Ham Radio going the way of the Do-DO

[batdude]

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2008/0...-16-ham-radio/

Just reinforces what I have seen year after year at Dayton... and the list of "Silent Keys" getting longer and longer...

sad really, but technology, it's a....

[trooperdude]

Amateur radio cannot match the lobbying $$$ of the large telecom corporations.

It's only a matter of time before the spectrum available begins to shrink and be sold off.

[w8mkh]

speak for yourselves
I am living forever

[kb2vxa]

Of course the SK list grows longer and longer, Amateur Radio was around since your great grandfather was a kid and the bodies just keep piling up. (;->) Check your licensing statistics before you believe what you read on the >>blogs<<, if it sounds like it fell out of an ox's nose it probably did.

[KC0STG]

Please do not place me on the SK List. I am very VERY MUCH A LIVE.

[joe_disco_electronics]

As long as we have the internet, who needs any ham radio?

[KC0STG]

My Rant on

I will ask you Joe Disco one question.

Ok when The Landline telephones, Cell Phones, The Land line connections that connect the Remote bases to the Radios at the various Public Safety related towers, Public Safety Radios go out or not operational in any form.

Here's the question, Who go are you going to call when this happens. Tell you the Ham Radio Operators. I an saying we are the "Cure all for the need for emergency communications" but we can take a lot of the burden of getting message (Radio Traffic) out to who needs it.

My Rant off.

Have a Very Merry Christmas.

[n2hbx]

If it was on Wallet Pop, it must be true, since they are part of the same group of Paragons of Journalistic Virtue as the Enquirer, The Globe, The Examiner, and The New York Times.

If ham radio was dying, the HF bands wouldn't be wall to wall with contesters every weekend.

Larry

[SEMTTP]

Originally Posted by joe_disco_electronics

As long as we have the internet, who needs any ham radio?

It is because of people like you that some of the decline in Ham Radio is about. The internet has nothing on Ham Radio. Personally, I dont want my daughter learning all about the internet. Some things sure, but not everything. She is already very interested in radio and as long as she is, I will instruct her in the world of Ham radio. You should be doing the same.

Its not the same to talk to someone on the internet that is in Japan vs talking to them on the radio HF bands. The difference is hobby and the love of radio. Its a challenge to talk to Japan. Personally I think Ham Radio ought to be taught in schools as an elective.

The internet will not be the end of Ham Radio, once the kids see what they can do and how much fun it will and can be, the internet will be history. Stop thinking that everything revolves around the use of the internet. There is more to life than the internet....ham radio included!


/rant off

[stevolene]

I agree, ham radio isnt just about communicating, its also about the equipment, the hobby itself, I get much more enjoyment just listening and making contact thru the air waves than I ever did in any chat rooms, long live amateur radio

[smason]

Yawn. Ham Radio has been dying since the 70's
Oh no, all the old farts are dying, and there's hardly any younguns joining up. Been hearing this for 30 years now.

[NeFire242]

Ugh, why do hams have to beat their chest and claim they're the answer or county service hours...

Even if a radio system "fails"... there is still the ability to communicate, talk-around or other various sources. People make it sound like nothing works at all except ham radio.

[guitarbrian30]

I have always loved radio. I remember back when I was 8 or 10 years old. I captured my first "skip" from Chicago on AM radio. Wow I was shocked. I can hear Chicago in Sioux Falls area. Interesting enough how that all works. That was my first time. Heee hee hee.

I have always had a scanner since I was 13 worked hard for that RS simple thing.

I have always wanted to jump into ham radio. Just have not done it yet. I am only 32 now. I still have a lot of fire in me. Listening to our experienced friends has shown respect for our hobby. I plan on showing my four boys and one girl interesting parts of the radio world. Rather down the street or across the world on a scanner/ham feed.

We all enjoy some spot of the radio spectrum. Do not bad mouth our fellow friends. Internet has brought the world closer faster. I agree.

I think all you ol' timers need to take some of us young bucks out to the wood shed. Now the radio shed.

[N6RDC]

Sure, disasters aren't common (Katrina) but fires, earthquakes, etc. can disrupt regular communications like phones, even cell phones. And the thing that most people who don't think it's a big deal is when power is lost for more that a few hours. What do people plan to do? Go online and send an email or use that cell phone? What other "various sources"...."talk around"? Maybe smoke signals!
I've always enjoyed radios as a hobby but the thing I like most is with my ham gear is the ability to talk both locally (simplex) or use HF and talk just about anywhere in the world with a car battery as power.
My wife & father-in-law are both licensed ham operators as well so we'll always know if our immediate family is ok. And we all belong to our locat fire department RACES group, even the fire & police know that their 800 mhz trunked system may be knocked out...that's why ham radios and the people licensed to program & use them are so important to most all communities.
No, I'm not beating my chest, but even my neighbors know that if we have an earthquake or wildfire I'll be more than happy to help them get out a of well being message to be passed along to their families if necessary. Even if for only a short time, if power is lost and can't be restored quickly that is when ham radio is one of the few real stand alone forms of communication.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by NeFire242

Ugh, why do hams have to beat their chest and claim they're the answer or county service hours...

Even if a radio system "fails"... there is still the ability to communicate, talk-around or other various sources. People make it sound like nothing works at all except ham radio.

Sure, you can hop in your car and dispatch fires by driving to the fire station. But that's not very convenient. Put a ham in each station and then you can just radio your dispatches like before.

Or were you saying that if the cell network and radio towers are down in a disaster - you can still text message the fire runs? I have news for you...

[dkemple1]

I have just recently obtained me HAM license. I have always been a little interested in it. so I decided to get my license in April. I do not know much about it yet, but I do find it very fascinating. I have yet to purchase a radio yet also. Money is a little tight for me right now, and I am not really sure what a good radio would be for a beginner. I don't want to purchase a complicated radio that has too many bells and whistles or options I won't use or be allowed to use. I have a Technician license. I need to start getting more involved in it and join my local Ham Club.

[N6RDC]

Yep, I agree with rdale. Like I said, just imagine not having power for more than a few hours, then what? Cities all over the US don't spend money putting amateur radio gear in the emergency command vehicles for nothing. Just ask New York if ham radio was of value during the attacks of 911, even without mass power loss the first thing to happen with cell phones is severe system overload.

[k9jdk]

Lots of things are dying. Everyone reading this will one day. Let those that are interested have their hobby. Those that do not, stay away. Do something else. That OK. Really.

[commstar]

Its a H-O-B-B-Y people.

Hobby AMatuer radio is a peculiar animal. My personal experience and long term observations tend to support that the hobby is experiencing a rather dramatic contraction in its numbers- and for very good reason. The hobby has largely culled its own herd- and is practicing some form of unintentional suicide.

For many years now, HAM radio has acted as thought it was some type of egalitarian society that one has to qualify for membership, 'pay your dues', and be hazed by those in longer than you.

I think all those practices are fine for a military unit, police or fire department where people rely on their coworkers for their very lives and a level of trust and familiarity needs to be developed over a long period of time. I can even see it in rock climbing to some degree but not in a radio hobby. No one dies in Ham Radio if DXpedition flops. Ham radio has taken it self way too seriously.

The hobby holds out this golden branch of mentoring to prospective members only to subsequently beat them over the head with that branch until they submit or leave.
If they leave, the rationale is self-serving and avoids the institutional problems systemic to the hobby.

Mentoring is the philosophy and practice of transferring your level of competence to another and then supporting them to the next level if their ability surpasses yours. It is selfless, unbiased and definitely not a big antenna contest.

Look around Ham Radio there is alot of big antenna competitions around and I have seen very little mentoring.

All the while, the hobby fails to admit that it is just a hobby. HAM radio means Hobby Amateur Radio. It is funny to me that the hobby acts like it is a mystery what 'Ham' means or where it came from. Man, the hobby does not like that word hobby articulated aloud. It serves as reminder that it is merely a hobby- not a profession, a public service calling, a job, or a religion. Ham radio has come to believe its own lie- that the world will stop spinning if Hobby Amateur radio somehow ceased to exist.

Loss of relevance. Ham radio has lost many of its public service functions and busywork since WWII. The grand mystery of radio has been revealed to the masses through the passage of time and Ham radio has been replaced by the internet, bubble pack FRS radios, and government infrastructure and capability. There has been a paradigm shift in the world since WWII and ham radio does not wish to admit this publicly because to do so would be an admission of a lack of a reason to exist.

For all the pot banging about all that ham radio does, it must be top secret stuff that cannot be discussed on the air because all I ever seem to hear is some old 'elmer' talking about his new radio, new mic, new packet device, DX conquest or what nice station xxxxx has. Few times have I heard anything of substance, engaging or even a topic outside of ham radio. There was a group of engineers that used to talk on their commutes and that was the exception, rarely did they talk about their radios that was the long term exception. They were closed because even they did not want all that on their repeater. Who could blame them.

I have tried to love HAM radio and obviously it was not for me. I can see the joy some folks get from it but overall I fail to see its relevance in my life, in public service, or for the future. Rest in peace, ham radio you may continue to exist but for the most part your time has come.

Some assert that the hobby is so large, so difficult to understand, and so self-sufficient that the hobby is the only thing that can set its own standards and regulate its self. Truth is- no one cares what happens on or to ham radio, the government does not care as long as you stay within you band limits and limitations of your license, they get their money for the license and hams operate on a secondary basis to other legitimate/commercial services.

I donned my Nomex suit a few minutes ago. Sorry if you find my opinion offensive but I am not alone in these thoughts. The hobby is in a statistically recessive trend regardless of what falls out of the Ox's nose. However, I suspect it is sand from having its head buried for so long.

74's

[mikepdx]

Originally Posted by NeFire242

Ugh, why do hams have to beat their chest and claim they're the answer or county service hours...

Even if a radio system "fails"... there is still the ability to communicate, talk-around or other various sources.
People make it sound like nothing works at all except ham radio.

I so love the people who believe the cell phones systems and land line systems
are rock solid and will always be there. They will undoubtedly be the first ones to
beat a path to the nearest ham when all usual communications fail.

One year ago - December 2007 - The coastal region of the Pacific NW was hit with hurricane force
winds, completely disrupting regular communications with the interior (populated areas).

the ONLY means of communication was amateur radio.
The two small hospitals on the coast were only able to communicate with the
region wide trauma center in Portland via amateur radio.

Oh, yes- they had satellite phones, but they relied on that little green light on the charger
telling them that all was well. They found out quickly they actually had very little to no battery life.
Cell phones/land-lines? Actually they did work - locally. ALL of the fiber links to the rest of the world were either
blown down or washed out - severed.

Consequently , our governor allocated $250K to develop and enhance a statewide
Amateur Radio digital communications network.
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/01/08/100/?nc=1

Originally Posted by n2hbx

If it was on Wallet Pop, it must be true

Everyone knows If it's on The Internet, it must be true...
This walletpop story was posted awhile back- this is dup anyway.