Hi Jim,




Just a quick reply.


On 30/07/2020 20:09, Jim H wrote:
For me, that is the group of people that will make amateur-radio survive
in the 21st century.

Surely you're kidding... or didn't think it through well enough.

It takes the other 90 - 95% (using your 5 - 10% figure) to create the
critical mass needed to keep the equipment manufacturers in
business... without which the hobby/service won't survive.
Even if the 5 - 10% make their own rigs, we wouldn't have a critical
mass of licensees to lobby successfully to keep our frequencies if our
ranks were to consist of only the 5 - 10%.


I think you do not really understand this issue here.

This is not about boxes. "making your own rig" and "designing new
technology" are two completely different things:

- You can build your own radio, but just use it do plain old CW or SSB.
- You can use a commercial rig to try out if by using a different
FEC-system you can make GMSK-based codec2 digital-voice more robust to
slow-fading then FM on 10 meter Es DX.



By definition, amateur-radio is "a scientific / technical hobby that
deals with everything related to radio, radio-communication and
radio-technology".

If you equate technology to just the device, then you're a user.
If you understand and are able to manipulate the ideas behind that
technology, then you are can determine the future of that technology,
and of amateur radio!

That is what the 90 / 10 % is about!




73
kristoff - ON1ARF