I recently did quite a bit of pontificating about the diminished state of our online communities. It’s easy enough to complain, but the real measure of devotion is actually taking positive actions to help move things along. In that spirit, I was inspired by the recent announcement of Google+ Communities (a development that’s been sorely needed for a long time) to create a new group there called “Ham Radio Homebrewing“.

The nice thing about G+ Communities is that is supports a better range of communication possibilities than a traditional listserv or forum can provide. Photos, videos, and links to interesting projects can be very easily shared, in an instantly accessible graphical format. G+ also has the “Hangouts” feature, which allows you to video conference with other members of the group. I envision this could be like a souped-up version of the EchoLink QRP chats, where we could show off projects to each other, in live video chat.

I’m also planning on using the Ham Radio Homebrewing group to organize a small group build of a simple Manhattan construction project based on the OpenBeacon MEPT kit. This little project will be called OpenBeaconMini, and will be a very simple QRSS/DFCW QRPp transmitter kit for the frequency of 14.140 MHz (and if the project goes well, a second run of the project for 3.852 MHz). Keep an eye on the Ham Radio Homebrewing group and this blog for further details as this progresses.