Ham Talk Live! Episode 199 - State of the Hobby Survey

Amateur radio is always a hobby. Amateur radio is a "service" in the eyes of the FCC simply because all radio operations are considered "services". GMRS, FRS, CBRS, ARS, etc, are all "services" and have the word "service" in their name. It doesn't mean that amateurs provide any more service than anyone else, the word is used to denote a governmental division, or a way to differentiate the rules for the different "services".

I don't know why so many hams cannot grasp the simple concept of what a hobby is, and why amateur radio is a hobby, and has always been considered a hobby:

The Radio Amateur is

CONSIDERATE...He/[She] never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.

LOYAL...He/[She] offers loyalty, encouragement and support to other amateurs, local clubs, the IARU Radio Society in his/[her] country, through which Amateur Radio in his/[her] country is represented nationally and internationally.

PROGRESSIVE...He/[She] keeps his/[her] station up to date. It is well-built and efficient. His/[Her] operating practice is above reproach.

FRIENDLY...He/[She] operates slowly and patiently when requested; offers friendly advice and counsel to beginners; kind assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interests of others. These are the marks of the amateur spirit.

BALANCED...Radio is a hobby, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school or community.

PATRIOTIC...His/[Her] station and skills are always ready for service to country and community.

- adapted from the original Amateur's Code, written by Paul M. Segal, W9EEA, in 1928

 

Service.

Calling Amateur Radio Service a hobby actually repulses many prospective operators who might otherwise respond to the survey.

I'm definitely not a hobbyist.

 

Bonnie is very much an expert. She is an amateur, like you and me, in the sense that we do not do this for 'personal ...pecuniary interest'.

In Part 97, that distinction is made as 'amateur' to separate it out from 'professional'--the latter mean 'for compensation'.

The reason we need to stick with the word 'amateur' is because that's how WE are defined (in the US) by the US government, which extends our licensing privileges.

I don't understand why many prefer 'hobby' as the term, over 'amateur'. Again, the problem is that LEGALLY, we will be SCR*WED when we pose ourselves as HOBBYISTS, because hobbyists are seen BY OTHER USERS OF SPECTRUM as NOT NEEDING LICENSED SPECTRUM.


---------------------------------------------------
Here's a simple mnemonic:

HOBBY= UNLICENSED SPECTRUM

AMATEUR=LICENSED SPECTRUM

--------------------------------------------------

Many of us conduct (and that includes me) 'hobby' activity AS AMATEURS in order to be a member of a 'skilled pool' vis a vis Part 97. That's where 'hobby' comes in: we conduct 'hobby' activity, in part, as licensed AMATEURS to keep our 'chops' up...

I really wish that some of you would see the point. It's not about synonyms and pedantry--it's about holding onto allocated (justifiably) SPECTRUM.

And frankly, dissing me over this is in very bad taste.

73
Chip W1YW

 

I think people would need to point out when ham radio is not a hobby, since it is always a hobby, by definition. You can be an amateur and also a hobbiest, the two are not mutually exclusive. Everything we do is part of the hobby; we don't get paid, we do it voluntary, we do it in our spare time, and we enjoy it.

 

WHOA...There is a lot of lip "service" here....

 

You still don't get it.

AMATEUR= LICENSED SPECTRUM
HOBBY= UNLICENSED SPECTRUM

That is the way it is seen outside of our ranks.

What's in a word? The future of Part 97.

OK?

 

I think you are defining it in a way that you want to, and that is OK. But ham radio has been a hobby for 100+ years now. The FCC and others are aware that it is a hobby, the ARRL recognizes it as a hobby, most amateurs understand that it is a hobby, and worldwide amateur radio consider it a hobby. The FCC recognizes it as a "service" because that is what they regulate: "services". Ask anyone on the street what ham radio is, and they will either not know anything about it, or understand that it is a hobby that people participate in, much like stamp collecting, woodworking, motorcycle riding, hunting or fishing.

 

Not MY definition. FCC definition as per Part 97.

Jeez--why this sucker punch mentality against the messenger??

Watch your reply end up in telecom lawyers' 'EXHIBIT C' -- as an example of how hams see their activity as 'hobbyist'.

HOBBYIST= UNLICENSED SPECTRUM
AMATEUR=LICENSED SPECTRUM

Then watch our privileges disappear.

If its been a 'hobby' for 100 years then surely the FCC would have found it EASY to call it that. Think long and hard about WHY they didn't.

You would do well to review how a bunch of kids --AMATEURS-- saved the US ham privileges from evanescing into the ozone and being gulped by the US Navy....THAT dates back to your canonical 100 years.

In your thread of thought, how do you explain that?

Why does the FCC use AMATEUR--and hams use HOBBY?

Explain that disconnect.

73
Chip W1YW

 

STAMP COLLECTING=> NO FEDERAL LICENSE

MOTORCYCLE RIDING => NO FEDERAL LICENSE

HUNTING => (with some exceptions) NO FEDERAL LICENSE

FISHING => NO FEDERAL LICENSE

AMATEUR RADIO => FEDERAL LICENSE.

Get it?

Got it?

Good

73
Chip W1YW

 

It's hard to imagine why everyone isn't grateful and supportive of Dustin's survey efforts. I certainly am.

Thanks Dustin!

 

this hobby needs a total revamp..........eliminate the conflict and all this nitpicking. there is al ot wrong with this hobby.

we are amateur radio operators, we are not hobbyist even tho there are a lot of people whom treat this as a hobby...anything can be a hobby.........

regardless of what acronym or verb or noun you use.

we do this because we enjoy this...but my god the striff that happens and nonsense, the blantant attack of others......when you include all these people that are in this hobby its no doubt that there will be differences and blood will flow.

But in 58 years ive never heard or seen a bunch of children and the way they act........this may be a hobby for adults but its full of children who cant play nice in the sandbox.

 

You have repeated your mantra several times, but that doesn't make it true. The FCC (and most everyone else in the world) realizes that ham radio is a hobby. If they wanted to pull spectrum because they won't allocate frequencies for "hobby use", they could have done that at anytime during the past 100 years.

But they don't. And it has nothing to do with our label being "amateur" as opposed to "hobbyist". That is a semantic difference without a distinction, since the two words are interchangeable for the most part.

What someone needs to point out is "when is ham radio NOT a hobby?" IOW, it's all well and good for us to be called "amateurs", but we need to remember that what we do is a "hobby". If it is not a hobby, then what is it exactly?

 

Here's a single data point to show how clueless people are on Amateur radio. I was in the US Army and during my training I had my family send me my Icom IC-T81 so that I could listen to FM broadcasts, listen to the local airport, and maybe talk on a local repeater or three. Another recruit saw the radio and asked what it was. I don't remember exactly what I said but I said something like it was a two way radio "like CB". He didn't know what a CB radio was. This was about 15 years ago and I was talking to an 18 or 19 year old recruit. My guess is that few people under the age of 35 know what CB radio is, what Amateur radio is, or have much of an idea of what a "walkie talkie" is or why anyone would want one.

Another data point. I remember seeing the movie Black Dog on late night TV which involved a long haul trucker unknowingly smuggling illegal firearms, and being chased down by both the police and someone wanting to steal the load. This was a movie about truckers, in 1998, and nobody used a CB radio. Everyone communicated by cell phone. I used my calculator and computed that movie was made 22 years ago.

People will understand radio communications, they use them every day. They might see on TV people communicating by radio, like police or military, but they will have a little earpiece and a tiny microphone which connects them to who they want by pushing a button on that earpiece, on a wrist microphone, or whatever seems convenient for the plot and situation. I suspect that unless a radio gives them this level of convenience and reliability that it's not all that useful and/or quite antiquated. I believe that this view has merit.

 

Why do you possibly think I am some pedant who insists on a specific word choice?

It is of zero consequence to me, personally. I do 'radio' both professionally and as an 'amateur'.

I do not do radio as a 'hobbyist'.

It's not a question of being 'difficult'.

It's not a question of being 'childish'.

It's not a question of someone being 'stubborn' on something trivial.

It's ALL about legalese and PRIVILEGES. It's all about other users finding ways to take away amateur radio privileges, based on manipulating an ambigous meaning of a word.

Can we lose amateur radio based on ONE word?

The answer is YES.

Again, that almost happened 100 years ago, almost exactly. If you make some effort, you may be shocked how that almost played out. Go look.

If you see yourself PURELY AS A HOBBYIST, then why bother with amateur radio privileges? Use Wifi, use cell phone and apps, and FRS, and CB....

THAT is the question that we will be compelled to answer. I've asked for your thoughts...and they are not forthcoming.

73
Chip W1YW

 

Then what do you do with ham radio? If it is not a hobby for you, then what is it?