Military experts say radio amateurs "highly knowledgeable asset in HF communication"

Ulrich N1UL, besides being brilliant and accomplished, is a most congenial gentleman, easily approachable, and proud of being a radio amateur and the expertise it can instill into other members of its fraternity.

This video is just one example. Note the impressive spontaneous shout-out to amateur radio he makes toward the end, starting at about 41:00 into the vid,

"I tell everybody who reports to me, in any high position, he or she MUST have a radio license. All the ladies including my family who report to me, MUST have a radio amatuer license. That's the only time in life we understand from the antenna to the loudspeaker and back about all the things that are happening inside, I think it's essential."

Quite a statement coming from a distinguished leader in technology, that being a radio amateur can be an important distigusihing factor for a professional too.

 

John:

"...being a radio amateur can be an important distigusihing (sic) factor for a professional too. "

You're still trying to patch together a disjoint dialog out of snippets of other people's words to say things they never intended to. Like a sock puppet with bad spelling. Instead, you might try talking about how amateur radio helped YOU land great work.

You've said that you're an engineer, and that engineers are "... a dime a dozen". (Seems odd that you basically say that you're a member of a worthless profession). And you don't show up in the usual media and databases most engineers do. Curious. This isn't exactly consistent with your claims. (Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place?).

So... how DID it work out?

Cute cat, BTW.

Brian - K6BRN

 

As someone who regularly writes and presents professionally on this topic: no one is suggesting that HF will replace satcom, terrestrial internet, etc. However, there are a lot of commercial, military, and government customers who are very interested in using HF as a backup technology (since data connectivity has become so critical to the way things get done).

"Legacy" HF (i.e. the HF that I grew up with) cannot fill this role, but newer developments in HF such as ALE and wideband HF have made HF a viable backup solution.

Again, I've done many presentations on this topic, primarily to gov't and military audiences, and they have been astonishingly popular. You can watch the presentation I did earlier this year for the AOC (Association of Old Crows - the EW folks) if you're curious:

https://www.crows.org/page/LostArtofHF-ondemand

This content is also available as a whitepaper either from my company's (new) HF learning center or from HamSci.

https://www.hamsci.org/article/rebirth-hf
https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/campaigns/rsa/adt/hf-learning-center_253628.html

 

I can confirm this from personal experience. Dr. Rohde is truly inspirational and an outspoken advocate for amateur radio.

 

I thought Parkhills were replaced with ANDVTs.

 

HF won't replace SATCOM, but long haul HF would still be useful for sending 'go' codes to strategic old buf's. I recall an unclassified paper about France's last above ground nuclear tests that suggested HF had improvement in a disturbed ionosphere. This isn't a boost for amateur radio given that role would be more tactical in the logistic realm...

 

As a former member of US Navy/ Marine Corps MARS, I’m sensing by some of the comments that the readers fail to understand that the Military is complementing the Ham community for its expertise and ability to step into a situation that required them to pass important traffic. Emergency responders and MARS station operators train for this and will step up and serve in any situation.

 

Hi Paul:

Well, as professional architect, designer, builder and deliverer... (my feathers are bigger and brighter than YOUR feathers!)

HF is not a "Backup Technology". Its a supplemenary technology and has been built into the VLF-to-light government comms plans for decades, and continues to be, though its role has evolved dramatically over the years. I've pointed this out previously. And very repetitively. But it's not going to step in and replace broadband or satellite (or higher frequency) comms anytime soon. As I said - just not enough bandwidth or reliability for long-haul comms - that's pretty basic. Whatever you and R&S would like to make it.

But by all means, prove me wrong - and if you do, I'll celebrate the achievement. Because it will be brilliant and significant if it happens. But perhaps this is the WRONG place to debate the topic?

Going on ... you said above:

"Legacy" HF (i.e. the HF that I grew up with) cannot fill this role, but newer developments in HF such as ALE and wideband HF have made HF a viable backup solution."

Hmmm. You seem to be contradicting yourself. Earlier you ALSO said: "... no one is suggesting that HF will replace satcom, terrestrial internet, etc. "

And it won't. The technology you are implying as a global STRATEGIC solution would be a last-ditch, apocalyptic measure if it were to be used that way. (this is getting repetitive) As a TACTICAL, supplementary capability, HF has been there for a long time. And yes, modes and waveforms have evolved well beyond those hams use. They've had to to remain useful.

I DO agree with the gentlemen (AC8BA) who said that volunteer services like MARS have and continue to play a useful role - as auxiliaries. And that the comment that lead to this very off course thread was meant to complement the hams that provide these services. They deserve it and worked to get there.

But that's a small minority of the ham community.

Best Regards,

Brian - K6BRN

 

It’s not that our military doesn’t agree that it would be a good idea to have an HF capability; it’s the return on investment. Should they invest in SATCOM that they know they will use or HF that they might use? I spent twenty years in the Army 1971-1992, and I not only watched the decline of HF, I helped it decline. I tried to be a good steward of our Tax Dollars.

If we find ourselves in a position where our military suddenly needs HF, I suspect that Hamsters may be recruited to operate and train others. I also suspect that if we were to be in that bad a situation, that our home grown HAM operators will volunteer widely to our nation in an hour of need. I know I would.

Norm Michaels
KF0BNS
Signal Corp Major, Retired

 

Where can I sign up to get paid on radio?

 

Oh yes... everything post 9/11 is EKMDS-capable. Parkhill... I am dating myself.

Love,

Vinson Orestes

 

The way I read it is the US Military is experiencing 'buyer's remorse' for phasing out the use of CW. From what I understand youth that can demonstrate proficiency in Morse Code set themselves up in line for a Security Clearance Rating. I would be very cautious about equating today's "Emergency Responder" with the trained CW Operators that honed their skills through the ARRL's NTS (National Traffic System) in the 1970s. Today's 'Emergency Responder' is an outgrowth of the 27 Megahertz REACT formation. Which is good talking in to a Walkie Talkie but contains little if any structure necessary for conveying complex messaging with a formal preamble.. This grouping by and large resists learning CW. What became apparent with the proliferation of AM (A3E) in Ham Radio is that if left to his own device most hams divert away from CW. Learning CW takes work. And in this respect the reality of 'what you don't get upfront you don't get' became apparent. This is the reason why the FCC created the Novice License in the early 1960s. It served as an entry point to Amateur Radio that forces the licensee to learn Morse Code and become competent in CW before they head over to the Phone Bands. That came to an abrupt end in 2000 with the FCC's Restructuring Program that eliminated Morse Code Requirements. If the US Military is serious about reversing the "atrophy", as is described in the article and references, they need to convince the FCC of the error in this course of action and implore them to take remedial action to address the deficiency. Say start by bringing back the Advanced Class License, move the Extra Class Theory Test (Element 4) to the Advanced Class Test and Reinstating the 20 WPM Morse Code Requirement for The Extra Class License.

 

Nope! that horse has left the stable and she's not coming back! Being an "Old style" ham myself I feel the lack also and I hear it on the bands. FCC is not interested in reinstating previous qualifications for ham radio. It's part of the "deregulation" theme going on in the government in the last couple of decades.

 

At WKRP, in Cincinatti.