On 02/03/2005 9:30 PM, Ric Trexell wrote:
I was reading a few of the posts about how there will not be a need for ham
radio in the future due to all the new ways of communicating. That has a
lot to do with it but I think the biggest problem with ham radio is the hams
themselves. CB'ers killed CB'ing with bad language and hams are doing it
with those stupid contests. I remember as a kid getting my first SW radio
and listening to hams talk about their lives and the area that they lived in
and stuff like that. Now when I turn it on I get guys talking only about
their radio or calling CQ CQ contest. Then another will come back and say
they are 5 and 9 out here in Kansas and soon the guy is calling CQ CQ
contest again. Does any one think that people are going to invest in a
radio and all the learning to do what are nothing more than fancy radio
checks? If that is what the ham bands are going to be used for, then I say
turn them over to business and telephone radio freqs. Ric.


Your comments are certainly going to spawn a lot of commentary! I hope
the vitriol stays reasonably low, as I can see where you are coming
from. In my short experience, rag-chewers talk about a.) the weather
b.) their equipment and c.) their cats.

I wanted to get into amateur radio when I was a kid -- it was exactly
the kind of technology I was fascinated by -- but for various reasons
never really got beyond building my own VHF "scanner" and learning how
to solder. All these years later, the purchase of a SW set has
rekindled my interest in amateur. I've recently decided to get my Basic
Qualification just for fun.

However, I've noticed many of the same things you have, and I /have/
wondered if the glory days are over, and I'm just too late. I think
there is no surprise that the mean age of amateurs has only gone up.
With the rise of internet radio, and the scaling down of some of the
stations, much the same good be said for SWL, as well.

I decided to go for it anyway, and to even practice Morse (I'm learning
at 15 WPM just to set a challenge.) I figure I can give myself a few
years on the +30MHz areas until I get my code endorsement (or the ITU
recommends dropping code, and Industry Canada follows suit),
participating as I can.

I think contests might be a fun way to meet people outside of your local
"net", but agree that unless you promise to hook up at a later time, the
pressure is really just to work 'em and log 'em and move on. I'm going
to a ham swap meet in the summer to scope out my local amateur community.

As someone else said in this thread, amateur cab be about more than
talking about gear and the weather on SSB. What the hell. I'll
discover that for myself.