Zero Retries 0093 YouTube Edition
2023-04-07 - The YouTube Edition of Zero Retries
Zero Retries is an independent newsletter about technological innovation in Amateur Radio. Zero Retries promotes Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with radio technology.
About Zero Retries
Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor
Jack Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editor Emeritus
In this issue:
About the YouTube Edition
So much good stuff… on YouTube! I’m now subscribed to… a number of… Zero Retries Interesting YouTube channels. With that, YouTube’s recommendation algorithms have homed in on my preferences for viewing Zero Retries Interesting content such as “Data / Packet Radio via DMR”, that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about. One downside to this is that if I view a YouTube video on a channel that I’m not subscribed to (such as “andy kirby”, then I never see that video again, so I have to capture it immediately. Having captured it, best to share it via Zero Retries.
These ten eleven videos and YouTube channels below are representative of what I watch on YouTube when I have some downtime and I can passively consume content. If this “YouTube Edition” works, it may become a regular addition to the growing Zero Retries “media family”.
de Steve Stroh N8GNJ
HB9BLA Wireless
The HB9BLA Wireless YouTube channel by Andreas Spiess HB9BLA is one of four that I consider consistently Zero Retries Interesting to promote in every issue of Zero Retries. HB9BLA doesn’t post often (months can go by) but when he does, it’s worth watching. The video below is what drew my attention to this channel.
KM6LYW Radio
The KM6LYW Radio YouTube channel by Craig Lamparter KM6LY is one of four that I consider consistently Zero Retries Interesting to promote in every issue of Zero Retries. KM6LYW created the DigiPi project which has developed a considerable user base. I really enjoy his matter-of-fact presentation of data modes. The video below discusses SDR++ which is a new cross platform Software Defined Radio software.
ModernHam
The ModernHam YouTube channel by Billy Penley KN4MKB is one of four that I consider consistently Zero Retries Interesting to promote in every issue of Zero Retries. Not only is his content consistently technical (and good) but he’s dead center of the demographic of a young techie is (who I consider) the future (if there is to be a future) of Amateur Radio. The video below is a fantastic explanation of the mindset of a talented, well-spoken, millennial with a technical background. I will refer to this video frequently.
Tech Minds
The Tech Minds YouTube channel by Matthew Miller M0DQW is one of four that I consider consistently Zero Retries Interesting to promote in every issue of Zero Retries. I really appreciate the prospective of a European techie Amateur Radio Operator. I’ll confess that I still suffer from “QO-100 Envy” and thus I especially enjoy the videos related to QO-100 operation, like the one below.
Ham Radio Crash Course
I haven’t quite “promoted” Ham Radio Crash Course (HRCC) by Josh Nash KI6NAZ into consistent recommendation in Zero Retries… but it’s close. KI6NAZ is a hardcore techie, but HRCC’s content is mostly for mainstream Amateur Radio rather than Zero Retries Interesting content. That said, below is just one recent HRCC video that is Zero Retries Interesting. (Two others are purchasing a Ford F-150 Lightning electric vehicle and using a Steam Deck handheld computer for Amateur Radio).
From YouTube channel: HamRadioCrashCourse
…
Update - KI6NAZ received one of the first (that I’ve seen) opportunities to do a no-interference-from-Icom, take-your-time, say-what-you-will review of the so-new-it’s-not-yet-shipping Icom IC-905 VHF / UHF Microwave radio. Of course, that’s very Zero Retries Interesting, so I had to include it here. My thanks to Ren Roderick K7JB for the pointer to this video.
Data / Packet Radio via DMR
It’s frustrated me that the specification for Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) includes the capability for data exchange (and that DMR, by fundamental definition, is data communications), but data interoperability between various manufacturer’s implementations of DMR has not been established. Thus “Data Over DMR” has been a nebulous concept in Amateur Radio (per my research to date) except for (10 key keypad) unit to unit text messaging and some position data transmissions (“APRS” over DMR). Note that the data being exchanged in this video are between two units of the same manufacturer (Motorola). I did some very brief (incomplete) research on the radios mentioned in this video, and they are expensive (intended for professional use). Despite that dis-recommendation for consideration for Amateur Radio use, it’s good to see at least a reference demonstration that data communications are possible with DMR radios.
From YouTube channel: andy kirby
Masters Communications Amateur Radio Digital Radio Devices - 03/16/2023
Kevin Custer W3KKC and Scott Currie NS7C are two subject matter experts (Obi Wans to those of you in the Star Wars generations) on data modes in Amateur Radio. Both W3KKC and NS7C are especially expert on using audio interfaces (variously called “USB sound cards”, TNCs, etc.) with Amateur Radio radios, especially those that have accessory connections for higher speed data modes such as VARA FM and 9600 bps packet radio.
From YouTube channel: RATPAC Amateur Radio
The Wide World of Open Radio Levi C. Maaia, Ham Radio
This is an interview with Levi Maaia K6LCM by Doc Searls (a long-lapsed Amateur Radio Operator) and Shawn Powers on FLOSS Weekly (Free Libre Open Source Software) I was previously interviewed on this program. K6LCM discusses a lot of innovative Amateur Radio activity occurring in the Santa Barbara, California area.
From YouTube channel: TWiTFLOSS
Attempting To Build Antenna Array From Old Satellite Dishes
You’ve heard of the Very Large Array (of radio telescopes)? The on screen subtitle of this video aptly describes this project as the Very Small Array. As I watch this channel, it feels reminiscent of a British television series called Scrapheap Challenge - can I take this pile of X and accomplish Y? This is another YouTube channel that occasionally features Zero Retries Interesting content such as this and another video mentioned in Zero Retries 0088.
From YouTube channel: saveitforparts
Haifuraiya Open Source HEO Satellite Project Proposal
Amateur Radio Space technology… can’t get enough! This video is representative of the (quite a bit of) Zero Retries Interesting content presented as part of the semi-annual QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo. Not all videos from the Ham Expo events are on YouTube - see QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo Presentations - All Previous Expos.
From YouTube channel: QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo
Join the Fun on Amateur Radio
If you’re not yet licensed as an Amateur Radio Operator, and would like to join the fun by literally having a license to experiment with radio technology, check out
Join the Fun on Amateur Radio for some pointers.
Zero Retries Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - In development 2023-02.
Closing the Channel
In its mission to highlight technological innovation in Amateur Radio, promote Amateur Radio to techies as a literal license to experiment with wireless technology, and make Amateur Radio more relevant to society in the 2020s and beyond, Zero Retries is published via email and web, and is available to anyone at no cost. Zero Retries is proud not to participate in the Amateur Radio Publishing Industrial Complex, which hides Amateur Radio content behind paywalls.
My ongoing Thanks to:
Tina Stroh KD7WSF for, well, everything!
Pseudostaffers that write about about “Zero Retries Interesting” items on their blogs that I don’t spot:
Newsletters that regularly feature Zero Retries Interesting content:
Amateur Radio Weekly by Cale Mooth K4HCK is a weekly anthology of links to interesting Amateur Radio stories.
Experimental Radio News by Bennet Z. Kobb AK4AV discusses (in detail) Experimental (Part 5) licenses issued by the US FCC.
Other Substack Amateur Radio newsletters recommended by Zero Retries.
YouTube channels that regularly feature Zero Retries Interesting content:
HB9BLA Wireless by Andreas Spiess HB9BLA
KM6LYW Radio by Craig Lamparter KM6LYW emphasizes Amateur Radio data communications such as the DigiPi project.
Modern Ham by Billy Penley KN4MKB
Tech Minds by Matthew Miller M0DQW is subtitled Ham Radio - SDR - RF Projects - Software - Tutorials.
The Substack email publishing platform makes Zero Retries possible. I recommend it for publishing newsletters.
If you’re reading this issue on the web and you’d like to see Zero Retries in your email Inbox every Friday afternoon, just click below to join 100 200 300 400 500 600 700+ other readers.
Please tell your friends and co-conspirators about Zero Retries - just click:
Offering feedback or comments for Zero Retries is equally easy - just click:
If you’re a fellow smart person that uses RSS, there is an RSS feed for Zero Retries.
Zero Retries (N8GNJ) is on Mastodon - n8gnj@mastodon.radio - just click:
Email issues of Zero Retries are “instrumented” by Substack to gather basic statistics about opens, clicking links, etc.
More bits from Steve Stroh N8GNJ:
SuperPacket blog - Discussing new generations of Amateur Radio Data Communications - beyond Packet Radio (a precursor to Zero Retries)
N8GNJ blog - Amateur Radio Station N8GNJ and the mad science experiments at N8GNJ Labs - Bellingham, Washington, USA
Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ / WRPS598 (He / Him / His)
These bits were handcrafted in beautiful Bellingham (The City of Subdued Excitement), Washington, USA.
2023-04-07
If you’d like to reuse an article in this issue, for example for club or other newsletters, just ask. Please provide credit for the content to me and any other authors.
All excerpts from other authors or organizations, including images, are intended to be fair use.
Portions Copyright © 2021, 2022, and 2023 by Steven K. Stroh.
Blanket permission granted for TAPR to use any Steve Stroh content for the TAPR Packet Status Register (PSR) newsletter (I owe them from way back).