for a sked
 DS> request. I have other things in my life right now, that are far more
 DS> important than my hobbies ham radio, my BBS, or square dancing. Without
 DS> one's health, you have nothing.

 DS>   Again, I agree with the what the FCC official said years ago:

 DS>   "We're communicators first, and hams second".

 DS>   More info on me is in my bio at the hyperlink noted above.

 DS> Daryl, WX4QZ

 DS> ... Ham Radio QRP: When you care the most to send the very least. ===
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