[nos-bbs] [OT]: Book on packet radio and similar things

[Miroslav Skoric]

Hi all,

After having published some book chapters on packet and assorted stuff 
(see the book titles bellow), I plan to work on the whole book dedicated 
to more diversified approaches to digital ham radio, its influence and 
usage in educational environments, etc. A rough plan is to cover the 
following topics (but not limited to):

- Introduction (broad definition, history of the amateur radio hobby, 
personal experience within the area, ...)
- Background (discussion of previous works - literature review, etc.)
- Discussion of hardware aspects:
  - ham digital experience with older computers /Commodore 64, PC AT i80286/
  - newer PC compatibles /various Intel and AMD platforms/
  - non-PC solutions such as industrial computers, RaspBerry Pi, ...
  - discussion about packet modems, antennas ...
  - radio modifications
- Discussion of software aspects:
  - operating systems used by digital hams
  - proprietary vs. open source solutions, such as Linux and packet 
software for Linux
  - packet radio programs for end-users (all platforms)
  - software for packet nodes based on PC computers and/or modem EPROMs, 
etc.)
  - gateway operations (VHF-HF, packet-pactor, etc.)
- Discussion of diverse locations for implementing amateur digital radio:
  - home shacks
  - informal scholarly activities with 'ham radio' in computer and/or 
electronics laboratories
  - possibilities in workplaces, etc.
  - practical advices (positioning antennas, power supply, air 
conditioning for computer rooms, various home-brew appliances such as 
using old refrigerators for housing digital equipment, ...)
- Influence of the amateur (digital) radio hobby to one's preferred 
lifestyle and profession:
  - examples of scientists and researchers who started with 'ham radio' 
in their early career days
  - personal experience (motivated family background, early start with 
'ham radio' some 25 years ago, starting and growing with academic 
writing on that technical activity - magazine articles, conference 
papers, book chapters, half-day tutorials, 1-2 day workshops; networking 
with scholars and researchers during the technical events; exploring new 
countries, cultures, educational systems, etc.)
- Review of today's prevalent ways in disseminating amateur radio 
instructions:
  - presence/absence in implementation of 'help' sections within the 
packet software packages
  - (in)adequate 'expert' technical language as (not) suitable for beginners
  - mis(use) of informal descriptions followed by improper formatting in 
documents /no APA-style in presenting information, overuse of jargon, etc
- Displaying experience with exchanging information related to amateur 
radio theory and praxis in conferences, symposiums, seminars, tutorials, 
workshops (incl. various aspects: technical, professional, 
inter-cultural, etc)
- Amateur radio as a trigger to learn new cultures, new countries, 
tourist aspects such as people, flora and fauna, food, drink, etc ... 
-thankfully to the ham radio (will include personal experience with 
conferencing, as well as travel experience provided by the other 
amateurs (such as traveling to/from contest locations in remote and 
rural areas, research expeditions, etc.
- Research and development: should include experience provided by 
amateur radio groups and societies (mainly in western countries) that 
have been exploring 'ham radio' alongside their teaching and learning 
activities; a suggested project of AMUNET (the amateur radio university 
network - a vision of the future networking between educational 
institutions on local and global level; the influence and potential 
results from astronauts on spaceships who practiced digital amateur 
radio experiments and conducted correspondence with schools, etc.
- Inclusion/Convergence with other technologies:
  - Experimenting with various Linux applications, such as librarian 
databases that might be reached and browsed from the amateur packet 
radio network
  - 'Green technologies' - small wind or solar energy plants in 
appropriate locations (one of my last visiting places was one of the 
most Sun-covered area of India where relatively small solar panels could 
provide enough electricity to power 'ham radio' relay stations)
- Experiments in 'the wild' such as weekend-amateurs who might provide 
temporary radio-relay services from  picnic locations in the woods or 
seaside, or something similar.
- Potentials of amateur radio in unrelated research directions and 
sciences (such as collecting weather related data from remote locations 
like mountain tops, ideas of tracking wild animals /endangered species/ 
by using amateur radio digital devices, etc.)
- Final discussions and conclusions
- Acknowledgments
- References
- Additional literature list
- Index words, glossary etc.
- Appendices (program codes, configuration and parameter file examples, 
additional figures that do not fit to the chapter text, etc)

(All subjects listed in above sections should be well illustrated and in 
form of tutorials. Whenever possible, chapter authors should provide 
enough figures (screen shots, photographs, drawings, diagrams, etc) that 
would help beginners to replicate experiments and compare with their own 
test results)

So, if you find yourself as a prospective book chapter contributor on 
above topics, let me know off-list by using email skoric at uns.ac.rs

Regards,

Misko

-- 

chapter author in the following books:

Handbook of Research on Human Performance and Instructional Technology
ISBN: 978-1-60566-782-9; 678 pp; October 2009
Published under Information Science Reference, an imprint of IGI Global
http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?id=34814

Simulation in Computer Network Design and Modeling: Use and Analysis
ISBN: 978-1-46660-191-8; 582 pages; February 2012
Published by IGI Global, USA
http://www.igi-global.com/book/simulation-computer-network-design-modeling/58282

Wireless Networks and Security: Issues, Challenges and Research Trends
ISBN: 978-3-642-36168-5; 510 pages; February 2013
Published by Springer, Germany
http://www.springer.com/engineering/signals/book/978-3-642-36168-5

Handbook of Research on Progressive Trends in Wireless Communications 
and Networking
ISBN: 9781466651708; 592 pages; February 2014
Published by IGI Global, USA
http://www.igi-global.com/book/wireless-communications-networking/90600