This thread is not intended to anger any Hams so please read this as my opinion and hopefully i will get some good feedback. I am looking for encouragement not discouragement or disappointment.
As i sit at my computer typing this and stare at my Motorola Sabre VHF and my Motorola xpr6550 dmr turned off i think about turning it on. I received my Ham ticket 9 months ago. I was hot and heavy for the first month on everyday and now not so much.
I don't think this is at all unusual. As others have said, there are a lot of aspects to amateur radio. I tend to go through phases. I was hot and heavy on 2 meters and 70 centimeters when I first got my license. After a while, I settled down on a 2 meter repeater, had a few discussions, then sort of wandered off.
Ended up in the service, played with some HF, had fun with that, but again, my interests wandered.
Went back to civilian life and was too busy to play radio.
Would listen now and then, but like you, found a lot of inane chatter on 2 meters. 70cm was mostly private repeaters for very exclusive groups.
After a few years, I was able to get some family members interested in radio, but they had no interest in taking the test. I got my GMRS license and put them on a bunch of UHF radios. Worked well for what we needed, mostly road trips, ATV riding, etc.
They got comfortable with radios and one day I dropped the suggestion about amateur radio again, more access, better chances of making random contacts, more repeaters, etc. Took a while, but they bit, now nearly everyone in my family has their amateur license, including a few of us that are general.
But, most of the usage is between family. Rarely much talking to strangers. And that's OK. No one says you gotta talk to people you don't know.
Again, my own interest wax and wane depending on my mood. While I do keep a VHF in the house, each car, the ATV and a few portables, most use is just between family.
My dad, in his retirement, got into the local CERT team and does some stuff with them, however it's not all just amateur radio.
The club that sponsored the class and test are very into being Hams, years or experience which is great because they answered all of my questions.
Some ham clubs have an issue with that. They are into growing the ranks of amateurs, like it's some sort of competition to save the hobby, however there often isn't much follow up, other than an invite to the monthly meeting.
I joined a local ham club once, bored me to tears. Went to a few meetings, then left. Wasn't my cup of tea and wasn't a group that I had much interest in hanging around with. Again, there's all types in the hobby, don't think it's just the radio nerd club. Nothing wrong with radio nerds, but there's more to amateur.
Most guys in my club repeater area are retiree's and i am in my early 30"s. I bet i'm not the only one that fits this category. The discussion's on the local repeaters are generally about personal events each guy is having and or radio equipment they are using. I tried leaving my radio on to monitor to pick up lingo and callsigns but the conversations became pure white noise.I eventually stopped monitoring.
Yeah, that's an issue around here, too.
Not to blame the retired guys, but when you look at who has the time to sit and talk on the radio and who has the disposable income to spend on the hobby, that's what you get, and it's a shame. Thanks to the cost of living, 40hr/wk + jobs, family, kids, everything else, my wife would divorce me if I blew our money on radios and spent all my time talking to strangers. But, that's just me.
Many groups have tried to find a way to make amateur radio more attractive to the younger crowd, but it doesn't seem to work around these parts.
And before anyone gets on my case, I work at a university that has a ham club. Not much activity, there.
Let's face it, for the 20 something crowd, talking around the world isn't the novelty it was for most of us 30 years ago. Sure, there are a few interesting aspects, but the days of amateur radio operators being at the forefront of technology are mostly long past. I do know a few hams that have set up high speed IP radio networks that are fun to play with, but there's nothing that requires that be done on amateur radio frequencies. There's enough license by rule spectrum to support most of that.
The truth is (in my opinion) that most amateur radio operators are stuck in the 20th century. Desperate attempts to modernize or make the hobby more attractive to the younger generation haven't gone far. ARRL has been trying to address this for as long as I've been a ham.
What we have seen is a lot of people take the test, get their ticket, but not be very active. While there is a fair amount of younger techies, and they do like their technology, there really isn't a whole lot to keep them interested. I've got a few co-workers that have their licenses, including one of my new analysts that's in his mid-20's. They get their license, their $30 BeoFeng radio, but quickly lose interest when they hear the traffic on the repeaters. Just not enough there to keep them interested and involved. A lot of that is because the majority of active guys around here are all retired and not always interested in the same subjects of the younger crowd.
...I just wish there was more group specific conversations , example Sports like ESPN where you can chime in and or listen to a group discuss current sporting events like MLB or NFL ect via a 2way radio. My career is a Firefighter and i wish there was a "Happening now" group which discuss current major events going on in the USA example major fires, major police activity or something that effects a large group of people. I would differently monitor that all the time.
The trick is finding a big enough audience for that. That'll take some work on your part, probably won't be easy. What you might need to do is find a local repeater that has good coverage or is linked. Talk to whoever runs it and see if they'll let you hold a net on one of the nights. As others have said, it might take time to get critical mass to keep it going, but it might happen.
I understand everyone is using different equipment but it would be nice to have a group discussion about Motorola or Md380 or whatever which is discussed on this group. I would love to see ham or Digital Ham ( DMR , fusion ect ) have a severe weather group so weather spotters could discuss what they are seeing as they are spotting. That would be an interesting group to monitor for Adrenalin junkies.
I agree, but again, it comes down to the local ham crowd, unless you can get on a linked system that has the coverage to draw that sort of crowd.
When looking at the younger generation, a lot of that is covered better on the internet, and amateur radio has a hard time competing with that with the younger folks. Why talk on a radio to a limited group when you can get on the internet and reach more people? But I get your idea.
On a side note, your mention of DMR, Fusion, etc. brings up another good point. One of the issues I see locally is that clubs have created factions of digital mode users. Since there are a number of competing amateur digital modes, plus the added LMR modes that some are using, it's creating these silos. At least locally. Since one digital mode won't talk to another, and the analog repeaters get replaced by the digital ones, it creates more roadblocks to growing the hobby. If you want to talk with a specific club, you are required to buy into their chosen digital mode, but then that locks you out of talking to another club repeater that chose one of the other modes.
I'm not sure if this is caused by amateurs themselves or the vendors trying to make a buck. The end result is most of the younger amateurs with less disposable income cannot afford a different radio depending on which digital mode they want to speak on. The end results (again, locally) is factions that lock out the casual amateurs.
I really hope that some day the amateur radio community will wake up and see the benefit of adopting a common digital mode. Either that, or just go back to analog FM. Again, my opinion.
If you are still reading my post im sure you understand my point. I am just a young ham trying to figure out what the next exciting new way to keep Hams talking could be. I really like talking on a radio but i try to have a purpose driven conversation as much as possible. I do respect the origin of Ham and many of the experienced Hams who still do Morse Code, Packet radio, participate in contests and field days. I just want to create something new that may attract younger Hams and keep them involved. I read articles in ARRL magazine and QRZ.com about the Whats new on the horizon or what can be done to attract a younger crowd. Remember this younger crowd is social media based facebook, instagram, twitter all information passing apps. As for me ,If i didn't love actually playing with and programming radio codeplugs i most likely would have already loss excitement in becoming a Ham. I will say it again this is not a dig on my local club. They are more then helpful. Its more then that , its what is next to keep me and possibly many other young Hams on the radio. Be safe you' all
I hear you, and as a late 40's guy, I can see exactly what you are talking about. A number of other amateurs will probably disagree with me, or tell you that it's up to you to fix it, but I think that's not the approach that's needed.
Amateur radio used to be about technology, but not so much anymore. I won't launch into the "appliance operator" thing, because I think that not a good direction to take this, but the truth is that Amateur Radio
NEEDS to change, and change quickly.
How? Not sure, but maybe as time progresses and some of the old timers leave us, things might improve. I unfortunately see some amateurs that want to force new amateurs into learning the "old ways". It happened with the no-code licenses came out, there were those that would shun the "no-code techs" because they felt that they hadn't paid their dues. That was around the time I became a ham, and those guys really pissed me off to no end, but there's little reasoning with them.
The ARRL could do a lot to fix this, but it would take a fresh approach, and I don't think they have it in them, at least not with the current group. I gave up my ARRL membership a few years back, just wasn't worth the cost, got tired of reading the same articles, got tired of hearing about the way they were going to attract a whole new crowd to the hobby.
Again, my opinion:
Amateur radio and the big groups that champion it need to make some big changes….
1. Pick a standardized digital mode. Sure, people can experiment with whatever they want, that's the spirit behind amateur radio, but when I'm driving half way across country and want to hop on a local repeater to ask questions, or talk to the locals, I shouldn't have to have 5 different digital modes on a couple of different bands to do it. At 47 I don't have that much disposable income, nor the space in my truck for all those radios.
2. Flush out the old timers. I don't mean actually kick them out, but there needs to be an attitude change. Yes, it's nice that someone can talk around the world with a long piece of wire and a spark, but expecting newcomers to bend down and kiss your arse as some sort of homage to you is just downright silly. It's an egotistical attitude that needs to stop. (again, my opinion).
3. Loosen up some of the current restrictions. Not the FCC rules, but some of the silly band plans. The divided band plans are a useful idea where certain classes of licenses have access to certain sub-bands, but maybe the sub-bands need to be shrunk and create more open space for all classes of licenses to work together. And, no, I don't think license class means as much as some want you to think. Yes, it's nice you studied and achieved that license, but in reality it's about regurgitating information on a multiple choice test, it's not a freakin' PhD for Pete's sake. The caste stratums of the hobby, again, aren't helping. Sure, keep some small slices of sub-band where hams can go to feel special about themselves, some people need that. But open things up.
4. Change attitudes. Amateur radio needs to be recreated into a hobby that keeps some of the old and adds a crap load of new. With the information age, palm sized devices that can access the internet, make phone calls anywhere, send text messages, order pizza, etc; getting excited about an FM transceiver just isn't something that's going to happen with the majority of the younger generation. Modern IT has left amateur radio in the dust. The attempts of groups like ARRL to remain relevant is wasted effort.
Wanna make something of amateur radio, time to drag it out of the 1960's. Think wireless internet, Lord knows that we have enough spectrum for that. Think interlinked nodes using microwave bands that amateurs already have. Think a small UHF, VHF or such device that can access internet like services anywhere. Add in an HF high speed data system. Make it something that would be attractive to the younger information soaked population.
I'm sure I'll catch some flames for some of this, and some of it's probably warranted, but it's opinion, and it's what I see. I work at a university that has several engineering/IT/telecommunications programs. I have a 12 year old son. I'm around IT guys day in and day out. What I can tell you is that the current attitude in amateur radio isn't helping the hobby. There needs to be a big paradigm shift if it wants to remain relevant. As it stands right now, we've got a bunch of prime spectrum that's being wasted by old thinking. Won't take long for the FCC/ITU to figure out better uses for it.
Flame on….
