Updated 2022-12-02
This web page is an adjunct to the Zero Retries newsletter, specifically Zero Retries 0075 published 2022-12-02.
Some items span more than one category, but for economy of space, I’ll (usually) list an item once in the category that (in my opinion) fits most closely. I suggest you read the following references as mentally prepending the title as “If you’re interested in X, then check out these Ys”.
This list is but a smattering of just how much technical innovation IS occurring in Amateur Radio. And yet, you will only read about a “smattering of this smattering” in the “Amateur Radio Publishing Industrial Complex”, and I don’t just mean the two leading US Amateur Radio magazines. To a great extent, the Amateur Radio YouTube hosts are just as guilty of not showcasing the breadth of technological innovation that is occurring. It’s maddening to see “innovation” reduced to the newest, shiniest HF radio, or portable, or ? To me, what is most encouraging about Amateur Radio innovation is the totality of the technological innovation that’s occurring.
Zero Retries is just one voice in Amateur Radio, operating with no budget, with one writer. You’d think there would be more, and better funded such efforts. I agree that there should be.
This page should not be considered comprehensive, and lack of inclusion here should not be considered as lack of endorsement as “Zero Retries Interesting”. Much good stuff was not included simply due to limited space. Apologies in advance for terse / incomplete descriptions - see the links for detail.
None of these listings have been extensively vetted; some are undoubtedly "abandonware", and I'm sure at least a few of these websites are no longer functional.
Many of these items have been discussed previously in Zero Retries - just Search Zero Retries.
New additions or significant updates from the previous version of this Omnibus are preceded with New0075 - just search for that if you want to quickly find the new or updated items.
...
Amateur Radio Bands of Interest
I've mostly been a fan of the Amateur Radio Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) bands, rather than the Amateur Radio High Frequency and Microwave (above 1 GHz) bands. Being in the US, I'm subject to, and benefit from, the allocations of Amateur Radio bands from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Other countries' Amateur Radio allocations are different. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has a nice page with US Amateur Radio allocations in text rather than hard-to-read poster form. The bands of most interest to me, and why. Links are to the relevant Wikipedia articles:
- 28.00 - 29.70 MHz (10 meter band) - This band is underutilized by most Amateur Radio operators, but reasonable speed data. It offers some interesting propagation randomness, especially in the summer.
- 50.00 - 54.00 MHz (6 meter band) - Like the 10 meter band, this band is underutilized and can do data, and offers interesting propagation randomness.
- 144.00 - 148.00 MHz (2 meter band) - The 2 meter band is the most popular VHF / UHF band. If offers good range (within Line of Sight Limitations). It was the most commonly used band for packet radio - 145.01 MHz was the original packet radio frequency, and 144.39 is used very extensively for Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS).
- 219.00 - 220.00 MHz (1.25 meter band) - The 219-220 MHz band was allocated to secondary Amateur Radio usage when 220-222 MHz was reallocated. Its arcane usage rules means that it's never been used (to my knowlege) and there's no activity (to my knowlege) to change that status.
- 222.00 - 225.00 MHz (1.25 meter band) - The 222-225 MHz band in the US is underused. It's an ideal "playground" for data communications, but is hampered by few 222-225 MHz radios currently in production (see below).
- 420.00 - 450.00 MHz (70 centimeter band) - Most of the US is blessed with 30 MHz of spectrum in the 70 centimeter band. Those of us unfortunate enough to live within approximately 75 miles of the Canada / US border (Line A) cannot use 420.00 - 430.00 MHz as that portion is allocated to commercial use in Canada. The 70 centimeter band is used extensively for higher speed / higher bandwidth communications. For example, it's acceptable in the FCC rules to use a 100 kHz channel within the 70 centimeter band.
- 902.00 - 928.00 MHz (33 centimeter band) - The 33 centimeter band is one of the most interesting US Amateur Radio bands. It overlaps 100% with the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) rules, meaning that there's no "exclusive" Amateur Radio operation in this band. There are licensed services within 902 - 928 MHz but those licensed services cannot require the license-exempt (ISM) users to cease and desist, and must accept any interference from licens-exempt users. In my opinion, 902-928 MHz is most useful from technologically sophisticated ISM devices such as those from Freewave Technologies and other vendors.
- New0075 1240 -1300 MHz (23 centimeter band) - The 1240-1300 MHz band in the US is underused. It's an ideal "playground" for wideband data communications, but is hampered by only two commercial Amateur Radios for this band - the Icom IC-9700 and the Alinco DJ-G7T portable.
- 5.850 - 5.925 GHz - This band is particularly useful because it's not until recently it wasn't shared with unlicensed ("Part 15") usage, thus it's comparatively "quiet". While this band is allocated for Amateur Radio use in the US, in other parts of the world it's just another unlicensed band so units for broadband wireless are readily available. To buy such equipment in the US usually requires a letter of justification and proof of Amateur Radio license.
- New0075 10.0 - 10.5 GHz - This band just got a lot more interesting with the announcement of the Icom IC-905 which includes (optional) 10 GHz capability.
...
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) Grants
These are some of my favorite Zero Retries Interesting grants from ARDC that have been publicly announced as of 2022-12-02 (Zero Retries 0075). These will be terse as ARDC is awarding a lot of grants. Many of these are great examples of projects that could only be funded by a foundation with considerable resources... and vision... such as ARDC that can see the value of investing in Amateur Radio (and related fields).
Disclaimer - in 2021 and 2022, I am / was a volunteer on the ARDC Grants Advisory Committee and these mentions are solely my own perspective - I'm not speaking for or representing ARDC; nor does ARDC represent or speak for me. All information below is public.
ARISS-USA Program - A multi-year grant to fund operations and new iniatives.
ARISS Next Generation Radio - New Amateur Radio systems on the International Space Station.
Building a Wireless Backbone in the High Sierras - Amateur Radio microwave network.
Central Michigan Emergency Network Mi6 WAN Project - Amateur Radio microwave network.
DAEmod-915: Open-Source Open-Hardware 915MHz Digital Transceiver - Development of a new Open Source Amateur Radio 902-928 MHz radio.
Develop a 3U Open Source CubeSat Space Frame With Deployable Solar Panels - Deployable solar panels on an Amateur Radio satellite seem like a significant increase in capability.
Digital HF Telecommunications for Civil and Amateur Uses - Using HF for data communications in areas that have no communications infrastructure.
DSES Facility Upgrade - Adding new capabilities to an amateur radio astronomy and Amateur Radio experimentation facility.
Enhanced, Scalable Repeater for Emergency Communications - Amateur Radio microwave network, notable for use of 10 GHz band.
Expanding Multi-state, 5 GHz Microwave Network in Rockies and Outfitting Communication Trailers - Amateur Radio microwave network.
Expansion and Equipment Upgrade for The AggieSat Laboratory - Space laboratory at Texas A&M University.
Fixing the Linux kernel AX.25 - This has been an issue for some time, and finally resources are being allocated to update it.
GNU Radio Project (2020) - GNU Radio Project is an amazing resource!
GNU Radio Usability Enhancements - Updating GNU Radio to be easier to use, better support in Windows, and better documentation and maintenance.
Independent 5GHz Backbone IP Network for Public Amateur Radio Services in Finland - Amateur Radio microwave network.
New0075 Low-Cost Open-Source Universal Radio Test Instrument, A - Open source project from Great Scott Gadgets to create a unit that incorporates
- spectrum analyzer
- vector network analyzer
- vector signal generator
- vector signal analyzer
- antenna analyzer
- power meter
- frequency counter
- full-duplex SDR transceiver
M17 Open Protocol - This grant really "kickstarted" M17 Project to be able to make significant progress.
New0075 Maine Ham Radio Mesh Network - Amateur Radio Microwave Network using AREDN technology.
MIT Radio Society Radome Renewal - To date, this is my favorite ARDC grant, mostly because the scope was audacious and something only ARDC could have done, and it enabled some really, really bright people with new capabilities. The Boston Globe did a nice article about this project.
National VOA Museum STEM Lab Expansion - Introducing STEM / physics subjects at Voice of America (VOA) Museum of Broadcasting.
NRAO – Why Ham Radio Matters - Introducing Amateur Radio to youth of under-represented groups under the auspices of National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).
NTPSec - A (more) secure version of (Internet) Network Time Protocol (NTP).
Oregon HamWAN Backbone Project 2021 - Amateur Radio microwave network.
San Francisco (SF) Emergency Wireless Mesh - A larger, improved non-commercial / Amateur Radio wireless mesh network in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Student ARRL / TAPR DCC Attendance - Helped fun students attending the 2019 ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference.
Support and development of the SondeHub platform - Display of radiosondes, including those that have been recovered and repurposed for Amateur Radio use.
Support for North Bay Area Mesh - Amateur Radio microwave network.
TangerineSDR Project Advancement - Development of a new Open Source HF Software Defined Radio.
TangerineSDR Test Fixtures - Development of a new Open Source HF Software Defined Radio.
Wireless Regional Area Network in Sub-GHz Bands as Last Mile for HAMNET - Development of a new Open Source 50 MHz / 144 MHz / 440 MHz Software Defined Radio.
ARDC has funded many scholarships, communications trailers, and club stations, including numerous college Amateur Radio stations.
ARDC Grants awarded after 2022-05 will be mentioned in the next installment.
...
Awards / Recognition
...
Books
Conferences / Events
New0075 - AMSAT-DL Symposium - Amateur Radio satellite conference in Germany.
New0075 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting - Amateur Radio satellite conference. Location rotates around the US / Canada.
New0075 AMSAT-UK Colloquim - Amateur Radio satellite conference. Location rotates around the UK.
New0075 DEFCON - Surprising amount of Amateur Radio at "one of the oldest, and largest, continuously running hacker conventions".
Digital Voice
...
email Mailing Lists
Over time, this list will be more comprehensive. There are so many interesting email lists.
aprssig - The primary discussion and support list for APRS activities.
AREDN - Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network.
D-STAR23cm - Operating Icom D-Star Digital Voice and high speed (128 kbps) data on 1240-1300 MHz (23 cm).
Digital-mode-radio - General discussions of Amateur Radio data modes.
direwolf - Discussion of the Dire Wolf Software TNC.
DRA - Discussion and support for the Masters Communications Digital Radio Adapters (DRA) products.
freedata - Discussion, support, and scheduling contacts for the freedata software that uses FreeDV as transport on HF.
g3ruh-modem - Discussion and support for connecting G3RUH modems to radios.
GEO - Discussion about potential Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite for the Americas.
email via Amateur Radio