What changes have you noticed about amateur radio

[kf4lne]

I have been licensed for 10 years this month and over the past 10 years I have noticed a good bit of change locally. Frequencies that were once very active now sit silent for hours on end, small groups who were not too long ago active at around the same time every night on the same frequencies are not there any more and even some popular casual nets have vanished. i hear very few voices that i recognize on the usual frequencies and from what i can tell simplex use seems to have dramatically declined. So, excluding HF, since its a bit more than a local thing and usage changes based on solar cycle, what have you noticed that has changed over the past 10 years in your area?

[ne3r]

The autopatch is a lot quieter these days. And there is a lot less traffic (excluding licence upgrade, expiration notices, & happy birthdays) on the Baltimore Traffic Net.

73
Joe
N3PAQ

[K3UD]

Changes?

I agree that there seems to be a lot less usage of the bands. There also seem to be a lot more quiet repeaters. Radios have become more sophisticated and offer more bells and whistles.

The DC - daylight rigs came into production during the last 9 years and have become almost the staple of choice for much of the ham community (The IC-706 was not available 10 years ago).

Radios seem to have gotten a bit less expensive over the last 10 years in terms of inflation, especially the so called entry level radio.
On the other hand it seems that accessories, antennas, coax and other peripherals have increased in price all out of proportion to the radios. We have seen the major manufaturers introduce the super high end radios (IC-7800 etc.)

In other areas, more hams than ever seem to have probelms getting on the air because of CC&Rs and HOAs. The ARRL seems to have lost touch with its membership and has lost some status at the FCC.

We now have a continuing drumbeat by some who want to eliminate the code testing and some others who want instant upgrades to higher license classes without any further testing. This was almost unkown 10 years ago. We have a rather small but growing contingent in the ARS who want total freedom on the bands and no restrictions where they can go and what modes regardless of bandwidth will be used.

Websites like QST were developed during this time period and in many ways have replaced local clubs as the primary means of learning and help for hams. For the first time in its history the Amateur Radio Service began to decline in the number of licensed amateurs.

There have been a myriad of other changes in the last 10 years.


73
George
K3UD

[ky5u]

Quote[/b] (K3UD @ Aug. 04 2006,09:11)]Changes?

I agree that there seems to be a lot less usage of the bands. There also seem to be a lot more quiet repeaters. Radios have become more sophisticated and offer more bells and whistles.

The DC - daylight rigs came into production during the last 9 years and have become almost the staple of choice for much of the ham community (The IC-706 was not available 10 years ago).

Radios seem to have gotten a bit less expensive over the last 10 years in terms of inflation, especially the so called entry level radio.
On the other hand it seems that accessories, antennas, coax and other peripherals have increased in price all out of proportion to the radios. We have seen the major manufaturers introduce the super high end radios (IC-7800 etc.)

In other areas, more hams than ever seem to have probelms getting on the air because of CC&Rs and HOAs. The ARRL seems to have lost touch with its membership and has lost some status at the FCC.

We now have a continuing drumbeat by some who want to eliminate the code testing and some others who want instant upgrades to higher license classes without any further testing. This was almost unkown 10 years ago. We have a rather small but growing contingent in the ARS who want total freedom on the bands and no restrictions where they can go and what modes regardless of bandwidth will be used.

Websites like QST were developed during this time period and in many ways have replaced local clubs as the primary means of learning and help for hams. For the first time in its history the Amateur Radio Service began to decline in the number of licensed amateurs.

There have been a myriad of other changes in the last 10 years.


73
George
K3UD
What about band conditions?

[wa9cwx]

I have been on the air continuosly since 1962. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Well, I turn the radios off at night, and I missed a few years during grad school, but other than that, I have been active.

A LOT has changed. There is MORE activity on HF, even during these relative doldrums. In 74/5 it was QUIET. In 83/4 it was VERY quiet. In the latest PEAK, 99/2000, it was not all that good, but VERY busy, more than in years past. This low point in the cycle has seen tremendous activity, more than anytime I remember in a low part of the Sunspot cycle.

The 2 meter frenzy seems to have subsided, and what is left is a sad, thin remnant of what used to be a 'technical oriented' type band.

Most of the ops on 2 meters were there with some combination of home built, or modified gear. Many made their own pre-amps, modified their Military surplus transmitters, and the conversations reflected that. It was a place for 'Techs', people who were technically inclined.

When FM became popular, it was modified taxi and police radios. Then the sythesized commercial rigs made a big splash. But it was STILL occupied by technical PEOPLE, for the most part.
After the NCT, things changed very quickly.
Today, it is most definitly different, than when I remember getting started on 2 meters in the early sixties.

One thing I am HAPPY about, the number, and quality, of CW ops is definitly higher than it was, there may be smaller percentage of CW ops, but it sure is not a dying mode. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[ab8ro]

I think the trend away from technical operators on VHF came long before the no code tech. I distinctly remember the Spokane VHF club in the early eighties and the repeater frenzy of the day. Many of those hams stayed techs because they couldn't get past the 13wpm point. In fact, back then that was the only thing necessary for them to get on HF (voice) #because they had already passed the General written. There were a lot of guys who never operated as a novice.

The primary rigs were not homemade or converted but were commercial crystal rigs or early PLL rigs. I remember a lot of fuss over the little over the shoulder ICOM rig. I knew several people who's main rig was a handheld even back then. They used a mirage amp in the car with their handhelds as a mobile rig. The tempo S1 was very popular.

There was a lot of interest in six meters and in general I think weak signal modes seemed more popular among new hams than they do now. But, to say that the NCT triggered the decline of the notion of tech as experimenter is a bit unfair. I think you need to point a little further back in time to the repeater explosion of the seventies. #By the late seventies the FCC had conceded the old experimenter status of the technician license was no longer applicable.

[wa9cwx]

I agree, the technical decline started actually quite a while before the NCT.
But there was a big change, in this area, AFTER the NCT was introduced.
And there is a BIG difference from what the average QSO sounded like in the 60s!
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[K0RGR]

PSK31 has erupted on the HF scene, and is actually where a lot of people hang out now - that buzz you hear may be dozens of QSO's going on. Other new digital modes have blossomed, including some that can be described as 'high performance' in terms of extracting data from the noise.

Hams have started to use NVIS techniques to maximize regional effectiveness when appropriate. Personal computers make it easy to run sophisticated propagation prediction programs, making it easier to determine what bands are open. Hurricane Katrina caused hams to provide communications support on a scale not seen for decades.
Amateurs in many locales are becoming a bigger part of disaster teams.


On VHF and above, new 'Internet assisted' modes have brought increased activity. EchoLink has breathed new life into otherwise dead repeaters. APRS provides worldwide position tracking and messaging capability using a new twist on packet radio and Internet gateways. New digital modes created by K1JT allow people to work meteor scatter and even moonbounce with ease. Some radio clubs have begun building amateur 802.11 networks on 2.4 Ghz. using off-the-shelf networking equipment.

New awards programs, and an apparent increase in Tech + licensees, has brought new life to the old 'Novice' bands on 40 and 80 meters, at least. Low speed Generals and Extras are also joining the Techs and Novices in these bands, making them much busier than 10 years ago.

Of course, we're at the bottom of the sunspot cycle, and a lot of hams put their gear in mothballs during these times, preferring to operate when the higher bands rule. But, I've never heard as much activity on 6 meters as this year. Ten has also been jumping with Eskip.

I think the decline in two meter activity really started more than 10 years ago, and it has continued. But still, I am amazed sometimes at what activity there is. My local repeaters are pretty quiet, but I can hear repeaters outside the local area that are very busy. Last weekend, I found activity all over Iowa in the middle of the night.

The code/no-code debate has caused terrible friction in ham radio, and many of us just want it to be OVER. Meanwhile, life goes on, and ham radio continues to advance.

[k4kyv]

I find LESS activity on 160, 80 and 40 (don't listen that much on higher frequency bands), particularly on the CW portions, but on phone portions as well. I can remember winter evenings, even during the weektime, when you couldn't find a spot to operate on 75m. This was even true on 160 at times. The last few years, excluding contest periods, there almast always seems to be open space on the bands. There used to be plenty of daytime activity on 75/80m, but in recent years the band goes almost entirely dead during daylight hours.

I find hams less and less technically oriented, and few hams build their own transmitters. Even factory-built dipole antennas have become commonplace.

On the other hand, there is increasing interest in vintage radio, and older commercial and homebrew rigs are reappearing on the air.

ARRL acknowledges the existence AM phone once again, as this mode has returned as a mainstream facet of amateur radio.

The phone bands have become increasingly channelised, with little groups all across the bands staking claim of ownership of specific frequencies. You hear fewer CQ's on the phone bands.

Deliberate interference has abated somewhat, but not disappeared entirely.

[ab8ro]

Quote[/b] (wa9cwx @ Aug. 05 2006,20:22)]I agree, the technical decline started actually quite a while before the NCT.
But there was a big change, in this area, AFTER the NCT was introduced.
And there is a BIG difference from what the average QSO sounded like in the 60s!
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
QSO? Heck, I hear almost none on the local repeaters. I hear the occasional talk about where people are and what they're picking up for dinner. But, conversations?

In the eighties there was a lot of chit chat on the local repeaters almost any time of the day. Now I don't hear much of that at all.

Even then though, I don't remember many technical conversations. I do remember people willing to talk to each other and just being friendly. I also remember that I would hear someone calling someone else specifically and the other guy would respond. It seems people were listening to 2m all day long.

But, cmon, it's like pulling hen's teeth to keep a technical conversation going on here as well. Here you have time to think and respond, yet, they always die pretty quickly compared to threads like this, or threads about code/no code, or cbers, or whatever.

I tried to get a discussion going about the ARRL homebrew challenge. That died a quick death. I responded in radio mods about converting a cb, the only good use of one, that's had one other response. I could post a hundred topics, they'd die pretty quickly. But anything that challenges the good ole days or criticizes CBers or takes a stance on code/no code or testing, that's gonna be on top for days.

There's a question right now about a mopa transmitter for VHF. I had to chuckle at the idea, but, cmon, talking about homebrewing VHF rigs, that has so much potential to be interesting to every ham, including NCTs, but it's had little comment.

You can't just blame the new guys. If you've been around for a while you should be contributing. If you know a colpitts oscillator like the back of your hand then why aren't we hearing about your ideas in these threads. Let's hear your off the cuff answer to the ARRL challenge. Can you design a phone/cw rig that a beginner can build for $50? Let's hear about how you built those VHF rigs in the 60s. What about that simple VHF transmitter in the mopa thread? Can it work? Is it a good idea? Why not? What would work better? Can you share a schematic, references, ideas, encouragement?

If the old guard doesn't like things, then what are THEY doing to reverse the trend? How are they contributing positively to encourage technical activities among new hams?

[WB2WIK]

Change: HF bands are jam-packed despite less than great conditions. 20m this afternoon had zero "open" frequencies, anywhere. CW: full. Digital: full. Phone: full. SSTV and AM frequencies: full. Nets: too many.

Had to QSY up to 14.340 or so at times to find a frequency clear enough to actually have a chat.

Called one CQ on 14.250 and ran a bunch of contacts in a row, people just kept calling.

OTOH, 2m FM is quite "dead" compared to 20 years ago.

Need more activity on VHF-UHF to help keep the wolves away and assure we don't lose the bands.

WB2WIK/6

[VE7NOT]

I have noted changes.. not sure if they are good or bad. I Hve be licensed 8 years. When I got on in 98 I was shunned by some 2m ops because i hadn't learned code etc.. that old garbage... but most took me in. Nedd I say... we DROVE the other ops OFF the air. (Yes there was a radio war here in the late 90s on 2m)

2m actually back then was exciting and the repeater here was stand alone as free for everyone. A 70+ year old ham showed me how to use the free autopatch.

On my sw rx:

I remember hf was active especially 80m was heavly active at night with WA stations running kw amps.

160m was AM as well as ssb.
40m was horribly active at night as a ragchewing band.

yes yes...20m was a RAGCHEWING band!!! at night it was used locally then

10m was THE band.

6m was ignored.

70cm were geeks

NOW:

160m has ragchewers and the odd cw stations.. no am

80m has nets and ragchewers.

40m is semi-active at night and sometimes dead here.

20+ is dead at night SAVE 10m nets and the hams that now wander to 11m. 10m has been open a little bit mostly mornings though.

6m is getting a new interest from some but still dead here.

2m went through a phase for a year or too which made me leave the band called echolink dx. (Most of the club heads are strongly tring to vote our island nodes OUT of the repeaters http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif )

With code beign dropped as a main requirment there are now more hams here but not all on repeaters... most are on hf and some on 2m simplex and some on 11m ssb... or all of them.

70cm BTW is no longer geeks... 10GHz are geeks



http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[ve2nsm]

I'm seeing less technical activities/conversations, lots more of OF's whinning. I never was into VHF above 54MHz so I can't say about it, but 80m is terrible, I'm not even sure if they run the Quebec net at 3780 on evenings anymore. Even 10 years ago it was dying, I can't imagine what it is today.

[kf4lne]

Quote[/b] ]Need more activity on VHF-UHF to help keep the wolves away and assure we don't lose the bands.

Yeah, we do. I don't expect the 1.25 meter band to last much longer and I wonder how much longer before commercial intrests start looking at our microwave spectrum to expand various consumer technologies like wifi and baby monitors. They're not making any more spectrum and if we make a good showing of how well we can make use of these now very quiet bands then the various "wolves" will have a harder time getting their hands on it.


BTW, which one of you is the long winded guy on 80 talking about boats and gas prices?

[VE7NOT]

Quote[/b] (kf4lne @ Aug. 06 2006,21:25)]BTW, which one of you is the long winded guy on 80 talking about boats and gas prices?
Not me http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif Gas prices are too high and boats are too slow now...

[KC9GUZ]

Operators that seem a little more rude on the bands and a little more resentment towards new hams. At least thats the way it seems to me in my area...

[KC9GUZ]

Another thing ive noticed is there are almost NO late night conversations at all on 2 meters. Back 10 years ago i used to listen to the local 2 meter repeaters on my trusty ol bearcatd scanner and there were guys up talking all hours of the night and now it seems there is no one on past 10 PM!!

[ab8ro]

Quote[/b] (KC9GUZ @ Aug. 06 2006,02:22)]Another thing ive noticed is there are almost NO late night conversations at all on 2 meters. Back 10 years ago i used to listen to the local 2 meter repeaters on my trusty ol bearcatd scanner and there were guys up talking all hours of the night and now it seems there is no one on past 10 PM!!
You're not kidding. It was like that in the late seventies early eighties too. You could chit chat at midnight with someone.

[KC9GUZ]

Well i can say though that on Westlink in Michigan i have heard some people on late past 11 pm. In fact, i did talk to a guy a while back that was on well past 1 AM.. its too bad some dont stay up late, because im a night owl and usually am up late at night on weekends. Sure there are guys on 75/80 meters and 160 ( my antenna is too short to be effective on 160 even though my tuner will tune it to 160 meters) to talk to, but sometimes the bands are too noisy.

[ne3r]

Quote[/b] (KC9GUZ @ Aug. 07 2006,01:22)]Another thing ive noticed is there are almost NO late night conversations at all on 2 meters. Back 10 years ago i used to listen to the local 2 meter repeaters on my trusty ol bearcatd scanner and there were guys up talking all hours of the night and now it seems there is no one on past 10 PM!!
I'm not a huge echolink fan, but I was scanning through repeaters on my way to work at 1AM a few months ago, and suddenly I hear a CQ from a Delta Lima 4 something. I don't remember the call now, but talk about a great QSO. Just a German ham out making morning deliveries and decided to do a little echolink DX. Sometimes, when you are in the company truck, that is the best you can do.

RE: Technical discussions on 2M.

There tends to be a lot of technical discussion on my regional club's 2M repeater as well as a lot of talk about traffic, weather, etc.

RE: converted 2M gear.

At the hamfest I went to yesterday, you could get on 2M FM for about $10. Lots of cheap VHF commercial gear floating around. Some of it wide enough that it would just need to be programmed. I don't really have a need for this on 2M, but I would like to convert some commerical 900MHz equipment, just to say I did http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif.

73
Joe
N3PAQ

[cu2jt]

I put the key paddle in a drawer 1977 and went QRT. Came back in August, 2004 with a new call sign.

This is what I noticed:

* lots of new bands. 30, 17 and 12 m were not available in 1977
* Lots of new countries that did not exist in 1977. Just look at the splitting of Yugoslavia
* A W6 is not necessaily in California and a KH6 might be in North Carolina.
* DX Clusters did not exist in 1977, nor QRZ.com or digital modes.
* The use of computers in contest was unthinkable in 1977 unless you wrote your own COBOL program and had a timesharing terminal back home.

And for me, myself, moving from SM7 to CU2 gave me a new kick. Suddenly, 40m from here is about what 20m was in Sweden. Only this morning, I worked VK2, KH6 (a real Hawaiian) and a couple of W6 (real ones as well) on 40m. Unthinkable from a Swedish QTH unless you have a big array for 40m.

[KC9GUZ]

Quote[/b] (N3PAQ @ Aug. 07 2006,04:53)]Quote[/b] (KC9GUZ @ Aug. 07 2006,01:22)]Another thing ive noticed is there are almost NO late night conversations at all on 2 meters. Back 10 years ago i used to listen to the local 2 meter repeaters on my trusty ol bearcatd scanner and there were guys up talking all hours of the night and now it seems there is no one on past 10 PM!!
I'm not a huge echolink fan, but I was scanning through repeaters on my way to work at 1AM a few months ago, and suddenly I hear a CQ from a Delta Lima 4 something. #I don't remember the call now, but talk about a great QSO. #Just a German ham out making morning deliveries and decided to do a little echolink DX. #Sometimes, when you are in the company truck, that is the best you can do.

RE: Technical discussions on 2M.

There tends to be a lot of technical discussion on my regional club's 2M repeater as well as a lot of talk about traffic, weather, etc.

RE: converted 2M gear.

At the hamfest I went to yesterday, you could get on 2M FM for about $10. #Lots of cheap VHF commercial gear floating around. #Some of it wide enough that it would just need to be programmed. #I don't really have a need for this on 2M, but I would like to convert some commerical 900MHz equipment, just to say I did http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif.

73
Joe
N3PAQ
Yes indeed you can get a decent VHF comm spec radio for $10.00. At the Fort Wayne hamfest i saw a pile of GE phoenix SX rigs for $5.00 to $15.00 a piece!! Thats a steal!! In fact i have an old SX in the basement kept aside as a spare or a starter rig for a new ham that cannot afford a new rig.. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif