The majority of hams do not like the way Part 97 is interpreted then, as regards bad language. The lack of civility on ham radio no doubt began about the time when it was OK to do weird things on TV and in the movies and when the FCC came out with a list of words that are "approved" to be used by broadcast stations. Therefore, it is time to get a new interpretation of the acceptable language used on the ham bands so it does not "appear" to be gutter language. IF on the other hand, someone does not mind having the spouse or a visitor to the shack hear a cussin' contest coming from the speaker, then by all means make excuses for the FCC to enable it to continue. Should there be a discussion of morality or the lack of it being used on the ham bands? Or, what about saying that immorality is fine and dandy where it comes to listening to conversations on the radio? Now, of course, someone will opine that the definition of what is decent, moral and immoral is according to everyone's personal definition but when there is one or two on 7200 that are vile and contemptible and a good dozen who don't like it and probably many more who listen and wish it would go away, then this is a vote for it to cease. Sure, there are some who secretly smile when they hear the confusion but their passivity is not a vote for doing what is right. This discussion of what is defined in Part 97 reminds me of an old story: A man went to give a lecture at a distant location and stayed overnight with a man and his wife who had been married many years. The following morning, the man went down to the living room to study his lecture, to make sure it was good and proper. He heard the man of the house call down from the bedroom upstairs to his wife: "Honey, is this shirt on the end of the bed dirty?" The wife, preparing breakfast, replied, "If it's doubtful, it's dirty." Doesn't this pretty much define what is proper language to be used on the ham bands and not merely fall back on the old idea of "If it ain't defined in the Rules and Regulations, no reason not to do it." That is until there is a great cry for it to cease and the regulations are changed, that is. Meanwhile, why beat the dog when it messes on the carpet when beating it often makes the dog have less control? Equate that to ham radio and you see that most rule changes are reactive and not proactive. Tell a child to not do something and it will try it to see what happens. Define the language on 7200 and it is more smoke than fire when people ignore the mores of society. They don't even act that way on the sidewalk, do they? Why? Because it is against the law to do in public what is perceived to be immoral or asocial, in most cases, and only a crazy would try it. What is needed is both more socially acceptable rules and regulations AND enforcement. If there is no more penalty for bad actors than just receiving a letter telling them what they did, where is the incentive for the rascals to change their attitudes? THIS is what we are seeing on 7200. It's not all about the use of questionable language, by the way, it's also about maliciously interfering with ongoing communications or an attempt to communicate. Therefore, forget the language they are using if this is intended to shift the focus from illegal operation to what is going on when you tune in 7200 by just saying it's not in Part 97. Catcalls, replaying recordings and many other such things ARE in Part 97 where they are intended to interfere with ongoing communication. Therefore, complaints of interference would then be more productive. But to what end? Another letter merely because it is protocol? This only results in years of delay for doing what is right.
Further adding fuel to my fire, take yesterday's example: I stopped by the home of VE3RTI, John, here in Toronto, just steps from my kids school. Wanted to introduce myself as a neighbor ham. He has call sign license plates, so one might think that he's keen on amateur radio, right? WRONG! Would not shake my hand after a polite introduction. Said it was "just a phase in my life - don't pursue it anymore and never plan to". No amount of incentive or giveaway will encourage someone who simply has no interest in the hobby in the first place. My list of propositions for the next RAC meeting in Alberta is growing. As my temperature rises ... He'll squat on this call sign for the next 20 or more years...
Entering the hobby is largely a self initiated activity nothing wrong with folks already in the hobby helping out but tend to believe that hams remain in the hobby long term when it's their pursuit and not as a result of being pushed along no doubt the person you describe is among the many who had only a short term interest and after the novelty of the Baofung HT and the repeater wore off they were on to other interests.
Those who work for accomplishment appreciate it more. Getting into ham radio merely with the idea of competition is usually not enough although many become competitive (contests) after they have the license. Hot soup always beats warm soup. However, some get into it, drift away from it and later in life warm up to it again. With more time on their hands, they make great progress, many times achieving more than they did the first time around. It's easy to get into ham radio and even easier for a one-time ham to get back into it. Nothing wrong with warmed over or recycled ham.
Well from the looks of the aging, rusted, bent ham license plate (and similar characteristics of this "paper ham" himself) he'd gotten away from hobby - or quite likely never got IN to it - wayyyyy long ago. Before Baofengs became the defacto go-to handheld for new licensees who shy away from any meaningful financial commitment to this awesome hobby.... It's time to purge the dead wood off the books.
You asked about new repeaters in the area... no choice for 902/927 repeaters. Its growing in parts of the US.
Thank you for this very interesting survey...Bravo! As stated by Chip W1YW, his points are valid. I too am an older ham, more needs to be done by the older and seasoned hams (myself) to attract young operators. I'm generalizing tho because there are many clubs that put on classes or programs aka FIELD DAY to get interest from youngsters. The missing link between FIELD DAY and getting the word out to young people is media. Newspapers and the like, find amatuer radio activities something of the past and if reported, it's buried in the back.
I think it's a waste of time trying to recruit a large number of young people into hamateur radio. It's just beating dead horse because most are not interested. Many young people that could enter the hobby live in newer subdivisions with antenna restrictive HOA's and CC&R's. In my opinion we need to bring in middle aged people say in their 50's many who have retired, own a home and have money to spend on the hobby. 73 & GUD DX, Thomas F. Giella, W4HM Lakeland, FL, USA http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/spaceweather https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm
In the 60's and 70's, I noticed that when working on a car, most kids would come over and see what you're doing and ask questions. some time after that, the interest in mechanical/technical things started to fade for the yoots and they walked around with peanuts connected with wires hanging out of their ears or thumbing a game or cell phone. I suspect that the ratio of those who were more into technical things and the ratio of those who go into electronics or physics track along closely. A study of this through the decades would be interesting. Many young people today are thrilled with game/entertainment devices and expect to have pleasure dumped into their laps. Fewer are interested in communication where it uses electronics and especially radios, the exception being where cell phones are involved. But cell phones are used as strictly tools for amusement and staying in touch. They are not machines that can be built or manipulated to do exotic things. The eagerness to do things others are not able to do is just not there anymore for most young people AND for those who are older but want a share of what the young have.
[QUOTE="Interesting observation. Also interesting is how so many bemoan how the bands are dead..UNTIL a contest rolls around. LOL 7pm local Sunday night when a contest ends; the band scope says it all.[/QUOTE] You couldn't be more correct. It's hard to tell if the band is open if no one is trying to use it. Look for the large spike in the band scope on the FT-8 frequency and you will know if the band is open to somewhere. The Spratly I. DXpedition (9M0W) is in progress right now and I'm listening to them call CW NA on 40 CW 8:45 AM EST local time in Mich. So I guess with the minimal sun spots in this part of the cycle there's still some propagation.
Nintendo was out when I was a kid and I still got into radio and asked the neighbor what he was working on in his car. I think it has to do with the current schooling of the children, they are not introducing the kids to technical trades, no hands on stuff, just give them a Ipad is all the teachers do now...
I would have picked YaeCom... But that's reflective of what I have as main rigs. Depending on what feature/s you like of any brand radio, there are people who like most of them for some personal reason or another or they'd not have been making radios for so many years.
In essence, it's the teachers, for the most part, and the reason behind it is that the teachers are teaching what they were taught. This does not apply to every teacher, though — Thank Goodness!
