Not to interrupt this fascinating discussion on
who owns csv files, but to get back to the point . . .
As one respondent correctly pointed out, ham
radio is supposed to require some technical attitude. I think
that's true, and that it is a good thing for the hobby.
However, my opinion is that the difficulty of interfacing with
and programming radios exists because the process is
fundamentally overcomplicated and cumbersome, not because it
requires more skill than some hams have. It's just a bad model
for how to accomplish the process, and we all know it hurts
the hobby by discouraging new hams.
By comparison, I could buy a $50 burner phone and a $5 USB cord and interface that phone
with any modern computer system to transfer data. Plug and
play. Middle school kids build $30
raspberry pi systems that log weather, track motion, and do
all kinds of cool things. But to program a $1,000 radio I have to search eBay for
a cable, locate drivers somewhere in the bowels of the
internet, and then download an image from the device. Honestly
ask yourself this, if you had to do all these steps in order
to get music downloaded on your phone how many people would
just say, "heck no, it isn't worth it!" Probably a lot.
Ham radio is all about finding challenges;
that's true. But if the hobby is going to survive long term
there has to be accessible avenues to at least get started in
the hobby. HT and mobile rigs can't be using 80's tech
forever, or it will make us look like dinosaurs, and keep new
hams away. Let them build radios from kits, terminate cables,
and make homebrew vacuum tubes from bubble gum and shot
glasses when they get more advanced.
Brandon