Interested in your thoughts on some software I'm writing ...

[CoastalDude]

This is a new program for Ham Radio operators I'm writing. It really makes locating and working with repeaters easy, fast, and understandable. It can export your choice to Chirp so that you can push the to your radio. It uses sophisticated mapping software, runs on your Windows, Linux, Mac or iPad and is actually kind of fun to use and explore repeaters in your area, or world wide.

New Ham Radio Software

 

[BinaryMode]

That's very cool. Good job.

Edit-

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Looks like W9 was a North Dakota prefix. It is now Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

 

[n8zcc]

The hurdle with a program like this is the accuracy, that is, the program is only as good as the database of repeaters it pulls from. For many years I was a volunteer coordinator for the Michigan Repeater Council. I can tell you from first-hand experience that many repeaters in the database are "paper" repeaters, that is, they only exist on paper and are not on the air. Another issue is repeater owners can change between DMR, analog, Fusion, and DStar. What is listed seldom matches the repeater's current mode. It is up to the repeater owners to notify their coordination group of any changes, and they rarely do that.

Repeaters are not used like they were at one time. I'm in SE Michigan and several high-profile repeaters sit quite all day. For example, the GM radio club has two repeaters (analog) atop the Detroit RenCen with incredible coverage yet they sit quietly. Another is the KE8HR repeater (Fusion) with an antenna seated near the top of a TV tower. Its coverage is amazing yet for the most part sits quiet. A few other repeaters in my area have some activity but are typically limited to the morning and evening drive cycle. Depending on your location, your experience with listed repeaters may vary.

A couple of years ago there was a fistfight with the ARRL and state coordination groups regarding access to the state's amateur repeater databases. Before the fight, the ARRL would pay each state's coordination council a fee for their state's repeater database for listing in the ARRL Repeater Directory. Since that happened, there has been no accurate all state database of amateur repeaters to my knowledge. Be cautious of repeaterbook, they are not sanctioned by most state coordination bodies. The best method is to poll each state's repeater council for what they have but that doesn't mean accuracy. They can only provide what repeater owners report. You can find Michigan's repeater database here.

Use the database with the knowledge that if you don't hear a repeater that is reported, it may be a "paper" repeater or using a different modulation method.

 

[CoastalDude]

The hurdle with a program like this is the accuracy, that is, the program is only as good as the database of repeaters it pulls from. For many years I was a volunteer coordinator for the Michigan Repeater Council. I can tell you from first-hand experience that many repeaters in the database are "paper" repeaters, that is, they only exist on paper and are not on the air. Another issue is repeater owners can change between DMR, analog, Fusion, and DStar. What is listed seldom matches the repeater's current mode. It is up to the repeater owners to notify their coordination group of any changes, and they rarely do that.

Repeaters are not used like they were at one time. I'm in SE Michigan and several high-profile repeaters sit quite all day. For example, the GM radio club has two repeaters (analog) atop the Detroit RenCen with incredible coverage yet they sit quietly. Another is the KE8HR repeater (Fusion) with an antenna seated near the top of a TV tower. Its coverage is amazing yet for the most part sits quiet. A few other repeaters in my area have some activity but are typically limited to the morning and evening drive cycle. Depending on your location, your experience with listed repeaters may vary.

A couple of years ago there was a fistfight with the ARRL and state coordination groups regarding access to the state's amateur repeater databases. Before the fight, the ARRL would pay each state's coordination council a fee for their state's repeater database for listing in the ARRL Repeater Directory. Since that happened, there has been no accurate all state database of amateur repeaters to my knowledge. Be cautious of repeaterbook, they are not sanctioned by most state coordination bodies. The best method is to poll each state's repeater council for what they have but that doesn't mean accuracy. They can only provide what repeater owners report. You can find Michigan's repeater database here.

Use the database with the knowledge that if you don't hear a repeater that is reported, it may be a "paper" repeater or using a different modulation method.

Yes, but what I didn't show (will be in the next video) is the ability to check a box on the Chirp dialog that will only copy those repeaters that you have made contact with. So, you can push out all of the repeaters in your "range" and then spend a few days making contact, seeing if you can receive, kerchunk, what have you, then re-push only those repeaters that you can find traffic on or at least hear. Then expand your range, try out new repeaters and have your radio full of repeaters that are truly valuable. Most people end up using their HT's as scanners and think that is the new ham radio.

There have probably been 5+ million HT's sold in the past 5 years, the harvest is ripe, but the workers are few. Our hobby has a ton of people on the sidelines. Part of what I'm trying to do is make the entry-point easy, less "techy" and so on. Plus, this app is going to spawn a whole new initiative, that will be revealed in the next video, and it has to do with "Simplex" communication, if the repeaters were to disappear ...

 

[KK4JUG]

I travel a lot and I think the whole concept sounds great EXCEPT , I never use CHIRP. I think I still have an old version on one of my computers from when I had a couple of CCRs but that was many years ago.

 

[nokones]

This is not that uncommon the fact that the Amateur Radio Service repeaters sit idle a majority of the time throughout the country. What a waste of a scarce national resource of frequency spectrum that could be put to good use that could help alleviate channel loading issues in other radio services.

The federal government needs to wake up and realize that valuable frequency resources are being horded by a radio service that essentially is no longer justifying the need for all that spectrum.

I think it is time to write a couple of letters to my US House of Representative Congress Member and Senator.

 

[CoastalDude]

I travel a lot and I think the whole concept sounds great EXCEPT , I never use CHIRP. I think I still have an old version on one of my computers from when I had a couple of CCRs but that was many years ago.

Chirp Next is free and works great, it can be found here

ChirpNextBuild - CHIRP

Redmine

chirpmyradio.com

 

[CoastalDude]

This is not that uncommon the fact that the Amateur Radio Service repeaters sit idle a majority of the time throughout the country. What a waste of a scarce national resource of frequency spectrum that could be put to good use that could help alleviate channel loading issues in other radio services.

The federal government needs to wake up and realize that valuable frequency resources are being horded by a radio service that essentially is no longer justifying the need for all that spectrum.

I think it is time to write a couple of letters to my US House of Representative Congress Member and Senator.

Well, I must say I'm shocked a ham radio person would call for our frequencies to be removed? How about you wait until those of us working to restore this traffic (there are people out there, waiting to get on, they just don't really know how). Why don't you wait on us working to enlist the 5 million people who have purchased hand held radio's in our ranks. Honestly, no wonder ham radio "seems" to be dying out.

That was a very disappointing reply to someone trying to address the issues we are having.

 

[alcahuete]

There have probably been 5+ million HT's sold in the past 5 years, the harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.

Say what? 5 million HTs sold to whom? The CCRs are not being sold only to hams. You would be talking almost 7 HTs for every single ham in the US. I'm sure people are using them as scanners, as you see here all the time, but the majority of those people are not hams and have no desire to be.

 

[CoastalDude]

Say what? 5 million HTs sold to whom? The CCRs are not being sold only to hams. You would be talking almost 7 HTs for every single ham in the US. I'm sure people are using them as scanners, as you see here all the time, but the majority of those people are not hams and have no desire to be.

Well,

 

[CoastalDude]

Ok, well, maybe not 5 million but it's in the millions for sure, yes, a ton of SHTF people as well, but nonetheless, the barrier to entry is still high for all these folks that do not realize the potential of what they hold in their hands, besides, it's going to do them no good in SHTF if they don't know how to use it anyway.

The days of the Ham 100w base station guys (at least for now) is fading, the bulk of hammers are now probably using HT's and the new base will be almost all HT's. Anyway, not getting a lot of feedback on the video, not sure folks are really watching it, but that's okay, was just curious to what folks thought.

I realize this isn't my audience for the app so that's understandable

 

[AK9R]

Ok, well, maybe not 5 million but it's in the millions for sure, yes, a ton of SHTF people as well, but nonetheless, the barrier to entry is still high for all these folks that do not realize the potential of what they hold in their hands, besides, it's going to do them no good in SHTF if they don't know how to use it anyway.

How is your app going to teach them how to make contacts with other hams? How is your app going to teach them which hams may be in a position to help them or provide reliable information in a SHTF situation? Just programming repeaters, some of which may be off the air in a SHTF situation, doesn't really help them communicate.

 

[CoastalDude]

How is your app going to teach them how to make contacts with other hams? How is your app going to teach them which hams may be in a position to help them or provide reliable information in a SHTF situation? Just programming repeaters, some of which may be off the air in a SHTF situation, doesn't really help them communicate.

This app can help them fine tune their radio to have it full of repeaters than are active for sure and in a much easier fashion than currently available. Any person worried about SHTF has to assume ALL of the repeaters are down. You are exactly right. However, and this is something I'm working on right now, that is treating Simplex connections like repeaters, and how could messages be relayed effectively without repeater hardware, hmmm? One wonders. With a network of known private individuals with antenna's how many hops would it take me to get from a small town in South Dakota to Indianapolis? What would be the most efficient route through the list of known Simplex antenna connections? Would people be willing to list themselves as having such antennas in an online registry? So many questions indeed ...

But this app so far is the bare minimum just to get things started.

 

[nokones]

Personally, I don't want to see the hobby fail but it will unless it is fixed immediately. If the ridiculous written test is done away with for the Technician License you would probably see a lot more people becoming Hams

 

[CoastalDude]

Personally, I don't want to see the hobby fail but it will unless it is fixed immediately. If the ridiculous written test is done away with for the Technician License you would probably see a lot more people becoming Hams

Ha, you know it was a pretty tough test and I'm not stupid but I did learn a lot. I actually learned the content and the meaning of things so I found it useful. But yes, the barrier makes it more difficult, but I guess it prevents people from jumping onboard and using HT's like kiddie walkie talkies and such ...

 

[rf_patriot200]

Personally, I don't want to see the hobby fail but it will unless it is fixed immediately. If the ridiculous written test is done away with for the Technician License you would probably see a lot more people becoming Hams

Why Do you think the Technician test is Ridiculous ? Do you think the Driver's License exam is ridiculous ? How about the Hazardous Materials endorsement ? Should we do away with those too ?? I can go on, but I won't !

 

[k6cpo]

This is a new program for Ham Radio operators I'm writing. It really makes locating and working with repeaters easy, fast, and understandable. It can export your choice to Chirp so that you can push the to your radio. It uses sophisticated mapping software, runs on your Windows, Linux, Mac or iPad and is actually kind of fun to use and explore repeaters in your area, or world wide.

New Ham Radio Software

A couple of comments about your video. You mention connecting with the older hams. Well, the younger hams have to be willing to listen to what we have to say. I've encountered a bunch of ageism in the hobby. Thankfully, it's not too common where I am when talking to people face to face. It's on the internet where the "OK, Boomer" mentality is prevalent. Try to help a couple of these and pretty soon one gets tired of it and refuses to help anyone else. The other thing that turns off a lot of experience hams is those that come on to an internet forum or social media page and ask mundane questions that the person could have found the answer to very easily if they has done a minimal amount of research, such as reading the manual that came with their radio. I once got called out for advising someone that the answer to their question was on Page 3 of their manual. Those types of pages and forums soon get deleted from my computer. New hams don't learn unless they find the answer themselves.

I appreciate your efforts with your software, but I can't not think that you're reinventing the wheel to some extent. I don't know where you're getting your repeater information but as has already been mentioned, apps like this are a good example of the old programming adage "GIGO" (garbage in, garbage out) and that's why most are useless.

Personally, I don't want to see the hobby fail but it will unless it is fixed immediately. If the ridiculous written test is done away with for the Technician License you would probably see a lot more people becoming Hams

That's already happening. It's called GMRS. If the written exam for Technician is removed, then those license holders will be subject to the same kind of restrictions as are in place for GMRS, FRS, MURS and CB. That's a major step backward.

If you want to build the hobby, then organizing programs such as the ones we do here in San Diego will keep new hams engaged. The ARES organization puts on periodic classes we call "Communicator Gateway" where we spend a morning teaching people how to get on the air with their handheld radio. Volunteer instructors do hands-on training with small groups (one to five individuals) using the same make and model radio as the students. One of our repeater groups sponsors periodic antenna workshops that teach hams of all skill levels how to build simple antennas. I attended one just last Saturday and it was a resounding success.

This is the way to keep the new people interested. Sitting around complaining about it is counterproductive.

 

[hazrat8990]

Personally, I don't want to see the hobby fail but it will unless it is fixed immediately. If the ridiculous written test is done away with for the Technician License you would probably see a lot more people becoming Hams

That "ridiculous" test is pretty much the only thing keeping ham radio from becoming CB. I'll admit that 75/80m is close, but I digress.

 

[W8KIC]

Personally, I don't want to see the hobby fail but it will unless it is fixed immediately. If the ridiculous written test is done away with for the Technician License you would probably see a lot more people becoming Hams

Those who view a simple multiple choice test to obtain a Technician Class License as a barrier or obstacle to entering the hobby are just plain LAZY! You can practically do so blindfolded. Anyone with an IQ even remotely north of 90, as well as a GED can become a ham with a minimum of effort expended on their part. Is shooting for the lowest common denominator really something that we in the ham community aught to take pride in?

 

[nokones]

Why Do you think the Technician test is Ridiculous ? Do you think the Driver's License exam is ridiculous ? How about the Hazardous Materials endorsement ? Should we do away with those too ?? I can go on, but I won't !

I don't know. I haven't had to take a driver's license exam in many decades and I don't have a need for a haz mat endorsement.