When I was getting into amateur radio my "elmers" instilled in me the idea that amateur radio operators help each other. Not only with specific work projects such as putting up antennas, but with learning, exposure to new aspects of amateur radio and anything else related to the hobby. I was taught that amateur radio opeators share information and ideas openly. I took this philosophy to heart and have always done my best to practice it. Generally speaking I have found this spirit of help, cooperation and sharing permeates virtually every aspect of amateur radio.
When I first heard of EbNaut I went and read everything I could find on it, but most of it just added confusion or created more questions than it answered. There were no beginner "how to" articles, very few if any published circuits or station configurations, very little on configuring complex software. When I started asking to see circuit examples and other helpful material, I was met with a shortage of answers. Eventually I decided to start the
EbNaut Information page to collect information which might help myself and others struggling to break into this facet of LF and VLF operating. I asked for material such as circuits, how-to information, etc. which would help a newcomer get set up to a point of being able to try EbNaut and see if they wanted to go further with it. This request was met with several terse replies suggesting the first step is to go learn about EbNaut, knowing it means work. This is the
opposite of "ham spirit" as I have known and practiced it. To say the least, I was suprised. Not wanting to tread on forbidden ground, I thoroughly reviewed the
EbNaut page looking for any restrictions on its use. I could find none as of December 2018 or January 2019. Direct inquiries regarding whether EbNaut is free for everyone to use and experiment with met with silence.
So long as EbNaut is used on licensed amateur radio frequencies and the EbNaut software remains available for download with no statement of limitation, I feel normal amateur radio etiquette applies. In that spirit I will do whatever I can to collect helpful information in hope of making EbNaut more accessible.
