How did they do that, you ask? Simple. They did not take into account the millions of links people have created to things on their site. In essence, they broke the damn internet!

Let’s take a look at what they did.

Look at the page on Wikipedia that references QRP operation. All seems fine, until you try to access the ARRL, QRP: What, Why and How in the notes. As of this writing, the link points to a non existent page on the ARRL server. This is not good.

Essentially, the ARRL has, by not taking the time to make a redirect page to the new location of the content, lost a viewer to their website. I, as most people will, am not going to spend my time trying to find the content that got moved. I will click the back button on my browser and just ignore that link.

So, if you are going to do a web site redesign, keep this one little idea in mind: DON’T BREAK THE DAMN INTERNET! Spend the time to make your current links work with your new content. It takes some work, but it is your fault the location of the content changed.

The Ham Radio Curmudgeon does not like to see it spelled HAM radio. Capitalizing the word ham indicates that the letters h, a, and m mean something distinct. IBM, for instance, stands for International Business Machines, the name of a company. So, IBM should be all capitals.

Not so with ham radio. Ham is a shortened form of the proper name – amateur radio. It does not mean anything. It is not somebody’s initials. It is not three people. As a matter of fact, nobody knows why we amateur radio operators are called “hams” at all.

So, quit calling it HAM radio.

And, for god sake’s, never call it Hamm. Hamm’s is a brand of really awful beer. Yes, I have had people write me about Hamm radio. Stop it.

Instead, we are subjected to hearing your idea of a funny message that takes a half hour to speak. These are the internet equivalent of signature lines that are longer than the message.

Worse yet are the repeaters which are run by blinking 12′s.  I hear a bunch of repeaters daily that come up, ID, then say “THE TIME IS…. TIME NOT SET”.  What is the purpose of this?

My other favorite is the repeater that constantly says the temperature is 129 degrees Fahrenheit. In the middle of the night. On the coldest day of the year.

I am actually using it too – mainly for work as a note taker for some projects we are working on, but also for fun. Well, fun if you are into Arduinos!

Sorry, no, I do not have any invites left.

So, I am happy to announce that the first project is going to be a gizmo for the Elecraft K2 and K3. I have not decided on a name yet, but here is some background on the thing, as well as some of the features I would like to see in this.

The whole idea started with my friend Craig KY0O. Craig is a low vision amateur. He needs something so that he can use the current crop of radios. The rigs of today are quite complicated and have lots and lots of menus and other stuff on them that makes things difficult enough at times for those of us that have 100% of our vision – but imagine the problems you would endure trying to operate a radio blindfolded. You can’t.

Craig has also really wanted to own one of the finest radios out there – the Elecraft K2 or K3. The problem – the radios are menu driven and there is no way for him to get the most out of these radios. The K3 is much easier to use in terms of functions on the switches, but it still is not totally easy to do.

So, the goal of this device is going to be to allow Craig to use these two radios. Both of them use a modified version of the Kenwood command set. On the K3, at least, most of the indicators on the display can be read via the RS232 port. The K2 is a little harder to do (if my memory is right) but it is still doable.

This device needs to do quite a bit. First, and foremost, it needs some sort of audio output on it to say what is going on. The easiest way to do this would be to send the stuff as CW, much like the KX1 (which, by the way, Craig can use 100% without trouble), however, a much nicer interface would be voice. Or, better yet, something that can be rewritten.  For example, if you want the voice in French, just re-record all the commands and put them on a SD card and stick it in the device. Want it in morse? Record the info in CW, and do the same thing.

This device is not just going to be aimed at those with less than perfect vision. Consider it to be a breakout box as well. The memory buttons on the K2 and K3 are on the front panel. Very handy, for sure, but I actually want these buttons to be closer to my right hand when I am contesting. I use a mouse quite a bit, and it would be nice to have the memory buttons right near my mouse hand. Same goes with a tuning knob.

However, does the device really need all this? This is part of the power I envision in this project – the ability to add things that you want and need, rather than being forced to have everything on there.

I think the Arduino is going to be a great platform for doing this. The stuff is open – both hardware and software. Coming up with a plug and play system should be pretty easy. It also might be possible, and it would be the goal of this project, to interface with other radios as well. Only time will tell on that however.

So, I go to the ARES meeting last night and Rick is there with a present for me – a 400 Ah wet cell at 12 volts.

THIS THING IS HEAVY!

I can’t find the specs on it yet though, so am unsure what it’s actual weight is. I just know the blasted thing weighs a ton. It was probably quite funny for the person that got to see me lugging it out of the car and into the garage this morning.

The battery is going to become the new energy storage system for my solar panels. I am going to move away from the 2x90Ah gel cells and move to this thing. I gotta build a shelf and make a battery box for it first, along with coming up with a vent system for it. Granted, it is just one battery, but it still needs to vent the hydrogen outside.

AA1JT took an old broken compact florescent bulb, ripped it apart, and made an 80m transmitter out of it. But, it gets better…. he now has a full transceiver going on.

Here is the receiver part of the whole contraption. 

While you are there, take a look at the rest of his radio page. He has some really fun things going on over there!