[amsat-bb] ORI receives half million dollar grant, and it's only the first.

[Phil Karn]

On 9/10/20 20:55, John Brier via AMSAT-BB wrote:
> To me this is a huge reason for AMSAT to embrace open source. 

Yes, ARDC funding is a reason but it's not the only one.

Everybody on the ARDC board and grant committee agrees that one of the
main reasons (if not THE main reason) for amateur radio's continued
existence is its unique value as an educational tool. Not just formal
classroom instruction but the kind of self-directed, hands-on tinkering
and experimentation with electronics and communications that is still
unique to ham radio.

When I became a ham in 1971 at age 14, I didn't want to just talk on the
radio. I wanted to know how radios worked, what was behind the knobs. I
carried a sheaf of Heathkit schematics around with me in school, peeking
at them in class as other kids might peek at comic books. I learned a
lot by studying them and by modifying and experimenting on the old ham
gear (much of it Heathkit) I could actually afford. It cemented my
decision to get my EE degrees and specifically to go into the
communications industry. Ham radio set the entire direction of my life.

There's been a huge amount of progress in electronic communications over
50 years. But not all of it has been for the better when it comes to
learning by taking things apart. Take an iPhone apart and figure out how
it works. Good luck!

That's where open source comes in. It's become a very successful
development model, mainly for software but increasingly also for
hardware. It works because open source is above all an excellent
educational tool. Anybody -- even students with no money -- can get an
open source design, take it apart, study it, experiment with it, break
it, fix it. Maybe even improve it, share your work with others, build a
reputation and turn it into a career.

So, ARDC aside, open source is very much in keeping with the spirit and
history of ham radio. In fact, it's now essential to the survival of ham
radio, including the amateur satellite service. No, you don't *have* to
know anything about how a radio works just to use one. But what's the
point? If you want to talk on a satellite, and you only care that it
works, not *how* it works, you might be better served by Iridium (or
soon Starlink) than by amateur radio satellites. Quite frankly, ham
radio will never compete favorably with Iridium or Starlink, nor could
it because of FCC restrictions. So what's the point of developing an
amateur radio satellite unless it's all in the open?

ARDC is a nonprofit foundation so all of our grants must be for
charitable purposes. That does not include making money unless *that*
money is used for charitable purposes. (Our endowment income goes into
grants). But the development of open source technology freely available
to anyone for any purpose *is* a completely legitimate charitable
purpose; in fact, quite a few open source projects are already supported
by foundations.

And if one of our grants helps inspire a young person into a successful
STEM career, well, I personally can't think of a single better use for
our money.

--Phil