We have two female hams in our association whose husbands are not hams. One is a nurse and the other is the wife of a professor. Both of them are in RACES because both community service and emergency preparedness interest them. We just got a new member recently, he is a staff scientist at a lab and wants to upgrade to General and do DX. We help all 3 of them to grow their passion in amateur radio by listening to them and matching them up to people with the right skill sets in our club. We don't have any nasty hams in our club...they are all helpful and happy. We long ago gave up trying to "grow" ham radio, and instead focus on mentoring/elmering/retaining and keeping it fun for those hams who find us.
First, I like your video(s) and this one is pretty much on. 30's and 40's men these days are still raising kids. There are exceptions. Men in their fifty's can be empty nesters, usually have disposable income. So many live in HOA's like me. I have been a ham for 44 years now. Got away from the hobby for work mostly. Widowed in 2010, found a new love in 2013. She is the primary reason I am back on the air. Through the pandemic she felt like ham radio would give me something to do and she knew I enjoyed it in the past. When we bought our home I thought about the HOA rules but never dreamed that I would get interested again, that was 7+ years ago. Well, here I am. Back on the air, new station, new vanity call and new privileges. Many hams are returning through the same portal as me. Our club has increased its' ranks by 50% this last year. How to get them on and active has been tough. Turn out for zoom meetings is decent but we should have 60 or more. Maybe with in person coming back that can happen but we will have to make it hospitable. Introverted people make good candidates to some extent as they can remain sort of anonymous on the radio. Getting HOA compatible antennas will help, there are many but so many that have beams pooh pooh dipoles in the attic and discourage new hams. Isotron antennas work well in many attics, you can start inexpensively and add on as you get the money to do so. 3 bands on one feedline. HF conditions are pretty tough right now too or as I look at it, challenging. VK3FUR missed the boat. Clubs that are welcoming and genuinely interested in people and the hobby will and can thrive. I built a harmonica club from about an average turnout of 9 players to 30 and sometimes even 50 just by making any player, extra class, advanced , general or beginner and encouraging them to constantly improve and making them feel at home in front of a microphone, playing the music they like and are wanting to share. We have black players, women, 90 year olds, teenagers and the common theme is the harmonica. It can be like that in a ham radio club too. You have to create that feeling of belonging, sharing all aspects even if YOU don't enjoy a particular aspect of the hobby. We have 2 nets a week and one is "The Hamlet Net" for new or returning hams. You'd be surprised how many extra class guys tune in and participate. Our second net is the old style "How are you tonight?" Not real interesting to new hams. I hope to spice it up with interesting opinions on various amateur radio themes including, how are you tonight? I will be looking forward to future videos on this subject. 73
RE the HOA thing...we have a new ham who thought he wouldn't be able to get on HF because he lives in an apartment. I sent him the following links and told him that we'd be happy to help assess his situation and make suggestions. I also told him to check out dxwatch.com if he wants to try to pounce on some DX. Here's a collection of sites that describe various HOA, small lot and apartment friendly options: http://www.arrl.org/arrl-s-small-antennas-for-small-spaces https://www.onallbands.com/antennas-for-hoa-restricted-residences/ http://www.bvarc.org/pdf/HF_Antennas_by_KD5FX.pdf https://ting.com/blog/the-otard-law-hoa-ban-antennas/ https://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/hidden-antennas-for-hoa-restrictions-part-1-2.55171/ https://www.k4vrc.com/uploads/1/0/1/5/10156032/present-tvarc_antenna_guide.pdf https://www.qsl.net/nf4rc/2018/HOA&ApartmentAntennas.pdf https://www.dxengineering.com/search/part-type/hf-portable-stealth-antennas https://www.rsgbshop.org/acatalog/PDF/StealthAntennas_Sample.pdf http://www.iw5edi.com/technical-articles/hidden-and-stealth-antennas https://www.slaarc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Stealth_Antennas_Rev_N.pdf
How about talking about how we have too many people who can memorize tests and pass the easy Extra Class test and who cannot, or have not ever used ohms law? People who buy rigs and can't figure out how to use them. The hobby used to be a group of technically knowledgeable ladies and gentlemen.
You do wonder when you see some very basic technical questions here on the Zed and check the posters bio page and find they have an Extra class license. Is it just the hobby that's dumbed down or is it more pervasive ?
I like your idea of recruiting 30-40 year olds. I see lots of problems, I don't have any ideas on how to mitigate them. I see these problems: 1) Women either thru nurture or nature are as a group not interested in electronics as a HOBBY. Of course there are some exceptions like Raia Jairam, but they are the exceptions, not the rule. My wife is a court reporter, and thru her work in processing trial transcripts, and delivering them electronically, has become very adept at operating and maintaining computers, e-comm systems, routers, modems, etc. I have little or no idea what she is talking about regarding her electronic comm systems. I have heard her in conversations with attorneys who can't get a transcript downloaded, say things like "there is a problem in the DSLAM at your ILOC, I'm getting a 0x80003571 error, contact your second tier, and upgrade from Windows 3.1", but after she gets home, she has no interest in electronics. 2) Recruiting youth is not going to add very many "active" hams in the long run. Young guys are experimenting with life, trying various activities, most are not going to stay active. A $50 Baofeng is something mom and Dad might spring for, But $1000+ for a HF rig and antenna is just not in the cards, much less allowing an antenna to be strung out in the yard. >Mom and Dad think: How do we know he won't lose interest in six months? Besides the neighbors might complain that an antenna will affect house prices! 3) We need to recruit "mid life adults", people who are settled down in their life. Adults that have a long term stable life style, i.e bought a house, have some older kids of their own at home, and are probably not going to move to Bora Bora on a whim. 4) Ham Radio just does not have that "leading edge" OOOH! AAH! techno geek cachet any more. 5) I hear complaints about "appliance operators", which are true, but you just can't open up a IC-7300 or an FT-450D, and work on the components inside without a load of expensive test equipment. It's not like working on a HW-101 anymore. 6) I see amateur radio operators as splitting into slightly overlapping groups. >Techno-geeks who love piddling around with equipment ( hey what happens when I connect the white wire to the black wire? ) >HF operators (mostly older guys with excess funds available, with goals like 5B DXCC) > Preppers who are into emergency comms, and who are not interested in the technical aspects of Radio. (when the TRS goes down, I am going to be ready!) >Techs who are just experimenting with a new gadget.( Is this really interesting to me?) 7) In urban areas you can't set up HF antennae arrays. Too much hassle dealing with the Planning and Zoning dept, getting a permit, paying for it, waiting for the building inspector to come by to give his approval. Again I don't want to be pessimistic,but all I can see right now are problems, I dont see any solutions on the horizon. More discussion, and experimenting with possible solutions is needed. Yeah, I know this isn't Politically Correct, but the only way you can describe me as "WOKE" is after I get out of bed in the morning! 73 Dan AI8O
Great Ideas I quit going to club meetings because it was about, running the club like a board meeting, No fun do that at work<GRIN> I would enjoy talking about radios or how to build antennas. Even us introverts know what fun is
As a parent...absolutely. I've lost count of the things my kids were highly interested in initially, but eventually lost interest in before the year was out. Absolutely. Also, "High Tech" these days will lead to a certain amount of "appliance operator" because "high tech" tends to imply componentry that can't be serviced by normal humans. There are elements in Arduino and RaspberryPi, but when you think of hardware hacking on radios, it's not as accessible. This is why I've lately become a proponent of more VHF/UHF usage and exploration. The equipment is smaller and more portable. Can't set up an HF station? See how far you can stretch VHF. Call CQ on simplex frequencies and see who is out there. Get a directional antenna and see if you can target specific areas. Build a "better" directional antenna and see how precisely you can "target" an area. HF is not the only game in town. Another benefit is that any licensed ham can play in this space. Many Techs are told they need to upgrade to General or Extra ASAP because that's the only place an amateur can have fun. Then we complain because bands are empty. Chris
Thanks for all of your thoughts, Dan. Regarding your #4, above, "radio" still has the power to attract people. Tom and I will get into this in a future video, but briefly human beings have always wanted to overcome the barriers of space and time. Using RF to "conquer" space (across geographic space plus up to the moon, etc.) has some special attraction. It might be deeper and more abiding than techno-geek cachet. Quin, K8QS Subscribe to "Ham Radio Perspectives" YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3MJT8o8-XMxF8XROf7Q5GA/videos
Thanks for writing this. As someone who's on the cusp of joining this hobby it's what I'm observing too.
I remember back in the 80s the local CB’rs would meet in a parking lot for some kind of mysterious conclave to discuss all their clandestine efforts. The local ham club in St. Petersburg set up a table to try to demonstrate real radio and amateur licensing process and most of the CBr’s we’re almost afraid to talk to them for fear of getting arrested! I think things will change now but there’s probably very few gatherings of people that are into citizens band where we could do positive education. I think setting up stations like a public library‘s remote like mini field days are off and a lot of fun and perhaps gather some local interest in getting licensed. We probably need a better social media platform and people can cruise by and perhaps go to a club meeting or an outdoor operation. Good thoughts by all.
