"John Smith I" wrote:

Like I say, because of past policy and the "damn the bands but save CW!"
crowd, it may be too late to save amateur radio ...

Completely unrelated.

Even if people had gotten licensed decades ago, amateur radio as a hobby
competes with many other things, some of which are much more technical and
rewarding.


However, one thing is for REAL sure, hams will continue dieing off like
flies--whether we can attract newbies to swell past numbers is the
question of the hour.

It isn't going to happen. Amateur Radio is a hobby of the past, the same way
horseshoes are a hobby of the past.


One bright light in all this, some of my students will now go for their
license. All colleges now need a program to make amateur radio known to
their students, high schools are not too young to start with ...

None of my students express an interest in ham radio. The code requirement
wasn't a significant barrier to entry for them anyway, since the tech
license would yield all the privileges they require for working in the GHZ+
bands, where most of their interests (consumer electronics) lay.

wrote in message
...

entirely related


As much as you wish you could will your skewed perception of reality into
existance for others, the fact of the matter is you're simply wrong.

Amateur radio appeals to a very narrow segment of society.

These days, ragchewing on a 2m repeater or 20m SSB or CW frequency -- which
is by far what the vast majority of people who are licensed hams actually
engage in -- simply isn't appealing to society these days.

When I was a kid, it was a big deal to pick up the phone and call someone in
California. It was "cool" if I could do it on the radio. Now... no big deal,
the call is even 'free' on my cell phone. Heck, I do not even have a home
phone any longer -- only a cell phone.

The "magic" of what was once amateur radio has long since left the hobby.
And, it had nothing to do with CW, in as much as you'd like to hate the
mode, hate the people who use it, and blame it for all the world's ills.

KH6HZ wrote:
...

None of my students express an interest in ham radio. The code requirement
wasn't a significant barrier to entry for them anyway, since the tech
license would yield all the privileges they require for working in the GHZ+
bands, where most of their interests (consumer electronics) lay.


That is difficult to believe. Most young men with engineering interests
"goof about" with electronic transmitters of one sort or another. Old
police/public service rigs, microwaves, old amateur equip., military
equipment, modified cb equip., wireless nic cards, etc., etc.

Lots of guys who retired from Livermore Labs retired here because of
reasonable property prices. Some of them serve as instructors, those
guys have a really great effect on the young men and women here.
Several are hams ...

Regards,
JS

"John Smith I" wrote in message
...
KH6HZ wrote:
"John Smith I" wrote:

Amateur Radio is about to undergo a face lift and a painful rebirth into
the new millennium ... These are truly exciting times to live in.

That's what people said when the FCC did the 2000 restructuring.

Guess what? No effect.

11k amateurs added between '00 and April '03. Since April '03, ARS has
lost 32k amateurs.
...

Like I say, because of past policy and the "damn the bands but save CW!"
crowd, it may be too late to save amateur radio ...

However, one thing is for REAL sure, hams will continue dieing off like
flies--whether we can attract newbies to swell past numbers is the
question of the hour.

One bright light in all this, some of my students will now go for their
license. All colleges now need a program to make amateur radio known to
their students, high schools are not too young to start with ...

Regards,
JS

Don't slap the old guys too hard. They are the only ones with time
available to go into the schools and recruit the young. The rest of us have
to earn a living. Many of us work days and simply cannot go into the
schools. The ones who work nights have to sleep in the day. So it will be
counterproductive to alienate the older guys and gals. If you want programs
in the schools, it would behoove you to start recruiting the older amateurs
to do it.

Dee, N8UZE

KH6HZ wrote:
...

The "magic" of what was once amateur radio has long since left the hobby.
And, it had nothing to do with CW, in as much as you'd like to hate the
mode, hate the people who use it, and blame it for all the world's ills.



I see the world though other glasses. Is is not the medium which is no
longer useful. However, much of the practices, methods, uses and people
who were/are in amateur have outlived their time. I trust the youth to
change amateur into a new world, much as computers have done with
electronics on a whole. How many hams do you know who even have a pci
card sw receiver in their computers? How many hams build pci cards to
interface with their computers for amateur uses? How many hams write
articles in the radio rags on how to do computer/radio xmitters/rcvrs,
projects? How many could?

We need the next generation which can ... the computer age has bypassed
OT hams

Regards,
JS

"John Smith I" wrote in message
...
KH6HZ wrote:
...

None of my students express an interest in ham radio. The code
requirement wasn't a significant barrier to entry for them anyway, since
the tech license would yield all the privileges they require for working
in the GHZ+ bands, where most of their interests (consumer electronics)
lay.


That is difficult to believe. Most young men with engineering interests
"goof about" with electronic transmitters of one sort or another. Old
police/public service rigs, microwaves, old amateur equip., military
equipment, modified cb equip., wireless nic cards, etc., etc.


Must be unique to your area. None of the young engineers I knew ever had
any interest in "goofing about" with transmitters.

Lots of guys who retired from Livermore Labs retired here because of
reasonable property prices. Some of them serve as instructors, those guys
have a really great effect on the young men and women here. Several are
hams ...

Regards,
JS


Again, I'd say likely to be unique to your area. None of my instructors
ever mentioned or indicated in any way that they were hams.

Dee, N8UZE

"John Smith I" wrote in message
...
KH6HZ wrote:
...

The "magic" of what was once amateur radio has long since left the hobby.
And, it had nothing to do with CW, in as much as you'd like to hate the
mode, hate the people who use it, and blame it for all the world's ills.

I see the world though other glasses. Is is not the medium which is no
longer useful. However, much of the practices, methods, uses and people
who were/are in amateur have outlived their time. I trust the youth to
change amateur into a new world, much as computers have done with
electronics on a whole. How many hams do you know who even have a pci
card sw receiver in their computers? How many hams build pci cards to
interface with their computers for amateur uses? How many hams write
articles in the radio rags on how to do computer/radio xmitters/rcvrs,
projects? How many could?


These things have been done in one way or another. That isn't new
technology by any stretch of the imagination. So why get excited about it?
Perhaps it was exciting 10 years ago when these things were being done but
not now. It just does not enhance the operating experience by any
appreciable amount.

Dee, N8UZE

Dee Flint wrote:

Don't slap the old guys too hard. They are the only ones with time
available to go into the schools and recruit the young. The rest of us have
to earn a living. Many of us work days and simply cannot go into the
schools. The ones who work nights have to sleep in the day. So it will be
counterproductive to alienate the older guys and gals. If you want programs
in the schools, it would behoove you to start recruiting the older amateurs
to do it.

Dee, N8UZE



Dee:

Perhaps 20-35 year old guys can make real contact with the youth and
influence them, older that that, forget it.

Personally, I just work on supplying them with fuel for their minds to
burn ... I have a rig on campus with a "miracle microvert antenna", it
is a real conversation starter I find--and NO, I didn't ask permission
evil grin ...

Regards,
JS

Dee Flint wrote:
...
Dee, N8UZE



Dee:

You are so busy deciding what they are, and what they are not (the next
hams) that I doubt you could get a real one to pay attention to you.

If all else fails, ignite their imaginations and get out of their way!

I find underneath it all, these young men and women are just like I was
when younger. I just had access to so much more, like cheaply available
military equip., tubes, xmitters and parts of all sorts--it seemed as
though it was everywhere. No one ever stopped me from firing up tesla
coils with neon sign transformers and spark gaps driving their
primaries, or building vlf osc's to drive them. Heck, we could even go
skinny dipping in the river ... but I digress here.

We have changed, times have changed, laws have changed, "they" haven't
changed ... anyone who strives to change "them" has already lost the
battle ... now, we CAN encourage them to better efforts and expenditures
of their energies. What is the fun of an ipod when you can see 18"
corona discharges and smell the ozone?

Regards,
JS

KH6HZ wrote:



I disagree. Now that the code test has been eliminated from amateur radio,
it is my belief that members of the No-Code Agenda will start to attack the
mode itself -- attempt to gather support to re-farm code and other non-voice
mode allocations into voice.


I doubt it. Al the no coders cared about was removing element 1 from
the tests. If some hams want to do a CW net or contest, have at it,
have fun. Just pick a frequency not in use according to band plan.