"Gene Storey" wrote in message
news:7t8zb.4012$US3.3773@okepread03...

Hams are dying now by the droves, and the modes and skills of operators is
drastically changing. No longer are the skills of building a rig from
scratch
what drives new hams. They mostly want to communicate, and not be here
just for the electronics.

I wouldn't be quite that strong. Yes, a lot of hams are older, but we are
adding new hams at a slightly higher rate than we are killing off old ones.
And the new folks, while different, are engaged in the wide range of facets
of this hobby that we all are.

We do have a huge number of techs, who are pretty much relegated to VHF. A
surprising number of these folks are getting engaged in Amateur Radio Public
Service activities. Perhaps not as many as we might like are upgrading, but
emergency communications is probably 90% or better VHF, so for what drives
these folks, their tech license is all they need.

We are also seeing a renaissance of sorts of building, both kit and
homebrew. There are probably more kit manufacturers out there than ever,
and the quality of these kits is astonishing. Most are far better than
Heathkit ever dreamed of, and some even have construction manuals that put
Heath to shame. Nowadays, even the smallest club can put together very high
quality kits. Take a peek at what the North Georgia QRP Club is doing, or
the Flying Pigs. For the top of the line commercial kit, take a look at
http://www.elecraft.com. There are very few already built rigs that can
hold a candle to the K2, and they are all a LOT more expensive.

Homebrewing has been spurred by the Internet, which gets homebrewers
together on forums like this one and QRP-L, and has made parts more
accessible as well. Subscribe to QRP-L, or just graze the archives
(http://qrp.lehigh.edu/lists/qrp-l/) and the number of homebrewers gathering
there is astonishing. Wander on over to http://www.qrparci.org/links.html
and follow some of the links to the various clubs ... most of which have
some sort of kitting projects, or to the dozens commercial outfits offering
kits and supplies. Take a look at http://www.amqrp.org for some pretty high
tech kits and projects. AmQRP has a magazine, the Homebrewer, which is
strictly about homebrewing, and Sprat, QQ, and several others are heavily
homebrew.

Amateur radio is changing, and maybe it's not always changing in the ways
that make us comfortable, but it certainly isn't all doom and gloom. And
for those of us that like to melt solder, we have a lot more company than we
did 10 years ago.

...