Good News for Amateur Radio Operators

You are correct Bonnie, and I am active with the milset guys and on hfpak as I believe you know. I am speaking of just random grabbing the radio and getting a qso. Used to be I could drive NYC to Western PA with my 12 Channel tr-22c, with a souped up final for 2.5 watts instead of 1 and have constant conversions for the entire trip. Now with a 4 band 5 watt VX-7 it is rare for me to make a contact on that trip.

On the hf front during that drive if one of the several nets I am active on is up and running then I do get a contact or two, but so often I am listening to static on most any band.

I stand by what I said. There may be more operators than 20 or 30 years ago, but I doubt most of them could set up a station in an emergency if needed and most could not pass traffic to save their lives.

 

I'm with you too, Bonnie! The ONLY reason I never upgraded to Extra Class, was the fact that the Advanced Class was done away with! I can live without a few KHz worth of available band space. We are now a dying breed, so I decided to stay one of the few. BTW, to Steve (KE4OH), that is an interesting point! I hadn't realized that we held that distinction as well!

73,

de Greg - N6RRY

 

Awesome work, Chip! Thank you for putting out the effort required to do this. It's very insightful info!

73 de AA5KG

 

Our club conducts training and testing classes regularly. What we have noticed is the vast majority of new licensees are Techs who are only interested in buying a cheap Chinese HT which ultimately sits in the charging stand for prolonged periods. The actual number of graduates who maintain an active interest in the hobby is extremely small. The dumbing down of the tests has resulted in dumbing down the hobby. We have Extra Class licensees in our club who thought that traps in beams were to collect bugs and needed regular cleaning. They now know differently of course. IMHO the big push by the ARRL for incentive licensing was made for one reason only. And, that was an attempt to increase ARRL cash flow. Their plan appears to have been only moderately successful but we now have a generation of hams who pay $100+ for 2 pieces of wire and some insulators. But at least the charlatans who are selling their magical wire antennas are doing well.

 

Like many of you fellow amateurs out there, I started out in 1979 as a General, upgraded to Advanced in 1981, and finally to Extra in 2009. Yes I passed the 13pwm code at the General level as well. Sure, the Extra was no-code, so be it!.. Yes the advanced license test was challenging, and it changed dramatically somewhere between 1979 and when I took it in 1981-lots of solid state RF and some pulse circuits. My friends were saying its tough and I would likely fail. As it turns out I was in tech.school at the time and I finished up two quarters of very intense study and lab work on just that, solid state, RF and pulse technology. The exam was like a review of the previous two quarters of school and was well prepared.
Anyways I stayed at Advanced class for many years and decided to upgrade to Extra. I also hold an FCC commercial license(was the 1st class now just a GROL) but I thought hey its kind of cool to have licenses that let me operate anywhere, so to speak. And as far as anyone giving me grief about being a "no code extra" who cares! I know my background, I am professionally involved in technology,currently as an internet support specialist, and have been professionally involved in many aspects of technology(IE: IT,telecom, low voltage wiring,broadcasting,etc). Its too bad that some "element credit" couldn't be shared between the commercial FCC license and the amateur licenses. In fact its was amateur radio that had a major influence on my career choice.
73's
Bob.

 

I know many Extras/Generals/Techs who cant even build a dipole, that's just one of the obvious things about reading and memorizing the question/answer pool and getting a NO CODE, KNOW NOTHING license. A lot of the rest you can hear on-air, and NOT to say all NO CODE is bad but I do have a problem with NO KNOWLEDGE...on air and on HF, that is. Pushing for more and more OP's is not in our best unless we add some quality to the mix. 73 Rich

 

Then start mentoring... the problem goes way beyond the test.

 

And the problem starts way before the test. The wonder or magic of radio (and other things) just isn't what it used to be. For the most part, television comes from a wall jack or router cable. Most automotive antennas aren't whips these days. Cellphones dumped whips years ago. Ask some school age kid what an antenna is. Note the doe eyed stare...

Buttons replaced knobs. Digital readouts replaced dials and meter movements. Auto-ranging replaced range switches. Ask some school age kid to read the time off an analog clock. Note the doe eyed stare...

Ask some school age kid to put the window down in an older car with crank handles, and witness the search for a button switch. Then note the doe eyed stare...

Ask some school age kid to call a friend with a rotary dial telephone, or even a cord type push button phone. Then note the doe eyed stare...

Yes, there will be exceptions - some will fiddle, poke, and otherwise experiment to accomplish the requested task. However, I venture to say these will be rare exceptions and most certainly not the majority.

Who's to blame? Well, in some cases it's the parents, or parent - singular, who don't, or doesn't, foster curiosity and encourage wonderment. Same for some school systems.

Who else? Black box technology that's largely plug and play with incredibly dumbed-down user interfacing. No need to know. Just. Push. This. Just. Do. That.

These are just some observations and thoughts. Before the masses pile on and take me to task for this post, I'll confess to being an old, white guy - but I will not confess to being a Luddite. Though advances in modern technology have brought us some wonderful things, I do believe that there are some definite downsides to the disguising and obfuscation of the how-and-why of the "pieces parts."

Let the deluge of finger pointing, criticism, and hate commence.

 

As an active ham since 1983, I have never upgraded.
I have NO interest in HF, and that does not affect my interest in the slightest!
Satellites, VHF, UHF and microwave activity holds interest for me, and as an RF engineer, the interest is technical, and this is my passion, not merely making contacts, but talking to the people, this holds far more interest
than contests. I learn more about the people, their way of life, the culture, than simply exchanging info about equipment, antennas and the like (boring).
I got into amateur radio for the technical challenges, than to simply exchange QSL information.
I will gladly assist new hams with getting set up properly, make their experience valuable, not simply easy.
You keep people when you make their experience a joy, not a chore. Once the 'fun' wears off, by being ignored as a 'newbie', they drop out, sell their gear, and get involved with activities and people that do NOT make them feel inferior.
Years ago, I got really PO'd when the 'old guys' were heard bitching about no code techs, and how they had to learn CW, so everybody should have to....WRONG!
I approached several, and asked their rationale for their comment. The response was typical. I had to learn it, so should everybody else...WAAA...crying over childish issues that hold no value or meaning.
I then asked these 'pro code' folks if they knew how to repair the equipment they use, down to the component level...they all said 'NO'..
Pretty arrogant to make negative comments about others, when the hobby is supposed to be for everybody, not just those that enjoy CW.
They stated that those that do not know CW, are not 'real' hams...funny, not knowing how to repair your own gear, for me, was the sign of a 'real' ham.
Again, funny how views change when the subject matter changes!
The 'I did it, so should you' attitude, is dead...The hobby MUST progress beyond this ideology, and it has, thanks in part to the code free license!
People do not drive cars only after knowing how to saddle a horse, and the same holds true with amateur radio.
CW is a mode, not a lifestyle, and I for one, am happy it was moved to the sidelines.
Let the hobby progress as it should, not by the closed minds of a few.
Welcome the 'newbies'...let them get involved in the hobby according to their interests, and expand on them, not limit them.
Narrow minds do not learn or adapt, they fester and die.
As proven, you catch more bees with honey, than vinegar.
Let's all step up to the plate and help new hams succeed, we ALL benefit from it!
KA9UCE
DM43

 

I their are so many of you guy's then where the hell are you? I chat with some on 20 & 17 but I have to interject in the conversation to let them know the band is open. Every day I hear the same guys half way around the world working HF DX, why? are these (<50) the only guys that are doers on the HAM bands? Come contest time the bands are full, what too lazy to call CQ? I just don't get it, been through many solar cycles and I always made the most countries at the bottom because I didn't have to fight my way trough the QRM. I work many older HAM's in Condo's on 20m who know the bands are open. No excuse, most rigs have TX Memory's, are you so lazy to push one button every 30 seconds? Could it be that I struggled over the years with a limited license and know that the antenna is the best reciprocal gain you will ever get? Maybe the whole hobby has become plug and play and these expectations don't bear fruit, s that the cause of the very low activity numbers? Just don't know but the few old timers I ragchew with keeps that spark alive in me.

 

Now you're getting to the heart of the matter.

 

NOW you tell me! I coulda still been in the running with those projected end dates.
Maybe if "Messy Kitchen Sink" had been better accepted during contests (somehow, people missed the "Kilo" in "Mike Kilo Sierra"), I would have hung onto it.
But, I decided to upgrade to celebrate 50 years of hamming. Oh well...

 

When a license holder dies the FCC may never know about that. It could be potentially ten years until that license is discontinued due to non-renewal.

 

I believe I read that there is a 1% growth in the service; may have been the Arrl, not certain. Pretty feeble growth rate sad to say.

 

Whats Morse code ?