Ham Radio Reveals ‘Senior Slip’ in Innovation Research

More than 20 years ago, a Boston University scientist reported a new antenna approach from fractal shapes, using his amateur radio hobby to develop and test the exotic option. Since then, the invention has seen multi-millions in commercial sales, defense use at the highest levels, and wide adoption by the DIY ‘maker’ community, with over a million ‘how-to’ views on youtube video. But interest by other hams? Not so much.

Inventor Nathan Cohen, himself on expert on innovation, was puzzled by this reaction: “It is common knowledge that innovations are most easily adopted when the innovator is already an end-user, end-user meeting the needs of end-users. Here’s the opposite: hostile cold shoulder from that end-user community, then a decade plus delay with adoption by other end-user communities, and strong denial of utility in the original end-user group.”

Another group of amateurs, the DIY maker community, took a different view of fractal antennas. HDTV and skyrocketing cable TV fees sent millions of people back to basics, seeking free broadcasts instead. Fractal antenna designs became a natural attraction to these makers. Cohen notes: ”I would get an occasional nasty message from a ham, and in the same day, 50 to 100 from enthusiastic DIY makers. The makers even got a write up in Popular Science. Both amateur groups, same innovation, radically different reaction.”

Cohen was quick to understand that the issue wasn’t ‘bad’ hams, and ‘good’ DIY makers, but something more basic: age. Analyzing the demographic from both public and private commenters and bloggers, Cohen surmised that the responding hams averaged over 60 years, while the DIY makers were averaging in their late 20’s.” Some DIY makers were pre-teens. “Instead of Tinker Toys they were building fractal antennas. In contrast, the older demographic asserted fractal antennas were nearly impossible to build, were de-constructing with words, and not building, or buying, much of anything. They were vocal, however, and created a poison environment that discouraged many end-users from innovation in that community. There are always exceptions, but apparently young groups count. Old ones stifle.”

Thomas Kuhn, in the Structure of Scientific Revolutions, long since warned that older scientific leaders often stop fields from adopting new paradigms. Cohen was surprised to see that the issue of age apparently has additional profound effects not just on science but technology, where the benefits of the innovations should be obvious, easily tested, and not subject to whims of sparse data or incomplete analysis. “This ‘senior slip’ seems to be an attribute of the human condition, irrespective if you are a leader in a field, talking about an innovative widget (easily and repeatedly assessed for its benefits), or a new scientific approach.”

Cohen believes Senior Slip is common with most innovations and has some profound consequences. “What’s ’New’ for seniors is a death sentence for innovators. For innovation, older end-users must be approached through others who make the buying decision, such as doctors prescribing drugs.” Cohen also believes that PRC China and India are on the cusp of an explosion in innovation, because of their young demographic, while the US, Japan, and much of Europe are graying to future still waters, because of Senior Slip. ”There is no baggage to impede the progress in PRC and India. What looks rosy now may soon be dead ends stateside.”

Cohen reports his Senior Slip study in a chapter of an upcoming book on innovation, to be published in early 2017.

 

Does this mean Fractenna is going to work on the 'consumer' ham market soon?
http://www.fractenna.com/

The younger crowd is usually more space-constrained too.

 

BTW,

Just so it is obvious, I AM a senior, and most of my friends are seniors. And as noted, there are some very hip seniors that don't abide by the group dynamics.

No self-loathing spoken here

The demographic divide was a big surprise.

73
Chip W1YW

 

Afraid I can't convince the employees:-(

I came up with a proto production multiband, compact HOPE antenna a few years back...it sits.

 

I would like to try a fractal antenna for my hamming in 2m and 70cm. Any on the market or any plans available for DIY?

Are the stubby radome type antennas sold commercially a fractal design internally?

 

The amount I don't know is impressive. I'm wondering if this antenna has any reasonable value for 160 meters and if so, what would it look like and how would it be utilized if you don't already have a tower approaching a quarter wave on 160? My sloper with 60 130' radials on a saltwater marshis quite effective but I'm always willing to try another antenna if its not physically or monetarily prohibitive.

 

Start here and adapt for your wavelength! http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-fractal-antenna-for-HDTV-DTV-plus-/

 

Chip, I'm not surprised, that just seems to be the way of things. Brian Cake's "Boxkite Yagis" got similar treatment from old hands that "know" how long a Yagi has to be to get certain gain. without understanding the gain mechanism of boxkite design, dismissed it as "impossible", and yet the ones I've built all perform as designed.

 

Fractal antennas?

It all boils down to this:

Where are the designs for practical, buildable fractal antennas for HF? Not VHF/UHF, but the bands where space is a big deal. Like 80/40 meters.

If they're so great, why aren't there articles in QST and QEX telling how to build them? Where are the manufactured versions?

There's certainly a market for compact high performance HF antennas, but I don't see squat. And it's been years.

When Yagis were the new thing, they were soon all over the amateur magazines and books. Same for quads, log periodics, quagis, dishes, loops and more. All sorts of practical info on how to build real-world useful HF antennas. But for fractals....just a lot of claims and addy-tood.

I'm not saying fractal antennas are good or no good. I'm saying....where's the practical how-to-do-it info? And I don't mean a link to a DTV receive antenna the size of a TV screen, but a real, you-can-build-this-and-transmit-with-it HF antenna.

 

Another piece of puffery and self promotion by Chip. Sigh.

What has Chip done for ham radio? Ever?

Twenty years and he hasn't made fractal antennas available to hams in any form.. He doesn't sell them; he doesn't license them to ham antenna manufacturers; he has never published construction plans in 73, CQ, QST, QEX, Radio World, Ham Radio, Ham Radio Horizons, TAPR Repeater Journal, AMSAT Journal; never offered a formula for designing your own.

I hope he doesn't break his arm patting his back!

p.s. I wish Chip every success in the business world. Please, just don't mention fractal antennas and ham radio in the same breath until you post construction plans and a specific justification for the use of that antenna.

 

It's waiting for someone to try it and report back?

Oh, alright. I'll google it for you and save you the trouble of looking it up yourself.

http://ag1le.blogspot.com/2011/12/antenna-experiments-fractal-quad-for-28.html

 

Nah; plenty of construction plans. Comm Quart.

in....

73

Wrong. Go check the index.

CQ

Editor called me in, oh, 2009. I told him I would like an explanation for the (rude) previous response I had in 1994. He said he would get back to me. No follow thru. Is CQ up and running at moment?


QST

Turned down in 1994 as an 'April Fool's joke' by Paul Pagel N1FB. The present ARRL CTO, N4QX, does not feel this way; ask him.
If ARRL requests an article I will follow thru; they know this but have not acted. Go ask them, if its important to you.

QEX

See 'QST'.


Radio World

Not familiar with it.

Ham Radio, Ham Radio Horizons

These pubs were discontinued long before fractal antennas. So much for causality.

TAPR Repeater Journal

TAPR is a great club, but I am not familiar with this journal. I am not on repeaters nowadays. HF.

AMSAT Journal

I don't qso the birds, but it would be interesting to do portable 144/440 article. Not familiar with organization to any extent.

never offered a formula for designing your own.

Well, there's the Comm Quarterly Articles, for example....

Hope this helps. Wishing you the best,
Chip W1YW

 

I am thinking of a smaller handheld fractal Yagi for 144/440. Might be fun summer project. Is that what you had in mind?

 

Well, again you are 21 years behind the times. It is odd that you impose a restriction upon me that mandates posing a construction plan for YOU, before I can discuss this topic..

Please divulge your age.

What have you built for antennas in the last year?


73
Chip W1YW

 

Right. One article from 5 years ago.

I followed the link to the 73 article from 1999. It shows an interesting 2 element 10 meter quad. Seems to work OK...but....how big is it?

If my math is correct, that fractal quad measures 58.75 inches on a side - 235 inches all around. That's a bit more than half the size of a conventional 10 meter quad, which would measure about 104 inches on a side. The boom length stays the same, though.

So what we get is a reduction in overall loop size, at the expense of a complex antenna shape as compared to a simple quad loop.