Gaius wrote:
The magic hasn't gone - it's just been refined. The numbers of
enthusiasts may drop, but those left will be more focussed and
dedicated. The quantity is being replaced by quality. For every ten new
hams who buy an off-the-shelf radio, play with it for a year or two,
then lose interest, there is one in whom the spark is truly lit.
Building is alive and well in the form of QRP. The satisfaction of
operating a TX which is the product of your own efforts and ideas beats
driving a commercial radio any day.

(There is a mirror to all this in the model aircraft hobby. Many now
begin by buying a top-dollar almost-ready-to-fly radio controlled plane.
All you need is money. Little achievement, little reward, other than
the transient buzz of flying the thing. Same effect - 90 percent drop
out, ten percent go on to greater things: building and designing their
own creations).

Don't believe the prophets of doom who tell us that ham radio is dead.
They're just pessimists and losers. Ignore them and move on.



Correct - The magic hasn't gone. Take 10GHz. A 10 GHz SSB setup can do
well over 200 miles with only 2 watts with an old DSS dish. You can
call CQ in a 10G contest off of a local 30 story building, or even
better - a local rain cloud. The systems are normally built as
transverters from kits. And learning is involved in construction as you
figure out how to interface a 2m SSB rig to a transverter, and where you
find mini hardline, and SMA relays for cheap. Using them teaches the
user a lot about practical microwave propagation.

Interested persons from the Midwest or those from anywhere else check
out www.nlrs.org. We are one of the most active microwave groups in the US.

tom
K0TAR