Imagine being able to use your amateur radio to monitor your beehive on your property or share your location with your friends while hiking or going for a bike ride.
APRS or automatic packet reporting system can do all that, plus provide the ability to communicate by text message between radios that do not require any monthly fees.
Everything you may want to know in a very non-technical way is explored on this episode of The Farmacy Seeds Network thanks to Peter KC2ASA.
The shows host as always, CJ KD2IIN, takes us through not only how to learn more about this fairly mature technology but also some other exciting amateur radio technologies used for communicating.
If your interested in "whats next" such as satellite communications and new modes of communication, like something that HVDN has been focused on called HASviolet where another local club has recently started to experiment with. More about that over at another Hudson Valley resident (for now) Nolan KE8JCT's fantastic blog and this recent post about using LoRa in some upcoming projects.
Lots more about APRS on the HVDN Notebook if you want to learn more, like how to even track a hot air balloon or a high altitude balloon too!
Following that video where Jonathan showed us his gear in use, Steve took us on a tour of some of his kit. To go one better (maybe even three better), this latest TFSN episode goes into depth on every day carry and field pack organization.
Be sure to watch the first hour for things not related to amateur radio, but the below like will get you right to radio focused discussion if that is what your more interested in.
I always talk about "convergence" between other interests and amateur radio. There are many hobbies that I personally find more enjoyment or motivation from by including some form of wireless communication with other things, like hikingor just finding ways to be prepared for adventures.
But what about going the opposite direction? As a long time gamer, I made a short video to showcase the interesting form factor of the Icom IC-705 radio that may help shed an image that "ham radio" is still just about old vacuum tubes, elderly people and late nights spent in a basement tapping out Morse Code to someone around the world. Please, do not shoot your in-game missiles at me for saying that dear reader.
What is Pip Boy?
This was a fictional device featured in the very popular video game series called "Fallout". It was a wrist worn "Personal Information Processor", manufactured by RobCo Industries.
As part of a promotional effort, many video games spawn many different real life products to engage with fans. The Pip Boy 2000 Mk VI is one example and there are even other versions that let you put a smartphone inside to offer real functionality, but in an interesting wrist mounted enclosure.
This product even came in a special storage case when not using PipBoy. This storage case is what inspired this article and video actually.
Is is possible to put the 2 pound (1.1 kilogram) Icom IC-705 on my wrist like a PipBoy? I guess if I got tired of my Samsung Gear watch, that could be handy to have HF and above communications while walking around. My wrist would get awfully sore though. I can keep my Icom IC-705 safe inside of a really cool case though as you will see.
A better option for wrist based communications might be KK4VCZ Travis Goodspeed's "GoodWatch" project, which I have some PCB's ready to populate with SMD components I have yet to order.
It was easy to make the PCB's by sending the files to OSHparkand let them make the circuit boards for a few dollars. Eventually I will get around to making my own GoodWatch....
For those that may remember, Travis is the guy behind what we owe a lot to for making DMR a popular digital voice mode in amateur radio thanks to his "hacks" on the popular TYT MD-380 radio that improved its functionality greatly in such a cheap radio.
And, the also super famous AC2SN Limor Fried who founded Adafruit has also spent time making use of Travis's interesting work made DMR super popular too.
You could even receive signals from your Pi-Star Hotspot using the GoodWatch since Pi-Star also supports POCSAG, an open paging standard which DAPNET brought to amateur radio.
Could the Icom IC-705 with its Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, color touch display and all mode 1.8 to 450 MHz 10 W transceiver be the next big thing that "hackers" start to experiment with? Could it even find its way into a cosplay scenario at the next big Comicon? Maybe even getting some of the #DEFCONcrowd interested too!
And now without further ado, I present my video that most video game fans may appreciate......
Live from high on top of Sam's Point (W2/GC-020) were brothers Jonathan Gong KC2BNW and Michael Gong KC2BNX at the 35:00 minute video mark of this great interview focused on how to integrate amateur radio into outdoor activities or find ways to take your "ham radio hobby" with you as part of "Summits On The Air" or SOTA for short.
Steve Bossert K2GOG shares some background about radios that might be good for "prepper" or other emergency communications for the first show segment and then Jonathan shows them in real life use.
Later on in the show, Carlton made Steve empty a few of his packs to talk about some of the non-ham radio things to consider when out in the field.
Major topics were staying hydrated, organized and illuminated along with communication tips. Not covered in this episode are details are anything related to staying warm.
Video below starts at about the 90 minute mark, so if you like what you hear, go ahead and jump backwards for the full video. Even a brief mention of BlackHat and #DEFCON as a way to tie together hiking, cyber security and ham radio come up via a special "Ham Village" Velcro patch courtesy of Joe Cupano NE2Z.
Please follow "The Farmacy Seeds Network" for future videos with Jonathan, Mike and Steve. You can even buy a really cool TFSN mug for home use to help support the channel.
