[aprssig] Future for aprs

[Charles Bland]

" Pioneering? Pardon my cynicism, but what have we pioneered recently?
Cheap near-space travel for balloon payloads? "

I would think so. Perhaps we aren't creating as much in the way of
originality, but we are finding a way to make things do-able for a broader
range of people.....like sending up balloons to near space WITH telemetry,
photos, and even video.

Such activity can still fire imagination. It can still be a challenge to
someone to take a task and accomplish something formerly beyond their grasp
and do so with common resources. Such things can still inspire someone into
areas they haven't considered before and have great impact on life and
career. I don't mean to sound gratuitous or grandiose but I do believe this
to be true.

"I like appliances, they make it easy to do things. Like awk, sed, tr,
and other UN*X utilities, a process can be cobbled together using
programs and a flow of information."

This kind of thing can also be done in hardware: learn about the resources
around you and how to use them, work to acquire them, make a vision into a
reality.

It is still very consistent with our fine hobby.

Chuck Bland
NA6BR

On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 11:19 PM, Kris Kirby <kris at catonic.us> wrote:

> > Not everyone here lives and breathes APRS.  Some folks have other
> hobbies.
> > I'm not a very active paraglider pilot, but I'm on the local soaring
> > association mailing list and I would hope that no one would give me a
> hard
> > time for not being out there flying every weekend, not knowing the ins
> and
> > outs of each site, and needing help repacking my reserve. You can't be an
> > expert in everything.
>
> Two things to remember:
>
> 1) It's just a hobby.
> 2) We're all volunteers, here.
>
> > > When do we break away from being just users to experimenters
> >
> > That's up to you.  Again, not everyone can be an expert, and not
> > everyone *wants* to be an expert in a given field - some people just
> > want to get a job done.
>
> Part of that is limited in law, a lot of it in technology. The cost
> barrier is pretty high; SMT electronics are prevalent to the point where
> incoming college students and hams aren't dealing with thru-hole parts
> anymore.
>
> Some folks are still doing experimentation. They just found a way for
> someone else to pay for it for them.
>
> > > Has the pioneering dream died In ham radio ?
> >
> > Nope, but the demographics are shifting and the focus is changing.
> > That's inevitable.  The Internet, commercial satellites, and cheap
> > cell phones have changed our priorities.  Increasingly complex
> > underlying technologies increase barriers to entry for hobbyists.
>
> Pioneering? Pardon my cynicism, but what have we pioneered recently?
> Cheap near-space travel for balloon payloads?
>
> > > Have we just become a smart few followed by the mass of consumers ?
> >
> > I've been hearing complaints about appliance operators since I got
> > licensed a quarter century ago, and it was an old story then.
>
> I like appliances, they make it easy to do things. Like awk, sed, tr,
> and other UN*X utilities, a process can be cobbled together using
> programs and a flow of information.
>
> --
> Kris Kirby, KE4AHR
> Disinformation Analyst
>
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>
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