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I am sure that many would agree with me that public awareness of Amateur Radio as an engaging and technically relevant hobby has declined drastically in the last 2 decades. When I told the kids at the Scout Jamboree that my cell phone was a radio just like the handie talkie in my other hand, they just smiled politely or stared blankly (in disbelief?). This is the age of the WOW-factor and instant sensory gratification, sadly.
Last month, I was pleasantly surprised when EDN Magazine published an article entitled Ham Radio in the 21st Century. You can see the article here.
With my interest in electronics hardware, it is natural that the relevance of ham radio, in my mind, is heavily biased in that direction.
My ham buddy Prof. Joe Kasser 9V1CZ some time ago presented a paper on the relevance of Amateur Radio from a Systems Engineering perspective. I must admit that before I met Joe, I did not have a clear idea of what Systems Engineering was. Therefore, if you can spare the time, I would like to introduce you to a completely different approach to the relevance of ham radio, this time from the point of view of a Systems Engineer. Here is Joe's paper (with his permission).
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Relevance of Ham radio in this day and age |