> Dave, AA6YQ wrote, > The amateur radio's community rapidly adopted PSK31 > once panoramic reception on soundcard-equipped > PCs became available. > > When the dogs don't like the dogfood, its a mistake > to blame the dogs...
Dave, A more accurate "ham radio dogfood" analogy would go like this: "I went to feed the puppies and a pack of old wolves attacked me along the way. I ended up in the hospital, and the starving puppies were eaten by the wolves." Let's face it, the majority of ham radio is still stuck in the mid 20th Century. Simply put, PSK31 is a flavor of RTTY: same keyboarding concept, but weaker signals. Adding an esoteric feature like your example of "panoramic reception" software to spice up an old recipe is cute. But, it isn't a significantly different method of operation... still RTTY :) But, to see this as a mode or software creation issue, is missing the point totally. The real issue is not what digital modes we operate or bring out or what features are in the software we use, or how existing hams are using modes. The important thing is: How we can change what has heretofore been considered socially acceptable in the ham community: bad public attitudes toward creative new and useful technology paradigms. A blatant example was what we saw with abolition of morse testing. If the old morse test wasn't enough to scare away the first generation of computer-raised youngsters, then the next generation of web kids was turned off by the vitriol spewed by those who fought to keep ham radio locked in the 19th Century. After ham radio stupidly shot ourselves in that foot, we sat back and allowed a huge and vicious attack on Winlink and Echolink. There went the next wave of youngsters. This situation can only be changed by operators who are not afraid to stand up to those who display such sour attitudes in public. Until this kind of change happens, prospective new hams who are growing up totally connected by RF with WiFi, webfones in their pockets and Bluetooth in their ear, will see ham radio as a dead end or an irrelevant "old folks pastime"... they WILL go elsewhere to be creative or have fun or learn about RF technology. 73 Bonnie VR2/KQ6XA
