[SMCARA] APRS

[petebutt at comfac.com]

Hmmnnnnnn......

That "someone" is probably me.  I was downloading the video the other day
in preparation for the SMCARA exhibit at the Air Show at Pax and was using
the Yaesu to talk on the repeater to several folks in the area.  I
distinctly remember leaving the radio on the .64 repeater, thinking that
visitors near the exhibit might like to hear the chatter on the repeater
during the day.  To be perfectly honest, I didn't have a clue that we were
running Winlink on the museum station radio.  Can someone tell me 'why' we
are running Winlink on the museum radio?  What is the benefit to an
amateur radio display (and to anyone walking by the display) to
potentially hearing some strange tones coming out of a speaker and no
visual display telling them what is going on?

Just my two cents but this isn't why we spent all that money building a
ham display.  I can see having things operate in an 'autopilot' mode at
the station when no one is there but shouldn't we be ensuring that we
continue to 'tell a story' that visitors can relate to... Which means that
they see something visually that lets them know what they are looking at.
We can put a Winlink radio anywhere but I don't think it belongs in a
public ham display unless we sync it up with a visual display and
appropriate signage that describes what is taking place.  If we are really
going to educate the public on modern communications technology, then why
don't we set up an interactive waterfall display showing how one of the HF
digital modes works, like having a PSK31 visual display set up on 14.070
MHz on one of the monitors, along with a sign nearby that explains to the
public what they are looking at.

I am not upset or trying to start a feud... I just want to open a dialog
on how we should be leveraging the museum display to accomplish our
educational (and recruiting goals) and what technologies we should be
demonstrating.  If we are taking the time to install various software on
the computers to do something, then we should also figure out how best to
describe to the public what we are doing.

While I've got your attention, perhaps now is the time to discuss the next
step in the evolution of the club display.  We have a Rohn 25G tower that
needs to be put up (along with a rotator and beam) and the museum has said
'make it happen'.  We need to schedule a weekend and get it installed.
Who is interested in coordinating this project?  I'll provide the required
Rohn wall mount house bracket and threaded rods, etc. but we will need to
get some gravel for the base to sit in (for good drainage) and someone
will need to fabricate an anti-climb cover.  This isn't going to be a very
high tower (only about 28' or so) so great climbing skills are not
required).

We also just had a professional, full color banner (10' x 2') made up for
the Air Show display that can now be put up in the museum.  Does anyone
have any time to coordinate making that happen?  Please see Walt Rupp to
discuss mounting options and get final approval from the museum for
how/where we can hang it over the display.  If you want to see what it
looks like, check out the pictures on the club web site.

Who would like to coordinate setting up a PSK31 display on one of the
computers?  Is this something that people might find interesting to look
at for a couple of minutes when they visit the display when no one is
there to operate it?  (I'm thinking of the display mode on PSK that shows
multiple signals on 14.070 being decoded simultaneously).  This would
require loading more software on one of the computers.

I am also thinking that perhaps we could get a larger LCD display (on a
stand, perhaps) to put to the right of the display dedicated to showing
the looped videos and free up both of the small displays for
application-specific things like the waterfall display and satellite
tracking, etc. for example.  Do any of you have any suggestions?

There is so much we can do to improve our visibility in the community.  We
just came off a very successful ham radio display at the Pax Air Show (see
pictures on the club web site).  Walt Rupp did a wonderful job
coordinating this event, spent many hours making the arrangements for this
special display and spent most of his Memorial Day weekend at the show
site talking to the visitors.  Many positive comments were received from
the public in hangar 101 who stopped by for a few minutes.

In summary, other than Field Day, the museum display is our number one
venue for getting ham radio out in the public eye.  What are some of the
other things we can do to improve this capability?  Your suggestions would
be most appreciated.

Please respond via the reflector so we can all see your comments,
suggestions and thoughts.

Vr, Pete (WA3UMY)
    President, St. Mary's County Amateur Radio Association
    (and the culprit that changed the frequency on the VHF radio at the
museum)



> This is most likely coming from the museum.  Ray (KB3FWW) has the
> Yaesu dual band radio set up as a Winlink node.  I suspect someone
> changed the radio to the 146.64 repeater and forgot to change it back
> to the 145.030 Winlink frequency when they were done.
>
> A.J. (AJ3U)
>