Hi Al,
We have three indoor sources of endless “entertainment” (who also lovvve keyboards and touchscreens) and 15 outdoor mousers that keep the farm pest-free.? One of the indoor denizens was an outdoor kitten that was found unconscious after a particularly cold snap (it’s a balmy -11 F here in Northern Montana this morning).? However, the passing of an old stalwart earlier this year left an empty pooka he gladly filled after riding around in my vehicle on a sunny day that warmed him back to consciousness, and he was able to eat voraciously.
My farm chores and lack of an Internet connection in the metal Butler shop building in a field where I work meant it was up to one of the indoor felines to dance on the touchscreen of an old tablet to get a QDX order completed.? Fortunately, Plan B was one of the many very generous hams here getting a QDX order completed for us, who have previously helped our school’s amateur radio club to acquire radios, tools, equipment, and parts.
For those not aware, the cell carriers stuffed bribes … I mean “campaign contributions” … into the pockets of enough Congresscritters to obtain a regulatory deal.? In exchange for being able to stop maintenance and operation of 3G cell sites in rural areas on 12/31/2022, the carriers will be able to spend their customers’ payments (including those in rural areas) on rolling out 5G in metro areas and along only major Interstate highways.
The hardware and software at 3G sites has to be completely upgraded in order to transition to 4G, let alone 5G, which can run into upwards of millions of dollars for busy sites.? Newer 4G sites can be upgraded to 5G via software, and older 4G sites require much less expensive hardware upgrades to get to “low-speed/long-range” 5G typically being installed along highways.
The costs for 5G can be spread over much larger numbers of customers in metro areas and along major Interstates, especially where “ultra-high-speed” 5G sites (eventually reaching tens of Gbps of throughput) can have ranges as little as hundreds of feet.
So, I’m encouraging both students and adults to learn how to build radios and antennas, and earn their licenses, via rural education institutions’ amateur radio clubs.? Any school/college, or even an organization with any kind of public service mission, can obtain a station license and callsign from the FCC by submitting a one-page form.? The only other requirement is that one licensed amateur (who doesn’t need to be associated with the school/organization) and one adult associated with the school/organization need to sign the form.
Students/members don’t need to be licensed to operate radios, they just need to be personally supervised by a licensed amateur. ? ?The station’s privileges are the same as those of the supervising licensed amateur, so if they’re an Extra, the students/members can operate on frequencies reserved for Extras.? Excellent candidates for school/organization sponsors are science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educators, Career and Technical Education instructors (especially in electronics, computing, industrial arts, and other technical disciplines), and librarians .
Librarians might seem an odd pool of candidates, but many now have degrees (often Masters) in Information Science, which has superseded the older Library Science curricula.? They were often at the forefront of computing entering schools, are whizzes at using data sources (database languages as well as search engines), and are uniformly curious addicts about new and fascinating things.? They’re also amazing communicators who can translate Geek to Normal Human, which can be a most useful skill!
Anywaaaay, if you’re interested in helping to start an amateur radio club (or revive one of many that have long since gone SK - their call signs are generally still valid), let me know and I’ll provide whatever help you might need.? It should be noted that the average age of amateur licensees is the mid-70s, so this is a great way to pass on your wealth of knowledge to The Next Generation.? The young Padawans are at least as geeky and hungry for knowledge as we were back when we were their age.? If their spongy brains aren’t filled with highly valuable amateur radio knowledge, they will inevitably be filled with nonsense that some malcontents have made up and are spewing via antisocial media.
The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades!!!
On Fri, Dec 17, 2021 at 11:32 AM Al Sines <
sasines@...> wrote:
Thank you Hans!? Got my order in #52499!? Everything went smoothly in spite of my curious kitty wanting to walk on the keyboard! ?
My Christmas is now complete!
Alan, W3AL?
reallyoldjeep
Shirley Dulcey KE1L
pedro almeida - CT7ARQ
Dick PA3CW
Peter M0PWX