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Author Topic: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?  (Read 1264 times)

AF5CC

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #15 on: December 15, 2022, 10:38:59 AM »

It may be that many are getting licensed for some other reason than actually wanting to be a ham.  In my area, some jobs for a while were requiring their employees to get a tech license so they could communicate in case the "big one" hit and other communication channels were down.  I also know of parents who were hams who required their children to get a ham license before they could get a cellphone or drivers license. 

All of these people might get licensed for those reasons, and then choose to not renew their license when it expires.  Especially now that renewals cost $35.  They might never even get on the air.  They were licensed for other reasons.

73 John AF5CC
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KG6BRG

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #16 on: December 15, 2022, 10:50:45 AM »

Yes, 10M privileges.   Nothing on the market like the Radio Shack 10M HTX-100 radios of old for new Techs to buy.
Cycle 24 wasn't very good for 10M propagation.  Sure, I worked over 250 countries on 10M, but I have more DXing experience than the average ham.

From my Connecticut perspective 6M DXing is harder than 160 meters.  Pileups to Europe are brutal. 
There are areas where the 200 mile range of a good SSB station on 6 would be great, but a lot of areas where that doesn't reach enough hams in a big country like the USA.

Zak W1VT

Yes, that's a good point about R/S, until the mid 90's i guess, you could buy lots of ham accessories and some decent HF, VHF, and UHF radios from your local R/S store.  I still have my HTX-202, from that era, and except for a new battery pack, and a new memory battery, it still works great and has great audio.  And it has a BNC connector, which for me is a plus.
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AF5CC

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #17 on: December 15, 2022, 11:03:36 AM »

I am probably one of the few hams who never owned a HTX-202 HT.  Did have the HTX-420 dualband HT which was actually a pretty good radio.  Radio shack didn't carry them for very long unfortunately.  Have had both a HTX-100 and HTX-10.  Had some fun with the HTX-100 mobile.

73 John AF5CC
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KN8NKK

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #18 on: December 15, 2022, 11:19:15 AM »

I don't know if that statistic is correct or not, but if it is, I'll tell you why.

I'm fairly new.  I got my Tech ticket a couple of years ago.  I have a couple of "Fengs", a TYT MD380, A 2m TYT TH-9000d and a TYT TH-8600.  It is what I could afford.  I put up a homebrew 2m ground plane in my backyard and  I could hit several repeaters.  Great...except there was no one to talk to.  I wired up my 2m TYT to my Truck and programmed almost every repeater between Est Texas where I live and Casa Grande, AZ where my daughter lives.  I've driven that route a few times and ended up talking with only  one ham around Tucson.  It's not what I hoped.  All that said, I got my General Ticket a couple months ago.  If all goes well, I'll be on HF in a couple weeks or so. Great.  That's about 2 grand minimum.  That's steep.  I'm sure it can be done a little cheaper as I've researched what I need, but still, it's daunting for a lot of folks.  I keep my little 8600 on the local repeater these days and will answer up if I hear someone call.  You want to grow the hobby?  Talk to the new guys.

My point is, we hype to the new techs (like me once) that this whole new world will open up and you will be able to communicate with the world and the truth is, as a Tech, unless you have access to a 10m rig, you ain't gonna talk to anyone. 
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KA4DPO

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #19 on: December 15, 2022, 12:04:44 PM »

Techs have HF phone and cw privileges on 10m

Techs also have HF CW privileges on 80, 40, and 15 meters.  Only a very few take advantage of that resource, and complain instead.
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KG6BRG

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #20 on: December 15, 2022, 12:07:33 PM »

I am probably one of the few hams who never owned a HTX-202 HT.  Did have the HTX-420 dualband HT which was actually a pretty good radio.  Radio shack didn't carry them for very long unfortunately.  Have had both a HTX-100 and HTX-10.  Had some fun with the HTX-100 mobile.

73 John AF5CC



 
I always wanted a HTX-100 but I never bought one when they were available, I did have a HTX-10 but sold it last cycle because 10 meters was so dead for years.
« Last Edit: December 15, 2022, 12:09:42 PM by KG6BRG »
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K6CPO

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #21 on: December 15, 2022, 12:25:37 PM »

My guess would be it's because they get their ticket, then go buy an HT, and never get on HF. They never get their feet wet in the experience of HF propagation, long distance QSOs, day/night variations, etc.
It's easy to get a Tech license. It's actually harder to put together an HF station and get on the air.
Local clubs and mentors need to step up to provide welcoming assistance to newbies to get them on HF.

-Tony, K1KP

I agree with this.  Imagine a new ham presented with a VHF/UHF HT.  He or she looks at this HT and compares it to their multiband digital multimedia 5G handheld radio (a.k.a. "smartphone") and wonders why bother with the ham HT?  An HT would seem to be like a 1995-era cellphone.  If all they know about ham radio is through the HT, then I think the result is no surprise at all.

73, Ed

Particularly if that HT is a Baofeng, which is what VE team and others choose because they are cheap. Despite the price point, a Baofeng is not a good HT for a brand new ham. They are devilishly difficult to hand program and the average new ham isn't going to have the skills to set one up. (I acquired my first Baofeng after several years in the hobby and an Extra license and I still couldn't adequately hand program it when I gave it away.) I'd rather see a new ham given something like an entry level Yaesu instead.  I really wonder how many new hams quit the hobby because they either purchased or were given a Baofeng, discovered it was rife with problems and assumed all radios were like that?
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K4GTE

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #22 on: December 15, 2022, 12:39:52 PM »

Where did you come up with that 55% figure ? I've seen nothing that supports that number.
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K1VSK

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #23 on: December 15, 2022, 12:49:05 PM »

Some troll in his first post cites some unfounded and frivolous claim and disappears after triggering a bunch of people with too much free time.

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W3PX

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #24 on: December 15, 2022, 01:14:54 PM »

Some troll in his first post cites some unfounded and frivolous claim and disappears after triggering a bunch of people with too much free time.

Disappears? Relax and give him a chance to reply. The post isn't even a day old yet.
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K4FMH

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #25 on: December 15, 2022, 02:58:24 PM »

It may be that many are getting licensed for some other reason than actually wanting to be a ham.  In my area, some jobs for a while were requiring their employees to get a tech license so they could communicate in case the "big one" hit and other communication channels were down.  I also know of parents who were hams who required their children to get a ham license before they could get a cellphone or drivers license. 

All of these people might get licensed for those reasons, and then choose to not renew their license when it expires.  Especially now that renewals cost $35.  They might never even get on the air.  They were licensed for other reasons.

73 John AF5CC

John,

QSL...I've taught Tech classes for the state hospital association and nearly all of them saw it as a work requirement. When the HA left amateur radio for new shiny Homeland Security purchased Sat phones, so did most all of them from repeaters or excercises.

73,

Frank
K4FMH
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K1VSK

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #26 on: December 15, 2022, 03:27:29 PM »

Some troll in his first post cites some unfounded and frivolous claim and disappears after triggering a bunch of people with too much free time.

Disappears? Relax and give him a chance to reply. The post isn't even a day old yet.

Okay, I will. Let’s see.
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K6CPO

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #27 on: December 15, 2022, 04:51:35 PM »

It may be that many are getting licensed for some other reason than actually wanting to be a ham.  In my area, some jobs for a while were requiring their employees to get a tech license so they could communicate in case the "big one" hit and other communication channels were down.  I also know of parents who were hams who required their children to get a ham license before they could get a cellphone or drivers license. 

All of these people might get licensed for those reasons, and then choose to not renew their license when it expires.  Especially now that renewals cost $35.  They might never even get on the air.  They were licensed for other reasons.

73 John AF5CC

John,

QSL...I've taught Tech classes for the state hospital association and nearly all of them saw it as a work requirement. When the HA left amateur radio for new shiny Homeland Security purchased Sat phones, so did most all of them from repeaters or excercises.

73,

Frank
K4FMH

Around here we've gotten a lot of support from the LDS Church in the way of venues to hold testing and classes. Preparedness is part of their beliefs and many of their members are licensed. One class we held had a large number of young people in it. Fully 75% of them failed the examination. It turned out they were members of the church and were taking the class because it was required.
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AI5BC

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #28 on: December 15, 2022, 05:30:13 PM »

My neighbor got his tech license and made a couple of contacts with me and that was it.  He is massively into radio controlled flying devices.  And of course mobile phones and texting are a reliable way to communicate and I suspect young people don't see why to go to the bother of setting up a radio station and antenna.  Logically, I guess they're correct.
That pretty much sums it up. Amateur radio is old news with yesterday's technology. There is no more wonder about radio. You get on th eair and listen, just a bunch of meaningless talk about the operator's health, weather, and equipment. Whoopee!
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KG6BRG

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Re: Why do more than 55% of new Techs drop-out or quit?
« Reply #29 on: December 15, 2022, 06:10:01 PM »

My neighbor got his tech license and made a couple of contacts with me and that was it.  He is massively into radio controlled flying devices.  And of course mobile phones and texting are a reliable way to communicate and I suspect young people don't see why to go to the bother of setting up a radio station and antenna.  Logically, I guess they're correct.
That pretty much sums it up. Amateur radio is old news with yesterday's technology. There is no more wonder about radio. You get on th eair and listen, just a bunch of meaningless talk about the operator's health, weather, and equipment. Whoopee!
Yep, I think the only reason for ham radio nowadays is the fact that you just like radio, but IF, there were to be a massive infrastructure failure, amateur radio would all of a sudden have relevance again.   I hope that never happens, but it's not out of the realm of possibility, whether a rouge nation attack or some sort or a natural disaster.  A radio, piece of wire and a dc source and us hams are in business.  That's what attracted me to radio more than 35 years ago and I'm still just as enthused as I was then.
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