Foundations of Amateur Radio - Episode 89

Excellent reply! My feelings are the same on this subject.

 

Lets take a step back on this digital debate,

The computer does this......., the computer does that......what do you think happens inside your basic transceiver when you have SSB conversation? Are you collecting the electrons by hand?

Just because you are using your vocal chords and a little brain matter to make a decision does not somehow make this all your doings. Digital is what is exciting to new hams at the moment, just like many other things were exciting to young hams 50 years ago in that moment. I don't think it diminishes or harms the hobby one bit. It's just different that's all.

 

And since I see and hear sooooo many wide casting generalizations in the hobby and young people of today, let me make one myself.

Please stop harping back to the past, it's pointless and nobody really likes that conversation. Let's all quit complaining about how much things have changed, and get on with life. Live in the present, it's not so bad.

 

I still enjoy getting up at 3am to look for that rare dx station although they are harder to find now. I'm still fascinated by how far my barefoot signal can travel when everything in the universe aligns properly. The mystery and excitement is still very much there for me. As society moves more and more away from human interaction and towards the internet and automation I'm finding myself enjoying those new technologies less and enjoying ham radio even more. You wont find me on Echolink, IRLP or D-Star because that's not radio in my book but give me a chance to hop on HF with the chance of working a new country and I'm there. Ham radio still allows me to travel to places on this planet that I will never be able to visit in person.

 

In a way your correct. I am only concerned that 3 computer click is a QSo. I was around 50 years ago and we complained that the transceiver was going to kill ham radio. A separate transmitter/receiver was the way to go. A transceiver was compromise "don't buy one stick with a separate xmittter and receiver". In my post I didn,t down all digital modes only eme digital .
.

 

I meant to say jt65 not eme.

 

Onno...This hobby as u put it is on deaths door when you refer to ancient membership to whom are you referring ??you say they take their hobby with them what does that mean i know when i die there is no more relevance to anything earthly the hobby is fading into insignificance due to the persons you get on the air these days it ia all about paper chasing forming irrelevant groups and nets telling each other the latest wx report how to set up a good bbq etc etc totally irrelevant to ham radio.We have become nothing more than a bunch of Cber's everyone wants the easy way in the technical aspect of our hobby is dead buy everything now even a simple dipole antenna forget something more complex.
I belong to the Ancient membership to whom you refer and i take your comment with disdain my licence was not handed to me like today this foundation licence is i sat for a written exam and 15wpm morse if that makes me ancient i am proud of being ancient when i become a silent key so will my call sign i will not be taking my hobby with me but i will let the present day make a mockery of once a meaningful and great hobby that is what is dying.

 

My part of the hobby, AM on HF, is very satisfying for me and the other licensees who take part. It happens to be a vibrant aspect of the hobby and growing in popularity.
Some of the attraction is the good sound, warm and inviting; people sound human.
Another part of the allure is from the glow of vacuum tubes. Some AMers are on "modern" 1970s MOSFET rigs, and still more have tried AM and stayed with us using contemporary transceivers & SDR rigs.
The best part, that has kept me hooked on AM all these years, is the depth and duration of conversations across a range of topics from technical to social. I guarantee you'll feel you've exercised your brain to take part in a comprehensive and enjoyable QSO on AM.
QRZ.com has an AM Forum with more details. Come join us.

 

I think the hobby died, maybe hit rock bottom, and is now climbing back up like the Phoenix...
The newer digital side of ham radio has attracted people who would otherwise not get on the air.
My YL and I got licensed in 2009. We upgraded to General class within two months.
The trick was to as techs buy an all band VHF/UHF HF radio. Now that you've spent the money you are committed...
I started calling cq about three years ago, mostly HF mobile on the way to and from work as well as stationary mobile during my 10 minute morning break and during my one hour lunch hour (17:00 to 18:00 UTC) Monday thru Friday.
Mostly on 17m but also 20, 15 and even 10m. I get between a half dozen to a dozen contacts per day mobile running 50 watts on a Kenwood TS-480SAT and a Falcon Outback 1899 and 2000 antennas
mag mounted one on the roof and trunk of my 82 Ford Fairmont.
I've been talking to older people as well as some younger ones, so yes, maybe the hobby died, but it
seems to me it has come back from the dead, hopefully with a vengeance!

Jose Douglas KB1TCD
Mid Coast ME

 

I do not think it died, as that would mean that NOBODY would be on the air. In my idea is that most people are only looking at HF not VHF or UHF I do believe the the FCC needs to give more HF privileges to technicians, since hf is the place were a lot of amateur radio fun is had. Unfortunately hf is slowing down to a stop because solar cycle 24 is coming to a stop and solar cycle 25 is starting, so the bands are "dead" not amateur radio, there are about 2.7 million hams in the world.

73,
Luke Horning KM6DJS

 

What a bunch of hateful malarkey. #LMAO

 

Well, in fact, amateur radio as a hobby, and communicating over the radio is perhaps one of the earliest forms of social media.

Amateur Radio enabled people with common interests to communicate and share ideas, form 'friendships', and enjoy conversations with individuals far and near, and broadcast those exchanges across public airwaves for others to eavesdrop on. That, my friend IS social media!

Years ago the end goal of building kits, mucking around with antenna designs, and tinkering with electronics all had one goal...to reach out into the airwaves to make a contact, to build asocial network.

 

Or answering them.

I'm a new ham, finally getting my extra last summer after decades of threatening to do it. I think one of the cornerstones of the hobby is making new contacts and exchanging more than 59 and 73.

I characterize myself as a "band vagabond" and I actively prowl listening for CQs. I will rarely decline to attempt a return. And I've met some of the kindest people doing just that.

 

I agree. Most of my contacts are those 59 and 73 contacts -- some of it due to band conditions, but not all the time. On the other hand, I have had some really enjoyable QSOs on HF. I to also like to listen for CQs and respond as long as I can understand the station's call. I don't like responding when someone is rattling their call off like it's a game of who can say your call fast enough. Drives me crazy. I sit there with a pencil and pad each time the person calls CQ in hopes I can translate the call because they are saying it so darn fast, my scratch pad looks like I played a game of call sign word scramble. It makes it a real turn off and I tend to avoid those folks. When I call, I say it in normal speaking voice, sometimes slower when I know the bands are iffy, plus it keeps me keyed up a little longer which helps the curious prowlers find me.

It also drives me crazy when folks start adding stuff their assigned callsign... like those crazy slant/stroke/slash then some characters like country codes, maritime, dual callsigns, etc. Makes deciphering the real call an unnecessary pain or sometimes impossible if band conditions are not so good.