AB9IL - About Me
The more things change, the more things stay the same!
Around the year 1976, I was a young man growing up in Maryland, and unaware of the world of radio. Then, one evening, I began to tune around on an older brother's multiband radio. It was a much underused part of the Montgomery Ward Airline series, and covered the so-called "marine band." There were time signals, VOLMETs, amateurs, and all sorts of intriguing signals fading in each evening. Before long, I had developed quite an interest but not much skill in broadcast band DX listening.
A local ham, Marc KA3ARF, suggested I learn about the amateur radio service. Back in those days one had to send and receive 5 wpm morse code as well as taking a test on regulations and basic theory. Licensed originally as KA3BVX, my main interests were chasing distant stations and listening to various "utility" stations - mostly aviation, military, and maritime services. AM operation was popular then, and stations like WA1HLR and WA3UAN regularly held court on 3.880 MHz. I quickly discovered that most radio equipment designs were a kludge of compromises. Stability vs tuning range, fidelity vs readability, bells and whistles vs cost. Soon I was learning to modify my equipment in order to better dig out those weak signals that were so interesting. The tasks at hand were adding filters, changing capacitors, putting up better and better antennas, etc. In my opinion, the best learning in radio is accomplished by studying, tweaking, testing, and refining.
Working around the demands of career and family, I have just dabbled in radio through the last fifteen years or so. Working in aviation, I actually do quite a bit of HF and VHF operating, but it is all position reports, clearances, and other similar tasks that I used to monitor as a young utility DXer. At home, my amateur activity consists of some VHF activity now and then, QRP here and there. Enhanced single sideband operation has been a favorite interest here since about 1999 or so.
After achieving the Amateur Extra class level, my interests focused on commercial radio licensing, and pursued the GROL + Radar, GMDSS, and 2nd Class Radiotelegrapher certificates. Why? Because there is always another mountain to climb in radio! There is always another adventure and another aspect to learn. Another puzzle to solve.
More recently, my activities combine computing with amateur radio. Signals can be both generated and received in a properly equipped Computer, and conditions that are impossible for a human operator to handle become quite manageable by computers working in the digital domain. In addition, networking technology makes it possible to send staggering amounts of data - enough to transfer hours of voice or CW in mere seconds.
How do hams accomodate these changes in radio? They do what they have alwaysdone: use the tools to make contacts, move message traffic, chase DX, and press the limits of technology. Look at the Perseus SDR Blog. Same game, but with better tools. As we dive into the age of digital broadcasting, those old L-C tuned rigs of yesteryear will become pretty museum pieces. Radio communication is merging with computing; and the combination permits things beyond the dreams of radiomen of the past. Stay tuned for more changes!