WDØDXD

I administer the IRLP Nodes for the Amateur Radio Association of Nebraska.  We have two up now and plan to add more.

I stumbled upon K6IB’s neat IRLP Control Software last night and installed it on the two nodes we now have up.  Neat stuff, this is what I love about Amateur Radio.  Hams helping Hams.

When you have time, slip over to http://w0wwv.org and in the right column you will see an IRLP Status box.  If you click on the link, you can view the real time status of our nodes.

Thumbs up to Brent – K6IB http://k6ib.com for this great contribution.

From the ARRL website:

” On March 24, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proposing to amend the Commission’s Amateur Radio Service rules “with respect to Amateur Radio operations during government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster readiness drills and tests.” While current rules provide for Amateur Radio use during emergencies, the rules prohibit communications where the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer. In October 2009, the FCC released a Public Notice clarifying the Commission’s rules relating to the use of Amateur Radio by licensed amateurs participating in drills and exercises on behalf of their employers. To date, the FCC has granted several dozen waivers under this new policy.”

You can read the entire article here: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/25/11405/?nc=1

I know a lot of other Ham’s are concerned that we would be going down a slippery slope here.  I understand those fears, but Emergency Communications is one of the big draws for the Amateur Radio service right now.  I know in the past innovation and experimentation was big also.  EC seems to have taken the lead right now.

Which brings me to this question.  What new innovations has the Amateur Radio service contributed lately for general public use?  I don’t mean that in a negative way, I am serious.  I know there are many, but it would be nice if we had a list we could point to when we try to recruit new members.

Let me know, I will post them here for reference.

Just of couple of things.

I am proud to say that My Son KDØJCP and an associate KDØJCR upgraded their tickets to General last month.  Way to go guys, considering we just got them interested in the hobby last year, they have come a long way in a short while.

At last weeks Nebraska ARRL state convention I was asked by Cliff Ahrens KØCA to be a Assistant Director for the ARRL Midwest Division.  It’s an advisory position, so I look forward to getting input from area hams so that I can forward it on to the division.

This week the Obama administration announced their budget for the upcoming fiscal year.  While I have a problem with a large part of the administrations policies, one of the small cuts in the budget (compared to the enormatiy of the entire budget), was the funding cut in the NASA budget.

It basically killed the Constellation project which was the follow on to the Space Shuttle program.  Think about that for a minute.  For the first time since the early days of manned space flight, the United States will not have a means of putting a man into space.  We will have to rely on the Russians and/or the Chinese just to get someone to the space station that we mostly were instrumental in building.

Is this the first sign of a long spiral down to third world status?  First we abandon leadership in the exploration of space and then the tremendous debt load we are piling up for our children under the current spending plans demotes the United States to a third work power?  Our adversaries won’t lend us the money to compete with them on a global scale forever.  Our technological lead has allowed us to stay ahead of the rest of the world the last 30 years.  If we cut the investment now so that we can continue to fund some presidential library or bridge to no where, how will our children expect to pay off the massive debt we are piling up for them now?