A Young Hams View on the Future of Ham Radio

[AD6XS]

As the new year is about to round the corner, I invite everyone to think a little about the future of our hobby. #

Many in our hobby wonder and watch the average ham grow in age, as the public's view of the hobby shifts to that of oldtimers talking on outdated vintage equipment. It is not surprising, that many speak of the doom of our hobby and the selling of our spectrum to greedy corporations.

Many feel the solution is the bring new young blood into the hobby. The approach to accomplishing this is a heated debate. The ARRL feels we should push the hobby into the schools, and sell "Now You're Talking" to them. Others feel we should get the Boy Scouts and others youth groups involved.

But I have a different approach.
I suggest we ponder the following: "Why do kids turn our hobby down when it is offered to them." There are many answers, but I am going to focus on one: Technology, Computers, Internet.

To look at it from a technology perspective, ham radio is ancient. With only a few new technologies, from APRS and ILINK etc, ham radio is still largely old technology. These days kids can use AIM and ICQ and talk all over the world with their friends. No need for expensive radios and finicky propogation.

But what is the solution???
As a kid myself, I feel that ham radio needs to grow UP!! Yes, I encourage ICOM with its new D-Star System to enter the market and I encourage hams to create and build new "digital" technologies that can replace our ancient Packet network, and are cheaper/faster and offer high speed digital audio and file tranfers, and utilizing computers with which kids are familiar with. I want manufacturers to start marketing their products to a younger demographic. After all, if ham radio old timers die, who will be left to buy their expensive HF rigs???

It is a new line of thinking, but if ham radio is to survive, it must happen.

Sam
AD6XS
17 year old young ham, and active Extra Class Ham Licensee.
Monument, CO.
==============
http://www.hamquick.com

[KG4NEL]

As a younger ham myself, I agree with you. At least in my high school, kids don't see the reason for ham radio simply because to them, there is no practical communications value. They can chat all day using AIM on the computers they already own. I don't know what it's like at your high school, but at mine every other kid has to have the latest-and-greatest cellphone/PDA in existence. For the most part, ham radio is equivalent to some mystic black art - almost on the same plane as computer hacking.

However, all is not lost. In the last year, several events, I think, have showed at least some of my friends that ham radio isn't quite the stereotype they had pegged it to be:

On 9/11, the local cell system was tied up with traffic, and those latest-and-greatest phones weren't much use. I got a more than a few strange looks when I keyed up the local VHF repeater on my VX-5R and dialed out on the autopatch to call home. Had a few people ask me what I was doing, and I told them what I did and a little about Amateur Radio itself. Don't know if they understood, but at least they were somewhat aware.

My school tends to place an emphasis on community service credit - a good friend and I were talking about this, and I brought up the subject of Amateur Radio and ARES. I don't think he's going to become a ham anytime soon (which is fine, I don't want to sound like I'm "converting" anybody), but I think he'll view hams with a little more respect than he might have...

A solution? I can't give you one. I don't think there is a single clear-cut solution to attracting younger hams. But certainly, your approach is a good one. Regardless, we should always try to present ourselves as hams in a positive light, in order to make a good impression of ourselves and our hobby (service). It can't hurt.

Best of luck (and DX) in 2003,

Jim
KG4NEL
17 years old

Although I am not younge by age (26), I am relativly younge to the hobby. I have had my ticket for less than a year and there are many reasons that amateur radio is not attracting younger opperators.

First, many people would like to place blame on the Internet, instant messaging, computers, etc. Although these things may be involved, they are not the sole reason. After school activities, having a job, getting a car and dating are also important to teenages. Scouting also has a hard time retaining members as they become older. Show people how they can tie together their interest in computers with amateur radio.

Second, is amateur radio targeting the right audence? Or should the ARRL aim towards the 18-30 year old market. These are people that are settling down in life and starting a family. They will be much more willing to become in a hobby that allows them to stay at home.

Last, look at how many of the old hams behave. They shun new ideas such as IRLP and dropping the code requirement to 5 wpm or anything else that is new and different. Many new hams who need a elmer to show them the ropes are instead ignored because they are not part of the select social group on a particular frequency. If you need proof just read the comments that are posted on this website. Anyone that reads half of the comments that have been posted would never want to get involved in this hobby.

Just some food for thought. I'll now put on the flame-proof underwear. I'm sure i'll need it.

[KD5RNN]

I do agree with all of ya'll.

I think that amatuer radio needs not to be forced unto an unliesenced youngster.
Not everyone is cut out to be a radio amatuer

You need to have them look at ham radio as something in which one can achieve personal goals and limits.

As far a dropping the code i vote no Code is a dying language and needs to be known because it is easy to carry out emergency communication at power levels that would be unable to run voice. plus it is fun and who can talk at 20wpm ?

Personally the new soundcard digital modes to be used on VHF/UHF Ex: psk-31 SSTV on 2m FM can be easily achieved . plus isnt fun to trade pics of your freinds after they have been uptored and exhuasted at 3 am chasing DX!

As for the future of ham radio i think will still be just as busy as ever and we shouldnt fret. As for the extra portions of the bands i think will dwindle slightly.


so thats my input
73's guys and good Dx'ing
N5EIL ,Neil

[VA3AVP]

I agree with Pestilence76 . I too am a new ham coming up on my first year as a ham at age 31 . I have 4 children - 2 are at the age where I am trying to stir an interest in the hobby for them my son 12 and daughter 10 . I have come along way this year and learned something I never thought I could learn . Yes the morse code and I learned it well. With my first ticket I listened to doctors and lawyers joke with each other, insult one another etc on 2 meters. I thought to myself, "I wanted to become a ham for this?" I went ahead and purchased my first hf rig the ft-840 , before I completed my upgrade. I really wanted hf priviledge but thought I could not learn the code and hated it with a passion . Then I sent an email one day to the guy I was told I had to see to get my cw upgrade. I set up an appointment and tried the earl system ( a system that allows you to use a cheater card ) and I failed terribly. The elmer VE3GHZ explained to me #as polite as #he could #that I had tried to learn the code entirely backwards and had to start from scratch. Boy, was I mad. I didn't want the code but I wanted the privilege that fox tango-840 was waiting for me. I agreed to meet with the elmer once a week for a half hour . It has been many many weeks and months now. I passed the 5 w.p.m and now we still meet once a week. He is trying to get me to 14-16 w.p.m. Now I love the code . I know basic class hams here who think the code is dead, the code went out with the steam engine. 2 meter friends who don't know the code I might add. My longwinded point being I would have hated the hobby if not for a gentleman like VE3GHZ taking me under his wing and teaching me about the code . It's been a long year but now I know I am a ham. No packet, no digital but I have really learned something and it was fun doing it. If more elmers would take young hams in like this and teach them in a positive way the hobby would be going on and on with no worries . Another thing is that these young kids listen. Have you ever heard hams being so sarcastic with one another about technical talk, especially on 20 meters? Who wants to be a part of that? I have even been told by 80 year old hams they only work cw because they can't keep up with the tech talk on phone mode. I have been teaching my son morse code without putting any pressure on him and I hope he will enjoy the upcoming kids day on Jan 4. I want him to learn he can enjoy ham radio for fun and learn some skills, but he does not have to be a class A electronics tech to do it nor learn how to argue with another ham about some technical issue .

[n7wsb]

I have a friend - kj7o who originally interested me in amateur radio, but he had a company to run so when I finally got the novice/technician study books it was all up to me to study and pass the exam. I was a good little geek and I couldn't wait to get onto the air - this was in 91.

The difference was that while I was into computers and ran my own bbs and less than 2-3 years later I did actually have internet access it just wasn't as developed - like when I first got on the world wide web really didn't exist and when it did there were only like 12 web sites - most of them .edu and .gov domains.

Today thats all different. In talking with my friend who seems to be anti everything I like he was of the attitude why bother. Indeed telecom networks have come a long way in the US.

Take my little brother though - after spending a few years in the Dominican Republic as a missionary he is very very interested in becoming a licensed operator now and I don't mind answering questions at all. I'm not going to push though http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif. I think he will join the dark side - especially since most of the rest of the family have licenses now.

I like pointing out to someone - when I talk to someone across the country or the world on hf its just me, the radio and the atmosphere. Where when you talk to someone on a cell phone, the net or your home phone it really relies heavily on the telecom company the equipment that provides the service to millions of people. I kinda like the idea that wherever I hang my hat I can fire up the radio not pay a dime to anyone and talk around the world.

[KC9AIE]

As a 14 year old General Class ham, I think that Ham Radio does not need to change to get more kids into the hobby. Word needs to get out that Ham Radio is not as hard as kids think. I've been interested in it for years, but only went for my tech a year ago because I found out that I didnt have to learn 20 wpm of code etc. I do NOT think code should be dropped, nor do i think that Ham Radio should entirely convert to digital. If everything is digital, then it's NOT ham radio. Digital means computers, Computers mean internet, internet means phone lines, and if phone lines go down, We're no different than any other instant messanger/cell phone.
-Dan,KC9AIE

[w0dz]

While I agree that new technologies must be added to the mix, I think you are all missing a very important point regarding ham radio. It is simply that the operative word in ham radio is "radio", and it is not for everyone. Never has been, never will be. I got into it in 1965, a time you might think was the heyday. But in my high school of over 2000 students, only 6-8 of us were hams. And the whole U.S. ham population was only about 250,000.

If all you want to do is chat, by all means get on the Internet. It's a better, more reliable way to chat. But if you want to experience the thrill of creating a modulated electromagnetic wave by the careful adjustment of knobs and buttons and dials, and you care about what that wave looks like, and you like learning electronics in the process, then you are a ham. Sure, you can talk to someone in a foreign land on the Internet, but that person only shares your ability to type and use a commercial (probably) computer as well as a commercial infrastructure. Whoop-de-doo. Bear in mind that that infrastructure could all come crashing down with one terrorist cyberattack. When you connect with a fellow ham in that same foreign country, you are connecting with someone who would most likely greet you with open arms if you showed up at his house and would proudly show you his shack! Quite a difference.

When you operate ham equipment, you are one of a priveleged few who understand how radio works. Enjoy that uniqueness! Revel in it! Be proud of the fact that when non-hams visit your shack, they will be amazed at your ability to work such complicated (to them) equipment. And by the way, be ready to use that equipment in a true emergency, one of our main reasons for existence. If the Internet and cellphones are down, let's say because some al Qaeda numbnut blows up a city, well, you ought to be willing to help. Not everyone is cut out for that kind of service. Most hams are.

The average person does not care to do SSTV, PSK31, RTTY, AMTOR, ASCII, Packet, SSB, AM, FM, CW, moonbounce, meteor-scatter, satellite communication or any other ham activity. We love it because of those very things. Add digital audio to the mix, sure, but it won't increase our ranks. The only thing that will is a rekindling of the American spirit of science and engineering, something we've given away to Asia and India in the last couple of decades.

Happy New Year!

73,

Brian, W0DZ

[K0RGR]

W0DZ's last paragraph is sadly correct - there has been a reduction in interest in all technical hobbies and pursuits in the U.S.. Americans have been sold an interesting story - that this is now the "Information Age", where we U.S. geniuses will make our livings by selling Information, or "know how" to the rest of the world. Corporations have lined their pockets by moving assembly operations out of this country to ever cheaper pools of foreign labor.

Unfortunately, what too many of us in the tech industries are finding out is that those foreign assembly workers all have advanced degrees in engineering and don't need our "know how". In fact, many of the younger U.S. engineers have never seen an assembly line - all the "know how" is now in Singapore, Malaysia, or China.
Sadly, the corporations have figured this out too, and those "knowledge jobs" are rapidly moving overseas. Has your company started using workers in India to staff their technical telephone support lines? Too many huge U.S. companies have. ( That guy you think is in New York or Texas very likely may really be in Calcutta! )

The way this trend is going, I'm afraid that all those kids whose parents bought them the latest, greatest Pentium 8 ghz. computers so they could learn about computing will end up fighting for jobs at MacDonald's. I don't encourage my kids to get into the computer industry I've been a part of for over 30 years. #I want them to get into the medical field so they can take care of all of us aging Silicon Valley veterans someday. #Assuming we have anything to pay them with.

Now, to get a ham license, you must know a little something about how electricity works, and quite a bit about how RF works. #It's not a foundation for a technical degree, but it is a starting point, and a great one. Being able to carry on even a simple technical conversation puts the kid ahead of 80% of his class.
I am constantly astounded by how many of our recent college grads, some with advanced technical degrees, are not able to use simple, logical processes to isolate a problem in even simple systems. Even if a ham can only get it down to the failing 'box' in his radio station, he is ahead of the pack.

I disagree about the technology being ancient. Review your recent Nobel Prize winners. One of them is a ham who developed advanced digital signal processing techniques and used ham radio to perfect them. Check out HDSSTV - if you can't make it on voice, just send someone a hi-res picture! #But even the most ancient radio techniques employ basic principles which are as valid today as they were when they were invented. The basic laws have not changed, though we are figuring out new ways to get around some of them.

I don't know how to recruit young hams. #I really want to know. But I do know that we do not need to apologize for our technology! #Why do people learn to sail? #Because knowing how to do things the old way makes you a better sailor on ANY ship. Why do people fly single engine prop-drive airplanes? Because it gives them the freedom to go where they want, when they want, and makes them a better pilot. #Why do people use IM or IRC? Because their parents won't let them use the phone after 10 p.m..

[KD7TSO]

I am a young ham my self. I’m 17 and I feel there is a big need for Ham Radio. My friends see me carrying my radio around and thinking it’s a supper CB. But I explain it's not. Amateur in my group seems to be getting more popular by the youngsters in my area, 3 of my friends hold tickets tech to extra. Allot of teens at my school don't seem to understand what is Amateur radio is, and they ask why I carry my 2 meter handheld on my belt with so much pride. Well I believe we should teach about Amateur radio in school. I mean schools want to teach every thing else why not amateur radio??? Any ways the only way I see this happening is for some of the license's to start up more clubs in school, and us Youngsters lets try this out and see. I’m sure some of the Elmer’s in your area will be glad to help. Try to show the kids what they can do, like maybe talk with the space station. let's show them what they cannot do with a computer or cell phone.That will make the amazed.Well I hope we solve this problem I’m getting my General soon.Take care

73's
Chris Rudolph
KD7TSO

[N0NB]

Pestilence76, W0DZ, and K0RGR took my thunder!

Myself, I have been licensed for 19 years and only discovered and had the time for amateur radio after graduating from high school. Since I waited about 8 years to pursue a college degree, learning about ham radio and computers in the early to mid '80s kept my learning skills sharp and really gave me a focus for when I did enter college. What's this got to do with the topic at hand? I'm not sure!

I do know that even though I was involved with few after-school activities when I was in high school, I would not have had the time to pursue my amateur radio license. I would not have been able to concentrate on both studies at once nor would I have had the time to. I do think that waiting a year or so after I graduated from high school allowed me to discover that learning about a topic of interst was truly fun. I found this contrast interesting as most of grade and high school found me doing the minimum necessary to get a passing grade.

So with my experience in mind, I'm not so sure that pressing amateur radio into the schools should be our only focus of recruitment. Yes, this goes against current conventional wisdom, but as Pestilence76 said, our efforts might be better received in the post-high school/post college graduate. We also should not discount the "early retiree", those 55+ without kids at home and looking for something different.

I think too many people are looking at the "average age" of the amateur ranks and assuming that it means that the ham ranks are static and slowly dwindling in numbers. The facts paint a different story, in my opinion. For many "empty nesters" a hobby like ham radio is a great time sink, plus they have the disposable income the manufacturers are looking for. On the other hand, parents already shell out a considerable amount of money on their teenagers' whims, so I can understand a reluctance on their part to spend a considerable sum on Junior's interest of the week (I was a teenager once and my folks said "no!" a lot to me, but spent quite a bit on us kids, most of which lies forgotten in their house somewhere. Ham radio was greeted with equal skepticism, but by that time it was my money involved, so they had no problem with it).

I think as well that society is pushing the schools to become a full-time guardian of kids. Parents I know tell me their kids are involved in so many school related activities that they worry that their kids don't know what it's like "to be a kid" anymore. Granted, most of these types of initiatives began with good intentions to steer the youth away from drugs, alcohol, crime, etc. So the result is that schools are being told to ensure that all of the kid's time is utilized for some school function, which leaves little time for outside activities like ham radio. On the other had, ham radio introduced as part of a science curriculum in this new school era does make some sense and does have some merit.

My conclusion is that a one or two time demonstration of ham radio to a youngster probably isn't too effective in terms of time spent or results received. Integrating ham radio as part of a science/technology curriculum is likely a much better approach and where the Big Project is targeting.

It's my belief that the local ham clubs should support the Big Project by helping to get interested teachers licensed and/or assist with on-the-air demonstration. Meanwhile club licensing classes are probably best targetted toward the age 30 to retiree crowd.

[k8arl]

RE: "Digital"

Regarding the use of "digital" we need to understand that several Amateur Radio modes are digital and have been around almost since the begining of radio.

Karl, K8ARL

[k0vx]

I just want to say one thing. I didn't get in to HAM radio until after high school. And the main reason for that is I didn't not know what it was or how to get it. If I knew more about it, I would have gotten my license earlier.

So, yes, I think we need to start oftering it to kids in schools so they can learn about. Not everyone has to get interested in it, but I am sure thier are people out there that would love to get thier license if they just knew more about it.

20020104
Vancouver, B.C. at the moment!
Check out VY1SK on QRZ.COM
You will see the programme I implement to assist your point and bring in some new blood to the hobby.
This has been in place for more than 15 years and has brought 785 peoples to this hobby.
Not all became Hams.
Not all continued in the industry.
But, 55 have become engineers, technicians, or even tinkerers in their community, or home village.
We will keep Amateur Radio in this manner until health fails and we cannot continue the heavy travel schedule to remote region in the rest of the world.
Steve Hemenway
VY1SK

[kb6nu]

I highly doubt that amateur radio is in danger of dying. Having said that, I still think it's a wise idea to recruit new hams and to make it as easy as possible for interested folks to qualify for a license.

Along those lines, I'm going to start offering license manuals and other study aids to club groups at my cost. (I am a dealer of ham radio books). For more information, e-mail me at kb6nu@qtb.com.

Dan KB6NU

[kc2jnw]

I Concur. But, what the major companies should do is market simple equipment. something without buttons and knobs, just an on/off switch, a mic, a band change button, a vfo dial, and a mic w/ptt. sometimes complexity is the way to go if you are going on a DXpedition, but kids want it fast, and easy, and that is key. ask them how they would communicate with each other if they had no internet, or telephone. they would fret, and say that they cannot. tell them that they are wrong, and introduce them to the hobby. Simplicity, is the key to revitalizing ham radio.

Adam Schechter
KC2JNW, Tech+
14 Years old