Our schools teaches young people not to talk to strangers, and yet when I talk on the HF - it is nothing but strangers. Wasn't it Will Rogers that said - A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet.
Yeah Clayton if you look at ARRL contest the ARRL has one for every damn day of the year AND if you've ever noticed that participants in the could care less if they interfere with regular radio op's and or nets that beenn on the air for many years ,, let alone interfering among themselves ,, ,, ( a "QSO" is NOT just Hi and Bye ) it is a conversation YET con-testers use it .
A non-profit organization tries to gather information from the ham community to better understand how we use the frequencies. Their goal seems to be to help us be more efficient with our spectrum and the comments are 90% negative.
Do you mean the ARRL Contest Calendar? If so - most of those contests are NOT ARRL contests. They're contests sponsored by organizations all over the world, ARRL just reports them. So does WA7BNM: https://www.contestcalendar.com/ Are you going to damn WA7BNM for reporting contest schedules? There are these things called "filters" and "operating skills". A QSO is a contact, nothing more or less. It can last seconds or hours. "Hi and Bye" IS a QSO.
Over 20 years ago the shift from conversing about technical things on the air to the non technical started around here and that is when I started to get less interested in the idle chatter. Personally I think data modes, not voice are the thing that needs more development. And that is partly why I am not fond of repeater coordination, all that is doing is carving up the VHF/UHF bands for more inactive repeaters. The archaic rules are holding data back. However there are ways around that if we can move past this 1970's FM based nonsense. Using spread spectrum as an underlying mode dumps all the silly data restrictions by the outhouse where they belong. We are still calling digital voice, voice and treating is as such which is plumb stupid.
I'm curious what you would want to see on two-meters then for data. The regulations on maximum baud rate prevent running anything faster than 19.2 kbit/s at two meters and 56 kbit/s on 70cm. If that wasn't there, sure we could put some 50-100 kHz data channel in place, that would be cool. Now we do have this on 220, well 219-220 that's secondary and for data only and 430 MHz has a bunch of 100 kHz channels in it, and practically no use other than some ATV here and there. I really want to see what people are using the band for. Who am I to say that repeaters are a bad use of, or 1200 bps packet radio for that matter. We all have a right to operate our chosen modes.
Well if you think about it, any digtal voice flavor is just data. D-Star had the right idea with also a slow speed portion for GPS, etc combined with the voice. If we ever get to a SDR HT that we can load apps on, then a more robust non voice portion of the overall payload will become more important. Assuming most would desire to do more than a postage stamp size image transfer (for example) like with the Yaesu mode, then some better modulation like QAM needs to happen. It's a complex problem to move from the bullcrap use we have now. Regulations, manufacturing etc. It takes forward thinking and working together, all things that sadly are uncommon in this hobby.
You've described the modern cell phone. I've been part of doing high-speed ham radio on our dwindling microwave spectrum here in Tampa for close to a decade now. We have attracted four (4) users that have wanted to do novel things. The rest want to link their stations with it, but then when we won't hand hold and configure their "router" for them they get mad and leave. There's zero interest in learning how the underlying network works or how to trouble shoot it. sigh. Hams are killing ham radio. Mind the SLAPP lawsuit for trying to clean it up.
Yes that is what I have descibed to an effect. I feel the lack of evolution in two way radio and thusly capable features has a lot to do with its demise. And your on the money with the "There's zero interest in learning how the underlying network works or how to trouble shoot it." comment. By far the largest underlying problem. I honestly don't understand what the lure is to ham radio if you're not interested in learning, as thats its largest benefit to the license holder. So while ham radio seems dismal to me these days, once and a while I see a young kid like Sklyer, W0SKY comes a long who was the prefect recipient of the young amateur award. I am not sure what the future holds, but I feel the current generation should be trying to undo regulations and other barriers that hinder future generations ... If there was still an intense use of repeaters like 20 years ago, I'd feel differently. I feel this is the gestation period..
Our biggest issue is that the only way things move forward is when people die off. I've been approached to help groups/clubs with their repeaters as "the trustee died" and I ask "why haven't others been helping out and learning this?". The answer always is "he didn't want help and can't trust others with the control codes". Well I'm unsure what the future holds, but that's why FASMA is trying to understand how people are using the band today. Same reason FASMA still hasn't given a talk at Hamcation, the person scheduling the forums is a former FRC board member. Youtube reaches more people anyways
We have 2meter activity here in Central Washington. The activity isnt it like it was in the 2meter heyday. But it is still here, and it brings people together. Even 146.52 has activity, there’s even a few simplexes that have some activity. Our main repeater still has a couple nets and some fun rag chews.
