Raspberry Pi - course outline requirements

We at the West Rand Amateur Radio Club, decided that a "Raspberry Pi" course was needed to further interest the members. While we have some 'built-in' expertise, we need to interest, motivate and educate the members in the newer aspects of Amateur Radio.

The Raspberry Pi is an 'educational micro-system' based on cell-phone technology. It has an incredibly powerful processor and more memory than most of last centuries' personal computers. It was brought about by engineers realising that today’s schoolkids are being taught [some would say indoctrinated] Microsoft Office.

It has already found a niche in the electronics market. It has nearly sold 4 million units. A figure that is being bandied about as being close to outshining the Sinclair Spectrum. A lot of schools are being given Pi's to use overseas. It has an enormous following by hardware 'hackers' with a vast number of 'projects'. It is unlikely that you can think up a unique application. If you search on the internet you will find that someone has already done it and published it on the web.

There have already been a dozen or more suggestions for topics/projects for the course. Now is the time for the members to suggest some more. Don't worry about whether it has been done before. What we need are the most popular for 'our members' in South Africa. 

So send your 'suggestions' to zs6wr.club@gmail.com

Please make them polite and back them up with suitable arguments why they should be included in the course.

John Brock ZS6WL

 

The AGM is just around the corner!

The AGM for the club is just about to happen.

At the club house on the 12 th of July. At 12:00.

Please send any "motions" to OM Noel to place them on the agenda. We are going to discuss the proposed new constitution, which will also be ratified at the AGM.

Please forward any motion you have to me [Noel ZR6DX] or to zs6wr.club@gmail.club, so we
can include them for the AGM.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the AGM.

Have we 'lost' our 'Spare Time'?

When I looked at the blog this morning, I was suprised to see that nothing has been uploaded since new year. Is this because none of us has no time to send links or upload our comments?

It would appear that we just don't have time for this. The club has a web site, www.zs6wr.co.za . Not much has happened there either... I know Geoff has moved QTH. Everything is in boxes. Been there and done that. Any move is a traumatic event and really unsettles you. His story about the scrap skips emptying magically overnight is amusing. Apparently (according to my overseas sources), it doesn't only happen in South Africa.

My stepson (according to Edith), Joe van Zyl, is staying with us right now. He was telling me the other night about how the print media has still not switched over to web based magazines and newspapers. The disadvantages are outweighing the advantages. It was especially interesting for me to find out that the news etc had moved to web based feeds and the print media (i.e. newspapers) were 'shrinking'. For one reason the news was almost in 'real time' and it was also 'free'. 

One aspect of the Anode was the 'snippets' of news and events of interest to the Amateur Radio fraternity. I used the word 'fraternity' is a non-sexist way. As the Anode would 'come out' at the main meeting every month, it would be anything up to a month late! So many comments that the news was 'out of date', I wondered why I should bother. Like all technology today, Amateur Radio is moving ahead at an ever increasing pace. 

Amateur Radio is now nearly 100 years old. It has been at the forefront of invention and 'high tech' for all of those years. Are 'we' now has beens? No! Every day there is some new aspect to the hobby. The only way we can keep up with this 'progress', is via the Internet. So send your comments to the blog or the web site.

What I realised was that if I devote my time to producing the club's newsletter, I don't have time for my hobby. Now I would rather be a 'doer' than just write about doing it.

73

John Brock ZS6WL