KN4GDX

The amateur radio and amateur satellite hobby has been a popular and innovative niche for many years. When I started in amateur radio in the 1980s, packet was a very popular digital mode for terrestrial communications, with growing amateur satellite packet options. That continues today, but many hams are more familiar with packet use in popular applications such as APRS. Since then, there has been a large global deployment of digital-repeaters globally and especially in the US, supporting the packet digital hobby and increased satellite-packet options. Today, the terrestrial packet hobby coexists with other advanced forms of digital HF and VHF communications such as VARAC and Winlink. And short satellite packet contacts of several minutes have been normal. What has been missing in the US, are longer dwell satellite contact … Read more >>

H.A.M. For 2023, rest assured a meaning has finally come into our hobby. After lengthy and never ending discussions on the meaning of ‘ham’, typically among oldies and newbies, and the assertions that it represents the initials of important people, the REAL answer has come to light (er, electromagnetic propagation). HAM stands for Heuristic Algorithmic Menagerie. (apologies to Arthur C. Clarke) Heuristic because … Heuristic — A heuristic, or heuristic technique, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, short-term goal or approximation. Wikipedia Algorithmic because … duh: algorithms are embedded in everything we do. Menagerie because … It’s obvious to any observer of the typical ham … Read more >>