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Author Topic: People of all ages operate ham radio. What's your age? (This is the response fro  (Read 1438 times)

KBKZ2105

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Well the 30 year olds are joking about how antique those old flip phones were.  If that puts things into perspective.  They are definitely not interested in ham radio. 
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KBKZ2105

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2105: You might be a wet blanket for ham radio, but then again, you might be right.  :(

When I was a kid all the local teens were interested in hot rods. Today the triple Strombergs and shaved heads are a thing of the past. The only semblance of those days are the sound of the mufflers and even that has toned down many dB's.

I grew up at a time when a crank telephone could still be found in farm houses and TV was something that only the folks up in the hilltop mansion enjoyed.

Then I heard a crystal set. ... I was addicted!

With all the electronic doo-dads available on today's market and the thrills gotten from the "killed or be killed" computer games available today, who has time to become intrigued with ham radio?

I remember, as a teen, seeing a picture of Alexander the Great and beneath the picture it said, "No more worlds to conquer". That could be said for today's youth. They've got it all already. sigh

I believe we have to enjoy whatever comes our way and be contented in life itself until something better comes along. Have fun piling up the QSO's in contests, or adding that amplifier stage to the latest project and be happy. I'm thinking that we only live twice, so keep smiling and make people wonder what you're up to.  ;D

Charlie

Charlie knows what time it is. 
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DL9BDM

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It is perhaps also a question of the view from the respective age perspective: When I acquired 1978 with 14 years my HAM radio license were in my former local club at that time from my view almost only "old men", who treated the few young people at best indifferently. I can still remember that there was a seating arrangement at the club meetings at that time - I had once unknowingly sat at the head of the meeting table; I got a big scolding, because only the board was allowed to sit there. These meetings were often held in smoky back rooms of inns. No one proactively addressed newcomers there. There were never any activities for newcomers or targeted promotions either. I met my Elmer John Fournier (DC0HW/G8LRH, sk) much later.

I only got into HAM radio because I had been infected with the electronics and HF bug before. A family friend recognized this and recommended me to a course to obtain the license. At the beginning of that course, the instructor said unambiguously that he had no interest in qualifying CB radio operators for an amateur radio license! It was a good thing that I had not told anyone there that I occasionally did CB as well. Besides, I was quite thick-skinned even back then and didn't let those "old men" scare me off.

Today - with 58 years - I belong now also to the "old men". However I am always pleased about the rare moments, if I can exchange myself with young people over HAM radio - perhaps also because I had it differently at that time. The fact is, however, that they have completely different priorities, which is why the current efforts of the amateur radio clubs to attract young people are, in my opinion, a complete waste of energy and have no lasting effect. From my observation, at least here in DL, perhaps it is different in the States.

In addition nowadays the pressure regarding school, apprenticeships, work, life planning & partnership, starting a family etc. is so great that there is hardly the necessary free time to engage in a demanding leisure activity at the same time. Thus then e.g. tinkering afternoons or vacation actions for children/young people fizzle out as singular event, without from it new radio amateurs grow out.
 
It would be substantially more meaningful instead to give more attention to the age group 50plus: This age group is usually professionally and privately established, financially secured and sees itself in the medium term also the retiring from the working life ahead, so that place and time for new hobbies are available. Here the correct activities to unfold, these people for HAM radio to inspire would be substantially more purposeful and also more lasting!
 
Perhaps the responsible persons in the amateur radio federations think once about it.

So, only my five cents

73

Eilert, DL9BDM
« Last Edit: June 14, 2022, 10:27:30 AM by DL9BDM »
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KA2DDX

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My experience working with younger people in IT is that they are smarter and more hard working than they often get credit for.

How about a bank of servers on the internet with software for them to write the next generation of software applications and radios? I believe over time we can draw interest from younger people.

They are not interested in tubes or spark. But they are into cutting edge solutions.
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K3XR

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Received my Novice license in High School and yes I would love to see more young folks in the hobby.  My interest started as an SWL and listening to the many AM stations on the ham bands at the time.  A 3-tube receiver and a piece of wire tacked to the wall in my bedroom were my motivation.  It may sound simplistic, but it's not what other folks do to interest young people in ham radio, it's a self-initiated desire on their part which is likely to assure a lifelong interest in the hobby.  The element of "the magic of radio" is the spark that lights the fire.  Quantity is never a substitute for quality.  It's no good recruiting new hams regardless of age if after a few months they stick their license and their Baofeng in a drawer and forget about them both. 
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KA2DDX

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So, is it possible to start an open source "Amateur Radio Software Corporation"? 
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W9IQ

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So, is it possible to start an open source "Amateur Radio Software Corporation"?

That is pretty old school. You simply start an open source project on GitHub or similar, declare your open source licensing terms and invite collaboration. There is no traditional legal structure nor individual ownership of the resulting works.

- Glenn W9IQ
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- Glenn W9IQ

God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the wave theory and the devil runs it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Quantum theory.

KF4HR

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Perhaps this shift we are seeing towards licensees being older are due to the times we live in and technology.  I was first licensed in the 60's before cell phones and the internet existed so I found  considerable excitement involved with building or buying equipment that could communicate over long distances, mainly because, aside from snail mail or long distance phone charges, there was no other way!

Of course now-a-day most young folks have many inexpensive ways to communicate long distances, without the need to study for a license or build a ham station. 

But as many of us hams know, even though there are less expensive ways to communicate around the world, there are many aspects of ham radio that are appealing, especially for those who have time on their hands to enjoy these aspects; for example retirees.  And maybe this is the main reason why we have this shift in the ham age group.

To the best of my knowledge, the US ham population, while not growing in leaps and bounds, continues to increase slowly, so I wouldn't sweat this age shift.
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K7LZR

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Tell me what you all think?

Tom / NN2X / 73's

Influx of youngsters likely not gonna happen.

Wayne Green was preaching basically the same thing decades ago and few listened nor got involved. And he had some great ideas too. Even had a few cool programs for kids.

I tried for years locally to get young folks interested in the hobby and electronics in general to virtually no avail. Nowadays I only bother if I feel that there is genuine interest. I never try to "sell" ham radio.

Just do the best you can, as we all should. And thank you for your efforts.
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KA2DDX

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Glenn makes a great point about github.

there are 951 repository results listed under amateur radio on github. Could this effort be consolidated somewhat to a more common purpose?

my entreprenurial skills are lacking here but, like all of you, I'd love to see more younger people involved.

years ago, AMSAT was formed to support amateur radio satellite activity and is still functioning today. Can we do this with software?

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GRUMPY2021

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Having a hard time getting around the virtue signaling.   
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GRUMPY2021

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Maybe all this "data" shows is young people don't like taking polls?
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WW5F

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All I know is 1) older hams are not accepting the fact that ham radio drastically changed in 2005 and 2) ham clubs with older hams do everything they can to discourage new hams. 

We're eating our young!  Maybe things will change for the better in 20 or 30 more years.
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K4GTE

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As a relatively new ham, being licensed when I was 63, I found quite a few older hams not willing to help, or was looked down upon because I wasn't required to learn CW code. Not conducive to growth, and that attitude will kill off any endeavor. Also, I believe more emphasis should be put on getting 30+ year olds interested. It's great to get younger kids interested, and should continue, but 30 year olds and up are more likely to have disposable income that this hobby/service requires.
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KC6RWI

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A car auction site, Bring a Trailer, has noticed that some of the buyers for the muscle cars is dropping off, possibly because the older guys are dying off, they are the ones that remember and know the cars . rare toyota sports models are bringing higher prices with younger buyers.
So things do change, but radios are better than ever imho, I don't know if even the younger users will find no one on frequency when they are retirement age.
They said the guitar and 4 guy group would never last in the 60's.
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