Great idea, just did the survey and also passed the links to our local groups here. 73 de j69ds j62dx
Kinda of cool survey, But some questions really demanded and answer, specific not giving N/A as an option.
And that alone is why I don't join the local club. I visited once after an absence of many years, only to waste a solid hour listening to them discuss the meaning of ONE word in the bylaws. No thanks.
I see this survey as feedback for showing how many people are interested in the hobby and getting more people to think about the current state of the art. Some questions did/do not apply to me but, as the author said, it reflects what is of interest to him. Some of the questions did not apply to me (I'm not into digital communications although this often happens without our knowing it happens) but there were plenty of questions on the survey that did apply to me and I suspect this was the case for most who participated.
There are mainly two factions here and [some] few people occupy too much of their time pointing fingers. There are the old-timers who were there, at least in spirit, when Ham Radio saved the day as the need for qualified radio operators joined the ranks during WW2 (World War Two). They are a proud bunch of people who know the value of a message form. Many of them migrated into traffic nets when they got back face-to-face with their radios. There are also the newbies who are keyboard and diddle stick experts, in great part, who are seen as "appliance operators" by some old-timers. However, the amateur community cannot be sorted out to show only two distinct factions when there is such a large range of interests and activities in the hobby. In fact, there is a mix of the two, also, as well as a "huge" range if emphasis placed on their particular interests by many of those mentioned above. Those who see it as a factor in winning wars too often see the younger hams as gamers. Too many "newbies" see the old-timers as "old foggies" who need to get a new life and figure out what a digital mode is all about. Then there are also the "newbies" who really shine as CW operators and, while relatively few in number, they make up for it in large part by their level of expertise. On the other side, there are many "old-timers" who are not that much into CW and only saw it as the means to an end, their keys either occupy space in some little-used drawer somewhere or resides beside the microphone on the desk as a reminder of what was and what it could be if they just had the time and interest. Many old-timers think that most of the problem is the newbies learning and using CW. but it is just the same with old-timers: They only need to get into it, learn the lore and get some experience in using it. By "it" I mean both CW as well as digital modes. Very often, if newer hams learn to appreciate CW and dedicate some time to it, they'd learn to love it because it opens up more contesting opportunities to them, for one thing, and this is important to some of them. To others, it doesn't deserve a moment's thought when Morse Code, in their minds, has been replaced by some digital mode and CW is of no interest, whatsoever. These two factions have their proponents, some vocal and highly enthusiastic. But these far ranging interests and opinions are what make us hams who we are: Hams first and where we live and work in the hobby comes farther down the list. There is another faction, however, in the preferences of the old-timers and "new guys." It is the "do 'em both" faction and they must be seen as a group whose view of the world of communication is broader and achieves more pleasure and acclaim. This faction is in the almost extreme minority, though, and the reason we don't hear more of that sector is because they are too busy with both old and new technology to give up a minute of their activity in the hobby. However, the "do 'em both" faction should be seen as those who are determined to get the most from the hobby. Ham radio is much bigger than a 30-40 question survey. Such a survey can give some idea of what's happening in ham radio today but is pointedly skewed by the range of questions asked. It reminds me of FCC exams where there are a few questions designed to see if the person examined had read and remembered the Rules and Regulations more than if the question had some important relationship to radio operation. One question on the survey was about Regulation as to if it was over- or under-emphasized. However, what would have been more to the point and important to me was if "regulation" were defined to mean enforcing the regulation/s and making those regulations pertinent to the state of the art. For example, why have a rule if it's not enforced? Are rules to force someone to do something or to not allow someone to do something — or both — as relates to the regulation in question? It's the old Positive and Negative logic aspect of whether something is forced to happen or if it's allowed to happen... I would have liked the survey better if there had been a question about Communications Discipline and the range of answers that would have generated. Why? Because just as a perfect exam is one where those examined learn something from it, the perfect survey is one that causes those participating in it to think about many aspects of the scenario that they normally would not have thought about. This survey does this, to some degree and was somewhat useful, but in my opinion, but it could have gone further along this line. However, how many actually think that a perfect survey was ever possible especially in ham radio where there is such a large range of interest and so many old and new techniques involved? As the old saying goes, there is nothing perfect under the sun.
Easy to do. Just would of added a bullet point on some questions that do not apply, and as for Rigs, I use both Icom and Kenwood, but could only pick Icom (which have been the latest purchases). Will be interesting in the results. de Kevin.
Good view, Chip, but much of this question ("It takes a village....") can be tempered as to what definition we put on Amateur Radio being self-policing. However, one definition of "police" is "cleaning up" and not just to enforcement. If we allowed the FCC to do the policing, then hams would not have to get involved, in most cases, except to alert the FCC as to where the "garbage" is being thrown about. In other words, how much is the Amateur Community suppesed to go with self-policing? And how many of those in the "village" are really acting like children and need the amateur village to get involved? But, then, how are those "children" affecting others in the hobby? Are they causing personal damage to fellow hams or are they trying to "clean up" the hobby by being just as obnoxious as the "children" and breaking the rules as they do it? There are no easy answers when you bring a village into the hobby.
"Generalize" is right. Some older hams are that way...and I know that's a popular stereotype on The Zed, but when I look around at the club, I don't see many/any of this type. They are far outnumbered by older hams excited about FT8...or finally having the time in retirement to buckle down and do DXCC...or finally getting that computer rig control thing figured out...etc., etc.
I am heartened that the exceptions are there. Why not extend the compliment by naming the club, so that role models can show us the path? If we let the negativism dominate, then it turns off the voice-- or interest of having one-- by the positive. 73 Chip W1YW
I would have added a comments section Also, the question of does your spouce participate, there should been an option that im not married. Saying NO skews the results because I am not married. Which reminds me: Single male, 39, never married, EXTRA class, loves rescue animals, Intrested YLs, please QSL
One of the (many, in my experience) exceptions is the Mobile Amateur Radio Club...one of the oldest continually operating clubs in the nation. But that's not the only one. In fact it's not even the only one here. It would do your heart good to see Old Guys leading the novices through the sometimes frightening art of programming an HT with Chirp.
