In article , Mike Coslo writes:

Ryan, KC8PMX wrote:
(sarcasm mode on)

Since the entire public is completely aware of amateur radio, therefore
they
all are waiting for the code test to drop, then we should have huge growth
eh???

(sarcasm mode off)


Is the reason for low growth that people don't know about the ARS?

I'd say it's #1.

I'd postulate that anyone that has any interest will pretty quickly
find out about us. have internet access, you'll find us. Read a
newspaper, and there are several articles a year about the ARS.

Several articles a year out of how many thousand?

Folks hafta know where to look.

Remember the movie "Contact"? Great opening scenes. But nowhere do they mention
that what's going on is amateur radio!

btw - the Vibroplex shown in that film is the very model and vintage I have
used since 1974.

I'd also bet that there really aren't that many people who are really
that interested in radio. That's okay. I don't pick my hobbies on their
popularity. I pick them because I like to do them.

Radio "for its own sake" has always been a niche avocation. I went to a
highschool (class of 1972) that had 2400 boys and a heavy academic emphasis on
math and science. In my senior year there were exactly six licensed hams there.
Of those six, three remained active long after high school. Now we are two,
with the untimely passing of WA3RVT some years ago.

More publicity can't hurt. But amateur radio isn't a spectator sport - for
most, anyway.

--

There was a great article some years back which I will now paraphrase.

The author whose name escapes me now said that there were three basic kinds of
hams - operators, communicators, and tinkerers. Or words to that effect.

Operators simply like to get on the air and make contacts. It's the medium more
than the message, the skill as much as the results.

Communicators are there for the message. Radio is the tool to get the job done,
that's all.

Tinkerers are into the technology of radio, the projects, etc.

Of course most hams a a mixture of all three, but you can see that the mix
varies widely in different individuals.

It's also clear that as things change, the attractions of these three reasons
wax and wane.

Once upon a time, amateur radio attracted lots of communicator types because
there were so few alternatives within reach of the average person. I recall
reading of hams who got their licenses simply to keep in touch with family
members across the country or around the world. With the advent of cellphones,
email and cheap longdistance, much of that is gone.

Tinkerers are still with us, but it's a different game now. In the past, most
hams had to do some pretty serious tinkering just to get on the air - even with
manufactured equipment. While that sort of thing is still around, it's not so
prevalent as before.

Operator types are most numerous today, for obvious reasons.

The situation is analagous to cars - there are those for whom driving is a joy
in itself, those for whom driving is a means to an end (transportation), and
those who like to mess around with motor vehicles.

73 de Jim, N2EY