The Wouff Hong and Propagation

Transcription

The Wouff Hong and Propagation
© Jim LaPorta, N1CC
September 2002 – 2016
Copyright Notice
Copyright 2002-2016 by Jim LaPorta, N1CC. all rights reserved. This material may
be freely copied and distributed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice and
our World Wide Web URL http://www.jlaporta.com/N1CC
Amateur Radio Clubs and Individuals may reproduce and use the document as a
presentation about the subject matter but may not modify the information in any
way. You should email [email protected] that you have presented the program in
your group, showing how many people viewed your presentation.
© Jim LaPorta, N1CC September 2002 – 2016
ARRL and Wouff Hong
On several occasions over the past 100 years “QST”, the journal of the American Radio
Relay League, has run reprints of an editorial that first appeared in the May 1953 issue of the
magazine. This editorial extols the history and meaning of the Wouff Hong and closes with this
statement:
“Today, it is thoroughly entrenched in the lore of amateur radio as its most sacred symbol.”
To explore the possibility that the Wouff Hong might indeed be an example of American
Folklore, a survey of radio amateurs was conducted in 1977, followed by similar surveys in 1990
and 2002. Another study has been completed during 2016 from on-the-air discussions only. The
variants of stories recorded, amount of knowledge disclosed, and supposed purpose of the Wouff
Hong will be analyzed herein.
Amateur radio first became organized with the formation of the American Radio Relay
League in July of 1914. This group now comprises over 161,200 members among 735,023 U.S.
Licensees as of February 2016*. The 2016 ARRL membership is 21% and significantly down
from 62% in 1990, and 66% in 1977 of the total United States amateur radio population as of
those years. This group is usually referred to as the “ARRL” or “the League” in most
communications. Amateurs themselves are commonly called “Hams”. The most often cited source
of this name last appeared in QST nearly 33 years ago.
*Source http://www.ah0a.org published statistics
Bad Operating
Just prior to the United States’ entry into World War I, in 1914, numerous ham operators
were involved in poor operating practices which prompted the founder of the ARRL, Hiram
Percy Maxim (1AW), to create the Wouff Hong under the nom-de-plume of “The Old
Man”(T.O.M.). In the few months remaining prior to the war, the idea spread throughout the
ranks of The League so that by the end of the hostilities, The Old Man had to create a
symbol for the Wouff Hong.
Two other items of the story had essentially been dropped by the time Maxim began his
memorable series of articles on “Rotten Radio” in 1917. Both the “Rettysnitch” and the
Uggerumph” have been lost to the fabric of amateur radio folklore over the years. The
symbol of the Wouff Hong is now enshrined in the ARRL Museum at Newington,
Connecticut. By 1919, officially organized as the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong (ROWH),
the group began to conduct midnight meetings at ARRL conventions to vote on applicants
for membership and thereby became known as the secret society of the inner circle of
amateur radio.
The first three surveys suggested that “Bad Operating” peaks during the Solar Cycle Peak.
The 2016 survey suggests that other behavior modifiers have developed in the population
that are “too permissive” ranging from bad government to the populations disregard towards
more logical behaviors.
It is up to the Amateur Radio population today to rise above the decline of societal behaviors
that are producing improper courtesy – no political correctness – in the hobby.
Wouff Hong Survey
1.
What is your year of first license ________
2.
Have you heard of the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong?
a.
b.
YES
NO
If NO, skip to Question 3.
If YES, how did you hear about the Wouff Hong: __________________
1)
Oral
2)
Literary (QST or other book)
3)
None
3.
When did you last hear about the Wouff Hong?
4.
What is the purpose of the Wouff Hong?
___________(Year Only)
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Years of Surveys
• 1977
• 1990
• 2002
• 2016
On-the-air and in person (30)
On-the-air, Email and in person (30)
Email and in person (20)
On-the-air (50)
How Do We Stack Up?
The median age of the group sampled in 1977 was 37.5 years, ranging from 21 to 64; in 1990 the median
age was 44.3 years, ranging from 20 to 81 and in 2002 the median age was 50.7 with a range of 38 to 73
years. The average time as an amateur for participants in 1977 was 17 years, with the period range from 0 to
48 years as an amateur; in 1990 the average as an amateur was 20.5 years, ranging from 0 to 65 years and
for 2002 the average age was 27.8 years, ranging from 7 to 42 years.
During the 2016 update to the data I interviewed fifty (50) amateur radio operators on-the-air. The median
time licensed of this group sampled in 2016 was 27.58 years, ranging from 0 to 64 years licensed.
Calculating the “age” of the current interviewees is complicated by the move to not show the age in public
places, such as QRZ. I have estimated the ages of this sample and arrived at the average age of 54.8 years,
across 16 to 80 years of age.
When the four surveys are combined, the license period is 26.2 years ranging from 0 to 65 years, with an
average age of 44.3 years of age with a range from 16 to 81 years of age. When we study these survey
results, we have to ask the question: How does the Wouff Hong relieve internal tensions in amateur radio?
• The 1977 survey revealed that amateurs first licensed later than 1958 had little or no knowledge of the
Wouff Hong, however, those aware of the ROWH had not heard about it since 1973.
• The 1990 survey found that amateurs first licensed later than 1977 had little or no knowledge of the Wouff
Hong, however, those aware of the ROWH had not heard about it since 1987.
• In 2002 some 27% of those surveyed had no knowledge of the Wouff Hong and those that had heard
about the ROWH had not heard more recently than 1995.
• In 2016 some 56% of the sample had no knowledge of the Wouff Hong and those that had heard about
the ROWH had not heard about it since 2014 – the article reprint of HPM original 1914 story or a Ham
Convention. There appears to be an absence of periodic revival of ROWH in print in QST from 2000 to
2014, which may contribute to the lack of knowledge about the organization’s goals.
Wouff Hong Published Works
Issue
1917
1919
1921
1924
1924
1925
1925
1926
1927
1931
1934
1934
1934
1953
1955
1955
1957
1958
1961
1961
1962
1965
1966
1967
1969
1976
1982
1982
1982
1982
1983
1986
1987
1989
1996
1998
2000
2014
Title
That Wouff Hong Again
The Wouff Hong
Wouff Hong, not wolf hound
Photo: Wouff-Hong Initiation at Fifth Convention of the Third District
The Story of the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong
Wouff-Hong
Modesto Radio Club--Wouff-Hong
6BUR Wins Modesto Wouff-Hong Trophy
6OI Wins Modesto Wouff-Hong
W6BAX Wins Wouff Hong Trophy
Modesto Club Awards Wouff-Hong Trophy
Modesto Wouff-Hong Trophy
Hamdom's Traditions (Wouff-Hong)
Wouff Hong, The
Shades of the Wouff Hong
Wouff Hong, The
Call for the Wouff-Hong, A
Wouff Hong, The
Wouff Hong Wisdom
Wouff Hong, The
Initiation Ceremony for Royal Order of the Wouff Hong
"Original Wouff Hong" [photo]
Wouff Hong team at National Convention (photo)
Wouff Hong, The
Wouff Hong, The
Tree looks like Wouff Hong in Maine
Wouff Hong Initiation
Wouff Hong, The
Speaking of the Wouff Hong...
Speaking of the Wouff Hong...
Wouff Hong Looming Over Remains of a House
75 years of progress (Wouff Hong/disk storage)
The Wouff-Hong and the Rettysnitch: Lost Traditions?
Neptune's Wouff Hong
Follow the Band Plans, Avoid the Wouff Hong
http://www.arrl.org/news/the-old-man-rotten-air
Author
Fallain, F.D., 8ZH/8AND
Warner, Kenneth B., 1BHW
Handy, F.E., W1BDI/W1XL
Battey, E.L., W1UE
Battey, E.L., W1UE
Turner, Rufus, W1AY
Wright, John I., W6JPA
37 Articles
1917-2000
Cowell, Jr., Charles, K4KLJ
Shearer, Charles, W5JZT
W6ZRJ
WA1IWV
Tenney, Marge, WB1FSN
Buntain, James, W6VYM
Christensen, Bob, W0ZPM
Mueller, Art, WA3BKD
Cebik, L.B., W4RNL
Najork, Jack, W5FG
Price, Brennan, N4QX
Reprint of 1AW notes in May 2014 QST
Only ONE
mention
since then
(2016)
Solar Cycle Published Works – 19 in 1931-2002
Issue
1931
1956
1974
1977
1981
1981
1981
1987
1989
1989
1991
1994
1995
1996
1997
1997
1997
1998
2002
Title
Solar Cycle 17
Solar Cycle 19
Solar Cycle 21
Solar Cycle 21
Solar Cycle 21
Solar Cycle 21
Solar Cycle 21
Solar Cycle 22
Solar Cycle 22
Solar Cycle 22
Solar Cycle 22
Solar Cycle 22
Solar Cycle 22
Solar Cycle 22 Near Bottom
Solar Cycle 23
Solar Cycle 23
Solar Cycle 23
Solar Cycle 23
Solar Cycle 23
Author
Biesbley, T.R.W., VK2T
Tilton, Edward P., W1HDQ
Burr, Alex, W5QNQ
Lynch, Joseph, WA6PDE
Cracknell, Ray, ZE2JV
Anderson, Fred, ZS6PW
Fimerelis, Costas, SV1DH
Tynan, Bill, W3XO
Pocock, Emil, W3EP
Tynan, Bill, W3XO
Tynan, Bill, W3XO
Pocock, Emil, W3EP
Emerson, Darrel, AA7FV/G3SYS
Lindquist, Rick, KX4V
Pocock, Emil, W3EP
Hall, Jerry, K1TD
Lindquist, Rick, N1RL
Straw, R. Dean, N6BV
Pocock, Emil, W3EP
Cycle 21
Cycle 22
September 1977
September 1990
Sunspots = 30
Sunspots = 145
Cycle 23
September 2002
Sunspots = 110
When are the bands open? These charts, generated using CAPman, show probabilities for average HF propagation in the
month of September for the paths indicated. The horizontal axes show Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and the vertical
axes frequency in MHz. On 10% of the days of this period, the highest frequencies propagated will be at least as high as the
upper red curves (HPF, highest possible frequency) and on 50% of the days they will be at least as high as the green curves
(MUF, classical maximum usable frequency). The blue curves show the lowest usable frequency (LUF) for a 1500-W CW
transmitter. For SSB or a lower transmitter power, the LUF will be somewhat higher than the blue curves indicate. See Oct
1994 QST, pp 27-30, and Feb 1995 QST, pp 34-36, for more details. The predictions assume an observed 2800-MHz solar
flux value of 134. This is a High level of solar activity. See the detailed propagation tables on The ARRL Antenna Book CDROM.
Note: The above 2002 Chart was taken form the ARRL Web Site. 1977 and 1990 Charts were constructed using W6EL
MiniProp and following tables that were published in the public domain.
This page is maintained by Jan Alvestad once a month. Provided that credit is given, the graphics can be freely
copied. Data source: Sunspot Index Data Center in Brussels.
Cycle 21
Cycle 23
Cycle 22
September 1990
September 1977
Sunspots = 30
September 2002
Sunspots = 145
Sunspots = 110
30
25
20
Good
Poor
15
10
5
0
1977
1990
2000
CYCLE 24
This chart shows the measured Sun Spot readings
from January 2000 through December 2015, and
shows the “predicted” Sun Spots for 2016 and the
“expected” chart for 2017-2019
The minimum was from Fall 2009 to Summer 2010.
Cycle 24 has had an unusual life, and had a rather protracted initial “minimum” and two
short peaks. Scientists are still discussing other events that may be associated with the
Cycle 24’s start and end. It’s possible we will see a third peak sometime in 2017-18 before
the actual “minimum” that would lead into Cycle 25 occurs.
Derived Conclusions
The following slides relate the implied and derived
effects of Propagation Peaks to Amateur Radio
Operator behaviors and describe “Societal” behavior
trends that have begun to erode what the principles of
the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong suggested be
implemented to modify and self-regulate On-the-Air
behaviors.
Fewer Hams belong to ARRL …
ARRL leadership has worked very hard over the past 16 years to ensure that the hobby in the U.S.A. grows and
provides useful behaviors to the overall society. The mentorship provided by Kay Craigie, N3KN over her years as the
elected President of the ARRL made every reasonable effort to foster normal behaviors among the Ham population.
The role of the ARRL Division Directors, staffs and Section volunteers has been strong.
So WHY has membership dropped to the lowest identified participation among the licensed population? Think about
1977 when our membership was 66% of the US/VE Ham population – that seems to be the peak of membership!
In my opinion, much of the decline may be attributed to “growing too fast” with the one-day instant training licensing
programs, and too many people not taking an active part in their local clubs – thereby bonding with existing Hams as
new Hams become interested in the hobby.
Potential solutions include MORE local clubs. For example, my ZIP (75763) contains nineteen (19) currently licensed
folks. The closest club for this population is 30 miles away from 75763. The license levels are: Extra 21%, Advanced
11%, General 21%, and Technician 47%. As of January 2016, the totals for all US Licenses are as follows:
Classes
Extra
Advanced
General
Technician
Novice
ARS Total
Total
139,991
47,844
172,443
363,885
10,860
735,023
Pct.(%)
19.04%
00.65%
23.46%
49.51%
01.48%
100.00%
Notes*
Access to all modes and frequencies with special segments
No new licenses since April 2000, renewals permitted.
Large Access to HF Bands
Limited HF voice Access on 10 Meter band only.
No new licenses since April 2000, renewals permitted.
*All statistics from http://www.ah0a.org tables and notes.
Since the onset of “Incentive Licensing” in November 1968 the number of overall licensees have increased. By 1977
there were 327,000 licenses. In 1991 partial “No-Code” licensing began, and by February 2007 all licenses no longer
required any knowledge of the Morse Code. ARRL Membership peaked at 66% in 1978 and has declined since that
time. The Technician class is the greatest number issued, perhaps because of the intervention of FEMA into the
support by US Amateurs towards what was once called “Civil Defense” and is now termed “Homeland Defense”
through the CERT program, an almost dead-end towards larger growth of the higher classes of license, since they
only desire communications on a local basis in 90% of the CERT definition.
Fewer Hams Know what Wouff Hong is …
As the percentage of “full” licensees by operator class has declined, fewer new operators have full privileges,
and as such are often not active in traditional “Ham” activities such as casual nets, contesting, looking for awards
for operating (WAC, WAS, DXCC, WPX and others).
During 2014, the ARRL Centennial year brought several “non-contest” opportunities to the traditional high
frequency (HF) bands. This was to turn out to be one of the most intense periods of on-the-air activity. The
program was designed to allow for W1AW/## portable operations for special award credit, and to have an ongoing Members Only Centennial Challenge. Non-members could participate, however the member stations they
contacted received no credit for non-member contacts. To reach the top of the pile of people on the air you
needed to work four contacts to get 1 member in that mix. Also, the operation was allowed on all of the WARC
bands, where contests per-se are not allowed.
The results were both positive and negative. Most efforts by W1AW-portables and the most-active “chasers” of
the ARRL Centennial Challenge were experiencing a good deal of jamming. Frankly, this was not anticipated
and caused a number of clashes among Ham stations. Yes, this was good for membership growth in the longrun, yet it drove a sub-set of Hams to engage in illegal operations to try and disrupt the ARRL on-the-air activity.
Every Ham who “jammed”, bullied, cussed, and followed stations around trying to stop their operation added to
the irrational behavior being exhibited today. Not a day goes by when I do not get jamming on my own signal,
and hear other stations being jammed. FCC has started to try and control this, but is not funded well enough to
do the job. That leaves solving the problem to Hams themselves.
The Royal Order of The Wouff Hong was created by “T.O.M.” to try and allow the hobby to self-regulate.
I propose that more people become active in ROWH matters at the Ham Conventions they attend, and that folks
bring it up at local clubs and on local nets more often. Just the concept that our founders wanted to make the
hobby acceptable to general society and “especially young minds” tells us that this must happen.
I recommend going to http://ac6v.com/history.htm and learning more detail about our Ham Licensing history.
The Solar Cycle Peaks bring out the worst in operating practices …
Until Cycle 24 most examples of “Bad Operating” took place at or near the Cycle Peak. This is not the case for
Cycle 24, and too, this cycle has had multiple mini-peaks and long droughts of low Solar enhancement.
When we look at the peaks we see peaks in late 2011, mid 2013, early 2014 and
then in late 2014. Since then the decline is pretty consistent. The ARRL Centennial
invited some of the bad operating at the peak times. Now, in early 2016 we are very
near the lowest since 2011 – with predictions suggesting that it will continue
downward until sometime in 2019 – where the next Cycle 25 might start. The pundits
that do the studies are all over the map as to what is going to happen.
So, we normally would expect a good deal of the bad operating to go away. The
2016 National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) activity along with poor results due to
weather and propagation for the K5P, VP8STI, and VP8SGI brought out the very
worst behaviors among Hams. A lot of jamming, frequency police, and unexpected
huge incidents of “bootlegging” stations pretending to be the target stations was not
pretty. All too many Hams called without ever hearing the DXpedition stations, in
many cases continuing to call incessantly while the station was already in QSOwith
other stations. Moral: Don’t call if YOU can’t hear the station … depending on
Packet Cluster or Skimmer spots is not sufficient to indicate that you can work the
station. WHEN you hear the station, follow the DX or target station’s instructions.
Another example was the February 2016 ARRL DX CW. Many stations calling that can’t hear the DX over the top
of another contact in progress. Calling many, many times in the pile up … some guys try to send the call once,
even two or three times … 20 times in a row like a certain W3 this weekend are “beyond the pale”. Corrupt HAMS
playing by signing “GJ0KE” for over three-hours … should be caught and prosecuted, lose their Ham tickets and be
spurned by the community.
I suggest all need to read http://www.arrl.org/files/file/DXCC/Eth-operating-EN-ARRL-CORR-JAN-2011.pdf and to
subscribe to http://dx-code.org/home.html for good operating practices. Also, let us not forget to follow the axioms
set forth in http://www.arrl.org/amateur-code many years ago - often all neglected!
Protracted erratic behavior of Cycle 24 and a much larger population
of newer Hams may have increased the “Bad Operating Habits” that
are being exhibited today…
It has become evident that “Social Acceptance” has been put aside, and many bad operating habits are due to the
“Social Attitude” exhibited by many Americans today. While this is very political today, the roots of bad behavior
have nothing to do with whether you are a Democrat, Socialist, Communist, Atheist or Republican. It has to do with
bad habits that schools and inadequate parenting have fostered. Some examples:
Example
Jamming Others
Ham
FCC Rules Prohibit
Society
Tolerates Interruptions to speakers without
considering the speakers rights
Using Profanity and ageinappropriate language
FCC Rules Prohibit
FCC has “modified” the rules on what
profanity and age-inappropriate is in the face
of continued bad language, they do allow via
“On Screen notice of language content” – not
allowed on Amateur Radio.
Out-of-Turn Comments
Operating Procedure Limits to not permit
such to occur. Implied in Part 97.
When the speaker is talking, shouting out both
derisive and other call-outs can result in your
arrest for Assault and sometimes leads to
Battery. In many places tolerated out of fear of
reprisal.
Poor Transmitter Signal
Rules can punish for key clicks, excessive Equate to using “Regular” fuel in a vehicle that
bandwidth and splatter.
requires Unleaded fuel. Fines.
Basically, we need to re-read the FCC rules for Amateur Radio periodically, and modify our own behaviors and
operation conditions to meet changing rules that apply to us as FCC Licensees. Suggest going to read the most
recent versions at http://www.webcitation.org/5rFG81fEZ and if you are a Volunteer Examiner (VE) review this
document often http://ncvec.org/page.php?id=320 (Non VE’s can see this too…)
As we have been told, Hams are aging with the average age now
54.8 years and licensed for 27.26 years.
For many years the focus has been to recruit younger people into Ham Radio. This has had a good bit of
success, however, we get nearly as many “Senior Citizens” that come into the hobby for many reasons, the most
common is that they wanted to be a “Ham” many years ago, and the second is the sense of contribution to the
community with Emergency Communications (EMCOMM).
Both ends of this spectrum are important, still not enough young Hams are being made, and all too many of the
“Seniors” are becoming EMCOMM only, and as such, NOT in the mainstream of operating Ham Radio as a
hobby. I do support the EMCOMM concepts, however, it is up to ALL of us to get the EMCOMM-limited Hams
into the mainstream.
By the same token, consider that as I write this article today, it is the anniversary of what HONOR is all about as
the United States faced the fierce Japanese on Iwo Jima. This is just one story about that battle that is worth
watching http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/2016/02/corporal-woody-williams/. After you think this through,
think how “Combat Radio” came about, since much of this was made possible by many native-American young
men from the deserts of the western United States and I wonder if any of these Heroes went into Ham Radio.
http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-navajo-code-talkers.htm
Doing everything we can do to promote good operating is a positive approach to the hobby, and I hope you will
all tag along! 73, Jim N1CC
I hope to see your call sign in this table soon! I have been in this category since 1978!
http://www.arrl.org/a-1-operator-club-nominees
I became a member of the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong in 1962 at the Tropical
Hamboree and ARRL Convention in Miami Florida, which was the first time I met
George Hart, W1NJM and Herbert Hoover, Jr., W6ZH.

The Wouff Hong and Propagation

Transcription

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