zero-retries-magazine-2023-06
This is a very early prototype that only became published (briefly) as it seems impossible to "port out" this text from within the Ghost editor without doing so.
Zero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Now in its third year of publication.
About Zero Retries
Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor
Jack Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editor Emeritus
This issue of Zero Retries Magazine incorporates content that appeared in Zero Retries Newsletter in June, 2023 - Zero Retries 0101 through Zero Retries 0105.
In this issue:
Paywalled Amateur Radio Content - Part 3
Content from Specialized Technology Organizations
Request To Send
Editorial by Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Zero Retries Magazine
This is the inaugural issue of Zero Retries Magazine. It is an experiment to test the feasibility of creating a magazine(ish)-length publication out of the content that was first published in the weekly Zero Retries Newsletter.
Zero Retries Newsletter will remain primary - Zero Retries Magazine will be a supplement to the Newsletter. If the Magazine is a success, perhaps it will become a separate “product”. Whether the Magazine continues will largely depend on how well it is received by readers.
Note that the Magazine will not be a straightforward mashup of the Newsletters - while there won’t be any new content added (that didn’t appear in the Newsletters), I will be updating, editing, and reordering content from the Newsletter to make the Magazine more readable.
SEA-PAC 2023
I attended the SEA-PAC conference Seaside, Oregon June 2-4, 2023. I was asked what I’m excited about in attending SEA-PAC and I replied that the only things I think will be Zero Retries Interesting at SEA-PAC will be the possible display of the new Icom IC-905 (perhaps it will even be touchable), and talking to FlexRadio about any new developments.
But, more than the tech, I think that Pseudostaffer Dan Romanchik KB6NU mirrored my feelings about SEA-PAC well in his latest newsletter:
Hams start going to Dayton for the technology. They keep going for the people.
…
Technology was certainly the initial draw for me, but it's not why I keep returning. I didn't buy a single thing this year. What keeps me going back are the people. Every year, I meet old friends, hams who I've only met on the air, and make new friends.
I admire KB6NU’s restraint in leaving Hamvention without having purchased anything… When I attend Hamvention, I don’t have that much willpower.
Unlike most of my Amateur Radio conferences that I enjoy attending (such as TAPR DCC), SEA-PAC isn’t a technical conference, but it’s held in a nice vacation venue. At SEA-PAC, I do a little bit of flea market shopping (not looking for anything in particular - N8GNJ Labs is full of more projects than I have lifetime left), but mostly I look forward to conversations with interesting people and old friends.
Next year, if the evolution of Zero Retries proceeds roughly in sync with my fertile imagination, Zero Retries might even be an exhibitor at SEA-PAC.
HAM RADIO Conference in Friedrichshafen, Germany
HAM RADIO serves as a platform where radio enthusiasts can get together and exchange information and experience.
As one of the largest amateur radio exhibitions in the world, alongside the Hamvention Dayton/Ohio, USA and the Ham Fair in Tokyo/Japan, HAM RADIO attracts exhibitors and visitors from more than 52 countries all round the world to Friedrichshafen.
A special feature of HAM is the combination of commercial exhibitors, worldwide networked associations and Europe’s largest radio flea market with over 300 participants from 16 countries.
HAM RADIO was held June 23-25, 2023. I have not (yet) attended HAM RADIO, but I hope to do so in the next few years. I would enjoy learning more about vendors, products, projects and groups that are exclusive to Europe. My sense is that HAM Radio is a bit “friendlier” to “projects” in its main exhibition area than Hamvention, and I especially look forward to seeing those projects. From those I have talked to who’ve attended HAM RADIO, it is a qualitatively different experience than Hamvention, which is its closest comparison.
I saw a number of a good time was had by all mentions about HAM RADIO, but to date, I haven’t seen much that is Zero Retries Interesting other than the Kenwood TH-D75A and the M17 Project’s OpenHT Proof of Concept, both of which have been covered previously in Zero Retries. I saw thatHAMNET (Europe microwave network) had a booth, but other than that I didn’t see anything I could specifically identify as involving data communications. YouTube videosHamRadio 2023: Impressionen aus Friedrichshafen(turn on captions, and auto-translate to English) was a nice overview and “HamRadio2023 So war das .....” was a good view of the major vendor booths.
ARRL Field Day
Field Day is ham radio's open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio's science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.
ARRL Field Day was conducted June 24-25, 2023 in the US. Family circumstances didn’t permit me to be involved in ARRL Field Day this year. In coming years, both for ARRL Field Day and Winter Field Day in January, I hope to have an integrated, portable HF station (a Go-Kit) that I can use easily in the field with and operate data modes (my personal preference) during Field Day and similar events.
Starlink Field Day?
Now that I’m a Starlink customer, I consider communications with little terrestrial infrastructure required to be a mostly solved problem, especially when you factor in the increasingly capable battery plus solar units proving power. The combination of the Starlink hardware, battery plus solar, and Starlink subscription isn’t cheap… but it’s amazingly capable… in fact, a paradigm change. But that’s a story for a future issue of Zero Retries. Teaser - Imagine an app that ran on a laptop or Raspberry Pi that connected to another (roaming) Starlink terminal (on battery power), transferred a large file, and then “logged the contact”?
Ham Fair 2023
The last of 2023’s “Big Three” Amateur Radio regional megaconferences will be Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) Ham Fair 2023 in Tokyo, Japan which will be held on August 19-20, 2023. Co-equal with my desire to attend HAM RADIO, I hope to attend Ham Fair at least once. I have periodically found copies of Japan’s CQ ham radio magazine (not the similarly named US publication) and while I don’t read Japanese, I’ve seen mentions (well, photos, mostly) radios that are only available in Japan. In past years, I’ve enjoyed meeting and learning from Amateur Radio Operators from Japan representing Packet Radio User’s Group (PRUG) that would regularly attend TAPR Digital Communications Conferences. In particular, I’d be curious to see if there has been any further progress on PRUG’s FX.25 TNC - that was a neat idea.
Writer for M17 Project
In Zero Retries 0100 I wrote Perspective - Project Websites Without a News Section Hurt the Project. One example I cited was the M17 Project:
M17 Project - (No News section) In Zero Retries 0099, I mentioned M17 OpenHT - A Breakthrough In Ham Radio. One week later there is still no mention of that significant advancement within M17 Project on the M17 Project website. That information was only found on Reddit Amateur Radio Developers. (Not to mention, Zero Retries apparently doesn’t meet M17 Project’s definition of “Media”.)
Recently, Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP posted on Facebook a mention of a (very Zero Retries Interesting) prototype of the OpenHT. Hoping to stir things up, I commented on Facebook:
Looking forward to this being posted to a web page so it can be linked to.
To which SP5WWP replied:
Steve Stroh would you like to help us with that by creating content?
I said yes, and thus I come full circle with M17. At one point, years ago now, (prior to starting Zero Retries), I filled out a contact form or some other communication offering to get involved in the M17 Project… but didn’t receive a response. Over the past two years of writing Zero Retries, often citing M17 Project as a specific example of technological innovation in Amateur Radio, both M17 Project and I have grown aware of each other.
So, having been extended an invitation to help “be part of the solution”, now I am a “writer” for M17 Project thanks to Steve Miller KC1AWV, the webmaster of the M17 Project’s website.
Mostly, per my plaint above, I’ll be “hoovering up” mentions of M17 Project’s progress posted in various “conversational mediums” and reformatting such mentions and posting them on the M17 Project’s web page in the new News section (still a work in progress).
I’ll have more to say about my take on M17 Project in future issues of Zero Retries, once I can get all the queued up “recent cool stuff” posted onto the M17 website.
Wrapping Up
My thanks to Cale Mooth K4HCK for mentioning the major article from Zero Retries 0103 - Amateur Radio Moonshots - My Presentation for MicroHAMS Digital Conference 2023 in Issue 291 of Amateur Radio Weekly. That mention was responsible for a nice boost to the subscriber count for Zero Retries. It was especially an honor to be mentioned in that issue with Zero Retries Pseudostaffers Jeff Davis KE9V and Dan Romanchik KB6NU.
And, a belated Thanks! to K4HCK for including Zero Retries as one of Amateur Radio Weekly’s Friends of the Newsletter. It’s humbling to be included alongside the venerable and highly respected Amateur Radio Newsline.
To my surprise, I was elected as President of the Mount Baker Amateur Radio Club (MBARC) Digital Group (DG) based in Bellingham Washington for the 2023-09 to 2024-08 term. I was President of the DG one year ago - 2021-09 to 2022-08, but was voted out after that term. Apparently, I’m back.
Reminder - KE9V’s Cornbread Road audio series is both Zero Retries Interesting and has my personal recommendation. I know it has an unassuming name, but believe me, it grabs you from the first episode. All episodes are now available for download or streaming. Given that you’re reading this in Zero Retries, I know you’ll enjoy listening to Cornbread Road. KE9V won’t keep it online for much longer, so download the episodes ASAP.
I intend(ed) that every fifteenth issue of Zero Retries would feature the latest edition of The Zero Retries Omnibus of Zero Retries Interesting Information. The Previous Edition of the Omnibus was coincident with Zero Retries 0090. With Summer activities, heavy travel, and a few higher priorities for Zero Retries, the new Omnibus will be deferred for at least a few issues.
Payment Options for Zero Retries were activated this month. Thank you very much to those who have become paid subscribers to Zero Retries! I’ve added some details to Closing The Channel to reflect information about payment options.
Paywalled Amateur Radio Content - Part 3
Content from Specialized Technology Organizations
By Steve Stroh N8GNJ
In this last installment on this subject, I posit that the content produced by Specialized Technology Organizations should be publicly accessible. British Amateur Television Club provides a model for offering content as an incentive for financial support of the organization and making their content publicly accessible.
Part 1 - Publicly Accessible Amateur Radio Content (Zero Retries 0099)
Part 2 - Update on the “Content Beyond the Paywall Is Irrelevant” Perspective - Facebook
My thanks to Tom Fletcher for his comment by in Zero Retries 0099:
I NEVER pay to get past a Paywall, no matter what the “valuable” content is.
I had meant to include this discussion in (what became) Part 1
of this series, but I couldn’t quite phrase it well enough by writing cutoff of Zero Retries 0099. Fletcher’s comment helped me clarify my thinking.
Within Amateur Radio, in general, in this era, in my opinion, content should default to being publicly accessible, unless the content very, very specialized or a compelling reason to restrict content to “paid only”.
Exceptions That Justify Payment / Paywall
One such exception, in my experience, was the W5YI Report which targeted the Amateur Radio industry - manufacturers, retailers, ARRL
officials, even FCC
staffers with a timely publication (published biweekly, if memory serves). My perception, from the content
, most of the readers of W5YI report read it to help them be informed in theirjobsinvolving Amateur Radio, thus it was entirely reasonable for W5YI Report to be a paid subscription - easy to justify the subscription fee as part of their jobs.
Another exception was the excellent 220 Notes
newsletter by Arthur Reis K9XI. During the period that 220 Notes was published (1981 - 1994), the US 220 - 225 MHz band (now the 222 - 225 MHz band) was a nearly forgotten band in much of the US, and mention of it was rare. 220 Notesdived deepinto the subject, discussing equipment, band planning, usage, regulatory issues, etc. You couldn’t help admire K9XI for his dedication to, and passion for the 220 - 225 MHz band and want to support him.
Focused Organizations Should Make Their Primary Content Publicly Accessible
In my stance that content should default to being publicly accessible, I'm making exception, for now, for highly specialized (usually technical) content published by “focused” organizations. It’s my guess that the leaders of those organizations are of the “magazine era” and in their minds, the organization’s specialized content is the primary reason for “members” (subscribers) to pay “dues” (subscription fees) to the organization.
This is a sensitive topic, and in this discussion, I’m trying to add more light than heat, so I’ll tread lightly and not mention organization names.
With no public access to an organization’s primary content, it’s hard for those who are new to Amateur Radio to tell if the organization is worth supporting. They simply don’t know the storied history or the current efforts of the organization because they are new to Amateur Radio.
The cynical view (which I’ve heard multiple times from a number of people) is…
”Without a paywall, they’ll just rip us off, read the good stuff, and not support the organization”.
The more charitable view of keeping primary content restricted to paid members is…
“We reserve our primary content as a perk for joining and supporting the organization”.
I think that such views are shortsighted. If the organization is doing good work, it should be obvious that the organization is worth supporting. But, again, it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s really going on with the organization with a “first, pay up, then you can see our content and what we’re doing” model.
Good example by British Amateur Television Club
Public access to primary content doesn’t have to be a binary choice between “give it all away” versus “lock it all up”. I’m impressed with the approach that the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) took with their archives for their newsletter CQ-TV:
Editions of CQ-TV published more than 2 years ago are available for free download on this page.A full index of articles content dating back to issue 1 is available on the BATC wiki.
With that model, BATC makes their primary content good publicly accessible, albeit two years old
. That’s good enough for my purposes, to know that BATC is “giving back” to Amateur Radio, and providing some incentive to support BATC.
At least, it worked for me — I plan to join and support BATC.
ZR > BEACON
By Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.
Zero Retries Pseudostaffer Dan Romanchik retires as ARDC Communications Manager
Wednesday, May 31, 2023, was my last day as an employee of Amateur Radio Digital Communications, the private foundation that’s “empowering the future of amateur radio and digital communication.” It was a great job, but in the end, it was a job, and now it’s time to do something different. I wouldn’t quite call it “retirement,” but it’s pretty close.
What was (and is) cool about KB6NU’s “retirement” from ARDC is that KB6NU was a prolific writer and explainer of Amateur Radio before joining ARDC. With that background, he lent his perspective to ARDC and made connections for ARDC that it wouldn’t have been able to do without him. Having helped launch ARDC to its current stature within Amateur Radio, I think KB6NU can justifiably feel “job well done, now moving on”. (I feel similarly about my two years on the ARDC Grants Advisory Committee.)
I doubt that KB6NU will be “retired” for long.
MikroTik Nv2 (Air interface used for HamWAN User Access)
On the HamWAN Mailing List, there was this interesting passing mention by Douglas Kingston KD7DK:
HamWAN has standardized on Mikrotik gear and we use their NV2 TDMA protocol to get the best bandwidth possible.
Also mentioned in that same message was a presentation (PDF) by David Savage as a good backgrounder - MikroTik Nv2 - New and Improved Wireless Networking with Nstreme Version 2
One highlight:
Nstreme
The use of TDMA - Time Division Multiple Access is inherently more spectrally efficient than Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), IE, duplex operation involving two frequencies, one for transmit, one for receive, versus one frequency (simplex) used for both transmit and receive.
The features of Nstreme Version 2 are significant differentiations for Amateur Radio use because user access to HamWAN nodes uses the (semi-exclusive to Amateur Radio) 5.9 GHz band… and there’s not much spectrum there (compared to 20 MHz channels [and wider] channels that are commonly used on the 5 GHz band.
Product Updates from FlexRadio at Hamvention 2023
It’s always fun to hear from FlexRadio. In its 2023-05-31 The Flex Insider newsletter (emailed, not yet online), FlexRadio reported out from its banquet(s) at Hamvention 2023 which they use as a venue for announcements and interesting information. I wish they would record these and make them available on YouTube for those of us who cannot attend Hamvention.
FlexRadio announced the End of Life (EOL) of the FLEX-6700, citing a successful ten-year lifetime and ongoing component shortages for the product.
But to offset that news…
Maestro UpdateDuring the Dayton Hamvention, CTO Steve Hicks, N5AC presented some of the new features coming up in our latest version of the Maestro.8” Display size, capabilitiesIncreased WiFi CapabilityImproved WiFi radio + antenna (MIMO)WiFi 6 compatibleImproved CW sidetoneNew rechargeable battery option - easily obtained worldwideNew power indication/switch matches M-Series RadiosNew pseudo-differential MIC connectionExternal Display OutputSerial USB pass-thru for RS232 devices such as RotatorsNew optimized hardware connections
Maestro is FlexRadio’s “detached front panel” for their radios. Maestro is just… cool…in that it’s a network-native device - Ethernet or Wi-Fi. There are no other connections between the (actual) radio and Maestro.
Those are significant updates. I was glad to see one that I was hoping for - External Display Output - that will be a cool feature of a FlexRadio system on display in a public venue. Wi-Fi 6 compatibility is nice, but it would have been better to include Wi-Fi 6E compatibility, but that’s a quibble.
Post Publication Update - FlexRadio was at SEA-PAC and during their seminar I asked Steve Hicks N5AC about Wi-Fi 6E and he said that the new version of Maestro uses an integrated compute module with the Wi-Fi built-in, in this case Wi-Fi 6 (reasonable answer).
TAPR Hamvention 2023 Videos Now Online
My thanks to Pseudostaffer Jeff Davis KE9V for spotting that TAPR’s videos from Hamvention 2023 are now online.
Dave Larsen, KV0S, announced that he has finished processing and uploading videos of TAPR events at the 2023 Hamvention. They are now online on the TAPR Digital YouTube site.
My sincere thanks to KV0S for doing the nearly-thankless work of editing and uploading those videos. For me, video editing is a slog, and I greatly appreciate those like KV0S that can do such work for the benefit of Amateur Radio.
Cornbread Road Audio Series Returns!
Speaking of Pseudostaffer Jeff Davis KE9V, he recently announced:
Return to Cornbread RoadSomewhere back in my long ago I wrote a short story about about a secret society of hams in a little country town where all is not as it seems…Cornbread Road was originally produced in audio format in 2011. Thirteen episodes of about ten minutes each released once each week between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox that year. I haven’t kept it online because of bandwidth limits and associated costs though I have brought it back for limited runs several times since its initial release. I plan to release the entire series again this summer using the original schedule. Episodes will begin reappearing here on the solstice (June 21) with one episode released each week until the equinox (September 23). It’s a progressive story intended to be told in sequence.It was always my intention to follow up Cornbread Road with other, similar short stories in audio format, but my career went into overdrive about the same time and I simply never found the time. Having solved that problem, my interest in the production of other audio ham radio related stories has returned. Hopefully this re-release will be the beginning of other new releases.
KE9V is too modest by half about Cornbread Road; overall it’s a great story with good plot development and KE9V integrates the tech in the story quite well. I certify that Cornbread Road is Zero Retries Interesting (there are some delightful technical and radio twists in the story) and that if you enjoy Zero Retries, you’ll enjoy listening to Cornbread Road each week as he releases episodes.
Video Review of the Icom IC-905 SuperRadio
Pseudostaffer Jeff Davis KE9V was particularly busy this week! KE9V recommends this video review of the Icom IC-905 which dropped 2023-05-30.
With the much-anticipated UK release of our all new IC-905 SHF/VHF/UHF All Mode Transceiver around the corner, we were lucky enough to get our hands on two of them and asked our friends at TX Films to see if they would like to be the first to do a review. In the resulting YouTube video Bob McCreadie (G0FGX) of TX Films, along with Dave Crump (G8GKQ) and Noel Matthews (G8GTZ) from the British Amateur Television Club, put the IC-905 through its paces, producing a video that demonstrates the IC-905's impressive features and capabilities.
In the video, Bob McCreadie takes us through various aspects of the IC-905 including:
Introduction to the IC-905 SHF/VHF/UHF All-Mode Transceiver.Connectivity…an overview of the sockets and connections on this radio .Menu navigation on the IC-905.Overview of the RF Unit and Transverter.Field Test on Bulbarrow Hill in Dorset including ATV and 10Ghz SSB Tests.