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Author Topic: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why  (Read 747 times)

WA2ONH

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ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« on: September 03, 2022, 07:36:27 AM »

From the Electronics360 site - https://electronics360.globalspec.com/

HOME - INDUSTRIES - CONSUMER ELECTRONICS - AUDIO AND VIDEO - ARTICLE
ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
Author: Seth Price N3MRA - 31 August 2022
https://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/18575/yes-amateur-radio-is-still-a-thing-here-s-why

"Amateur or “ham” radio is a method of two-way communication. At first glance, it resembles Citizen’s Band (CB) radio or perhaps walkie-talkies, but there is much more to it. Amateur radio has more capabilities beyond what is possible with a walkie talkie or CB radio.
 
The future of amateur radio
Once dismissed as an “old man’s hobby,” amateur radio has grown in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many who were familiar with the hobby found time to explore and even meet new people without leaving home.

The digital modes have breathed new life into amateur radio, where hams are constantly developing new communication protocols and building homebrew equipment and software to communicate with. Learning about electronics through hands-on activities appeals to folks from all ages.

Amateur radio is an ever-evolving hobby that will remain relevant for quite some time to come."

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« Last Edit: September 03, 2022, 07:45:52 AM by WA2ONH »
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73 de WA2ONH  <dit dit> ... Charlie
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AI5BC

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2022, 08:18:42 AM »

Keep dreaming. It is still an old man hobby shrinking by the day.
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K3UIM

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2022, 09:28:39 AM »

Do the stats prove your claim??
Charlie
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Charlie. K3UIM
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W2JJV

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2022, 09:59:44 AM »

When my sister was in high school, Class of '63, just about every guy she dated was a ham.  I was in junior high school at the time and we were already working on our code speed and preparing for our Novice tickets.  Lafayette Radio built a huge warehouse store in Syosset NY and the "Ham Shack" room was jammed every Saturday with kids lining up to operate their station.  One of the smaller electronics supply houses had classes every weekend for Novice and General class prep.  We spent hours discussing the merits of Hallicrafters vs. Hammarlund.  Now, at 72 I have recreated the dream station of my youth, and although I don't operate as much as I should, a day doesn't go by when I sit down and just "kvell" (Google it!). 

When I had to retake the exam in 2014 I went to a local exam site and ran into a lot of younger folks taking the exam with me. I was so pleased until I found out that they were first responders and they were required to be licensed because they were using hand held gear for emergency communications.  They learned the minimum to pass the Tech exams and had no real affinity for ham radio as we knew it!  So perhaps the data is skewed.

I did just buy an SDR dongle and installed the requisite software on my computer and have been tinkering around with it but it doesn't give me that thrill like when I tune around the bottom of 40 meters on my 2C/2NT novice twins and find that I can still see the words going by (like the subtitles I now need on TV). 

As Tevye said to his wife in Fiddler on the Roof, “it's a new world, Golda.”

David
« Last Edit: September 03, 2022, 10:01:51 AM by W2JJV »
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K7JQ

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2022, 11:28:01 AM »

If ham radio does survive, the landscape will heavily favor digital modes. That's what the younger generations are accustomed to...staring at computer and smartphone screens. They text instead of speaking, and abbreviate where possible...an entirely different means of communication than "yesteryear". FT8 and subsequent modes like it will be a perfect fit for the future generation of hams.

Hams like me (76) that got their licenses in the HR boom times of the 1950's and 60's are slowly (as nature dictates) dying off, and will take CW with them. The lack of the younger generation's verbal acumen will pretty much stifle phone modes.

All you'll have left are hams with poor eyesight from prolonged exposure to LED screens, and simultaneously  texting on their phones, watching streaming TV, working DX on automatic digital modes, eating a ham sandwich, and trimming their fingernails so they don't interfere with punching a keyboard ;D.
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K0UA

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2022, 01:35:37 PM »

Some of us enjoy all of the modes. Yeah, really. I work CW, I work phone and I work digital. And maybe I am "old".  I am not sure. Age 68 is pretty close now. But at least I had brains enough to embrace computers when they came out.

 That one act helped my career path immeasurably. Of course I guess learning to type starting at age 14 helped more than anything. I can't imagine not being able to type effectively. But so many of my peers still cannot. Some people complain about the "books" I write on different forums. But at least I can write them in minutes and I don't even have to look at the keyboard. Ha, Ha, the last laugh is on you silly guys that didn't think it was manly to learn how to type "back in the day".

 I kept up my typing skills even before computers were a thing by working a little digital mode called RTTY when it was all mechanical equipment. And when the first junky little 16 bit computer came on the market, I had to have one.

Yep, not sorry I learned how to type, not sorry I worked RTTY, not sorry I bought in to computers. Not sorry I work digital modes now.
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73  James K0UA

W2JJV

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2022, 01:40:54 PM »

James,

Funny you brought up typing.  Mom made me take "touch typing" back in high school.   I was the only guy in the class and it was terribly embarrassing but that F-D-S-A  J-K-L-; home position stayed with me my entire life and like you, I can type and talk at the same time.  I wonder how many people know why there are little raised bumps on the F and J keys!

David
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K6CPO

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2022, 01:55:26 PM »

When my sister was in high school, Class of '63, just about every guy she dated was a ham.  I was in junior high school at the time and we were already working on our code speed and preparing for our Novice tickets.  Lafayette Radio built a huge warehouse store in Syosset NY and the "Ham Shack" room was jammed every Saturday with kids lining up to operate their station.  One of the smaller electronics supply houses had classes every weekend for Novice and General class prep.  We spent hours discussing the merits of Hallicrafters vs. Hammarlund.  Now, at 72 I have recreated the dream station of my youth, and although I don't operate as much as I should, a day doesn't go by when I sit down and just "kvell" (Google it!). 

When I had to retake the exam in 2014 I went to a local exam site and ran into a lot of younger folks taking the exam with me. I was so pleased until I found out that they were first responders and they were required to be licensed because they were using hand held gear for emergency communications.  They learned the minimum to pass the Tech exams and had no real affinity for ham radio as we knew it!  So perhaps the data is skewed.

I did just buy an SDR dongle and installed the requisite software on my computer and have been tinkering around with it but it doesn't give me that thrill like when I tune around the bottom of 40 meters on my 2C/2NT novice twins and find that I can still see the words going by (like the subtitles I now need on TV). 

As Tevye said to his wife in Fiddler on the Roof, “it's a new world, Golda.”

David

I don't know what kind of BS story those guys told you, but if they were true first responders, they wouldn't be using ham radio for their communications.  I suspect it was some volunteer group with a self-inflated opinion of their own value. I suspect I know who they were.
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K3UIM

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #8 on: September 03, 2022, 03:02:21 PM »

"I don't know what kind of BS story those guys told you, but if they were true first responders, they wouldn't be using ham radio for their communications.  I suspect it was some volunteer group with a self-inflated opinion of their own value. I suspect I know who they were."
+1
Charlie
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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

W2JJV

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #9 on: September 03, 2022, 03:25:22 PM »

CPO and Charlie:

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).  Checked their local website.  Thanks for enlightening me.

73, David
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K0UA

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #10 on: September 03, 2022, 03:34:06 PM »

James,

Funny you brought up typing.  Mom made me take "touch typing" back in high school.   I was the only guy in the class and it was terribly embarrassing but that F-D-S-A  J-K-L-; home position stayed with me my entire life and like you, I can type and talk at the same time.  I wonder how many people know why there are little raised bumps on the F and J keys!

David

Your Mother did a good deed for you. Like me I am sure you have appreciated it over the years. I did not care much for typing class at the time, but I sure came to appreciate it later in life.  Of course the little bumps on the F and J keys are to align your fingers on "home row" correctly, just like the 5 key on the 10 key pad. I bet many don't know that the 10 key pad was first proposed to be used on the new "Touch Tone" phone pads in the early 60's, BUT the decoding equipment had trouble keeping up with the input of some professional 10 key users, so they decided the way to slow them down was to invert the keypad so they could not enter numbers by touch. It seemed to work. It slowed down the 10 key users, and the rest didn't care anyway and there you have it.
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73  James K0UA

KU4UV

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2022, 03:37:10 PM »

Keep dreaming. It is still an old man hobby shrinking by the day.

What's do you consider, "old?"  I got my license when was 17.  I am almost 48, and still fascinated by the hobby just like I was when I first got my license 30 years ago!

73 to all!
Michael KU4UV
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K1VSK

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #12 on: September 03, 2022, 04:38:34 PM »

CPO and Charlie:

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).  Checked their local website.  Thanks for enlightening me.

73, David

We have a very active CERT here not surprisingly in hurricane country and all the people who volunteer in the community group are required to obtain a license.

It’s a once-and-done thing. Most don’t even remember their callsign despite recently passing the test as they never use it. Nor have they any interest in it.

The future of ham radio…..
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K7LZR

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #13 on: September 03, 2022, 09:59:38 PM »

Several years ago our local sheriff's department decided to use handhelds and APRS for something. At first they didn't understand licensing - they just bought the equipment and went to town with it.

A local amateur found out about it and told them that each operator of one of the handheld radios must be licensed in order to use said radio on ham frequencies and that these radios aren't type accepted for use on public safety frequencies. He showed them the pertinent rules, and they were quite surprised and somewhat upset.

So about 6-8 deputies and the sheriff himself studied and got licensed. They did the right thing, but for the wrong reasons. None of them know beans about radio nor do they care. From what I've heard they got licensed simply to fulfill a legal requirement, nothing more. Means to an end. They only wanted the ham rigs because those radios have capabilities which their PSB radios do not.

I hope that some of them realized the hobby for its own merits and went further with it but I doubt it.

Sad really.....
   
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K7MEM

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Re: ARTICLE: Yes, amateur radio is still a thing: Here's why
« Reply #14 on: September 03, 2022, 10:57:29 PM »

James,

Funny you brought up typing.  Mom made me take "touch typing" back in high school.   I was the only guy in the class and it was terribly embarrassing but that F-D-S-A  J-K-L-; home position stayed with me my entire life and like you, I can type and talk at the same time.  I wonder how many people know why there are little raised bumps on the F and J keys!

David

For me, typing was just part of the curriculum in the 7th grade (1962). I didn't mind it much because that's where the girls were. It was fun, but didn't use it much until college (1967). And then, it was only on a ASR-33 TTY machine. You can get into a nice rhythm with those old teletype machines. It wasn't until I got into the working world, that I had better keyboards. Not necessarily good, but better.

Even though I have been manipulating a keyboard for most of my life, I still use a pencil and paper when working CW. I took my 20 WPM Morse test with a guy that opted to use a keyboard. It was a disaster, and that was his 3rd try.

Yea, those raided bumps. For me, those are the first thing to wear out and disappear on my keyboards. The lettering is next. The lettering on my current daily driver is pretty good, but F-D-S-A are fading fast. It's a good thing my fingers know where the keys are. Lighted keyboard are nice, but they are the worst for wearing out the key caps. After a while, instead of a nice glow from the characters, you get a glaring hole. I had to disable the key lighting.

My company use to cater to the whims of the new engineers. They were always sure that they could increase their productivity with some new odd style keyboard. I never saw any of these odd style keyboards last longer than about 30 days. Then they were back to the old style keyboard.
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Martin - K7MEM
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