television failed to obscure it. Internet either. Despite the facile prophets of doom, Guglielmo Marconi's invention not only survived the media competition, but he knows a new youth. A half as old, as able to innovate. And in its shade thrive amateurs. Those fans who imagine themselves in too many of the talkers, idlers, attached to a microphone. Refused on the computer, maybe eccentric inventor and his hair tousled by crazy. Wrong. Radio amateurs, in the jargon Om, old English man, are quite different. And most often people of culture, on the front edge of technology. Indeed help to develop it
.
"For the most part people are curious, who likes to try - said Claudio Re, engineer, director (technical) networks of Radio Maria in the world, amateur radio callsign i1rfq, owner of innovative Sistel -. Communication is a corollary. It is not an end in itself. The curiosity then moved into work. Indeed, it impels to do certain jobs. Where there is a real amateur. An example? NASA. " No coincidence that Paolo Nespoli, Italian astronaut, under ESA, European Space Agency , flown with the shuttle to the International Space Station, is one of the group, iz0jpa. It is no coincidence that up on the space station, there are radio operating on amateur frequencies of 144 and 432 MHz So in late October Nespoli was connected with some schools and universities. Listening to the conversation, the students of other schools scattered throughout Italy. So many questions. There has been talk of
astronautics, physics, astronomy, but also of peace and culture.
The link between education and passion is running out. "For young people a passion for radio is often a stimulus for further investigation in science and technology - noted Michele D'Amico, iz2eas, associate professor at Politecnico di Milano, a professor and expert on electromagnetic fields, among other things radarmeteorology -. The boy is pushed to the groped DIY receivers to antennas. The practice led him to investigate the theory. Learn to test his knowledge and his ideas. It stimulates creativity. " And this is becoming increasingly important in a time when enrollments in science, and engineering continue to fall. It saves only engineering management, related more to corporate management, not research.
As the words of Professor D'Amico are true it shows the story of Nico Palermo , iv3nwv. At 11 he was playing with the radio. Twenty years later, after having worked in Trieste and Engineering at Siemens, he built his first radio. And after working in the biomedical field, now has his own company and built the Perseus , receiver characteristics and high, it seems incredible, inexpensive.
And here comes the fun part. Italy, thanks to an ingenious group of radio amateurs, has returned to the forefront in this field of telecommunications. The technology is that of ' Sdr , software defined radio. A term that denotes a radio without valves or transistors, knobs, buttons and tuners. A little box, value less than one thousand euro, which is connected to a computer that exploits the potential of this to offer performance comparable or superior to traditional radio, receivers or transmitters, worth € 10 thousand or more. The Japanese have fallen behind. The comparison it is only with the Americans, but they seem to lose ground. In Italy there are already several companies working in the field. As the Elad, or Microtelecom Nico Palermo. Or the King Claudius, who developed the very Italian CIAOradio H101, and will soon present the more innovative H102.
This race is linked to the development of increasingly sophisticated software, they see on the front line still Radiomir other Italians, as Oscar Steil, ik1xpv and Albert Well, I2PHD, who now enjoy an international reputation. The thing has not gone unnoticed in companies that count in the world, Germany's Rohde & Schwarz , the Ferrari of the radio, started to produce specialized ones SDR receivers to civilian and military applications. A cost, however inaccessible.
But everything goes in a study. Italian Amateur Radio Association is convinced. "Teachers" Om "are many - said Nicola Sanna , i0nsy, president and director Ari Radio Magazine - Two years ago we signed an agreement in Rome to enter the schools, from elementary to universities. The project, known as "Radio in school, liked it so much that they're taking in Slovenia and Romania. And they are affecting the United States. "
"The radio between banks lends itself to interdisciplinary work and for students is very exciting," says Fabio Tagetti , professor of English at the Institute of Legnago Silva and expert in area of \u200b\u200bthe Ministry of Education. To his credit also has a book, "Learning English with radio, television and the Internet", published by The Rostrum. "The design of the air - again - on one hand language and cultural purposes, on the other lends itself to the study of physics, computer science and technology, even in its most advanced sectors, such as" digital convergence ", those that are changing the media world. Or help to study meteorology, weather reading a fax received by ether. Finally, he taught to be open to the world and "understand" the news, comparing, for example, the news in the Italian RAI, Radio Vaticana ,
China Radio International, Radio Romania International and others. "
studying and experiencing some might even be a Nobel Prize. As the amateur, an expert in communications extreme (even using the lunar reflections) and astrophysicist Joseph H. Taylor Jr., K1JT, which has received recognition in 1993 for the discovery of a new type of pulsar.
(Published Future , 16/11/2007)
