By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor

This week’s installment of Surfin’ previews the 2012 Digital Communications Conference.

The annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) is on the move again and this year finds the DCC in Atlanta, Georgia on September 21-23. Typically, the DCC venue is in a hotel conveniently located near an airport and this year is no different with the big show occurring at the Sheraton Hotel next to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport which is also known as ATL.

If you plan to attend the DCC, make your hotel reservations as soon as possible because the special DCC hotel rates evaporate real soon now. Also, be sure to register for the event itself by visiting TAPR’s DCC webpage and registering here.

The makers and shakers of the ham radio digital world always show up at the DCC to display and talk about their latest hard and soft wares. Some even submit formal papers that the ARRL publishes in the DCC proceedings and some of those present their papers live throughout Friday and Saturday of the DCC weekend.

This year’s proceedings include the following papers:

• DATV-Express -- an Update by Charles Brain, G4GUO, and Ken Konechy, W6HHC
• Experimenting with High Speed Wireless Networking in the 420 MHz Band, by David Bern, W2LNX
• On-line Alternation of Modulation Techniques Using a Dynamic Switch RadioPlus, by Shashank Gaur, Sankalp Agarwal, Ammar Almasri and Anas Bennani
• Technical Aspects of Lentus (4.21.1) and Use, by Patrick Lindecker, F6CTE
• YAAC: The Development of “Yet Another APRS Client,” an Open-Source Cross-Platform Application, by Andrew Pavlin, KA2DDO
• Digital Amateur Radio in Support of Situational Awareness, Common Operating Picture and Community Resilience for 21st Century Emergency Communications, by Aleksandra M. Rohde, KB3YHT
• Web Servers on the HMSS-Mesh, by Joseph P. Scanlan, N7SXD
• MDSR TX Compliance and RX Performance Testing, by Alex Schwarz, VE7DXW, and Adam Farson, VA7OJ/AB4OJ
• Additional Feature Released with V2.4 Software, by Alex Schwarz, VE7DXW, and Guy Roels, ON6MU
• Design of a Practical Handheld Software Radio, by Chris Testa, KD2BMH
• Is the Unlicensed Band “Good Enough” to Deploy a Muni Wi-Fi Network without Mesh Infrastructure? by Devabhaktuni Srikrishna and Rajeev Krishnamoorthy
• aprsc, an Open-Source High-Performance APRS-IS Core Server, by Heikki Hannikainen, OH7LZB

In addition to the paper presentations, there are talks and seminars presented by experts throughout the weekend on various ham radio digital communications matters.

The big seminar occurs on Sunday with Tom Rondeau, KB3UKZ, giving a hands-on tutorial using GNU Radio to design and implement software defined radios on your laptop. By the way, if you want to stick around, the 2012 GNU Radio Conference follows the DCC in the same hotel immediately afterward (September 24-27).

Long-time ham radio digital mode maker and shaker Bdale Garbee, KB0G, is the after-dinner speaker for the DCC’s Saturday evening banquet. And if that isn't exciting enough, most of the TAPR crew will be in attendance, too, including yours truly, so I hope to see you there!

I dedicate this installment of Surfin’ to QST Managing Editor Joel Kleinman, N1BKE, an old radio friend who died tragically over the weekend. Joel was one of the good guys in ham radio and I will especially miss our ongoing Red Sox vs Yankee banter.

Until next time, keep on surfin’!

Editor’s note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, seeks the unusual in radio. To contact Stan, send e-mail or add comments to the WA1LOU blog.