amateur radio - Hackaday

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Hackaday Links: January 3, 2021

Posted: 03 Jan 2021 04:00 PM PST
https://hackaday.com/2021/01/03/hack...anuary-3-2021/


Last week we featured a story on the new rules regarding drone
identification going into effect in the US. If you missed the article, the
short story is that almost all unmanned aircraft will soon need to transmit
their position, altitude, speed, and serial number, as well as the position
of its operator, likely via WiFi or Bluetooth. The FAAs rule change isnt
sitting well with Wing, the drone-based delivery subsidiary of
megacorporation Alphabet. In their view, local broadcast of flight
particulars would be an invasion of privacy, since observers snooping in on
Remote ID traffic could, say, infer that a drone going between a pharmacy
and a neighbors home might mean that someone is sick. They have a point,
but how a Google company managed to cut through the thick clouds of irony
to complain about privacy concerns and the rise of the surveillance state
is mind boggling.

Speaking of regulatory burdens, it appears that getting an amateur radio
license is no longer quite the deal that it once was. The Federal
Communications Commission has adopted a $35 fee for new amateur radio
licenses, license renewals, and changes to existing licenses, like vanity
call signs. While $35 isnt cheap, its not the end of the world, and its
better than the $50 fee that the FCC was originally proposing. Still, it
seems a bit steep for something thats largely automated. In any case, it
looks like were still good to go with our $50 Ham series.

Staying on the topic of amateur radio for a minute, it looks like there
will be a new digital mode to explore soon. The change will come when
version 2.4.0 of WSJT-X, the program that forms the heart of digital modes
like WSPR and FT8, is released. The newcomer is called Q65, and its
basically a follow-on to the current QRA64 weak-signal mode. Q65 is
optimized for weak, rapidly fading signals in the VHF bands and higher, so
its likely to prove popular with Earth-Moon-Earth fans and those who like
to do things like bounce their signals off of meteor trails. Wed think Q65
should enable airliner-bounce too. Well be keen to give it a try whenever
it comes out.

Look, we know its hard to get used to writing the correct year once a new
one rolls around, and that time has taken on a relative feeling in these
pandemic times. But were pretty sure it isnt April yet, which is the most
reasonable explanation for an ad purporting the unholy coupling of a gaming
PC and mass-market fried foods. We strongly suspect this is just a
marketing stunt between Cooler Master and Yum! Brands, but taken at face
value, the KFConsole its not a gaming console, its at best a pre-built
gaming PC is supposed to use excess heat to keep your DoorDashed order of
KFC warm while you play. In a year full of incredibly stupid things, this
one is clearly in the top five.

And finally, it looks like we can all breathe a sigh of relief that our
airline pilots, or at least a subset of them, arent seeing things. There
has been a steady stream of reports from pilots flying in and out of Los
Angeles lately of a person in a jetpack buzzing around. Well, someone
finally captured video of the daredevil, and even though its shaky and
unclear as are seemingly all videos of cryptids it sure seems to be a
human-sized biped flying around in a standing position. The video
description says this was shot by a flight instructor at 3,000 feet (914
meters) near Palos Verdes with Catalina Island in the background. Thats
about 20 miles (32 km) from the mainland, so whatever this person is flying
has amazing range. And, the pilot has incredible faith in the equipment
thats a long way to fall in something with the same glide ratio as a brick.