QNews for July 14th 2024

Q-News AR News from Queensland

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. There is the old saying that a change is as good as a holiday. One thing we can all say is that we have lived through many changes and some are more momentous than others, of course. Take, for example, the transition from analogue TV to digital. It created a bit of a ripple for people getting set-top boxes to tune in the new services or they had to replace their existing receiver with what seemed a much more expensive unit. This was at a time when people had been enjoying the benefits of getting video programming on various forms of laser read machines which produced a vastly improved image to the previous home entertainment recording formats of VHS and Beta. Remember that if you remember these things, there are many who have never had the joy of recording audio from the radio or struggling with a jammed cassette tape. There is a whole generation who live beyond the era of compact disk, digital video recording and blue rays. Streaming services and multi-channel free to air TV are with us now but what will replace them, tomorrow? In our own space we are seeing more digital operations being supported and used and the technology that we use, in most commercially sourced gear, is developed around digital processes and technology with less and less reliance on analogue equipment being developed. As these changes surround us, it is wise, I think, to consider the consequences of this technological evolution. I have lived without mains electricity but when you are used to the convenience of throwing a switch and you are blacked out, there has to be redundancy or a backup to keep the lights on. When the landline phone went down, there was only the alternative of radio if you had the licence and the equipment. These days our systems are geared around mobile phone services, the internet and satellite services such as GPS. What happens when these services fail? I mean these have been big changes and if this is part of the holiday experience, we can’t afford to forget the insect repellent, can we? There have been moves from the banking sector to introduce a cashless society. If you have been through a cyclone and the power is out or the internet connection fails, just how do you pay for fuel for your generator or the car to get through to the hospital or a doctor? Getting rid of cash is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as the old saying goes. There are good reasons for streamlining business procedures and refining the items that we use in our daily lives but, there is usually a but, we have to be aware that we have to be prepared to use alternatives when necessary. So as radio operators, do we have the plans in place and the equipment for when, as they put it in texting, T-S-H-T-F or do we sit and hope for the best?

I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think….how about you?

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