Mark your calendars! The schedule has been updated to allow for more government holidays.

There will be no school the following days:

• February 20th- Presidents’ Day
• July 5th- Day after Independence Day
• October 8th- Columbus Day
• November 12th- Veteran’s Day

These are in addition to the regularly scheduled holidays.

While most people think that hackers came with computers, in fact Nevil Maskelyne was wreaking havoc on wireless signals in 1903. Instead of using computer code, Maskelyne used Morse code and instead of wreaking havoc on personal computers, his target was Guglielmo Marconi.

Marconi

In June of 1903, Marconi’s assistant John Ambrose Fleming was going to hold the first public demonstration of Marconi’s long range wireless communication system at the Royal Institution’s lecture hall in London. Marconi was set to send a message from Cornwall. As Fleming was setting up the demonstration, the apparatus began tapping out a message. At first it was just the word Rats repeated over and over again followed by several messages and limericks derogatory towards Marconi and his associates. After the messages ceased, Marconi’s intended messages came through.

Marconi's Assistant John Ambrose Fleming

Why Marconi? Maskelyne was a stage magician and hobby inventor. His interest in wireless technology worked his way into his stage show, using electricity and wireless signals to “read minds” and ignite gunpowder across the stage. Marconi held several very broad patents on wireless technology that made Maskelyne unable to draw profit from any of his inventions. Also Marconi had made some powerful enemies in the Eastern Telegraph Company, who laid cable for telegraphs and felt threatened by Marconi’s wireless technology. The ETC hired Maskelyne to spy on Marconi.

So how did Maskelyne interrupt and hijack the signals? The signals were sent using pulses of short and long bursts of energy- Hertzian waves. When the Eastern Telegraph company hired Maskelyne to spy, he set up a 50-meter radio mast on the coast to intercept ship to shore messages. It proved even easier to intercept the messages as Maskelyne was able to receive messages on a 25 foot aerial. Marconi bragged that his system was superior because it was secure– sending messages on specific wavelengths. Maskelyne’s untuned broadband receiver  picked up on all of Marconi’s signals.  For the presentation hack, all Maskelyne had to do was set up a simple transmitter and a Morse code key nearby. Luckily, his father owned a music hall in the neighborhood. After that, it was just a matter of sending the messages at the right time.

Maskelyne could have gotten away with the stunt anonymously, but instead he took to the newspapers to claim responsibility for the act as well as attack Marconi. His hack highlighted flaws in the so called secure transmission and dealt an ego crushing blow to Marconi.

Nevil Maskelyne- Gentleman Hacker

Do you know anyone who wants to make a better line for themselves and/or their family?  Hamilton Tech has many great opportunities in 2012 for people who want to make a positive change in their lives!Technology classes are available in Electronics Engineering Technology, Medical Assisting and Medical/Insurance Coding throughout the entire year!  See Scott, Connie, or Lori in Admissions, or contact one of them at 563-386-3570.  (Thanks Margaret and The Leak)

Go here http://www.qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=574811 for a great article on the Festival of Trees Electronics Tree.  Thank You to Marlene Gantt, who writes for the Moline Dispatch, for the great story about the “Dancing Tree”.  The article appeared in the December 24th edition.  We are so glad you are enjoying the tree.  Thanks to all the Electronics students and faculty for creating this fun tree.  Scroll down for an entire blog article and pictures of both of the trees Hamilton Tech entered in the Festival of Trees this year.  MC

The faculty and staff of Hamilton Tech would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

More and more companies are looking to hire applicants that can speak another language. This is especially true in the medical field where effective communication can be a matter of life or death. Don’t speak another language? Why not learn one to add to your marketability? There are lots of ways to learn a new language: books, classes, cds or podcasts you can listen to while driving. Duolingo is a free online application (currently is is in beta, but you can sign up to test it) that uses a game-like platform to learn a language. Why is it free? Because as you are learning the language and translating sample text, you are also translating web pages originally written in the language you are learning. The end result is you learning a language and greater access on the internet. Currently Spanish and German are offered and according to the website: French, Italian, and Chinese are coming later.

Check out their informative (and entertaining) video:

So what are you waiting for? Sign up to test it out today and add to your skillset and help out the internet!
Adios!

Just down in the Advanced Electronics building and saw this Christmas Tree in the main entry.  The sign beside it said “Resurrection Tree”.  I did some checking and found out Tim’s class was going to start learning about the “Propeller Chip” which is a computer on a chip.  He thought it might be a great project for his class to bring the old tree back to life using the “Propeller Chip”.  They dug into the project and the “Resurrection Tree” is the result.  The sign says special thanks to Mark Seivers and Dustin Shaw.  The tree looks great!  Thanks to everyone who helped bring the old tree back to life. MC

Like the Smartboard in the electronics classroom? Have an extra remote for your Wii gaming system laying around? Why not make your own multi touch smart board that can be projected anywhere: on a wall, on a table. Maybe you could even make one for your favorite teacher. The setup also works to turn a LCD screen into a touch screen.  Watch this video and see how:

What you need to get started:

• Projector
• Wii Remote Controller ($25)
• LED Pen ($10+ pre-assembled / build custom)
• Bluetooth Adapter (~$10, various vendors)
• Presentation Software – Smoothboard ($29 for registered copy, demo free)
• Other considerations: mount for Wii Remote

For more information, check out the source

Hamilton Tech’s evening Electronics Engineering Technologies students hosted Andy Andresen from Cumulus Broadcasting last Monday night. Andy is the Regional Coordinator for Cumulus in Iowa as well as being one of 2 full time engineers in the state and sitting on the development committee for new products.

Cumulus Broadcasting is the 2nd largest broadcast company in America (Clear Channel is number one). They currently operate 24 stations in Iowa, 5 of which are in the Quad Cities. Andy is in charge of those five stations as well as five more in Dubuque. The five local stations include: Rock 104.9, Star 93.5, 97X,  B100, and True Oldies 1170.

Andy’s presentation included a breakdown of how music and DJ banter makes its way from the mic to your radio. In order for you to hear your favorite song on the radio, it must go through processors, compressors, the studio to transmitter link and finally be transmitted through the transmitter. It is this signal that your radio picks up and you hear. He was able to illustrate his points with pictures of the actual radio stations and transmitter stations he works with, offering the students a virtual tour of Dwyer and Michaels’ studio.

After a thorough explanation of how radio works, Andresen then went on to explain the changes in technology that have emerged and how they are affecting his job and the user’s radio listening experience. The first major change was in how information is  transmitted through the station. Where bulky cables with only 24 channels once ran through the building, the same result can be achieved with ethernet cable and a node device connected to a computer.  Antenna lights that once only lasted a year, requiring a treacherous climb up the tower to replace have been usurped by high intensity LEDs that can last up to 8 years. The final technological advance was one that Andy had a personal hand in developing.  Previously, when radio stations did remote broadcasting, there was a lot of equipment that had to be brought and setup– microphones, mixers, cd players, antennas, etc. Cumulus has developed an ipad application that can tap into the station’s computer system and broadcast remotely with nothing more than an ipod, microphone and an internet connection. The end audio result is clearer than the previous system and is super portable and user friendly. Currently the Quad Cities is the only market using the remote broadcast ipad app, but they are looking to expand to other markets.

Thank you Andy and Cumulus Broadcasting for coming in and sharing with our students.

On this day,  December 13th, in 1816 Werner von Siemens was born in Lenthe Germany. He was the fourth of fourteen children of a tenet farmer. He was never able to finish school and in order to pursue an education in engineering he joined the Prussian army. Here he was able to have 3 years of artillery and engineering training.

The army was in need of a quick and reliable means of communication. In 1947, von Siemens constructed a pointer telegraph, which used a needle to point to letters as opposed to Morse code. This began Siemens and Halske Telegraph Construction Company. The small workshop grew larger over time developing electrically triggered railroad warning bells, water meters, and seamless insulation. The company was later responsible for laying submarine telegraph as well as establishing telegraph systems in England and Russia.  The company continues today as Siemens.

Werner von Siemens’ scientific research included discovering the dynamo-electric principle, which led to electricity being  a source of power. Other patents developed include the first electric railway, first electric street lights, first electric elevator, and the first electric streetcar.

Today, Werner von Siemens is known for being the namesake of the SI (siemens) unit of electrical conductance. He also coined the German word for electrical engineering: elecktrotechnik. Today, the company that von Siemens founded is known as a leader in energy, healthcare, industry, and infrastructure.

Happy birthday Werner!