• [KB6NU] Amateur radio videos: Mountain Dew, ARRL Foundation, how does e

    From KB6NU via rec.radio.amateur.moderat@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 12 12:19:40 2021
    XPost: rec.radio.amateur.equipment, rec.radio.amateur.moderated

    KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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    Amateur radio videos: Mountain Dew, ARRL Foundation, how does electricity really work?, how Begalis are made

    Posted: 12 Dec 2021 08:17 AM PST https://www.kb6nu.com/amateur-radio-videos-mountain-dew-arrl-foundation-how-does-electricity-really-work-how-begalis-are-made/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

    Do hams drink Dew?

    N3JT posted this to the CWops mailing list, and I thought it was just hilarious.

    How electricity really works

    This video has been making the rounds lately. It presents a very
    interesting explanation of how electrical energy flows.

    A peek into the Begali factory

    I am an unabashed Begali fanboy. Heres a peek inside the Begali factory.




    The post Amateur radio videos: Mountain Dew, ARRL Foundation, how does electricity really work?, how Begalis are made appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.


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    #hamradio needs something like the Arduino

    Posted: 11 Dec 2021 08:39 AM PST https://www.kb6nu.com/hamradio-needs-something-like-the-arduino/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email


    About a week ago, this Tweet flashed across my feed:




    mia :)

    @lifeonunicorns

    Happy 10 million UNOs, @arduino My first UNO was one of the things
    motivating me to get into electronics as a child. As an older child Im now happily studying Computer Science in Uni and you are one of the reasons.
    Very happy to hold this in my hands now!


    I retweeted and added the comment, #hamradio needs something like the
    Arduino. The more I think about this, the more I think this is true. An UNO
    is something that is affordable and simple to set up and something that
    kids and newcomers can have fun with almost right out of the box.
    Someone commented:

    Yeah, if only we had a software defined transceiver and does-it-all
    software. Oh wait analog.com/en/design-cent… and gnuradio.org. Point being, we have the hardware + software we just need to popularize it.

    This is not a bad idea, but I think that this solution is still too
    expensive (a PLUTO SDR costs more than $200). And, GNURadio is certainly
    not for beginners.  My reply was:

    A PLUTO costs $200. An Arduino costs less that $20.

    To which, I got this reply:

    OK. For a transmitter, how about $35 for a Raspberry Pi + github.com/F5OEO/rpitx? For a receiver, $30 for rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dv…

    I said:

    Now, youre getting closer, but you cant just dump this on them and expect
    them to magically create a working set. Theyll need some instructions
    and/or some coaching.

    And my friends reply:

    Were in violent agreement. Arduino didnt succeed because it was good
    hardware, it succeeded because of the vast ecosystem books, classes, video tutorials, etc. We need the same thing for Software Defined Radio,
    especially training wheels for GNU Radio.

    So, my question—or challenge, really—is how do we come up with something that lets beginners get started in radio for less than $100 and offers a similar experience to the UNO?



    The post #hamradio needs something like the Arduino appeared first on
    KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.

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