Taking Two Steps Backward.
The above chart was created several years ago when I made a presentation to a Radio Club in the UK. I updated it a bit and thought this would be a good subject for today's blog.
The original intent of the chart was to show the dynamic nature of our hobby and how technology has played a critical role in the box that sits in front of us at the operating table.
Perhaps even that is a wrong description of today's operating position. For instance the ARRL Radio Lab (W1HQ) has two computer screens, a Keyboard, Microphone and Key at the operating position. The hardware as such (FLEX and ICOM) are in remote racks and off to the side.
Recently, I was listening in to the 40M Noontime net out here in California. They asked for check ins and a ham checking in identifies that he is in West Virginia --- operating a remote station in Las Vegas.
These two examples are evidence of that dynamic shift!
Now you may quibble and argue that I left out rigs or my timing may be +/- two or three years but on a smoothed curve the chart tells the tale.
For starters we went from separate receivers and transmitters that weighed a lot. Lifting the DX-100 could cause a hernia as would a Collins R390A. Two things happened: the advent of the Transceiver with a smaller and lighter footprint. A miracle in itself but still hardware.
In our last column any mods/improvements are done in software -- the same box only with changes that involved no soldering! BTW a Collins KWM-1 weighs several times the weight of the IC-7300.
But the real import of today rigs is capability in terms of signal processing and hearing weak signals. Then there are the (software selected) filters --different for SSB and CW with band widths that are a simple mouse click. That last piece suggests a computer inside the box. There we go -- that computer may be the size of a credit card like the Raspberry Pi Zero W (it even has Wi-Fi).
The chart also tells a tale about the operator, the operator skill set and the thrust of the hobby. In the early days of our hobby, the operator literally had to build everything in his station from the ground up. The hobby attracted many who were the tinkerer type. That is no longer true as the tinkering type today are but a small percentage of the total ham population.
The IARU stated several years ago that hams are hams for two reasons: Contests and Operating. Today's Radios are focused on those two aspects. You know, operating on crowded bands during a contest and of course handling all of those stations during a POTA or SOTA event.
While many express a desire to return to the tinkering aspect AND there is much cheap technology available, it just doesn't happen. The reasons are many including my own personal situation where my Caregiver activities just have no room for lighting off the iron. But perhaps the alternative is just too easy -- just buy it. That is OK.
That said that may not be entirely OK as the shack in a three-pound box also means you that you should know how it works and if it is not working properly. The tinkerer of old certainly had to know that to even get his rig on the air. But for the manufacturers -- they always say two things: Get a second back up radio and DON'T open the case -- send it back for repair!
Having been licensed for 65 years I have seen this chart 1st hand and even owned (and still own) some of those radios. My homebrew stuff certainly beats many of those built prior to 1980 especially with regard to frequency stability and accuracy.
One of the significant operator requirements of the last 65 years is to learn where the reset button is located. Inextricably there are computers or micro-controller units embedded in our radio hobby. So, today's ham cannot avoid software.
The 65-year journey would not be complete without mentioning the MODE shift. In the 1950's it was AM/CW with just the dawn of SSB and those Donald Duck speaking signals. Then we had the FM and FM repeater craze. That led to Digital Communications and now the FT-8 operations using WSJTX. The newer mode forms also got a significant boost with the shift from through hole to surface mount components. Shack in a 3-pound box is here!
It was a most interesting exercise for me as in one chart I see many things that now created the current state of the hobby. I hoped you got a kick from seeing the evolution from a DX-100 to the IC7300.
73's
Pete N6QW