"Dee Flint" wrote in message
. ..

"Bob Brock" wrote in message
news:_Eovh.2876$ch1.1567@bigfe9...

"Dee Flint" wrote in message
. ..

"Bob Brock" wrote in message
...
On 28 Jan 2007 13:11:46 -0800, "
wrote:


Not at all, John, you be wrong there. ARRL has periodical and
publication racks on the floors of HRO and Radio Shack and
other stores to catch all eyes.

Not really trying to change the subject, but I went to the local
bookstore and two Radio Shacks trying to get a copy of the General
Class Study manual. Both Radio Shacks said that they no longer carry
the study guides. So, I opted to download the questions and answers
from the net for free and give that a shot.

Did two Radio Shack managers lie to me? Has anyone seen the ARRL
study guides? I didn't even see any of the "Now Your's Talking" books
at the local stores.

Radio Shack has basically gotten out of amateur radio. I haven't seen
any study guides there for a couple of years. Sometimes you can get
them at Barnes & Noble but you have to special order. In that case one
might as well order directly off the ARRL website.

The Technician license manual is no longer called "Now You're Talking".
I don't recall the new name.

Right. Radio Shack pimps the hot products for the moment. The way I see
it, them not even carrying license manuals speaks volumes about demand
for them. Now, when you walk into a Radio Shack and see loads of HF
antennas, HF rigs, and a shelf of study guides; then you can say that Ham
radio is back in demand.

So, to bring this back on topic. I wonder if the intent of the average
ham is to make ham radio grow or to maintain a stale status quo? The way
I see it, a steady increase in qualified hams is a good thing. Ham radio
needs a good infusion of new blood and the no-code tech license as a good
start. However, it was only the beginning.


It will be very tough to grow ham radio. We've "saturated the market" so
to speak. If you check around the internet (for example, Speroni's site
is one), you can find the statistics on a few of the other countries. We
have 2 hams per thousand people while Europe is running more like 1 ham
per thousand people. While we need to actively recruit, there just aren't
a lot of people out there that are inclined to amateur radio as a part of
their leisure pursuits. We will have to recruit hard just to stay at the
current level. It would not surprise me if our numbers dropped in half
over the next decade or so before leveling out.

You could be right. However, there wouldn't be anything wrong with looking
at the potential base of good people who could be interested in ham radio
and trying to figure out what aspects might motivate them in joining in the
hobby. Well, except that we are in the wrong ng to do that right here and
would need to start another thread in the appropriate ng instead. I guess
I'm questioning whether we should recruit hard or recruit smart? Perhaps
both wouldn't hurt anything.

However, to be honest with you and the others here, I've got a crisis going
on here right now. My wife had a brain tumor removed a little over a week
ago and we just found out tonight that the tumor was malignant. She lost
use of her left arm and leg during the operation and will require radiation
therapy after the physical therapy. I'll leave it up to those who are
already here to decide among yourselves if a discussion of the potential
base and what motivates them would be beneficial in the appropriate ng or
not.

Hey, it's better than holding on to old vendettas and it could give everyone
a chance to provide some thoughtful input since it should be pretty non
controversial. Give it a thought and do what you will. I'll post as time
permits, but things are going to get really busy here for the next few
months. I was wanting to study and take the General exam, but that too will
take a back burner right now.

Take care all and I'll post when time permits.

Bob