Back to basics

Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

FORMULA FOR THE FUTURE

Ham-radio aficionados are hopeful that including new technologies will make amateur radio more attractive to new users. In addition, there is an active debate in the U.S. whether an old communication method — Morse Code — should be removed from some licensing requirements. While Pulver and others would like to see the five-word-per-minute Morse Code requirement maintained on advanced ham licenses, others believe Morse Code is antiquated and should not be required in the U.S.

With Morse Code already abolished as a requirement for an international ham license, the FCC is expected to announce new U.S. rules on the matter soon, Sumner said.

“It is possible to get an amateur license without passing any Morse Code exam, but the license is limited to VHF and higher,” he said. “We do expect that to change literally at any time. It's our understanding that the commission's rulemaking has been completed; it's just a matter of getting it out the door. We're just waiting for that to happen.”

Meanwhile, Root's APCO task force is meeting to determine the best methods to invite ham-radio operators into the public-safety communications arenas. Amateur-radio operators are valuable resources not utilized by many public-safety managers but appreciated greatly by those who do — particularly during major incidents, said Root, who utilizes ham volunteers to staff mobile communications units in San Diego County.

“You may have very robust systems, but manpower is still an issue,” Root said.

Meanwhile, veteran hams like Meer are helping lead efforts nationwide by serving as mentors, or “Elmers,” to youngsters. For example, the Boulder [Colo.] Amateur Radio Club offers a junior program for those younger than 17 years old, and some area science teachers use ham radio to telemeter experimental information from helium balloons launched by students, Meer said.

Such efforts should help attract new people to amateur radio. But Meer acknowledged that the lure has to be more than a simple means of communication.

“For the people that just want to talk across the world, those people are falling by the wayside, to some degree, because they can talk across the world in MySpace or whatever,” Meer said. “But the people who are interested in playing with engineering and are interested in circuitry, this is still pretty fertile ground.”

Sumner agreed, noting that there always will be a segment drawn to amateur radio by the fact that it allows them to communicate with someone in a remote location using low power with only “the natural phenomena of the ionosphere” between them.

“You will always find some who immediately understands the magic … of being able to communicate totally independently of a trillion-dollar Internet infrastructure,” Sumner said. “You can see the ‘Wow’ factor hit admittedly a minority of people. But those people are still there, and they'll be there for every generation.”