Re: Internet/Satelite link?

[B1BLancer <b1blancr@xxxxxxx>]

Steve Dimse K4HG wrote:

> I did not say ALL hams are 50, I only indicated the general
> characteristics of the population. If you doubt that, take a good look at
> the next hamfest (and be sure to exclude those that came for the computer
> vendors at the show).

Well, the last hamfest I went to was last Labor Day weekend at Shelby, NC.  Sure,
I saw overweight fifty-somethings.  I also saw sixty-somethings and
seventy-somethings.  I also saw twenty-somethings, thirty-somethings, females,
teenagers, and babes in arms.  You know what?  Except for the babes in arms, most
everyone I saw had on a name badge with their callsign.  It seemed to me to be
quite a diversity.

I didn't mean to say that I think that amateur radio and the Internet should be
forever separated.  I don't think that at all.  I think that connecting ham radio
to the Internet has facinating possibilities.

What I did mean is that I do not think that the Internet is the end-all that will
save us all.  I still say that if it weren't for massive investments in equipment
and personnel, the Internet would crash in a heartbeat.  The same is true for
cellular and sattelite systems.  When push comes to shove, amateur radio can be
relied upon to get the message out.  The same cannot be said for the other
aforementioned systems.

You mentioned the fact tham ham radio is wallowing in 20 year old technology.
Well, the laws of physics haven't changed.  You still have to generate radio waves
the same way you did 20, 50, or 75 years ago.  Besides, I sure don't remember
digital signal processing or computer controlled radios being around 20 years
ago.  Maybe those technologies did exist then, but at that time they would have
been far too expensive for the average amateur to affoard.  There's a big
difference between a technology existing and that same technology being
affoardable enough for the consumer to obtain it at a reasonable cost.

I think connecting the Internet to amateur radio is a good idea that holds great
potential.  But, if God forbid another hurricane Hugo comes through, and all you
get when you pick up the phone is dead silence, I can still communicate by amateur
radio, and do it quite well, thank you.

- David, W4HPW

--
"They shall mount up with wings, as eagles"  Isaiah 40:31

"All bathed in emerald, out of the mist arise, I see the stones appear, a Cross
before my eyes."

      from the CD "Heaven's Bright Sun"
                  "Iona"
                   Iona