On 9/10/20 20:55, John Brier via AMSAT-BB wrote:
To me this is a huge reason for AMSAT to embrace open source.
Yes, ARDC funding is a reason but it's not the only one.
Everybody on the ARDC board and grant committee agrees that one of the main reasons (if not THE main reason) for amateur radio's continued existence is its unique value as an educational tool. Not just formal classroom instruction but the kind of self-directed, hands-on tinkering and experimentation with electronics and communications that is still unique to ham radio.
When I became a ham in 1971 at age 14, I didn't want to just talk on the radio. I wanted to know how radios worked, what was behind the knobs. I carried a sheaf of Heathkit schematics around with me in school, peeking at them in class as other kids might peek at comic books. I learned a lot by studying them and by modifying and experimenting on the old ham gear (much of it Heathkit) I could actually afford. It cemented my decision to get my EE degrees and specifically to go into the communications industry. Ham radio set the entire direction of my life.
There's been a huge amount of progress in electronic communications over 50 years. But not all of it has been for the better when it comes to learning by taking things apart. Take an iPhone apart and figure out how it works. Good luck!
That's where open source comes in. It's become a very successful development model, mainly for software but increasingly also for hardware. It works because open source is above all an excellent educational tool. Anybody -- even students with no money -- can get an open source design, take it apart, study it, experiment with it, break it, fix it. Maybe even improve it, share your work with others, build a reputation and turn it into a career.
So, ARDC aside, open source is very much in keeping with the spirit and history of ham radio. In fact, it's now essential to the survival of ham radio, including the amateur satellite service. No, you don't *have* to know anything about how a radio works just to use one. But what's the point? If you want to talk on a satellite, and you only care that it works, not *how* it works, you might be better served by Iridium (or soon Starlink) than by amateur radio satellites. Quite frankly, ham radio will never compete favorably with Iridium or Starlink, nor could it because of FCC restrictions. So what's the point of developing an amateur radio satellite unless it's all in the open?
ARDC is a nonprofit foundation so all of our grants must be for charitable purposes. That does not include making money unless *that* money is used for charitable purposes. (Our endowment income goes into grants). But the development of open source technology freely available to anyone for any purpose *is* a completely legitimate charitable purpose; in fact, quite a few open source projects are already supported by foundations.
And if one of our grants helps inspire a young person into a successful STEM career, well, I personally can't think of a single better use for our money.
--Phil