Are we promoting Amateur Radio properly?

[N5LRZ]

Well first off let me state for the official record that the below is definately NOT a troll. If I wanted to do that I would post something about CW.

Are we poromoting Amateur Radio properly? Or Are we just blowing smoke?

How many times do we have to see the post: 'I just got my General License and have $250 to spend, what can I get?'

Are we sending them the wrong message knowing full well that many will become disappointed and simply drop off the radar just because they cannot afford that fancy new radio that everyone else seems to be using?

Should we not at least be honest with new guys and gals as to the real world economics of the avocation known as Amateur Radio? In particular the cost of good NEW equipment at the retail level.

In closing this is not a troll, I am drop dead serious and concerned about the above dilema we find ourselves in. I fear that if we disappoint too many people we will find ourself in a worse state than we are in now.

N5LRZ

[wb7dmx]

why do you feel that the hobby needs to be promoted at all ?

I think it has been doing just fine for the past 50 yrs.

[W4BD]

Well the BIGGEST thing that will turn people off to Ham Radio is right here on QRZ. All the fighting and bickering over License Class or Know Code or No Code or who you vote for is a KILLER.

As for the money thing I would think that a reasonably intelligent person would realize that to play you are going to have to SPEND money to get equipment. These same people need to realize that you don't have to have the MOST EXPENSIVE radio to START with. They need to realize that you crawl before you walk and you walk before you run. If they want to chase DX or run Contest or just RagChew and using what MODE or MODES. We have so many choices now. I am still trying to figure out where I want to go in Ham Radio myself.

73's

[ky5u]

Just blowing smoke. You asked.

[kl7aj]

Quote[/b] (wb7dmx @ Feb. 28 2007,07:15)]why do you feel that the hobby needs to be promoted at all ?

I think it has been doing just fine for the past 50 yrs.
I sort of agree with you, with a little bit of a twist. Please read the Op-Ed piece I just fired off to QST yesterday.

Eric

[kl7aj]

Quote[/b] (N5LRZ @ Feb. 28 2007,06:59)]Well first off let me state for the official record that the below is definately NOT a troll. #If I wanted to do that I would post something about CW.

Are we poromoting Amateur Radio properly? #Or Are we just blowing smoke?

How many times do we have to see the post: 'I just got my General License and have $250 to spend, what can I get?'

Are we sending them the wrong message knowing full well that many will become disappointed and simply drop off the radar just because they cannot afford that fancy new radio that everyone else seems to be using?

Should we not at least be honest with new guys and gals as to the real world economics of the avocation known as Amateur Radio? # In particular the cost of good NEW equipment at the retail level.

In closing this is not a troll, I am drop dead serious and concerned about the above dilema we find ourselves in. #I fear that if we disappoint too many people we will find ourself in a worse state than we are in now.

N5LRZ
Your question is valid, your main premise is not.

When I was first licensed, a Collins S-line was equal to ten years' wages, at what I was earning back then. Guess what? I didn't get a Collins S-line right out of the chute. I did get one 30 years later, though...for a song.

I started with a pair of arc-5 recievers and a borrowed Johnson Adventurer. If there is a wrong message, it's that they need a NEW radio. I'd prefer that EVERYONE learns to build and scrounge..that's how you learn radio.

Anyone who WANTS to get on the air CAN. It was true 35 years ago, and it's true today.

I've had one new rig in my 35 years of operating....two years ago I bought a Ten Tec Jupiter.

If we want to do new hams a real service, we should start showing them some homebrew stations.


eric

[wb7dmx]

you just had to say the arc 5 series didn't you.

I had a lot of fun with the BC-454, 458 and the 453.
I also bought two of the old western union roller drum fax machines and got them working on 2 meter am.

those sure were the good old days.

[va7aax]

Quote[/b] (N5LRZ @ Feb. 28 2007,06:59)]Well first off let me state for the official record that the below is definately NOT a troll. #If I wanted to do that I would post something about CW.

Are we poromoting Amateur Radio properly? #Or Are we just blowing smoke?

How many times do we have to see the post: 'I just got my General License and have $250 to spend, what can I get?'

Are we sending them the wrong message knowing full well that many will become disappointed and simply drop off the radar just because they cannot afford that fancy new radio that everyone else seems to be using?

Should we not at least be honest with new guys and gals as to the real world economics of the avocation known as Amateur Radio? # In particular the cost of good NEW equipment at the retail level.

In closing this is not a troll, I am drop dead serious and concerned about the above dilema we find ourselves in. #I fear that if we disappoint too many people we will find ourself in a worse state than we are in now.

N5LRZ
the part where you say hams say''i have 250 bucks . what do i buy?'' . OK . my answer would be HOMEBREW. i was looking through a QST and it showed a photo where this ham has built all his gear from SCRATCH . NO KITS . he built all his test equipment, antennas, rigs and amps.$250 would be a good investment in a QRP rig and a amp

[N5PVL]

The best thing for the hobby would be for all the various ham radio "promoters" to take a long walk on a short pier.

[N2RJ]

Quote[/b] (kl7aj @ Feb. 28 2007,10:45)]Quote[/b] (wb7dmx @ Feb. 28 2007,07:15)]why do you feel that the hobby needs to be promoted at all ?

I think it has been doing just fine for the past 50 yrs.
I sort of agree with you, with a little bit of a twist. Please read the Op-Ed piece I just fired off to QST yesterday.

Eric
Eric, your op-ed is spot on.

Ham radio is supposed to be for electronics geeks who like to tinker, build and experiment.

It's not supposed to be a step up from nora substitute for 11 meters nor is it supposed to be for whackers or even people interested in it solely for emergency communications or just simply getting on the air and talking. #

Sadly the ARRL doesn't see it this way.

Their goal is to increase subscriber numbers by any means necessary even if it means throwing away the core of the hobby so that it can appeal to a wider audience. #

As I always say - quality, not quantity.

[k0cmh]

My take on this is that no, we are not obligated to go any further.

This is based on my belief that it is the same as another pasttime. There are people who are interested in getting into sking but are sad to find out how much it costs to do it right. Same with folks who have an intrest in skeet shooting. Ditto almost any hobby or pasttime.

All those activities have organizations that work on getting out a message about their activity. In my view of the world, it is up to the person who has interest to find out if they will or can afford that interest.

[W5HTW]

AB2MH, true. There was a time that, if you weren't rich, and I mean rich, getting into ham radio required you actually "do" something technical. Staying in it required the same thing. Yes, I knew a very successful attorney who bought a new S-line, and called the local club to come over and unbox it, hook it up for him. But he was a very rare exception.

Almost all of the hams I knew in the 60s, and every one of the ones I knew in the 50s, had to 'make do.' I, too, got on the air with a borrowed transmitter, with a 6L6 final, running who knows how many watts to a 300 ohm folded dipole. Probably about two watts, if I was lucky. No one I knew had an SWR bridge, so if the plate dipped, it was working.

I, too, went the Command set route. I could get a "brand new" transmitter at the Army/Navy Surplus store for under $4. Built a power supply, and had both 80 meter and 40 meter ARC5s on the air.

These are things we HAD to do, or we could give up and go bowling. If the radio broke, we HAD to fix it. Or give up and go bowling. I don't think I heard of a commercially made dipole antenna. We put military surplus rigs on 2 meter AM, three or four watts output, to a homemade ground plane, and we did it because that was the way to get on the air.

Years later, we bought used ham gear. Or we built it. And if it was used, and it needed repair, we repaired it. Either that, or go bowling.

A good many of us did not repair or build because that was the fun side of the hobby. We did it because that was the only way we could be on the air. If we didn't, we went bowling.

Yes, there was fun to building things, but early on in my ham radio pursuits, I built because I didn't have the money to buy. Build, or go bowling. Just that simple.

True, technology has passed us by, including myself. Today's rigs are not in the slightest bit, easy to build, not easy to repair. Today it is mostly a 'buy or go bowling' hobby. That's sad in many ways, but it is just a reality of life, and does not necessarily reflect on the capability of the ham.

But ham radio has become a "get on the air and talk" hobby, whereas once upon a time it was "repair or build and get on the air and talk" hobby. Those days are gone. It will never happen that way again. We were the pioneers who blazed the trails, marked the roads. Now they are all paved freeways. We can't tear them up and return to dirt ruts.

For family reasons I have been downsizing lately. Almost all of the old radio equipment is gone. No, come to think of it, ALL of it is gone. Now I have the 897 and the 706. That's it.

As I was talking with a friend just this morning I found I was telling her how I wish, really wish, I could just go back to a Heath AT-1 and an S-38C receiver, a simple wire, and a straight key. Back to basics. The first 10-12 years of my amateur 'career' was spent with basic rigs, CW only. I had more fun, there's no doubt, as there was more of a challenge to working on the air, and there was more of a challenge to keeping the darn radios operational. Now all I have to do is push a switch.

But I'm not going back. It is too late in life for that. I can't recapture the past, for the past isn't there anymore to be recaptured. We can't go back, because "back" doesn't exist anymore.

You are correct about the ARRL. They tried the cell phone ham bit in the 1990s, as a way of enlisting everyone in American into ham radio. That failed when real cell phone companies brought out cheaper plans and family plans. The spousy got tired of playing with a radio she/he didn't understand or care about, but just wanted to have spouse pick up the kids at the kennels.

Then they tried "you can save the world" approach. You can be a hero. What's next?

It's all about the numbers. If they can find a way to enlist the Verizon crowd, they'll do so. If they can make it more appealing to the plug and play crowd, they will do so. That is precisely the object, in fact, in their continuing thrust of digital upon us, to enlist all those who like email, and downloading MP3s, etc.

They are assisting in destroying the hobby by attempting to turn it into a diverse communications media for everyone, everywhere, no interest in amateur radio required or desired. Just send us your bucks.

Ed

[wb7dmx]

I think I will agree with all of that above

[ab1ga]

Quote[/b] (N5LRZ @ Feb. 28 2007,08:59)]
Q: Are we poromoting Amateur Radio properly?

A: No, because we're not promoting Amateur Radio at all. We're promoting a "get interested, get licensed, get stuff, get on the air, get bored, get out" activity which has nothing at all to do with ham radio.

We leave out the satisfaction of achieving unique credentials by stretching ourselves.

We leave out the thrill of making that first contact, the first DX contact, the first real ragchew.

We leave out the rush you get when you stick things together with wet metal and it works!

We leave out the thrill gained from working with a body of knowledge that will always be bigger than we are, that always has something new to teach us.

We leave out the confidence gained from years of slow experience and the reward of passing some of it on, and watching the cycle start all over again.


Q: 'I just got my General License and have $250 to spend, what can I get?'

A: You can get on the air. Ham radio is like anything else in life: if you have cash, things are smooth, if you don't, you need to work harder or be clever. Maybe you can't work all bands, or all modes, or all pileups, but you can get on the air with gear you can borrow or gear you can build, or old gear you can get cheap. Don't flatter yourself, your operating skills won't live up to any of your gear for at least a year or two, and by then you'll know what you like and what you can let be.


Q: Are we sending them the wrong message knowing full well that many will become disappointed and simply drop off the radar just because they cannot afford that fancy new radio that everyone else seems to be using?

A: If that's what disappointed them, then it's for one of two reasons. First, they're the type that responds primarily to possessions, not the activity, and they are a losing cause. Second, some dope told them they need all that stuff to have a good time on the air, in which case it's time to break out the Wuoff Hong.


Q: Should we not at least be honest with new guys and gals as to the real world economics of the avocation known as Amateur Radio? In particular the cost of good NEW equipment at the retail level.

A: Yes, let's be honest with the new guys.

- Let's tell them that if they're like most of us they will have one or two activities they will prefer over all others, and that the super duper rigs may do more than they need.

- Let's tell them that most operators don't have the location, the antennas, or the ears to be world-class DX chasers or contesters, and that money spent on gear beyond their capabilites is wasted.

- Let's tell them that it's okay to buy a cheap, used rig to start and trade up later if they need it; nobody who matters cares what you're running.

- Let's tell them that there are folks in their own radio club who could and would lend them their older rigs so they could get on the air.

- Let's tell them that with a little bit of work they could learn to build, modify, and repair old equipment, or design and erect antennas that work without costing them a fortune.

- Most of all, let's tell them we'll help them.


Remember the ham credo: Good signal, good ops, good manners!

[ka5piu]

Hello.

Most of the people I know in this hobby fall into one of 2 classes.
The people who want to make others run like hell.
The people who use Amateur radio for having fun.
That means playing with the radios.
Now, If I want to do the save the world thing, I get on CAP.
If I want to meet the wackers, there is GMRS, and to a lessor degree, CB.
Amateur radio means building things, yes, but also chatting with other, like minded people.
Promote by example.

[KE5KWB]

Quote[/b] (AB2MH @ Feb. 28 2007,09:48)][quote=kl7aj,Feb. 28 2007,10:45][quote=wb7dmx,Feb. 28 2007,07:15]why do you feel that the hobby needs to be promoted at all ?

Ham radio is supposed to be for electronics geeks who like to tinker, build and experiment.
What about emergency communications? Some people are interested in helping their community instead of electronics tinkering. Would you send them away from the hobby?

As someone already said, the real problem with Ham radio at this point is the elitist attitude of some old-timers who are angry that they needed to learn morse code and I didn't.

What about young people who enter the hobby after Feb 23? The code was never a requirement for them, and now it isn't offered. Are you going to penalize those kids for not learning code to get their license?

Many hams will, and they will simultaneously voice concerns that hamfests are failing, companies are going out of business, etc. It's a shame, because those new hams that the old guys run off would have helped to save some of those hamfests and companies.

[W0BKR]

Quote[/b] (KE5KWB @ Mar. 03 2007,11:55)]Quote[/b] (AB2MH @ Feb. 28 2007,09:48)][quote=kl7aj,Feb. 28 2007,10:45][quote=wb7dmx,Feb. 28 2007,07:15]why do you feel that the hobby needs to be promoted at all ?

Ham radio is supposed to be for electronics geeks who like to tinker, build and experiment.
What about emergency communications? #Some people are interested in helping their community instead of electronics tinkering. #Would you send them away from the hobby?

As someone already said, the real problem with Ham radio at this point is the elitist attitude of some old-timers who are angry that they needed to learn morse code and I didn't. #

What about young people who enter the hobby after Feb 23? #The code was never a requirement for them, and now it isn't offered. #Are you going to penalize those kids for not learning code to get their license?

Many hams will, and they will simultaneously voice concerns that hamfests are failing, companies are going out of business, etc. #It's a shame, because those new hams that the old guys run off would have helped to save some of those hamfests and companies.
Sure seems to missing the mark with this "observation"....

As someone already said, the real problem with Ham radio at this point is the elitist attitude of some old-timers who are angry that they needed to learn morse code and I didn't.


I doubt you will find that many "angry" old timers as you all continually keep falling back on as an excuse.

The real problem with amateur radio, and listen to what is being said this time.

We are not "selling" amateur radio as a valued hobby to any age group because of all the distractions available today (i.e. internet, VOIP, Video Games, etc.). Younger ops have much more to choose from besides amateur radio as compared to 10-20-30 years ago.

We are vying for the time individuals can and are willing to spend in this hobby with other "hobbies and interests".

That is one reason so many of the Techs didn't want to spend the time to learn 5 WPM. Time. No one wants to put the time into it, so change the testing and licensing criteria to match society. It isn't it was hard or difficult. If it truly were, those license like myself, would not have been able to do the 13 and 20 wpm that was required.

We took the time and got through it. But, we also didn't have internet and video games and greater affluency to distract us into other avenues. Amateur radio was the only "technical" hobby then. There is more now to entertain us.

Has little to nothing to do with the "old timers" as some of the whiners on here keep spewing.

What does amateur radio offer the average individual other services, hobbies, etc. can't? That is where ARRL is falling down and so are we.


Hate to tell you, but there are a whole host of "old timers" that are helping get others into the hobby more then you care to read about. They are also the ones that have passed on invaluable experience, hints and kinks to others.

Stop using the excuse about the "old timers". Many aren't "old to start with and have been licensed less than 5 years. I suppose anyone that passed any CW test is now considered an elitest and "OF". Get real.