[PPRAANet] Slashdot and NPR stories on Ham Radio

[D Nielsen]

/From Slashdot:

/*Ham Radio Still Growing In the iStuff Age*/
/
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/04/06/195245/Ham-Radio-Still-Growing-In-the-iStuff-Age?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+%28Slashdot%29


/"From NPR comes this story about old-school communications in the age 
of Twitter 
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125586086&ft=1&f=1019>: 
'Only a few years ago, blogs listed ham radio alongside 35 mm film and 
VHS tape as technologies slated to disappear. They were wrong. Nearly 
700,000 Americans have ham radio licenses --- up 60 percent from 1981, a 
generation ago. And the number is growing.' The article goes on to say 
that while there's plenty of 60-plus year old hams, there's also a 
growing contingent of teens. I just met a 14-year-old, licensed in 2009. 
Getting rid of the Morse Code requirement sure helped in that regard. So 
does the fact that the test questions (and the answers) are freely 
available, legally, on the Internet. Study, take the test, hang the 
license certificate on the wall. Your geek cred gets an immediate boost. 
And who knows? Maybe the next time there's a Haiti-earthquake-sized 
disaster, you'll be one of the thousands of ham volunteers who provided 
the only communications in/out of Haiti for weeks following the quake, 
not to mention all of the tactical comms the country had for nearly a 
month."


/*From NPR

*/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125586086&ft=1&f=1019

/

Heard on All Things Considered

April 5, 2010 - MICHELE NORRIS, host:

 From NPR News, it's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.

And it's time now for All Tech Considered.

(Soundbite of music)

NORRIS: Have you ever been driving and noticed a house with what looks 
to be an enormous, homemade antenna? Well, it's likely the handiwork of 
an amateur radio operator, or ham. Hams spend their free time chatting 
with people all over the world without the help of the Internet. Sure, 
ham radio may seem quaint. The name itself is century-old telegraph 
slang. But as Matt Sepic of St. Louis Public Radio reports, amateur 
radio is thriving, even in the age of Web 2.0.

MATT SEPIC: With millions of us posting up-to-the-minute photos to 
Facebook, checking Twitter and snuggling up to our iPhones, it's easier 
than ever to stay in touch.

(Soundbite of Morse code)

SEPIC: So, you might assume a hobby where you make your own antennas and 
tap out Morse code messages would be as common today as, say, rotary 
phones. In fact, a few years ago, several blogs put ham radio alongside 
35mm film and VHS tape on a list of things slated to disappear. But they 
were wrong.

New amateurs, like Helen Schlarman, are part of an upswing. With a 
compact two-way radio in her house, she?pushes the talk button, 
announces her personal call sign, and looks up a friend.

Ms. HELEN SCHLARMAN: W-0-S-J-S, W-0-A-K-I.

SEPIC: Fellow amateur Steve Schmitz answers from across town.

Mr. STEVE SCHMITZ: Hi, Helen, how are you doing? W-0-S-J-S.

Ms. SCHLARMAN: I'm doing just fine, Steve. How are you? And how is Wilma?

SEPIC: Many hams hang postcards from global contacts on their walls, the 
way hunters show off deer antlers, but Helen Schlarman's chats are 
mostly local. She's 89, and says the hobby is perfect for an outgoing 
person who's inside a lot.

Ms. SCHLARMAN: It's a different community. There is no stereotypes of 
age. It's just talking and sharing and enjoying.

SEPIC: Until recently, ham radio was declining as older operators died. 
But then the FCC phased out the Morse code test that many saw as a 
stumbling block to getting a license. Maria Somma, of the American Radio 
Relay League, says that sparked a lot of interest, especially last year.

Ms. MARIA SOMMA (American Radio Relay League): We had over 30,000 new 
amateurs coming into the radio service. And the trend seems to be going 
upward.

SEPIC: Somma says today, nearly 700,000 Americans have ham licenses a 
nearly 60 percent jump over a generation ago.

Allen Weiner of Gartner Research, who follows tech trends, says that's 
really not all that surprising. While it'll never have the sex appeal of 
the iPhone, Weiner, over a less-than-perfect Skype connection, says ham 
radio has a certain nerd appeal.

Mr. ALLEN WEINER (Gartner Research): If it creates its own experience, 
that's really what's key here. If it just emulates an experience that 
you can get online, it's not going to grow.

SEPIC: At a ham radio convention near St. Louis, the crowd swapping 
antenna parts and other equipment is mostly male, and mostly over 50. 
But the hobby has attracted 15-year-old Jonathan Dunn. He says Facebook 
and texting are fun, but making friends using a $200 radio that doesn't 
come with monthly fees is more rewarding.

Mr. JONATHAN DUNN: With ham radio, you can talk to new people of, you 
know, all kinds of ages, race. I mean, it's just amazing what a little 
radio can do, because no matter where you're at, most likely, if you 
have the right stuff and the right power, you can talk to anyone.

SEPIC: Even though amateur radio is often more about the medium than the 
message, Jonathan's father, Steve Dunn, says all that polite chitchat is 
still important, especially for a teenager.

Mr. STEVE DUNN: If young people have the opportunity to communicate with 
a wide range of people, that instills a certain amount of confidence in 
their ability to carry on the lost art of small talk.

SEPIC: Even the most die-hard hams concede theirs will never be a 
mainstream hobby. And with smart phones and the Internet, people are 
more plugged in than ever. But even so, there are those who still find 
great joy in communicating with 20th century technology.

For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepic in St. Louis.