4 Reasons why we need more hams

re: Getting youth into the hobby. No one answer will do. But it's a sure way to help the hobby avoid going the way of blacksmiths, chivalry, and Blockbuster stores.

One good direction is via technology. Kids, adults too of course, but less so I think, tend to gravitate toward high-tech devices; game consoles, phones, laptops/pads, robotics, RC cars, drones, and the like. If we're going to get more young-uns involved, it needs to be just as appealing. Software-defined radios, computers, satellites, remote stations, astronomy, oscilloscopes, MESH networks, and much more, all requiring modern equipment and resources, can be as interesting as an iPad if properly delivered.

I'll fire up my Kindle in a restaurant and operate digital modes to show off the pretty colors and sounds to anyone I think might be intrigued. Or Echolink, or D-Star, or satellite tracking, etc... all great science and still appealing to the baser desire to have fun. I once tickled the heck out of a kid when I sent a text message to his cell phone by way of ISS APRS. You know they're hooked when eyes pop open and they say "That's SO COOL!".

Yet I don't know how many many many hams I've talked to somehow think that once you connect a computer to a rig, suddenly it's no longer ham radio. Partly our own fault less people are interested when we're only willing to boast what we like vs what THEY might like. We need to sell the hobby, not our opinion of what a "real ham" is. And like it or not, our hobby IS high tech.

We could also stand to have more clubs trying to get youth involved. Instead of having the meeting somewhere they can't get to, or goes past their bedtime, perhaps find a space in schools, libraries, etc. Set up events during hours & locations where kids would be more likely to participate. Maybe run a van and gather them up to take to a meeting all their own (more kids, less adults). Kinda like they used to do for Sunday School back when I was young and looking for an excuse to get out of the house.

I've been to many clubs and meetings over the years, and shy of Field Day, can't recall ever seeing a kid at one. But hey, why would they want to hang out with a bunch of old farts wearing flannel and name-badges? That ain't "cool" at all. We've got to unload that stereotype and represent something they want to be, not want to avoid. Just as selling anything, you have to appeal to the buyer.

Aside from young blood, we need quality, not quantity. Who cares if we have 700k hams if only a fraction of them ever do anything with that ticket? Go to a club meeting and ask how many have used their radio since the last gathering. Don't be surprised if not half raise their hand. Next time you meet a ham that hasn't been on their radio in a while, come up with a good excuse to get them involved. You'll both enjoy the experience and perhaps make a new friend.

 

So why didn't you interrupt and save her money and educate her and possibly the store clerk. This is no different than seeing an accident happen and continue to walk on your way like nothing happened even though someone needed your help. You just let someone get tainted by bad info that might have been enough to steer her out of the hobby.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. All too often the old timers, sorry guys if yer not in this stereotype, only do one thing. Not sure how active some are but seems like a good amount just use 2m repeater like a CB community. Some refuse to delve into digital modes cause that's not what they call real HAM radio in their eyes which is too bad because I feel like I am missing out by not using all possible modes which for me at this point is CW which I intend to learn after I pass my General exam this weekend. First thing I tried to do was work a satellite with my handheld and a mobile whip. Wasn't able to do it but I was able to listen to the ISS have an ARISS contact with a school in Canada. That was the kewlest thing of all time. I'm stuck on the 10m sliver right now too and I've talked to some great people and I've just worked some contesters. I think another thing that scares people away from operating is the learning curve on the lingo such as Q codes or RST reports. It dives me nuts when someone has to ask for my callsign over and over cause they cant make it out and then give me a 55 or a 59 when I know its probably a 31 or 41. I think the lack of accuracy is lazy but I digress. My take is this like using CW... You are not going to reply to someone at 20wpm when they are only talking at 10wpm because you know they wont understand/copy what you are saying that fast. Same goes for general radio chat. If you are in a QSO with someone that hasn't used any Q codes be careful not to overdo it with them. There are times I've had to open up wiki to see what that particular Q code meant but that's just me. This is def something that could scare someone away from operating HF. Don't be rude or demeaning either if someone makes a mistake like saying the callsigns in the wrong order when starting or ending a QSO and don't be that A-hole who comes down a few to chew someone out for a little bit of interference they cant perceive but you can. I've had someone move a contact with me because of interference that I myself couldn't hear so don't assume that if you are being stepped on that its on purpose or that the person can even hear your QSO. Rambled on again but those are a few thoughts from a 2 year tech about to upgrade.

 

See my comments above. I applaud your positive attitude, and despite my arguments above, I share your enthusiasm for amateur radio. We must agree to disagree here then. I believe LESS hams with better skills would bode better for the hobby that what you propose. If all new hams had your attitude, it might be different.

 

Make an exception and READ this please.

To the others, I see the old, "We gotta get youths into hammy radio" argument. The median age of the USA (age at which half are younger and half are older) is approaching 40. Ham radio just may be a hobby for older people and in the future they'll be more of us. I would suggest changing the "we have to get youth on AR" to "we have to expose every kid we can to ham radio". Somewhere in their life the seed may sprout, especially in their 40's or 50's. Here are more stats: Only 25% of the population is below 18. There are more people 65+ than there are in the 18-24 age group (12% and 9% respectively) coveted by advertisers. . The youth of tomorrow are going to be overwhelming hispanic and black (stats from Center for Public Education) although the graduation rate from HS shows about 5-8% for African Americans. How do our demographics in AR today play to that? The bottom line is the question "how do we get youth into AR" is just a simplistic mantra from the past. What is the ARRL doing on this? Nothing. What are they doing to retain amateurs? Nothing.




Here is an article I wrote 10 years ago about the subject of median age:

 

KG4ZAR nailed it.

KG4ZAR, exactly! The ARRL pushes Emcomm to the max. Most clubs are D-Star, 2-meter clubs with members suffering from orange vest syndrome. Excited people get their ticket, get indoctrinated by clubs that Emcomm is what it's all about. New hams say screw this crap and now you have another inactive person who will let their license expire.

 

The problem with promoting the technological aspects of the hobby is that much of that stuff no longer requires a ham license. Kids know how to build Pringles Can antennas to extend the range of their off the shelf Part 15 WiFi out to several miles. They can buy bidirectional amplifiers for WiFi very inexpensively over the net, if they require more range. Legality? Who's going to complain and who's going to catch them, and just exactly how? The idea of ham-mesh networks ought to be exciting to those guys, but I wonder how many are doing it without a license already?

Ham Radio has never had mass appeal, and I don't think it ever will, though shows like 'Last Man Standing' certainly don't hurt at all - exposing mass audiences to the idea that some people actually have powerful radio stations in their basements, and yes, people still 'do that'. I do think our biggest problem is lack of public visibility, sometimes by design.

I honestly believe that one of our biggest problems is that Americans have forgotten how to have a conversation with each other. We're used to leaving our droppings of wisdom on Internet hangouts like this one, and moving on. I really think it's a big part of the appeal of digital text modes for many people - certainly is for me. I can 'multitask' while doing digi modes pretty easily. I find on phone, I have to drop everything else and pay attention to the conversation, but on PSK31, I can do something else for a couple minutes while the other guy is typing and come back to him.

The money thing is really starting to get to me. I don't know many people under 30 with the money it takes to own a home where antennas are allowed, let alone a couple grand to spend on ham gear. I see the lament all the time about the high price of ham gear, and I'm sorry, but ham radio really doesn't have to be an expensive hobby, but if you are going to buy new gear, there is an entry price. Most HF rigs have great resale values, so you can usually get your money back out of them. I have a rig here that I bought used from a dealer for $1,000 about 20 years ago. I see them selling in the $6-700 range now. Other than quality antique furniture, and truly collectible cars, I don't know of anything with that kind of resale potential. Unfortunately, what I see almost constantly anymore are new people who get into the hobby seriously thinking that some Elmer will give them an old radio to get started with. Many years ago, it was the norm for OT's to sell radios to newbies very cheap, but that was before EBay. Believe me, it's not easy to even give away a decent used rig! If you underprice it, people think you are trying to screw them! I've seen it again and again. I'm almost always willing to give a newb a break on the price, but I'm usually not in the mood to just give away something that's worth hundreds of dollars. But for so many of our newbs today, even a used radio priced far under market value is beyond their means. It's really discouraging. Back in the good old days, we had club stations where people could go to operate if they didn't have a home station. We really need to bring back the club station, more than ever now. Remote control technology should make that much easier to do.

No, prospective hams either 'get it' or they don't. The occasional convert from 'prepper' to ham certainly does happen, but the ones who get in it for the long haul are those with an innate interest in radio, and the means to pursue that interest at whatever level they find satisfying. What we must do is work harder to retain the ones we get. For most, that means HF. I'm still hoping that SDR technology will make cheap SSB rigs for two meters available before too long, which might fuel another round of interest in that part of the spectrum, too. SDR should be dropping prices for entry ham rigs, too.

 

K6TR,

You’re right, compared to folks like yourself, who have seen this hobby transform many times, I’m a relatively new, young ham. And I appreciate your perspective and wisdom! The concern I mentioned about us losing spectrum to lack of use is based on three observations:

1) Some other FCC services that occupy nearby pieces of spectrum are extremely crowded in many locations.
2) The FCC has demonstrated that they aren’t opposed to auctioning off spectrum to the highest bidder.
3) The protection our bands have seen thus far has been based on political clout, which has been furthered by our usefulness in times of emergency. This is shaky ground, IMHO, but if that’s the way the game is played then the more hams we have, the more clout we have and, perhaps, the more useful we can be to society.
However, I don’t know of any eminent threat. If this argument was used before to avert a non-existent threat, you may be right and I’m willing to concede the point to your wisdom and experience.

I’m fortunate enough to work for a company that allows me to do something I enjoy doing and to give even more to this community by writing articles that inform, entertain (hopefully), and provoke discussion on important topics. Despite my relative youth and inexperience, I have a unique perspective to offer because I get to talk to so many hams, like you, that love to share their knowledge and experience with me. I also have early access to industry information that I’d like to start sharing, if there is interest here.

This was my second article and I hope there are many more to come! Because my employment and my hobby overlap, nearly everything I say in support of ham radio could be construed as a benefit to my employer, but the purpose of my articles are genuinely for the benefit of the readers and for my own enjoyment.

 

More Is NOT Necessarily Better.

Hmmm,

Thinking about this entire 'more is better' idea; more is not necessarily better. I would rather have 'better' hams with smaller numbers, than simply more bodies. I am often amazed at the number of hams who've never built anything, who've never seen something they've worked-on SMOKE! I am certain that we've all met hams who - though they passed the test(s) - literally tell us 'I don't know that stuff, I forgot it as soon as I passed the test.' . These people are too numerous on the air already. What an oddity to meet hams who buy even SIMPLE antennas, like a dipole, because they feel intimidated about building one (at a fraction of the price) and trimming it to frequency. The sales emphasis on hams who simply buy everything invites into the ham radio fraternity, large numbers of those with no curiosity & no desire to know how it works. This sells glossy magazines through ad space - yes- I am all for private enterprise & do understand that today there is money to be had in packing pages with pictures of professional models, sitting in front of large shiny bangles with lots of twisty knobs and huge towers, amplifiers and other trivial things, as if you can't get on the air any other way, rather than construction articles.

Now - the problem is not the availability of sophisticated equipment; it is the fundamental loss of hams who ask questions like "How does that work?' and "Would you help me to build one like yours?". In the US and some other developed nations, we have become 'ham radio consumers'. Larger NUMBERS of consumers of ham radio equipment make the question "Visa or Master Card?" more important than our technical curiosity and the drive to learn something new. This is one reason why, instead of conversations on the air, we get '599 TU' and on to the next 'consumer'.

It's rather like this conversation:

How was lunch, Homer?

Well, the food ain't good,
but there's LOTS of it!





D'oh!

de Ray
W7ASA ..._ ._

 

Would tend to agree there are many new hams who do a real good seem to take a lesson from those with more experience and there is the segment who carry over their nasty 11 meter habits to the ham bands. A great operating guide written for a local repeater system the author deserves an award. http://w3bxw.com/operating.html

 

There's been some very nice 'innovation' with SDR and digital modes...but frankly, these were in the 'innovation' phase 15-20 years ago. I have been through the ham-hell of innovation via ham radio, and can tell you it is not pleasant, requires profound sacrifice, and is only survived by a very few. I count myself such a survivor and now enjoy my place--immen$ely, but with non-ham applications. Keep in mind that such ham-hell is also seen by non-hams, with the general attitude of 'why do you associate with these people at ALL' or ' hams are Harmful And Malicious'. True story.

I do the best to defend the service.

Unfortunately MANY hams ALSO have seen this poor treatment and have just shied away from getting involved in things that would 'enhance the radio art'. As opposed to the MAKER community where such strong negative culture is an allowed but mostly amusing voice.

Progress is not independent of the community that it arises from--unless you transcend it.

73
Chip W1YW

 

Exactly.... I was licensed in 1961. In my opinion activity on the ham bands has fallen off over the years. Especially on VHF. It is even noticeable on HF.

 

Because with age comes wisdom. In this case the wisdom of knowing what often happens to Good Samaritans when they interject themselves into situations where they are not wanted. The underlying dynamics that led to that episode were set up LONG before I entered that store. The wisdom that comes with age gives one the ability and foresight to know how and when to pick their battles. This is one such case.

This "anything goes" "reduce entry level barriers to near zero" ethos is what permits huckster to get behind the counter of Ham Radio "candy stores". And just as bad is the mentality of "recruiting new hams for the sake of recruiting new hams". It leads to big numbers which fattens the balance sheets of equipment vendors and little more. If one had done some research prior to the implementation of restructuring in 2000 one could have easily predicted what resulted. I'm specifically referring to the case of Ham Radio in Japan. They had a much more open entry system at the bottom levels. In the 1970s their Ham Population exploded. It peaked out in the early 1990s at well over a Million. And after a few years of maintaining its plateau began a long period of decline. A decline that accelerated to a crash. In 2004 3 years before his passing JH3DPB related to me that future for Ham Radio in Japan looked grim. He stated that 2 years prior Japan lost over 100,000 hams from expired licenses that were not renewed in a single year. The Ham population in Japan that once smashed a million licensees has since dwindled to 445,000 and is still declining. It is not a stretch to predict the same phenomenon will happen in the US despite, or should I say in spite, of the unfocused pleas from the likes KJ4RYP that we "recruit hams".

Your response that focused on how I chose to respond to the anecdote I presented is emblematic of the myopia present in a large portion of the Amateur Radio Population. Focus on what is in front of your face rather than trying to understand and address the big picture. It is a form of obfuscation. I point out something that reveals a root problem and you chose to focus on me. Many new Hams often jump head long into lecturing others before they have done their research and possess command of the subject matter they claim to be experts in. Learn to ask questions !

 

It seems likely a reason more new hams don't get active on the air is because somebody jumps on them the moment they make a mistake
and just goes off ranting about reduced licensing requirements and declining operator quality rather than actually trying to help them improve.

Judging by the attitudes in this thread it isn't at all improbable

 

WSJT was developed by a Physicist by the name of Joe Taylor. WSJT was developed to allow one copy a signal that is below the receiver floor noise something that was not possible prior to its advent. That is digital radio that makes a difference. It has opened up Long Distance Weak Signal Modes to those that could never afford it. I'm talking about Moonbounce and Meteor scatter. That is truly Cutting Edge Science that IS Advancing the State of the Art. Digitally encoding an Analog Voice Signal is nothing more than an exercise spectrum compression for the sake of packing a few more machines into an already overly crowded 2 Meter Repeater Band.

Prior to the FCC relaxing regulations on Ham Radio digital transmissions there were well over 1500 Repeaters in Area Coordinated by The Northern Amateur Relay Council of California. Despite that there is plenty of space for new repeaters in the 222 Mhz, 902 Mhz and 1.2 Ghz bands. As a matter of fact new coordinations are growing the fastest in the 902 Mhz Band. Yet there are those who would have us dump our old equipment and go out purchasing new equipment so we can talk to a friend that is using a new fangled Boutique Mode Repeater. If existing machines are going un utilized and Coordinations are being hoarded then that problem should be dealt with directly. Implementing Digital Modes to whack away at spectrum set a sides for Weak Signal work is not the answer. If utilizing spectrum that ham radio is not currently using for the sake of "not losing it" then it would make sense to encourage analog usage of spectrum that hams are not using....like 222 Mhz and 902 Mhz. The problem is Chinese Manufacturers are supplying radio equipment for that spectrum at prices the other US/Asian based Companies can not match. Coordinations in the 902 Mhz Band are growing because it is cheap and easy to get a hold of Commercial 900 Mhz Equipment and reprogram it. And that's what this discussion boils down to. Are we out to grow the Service in a manner that Advances the State of the Art and yields to sustainable growth or will the US follow the model of Japan where the ham population exploded only to implode 10 years later. The Japanese Equipment manufacturers made out like bandits and when the Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs was strangled they casually moved on.


BTW Joe Taylor who created WSJT is K1JT an Old Timer.