"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.


This latest change will have about as much effect -- a fizzle -- because
when push comes to shove, the 5wpm code test did not represent a significant
barrier to entry to amateur radio, despite what the No-Code Agenda would
like you to believe.

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

"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.

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:
...

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

"Dee Flint" wrote:

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

I wouldn't say never... occasionally I get a student who will express an
interest in some of our marine transmission gear, from a technical
standpoint, but I would say 99.99% of the 'interest' in it would be
classified as 'operational use'. In fact, I can only recall 1 person in the
past 3 years who has asked anything technical about the electronics gear.

"KH6HZ" wrote in
:

"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.

What kinda Ham radio do you do Michael? Buy a rig, and pay someone
to install it and put up your tower? Your statement is unusual to say
the least. What hobbies are more technical?

I'm using my Christmas vacation to learn Visual Studio, so that I
can program Ham apps. I build as much of my own equipment as possible,
and find it all intensely rewarding.

Judging from your other posts, I'd guess that you are simply tired
of Amateur radio, and for some reason, you find it interesting to stir
up the ants nest from time to time.

Are you going to allow your license to expire so that the hobby
won't be annoying you any more?


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.

What interesting and rewarding hobby have you substituted for
Amateur radio?


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.

I would expect that. Most IT people, computer support folks, and
programmers (especially) I work with are quite simply not technically
inclined at all.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

"Mike Coslo" wrote:

What kinda Ham radio do you do Michael?

I'm principally a firmware engineer. My technical work in the hobby consists
of writing, analyzing, and modifying firmware for standalone and linked
repeater networks. I operate 20m SSB/CW, 40/80m CW, and 2m/440 FM.


I'm using my Christmas vacation to learn Visual Studio, so that I
can program Ham apps. I build as much of my own equipment as possible,
and find it all intensely rewarding.

Skip VB.NET and C++, learn C#. Lots of good books on the .NET Framework out
there too. Sams, Sybex, Addison Wesley.


Judging from your other posts, I'd guess that you are simply tired
of Amateur radio, and for some reason, you find it interesting to stir
up the ants nest from time to time.

That's an odd observation, considering I've made perhaps a half-dozen
postings to this newsgroup in the past year, almost all of which deal with
my beliefs as to what will happen to raw licensing numbers as a result of
the Element 1a elimination. Do you somehow feel threatened by my stated
beliefs that the change will have little if any statistical effect on
licensing numbers?


Are you going to allow your license to expire so that the hobby
won't be annoying you any more?

Odd, I do not recall ever stating ham radio annoyed me. Perhaps you have my
postings confused with someone else.


What interesting and rewarding hobby have you substituted for
Amateur radio?

Almost all of my "hobbies" these day revolve around activities and "hobbies"
where I can spend time with my two youngest children.


I would expect that. Most IT people, computer support folks, and
programmers (especially) I work with are quite simply not technically
inclined at all.

You can blame Bill Gates for that.

"Mike Coslo" wrote


I would expect that. Most IT people, computer support folks, and
programmers (especially) I work with are quite simply not technically
inclined at all.


Yeah, all those "low tech" people, as compared to all the "high tech" Morse code
operators that you work with?

73, de Hans, K0HB

"KØHB" wrote in
ink.net:


"Mike Coslo" wrote


I would expect that. Most IT people, computer support folks, and
programmers (especially) I work with are quite simply not technically
inclined at all.


Yeah, all those "low tech" people, as compared to all the "high tech"
Morse code operators that you work with?

It's a bit of a non-sequitar, but since you asked, I only work with
one Ham who is big on Morse code. He is pretty technically savvy. But
that is a sample of one, so I can't make any judgement. Quite a few of
the Hams that I am friends with are quite competent, and Morse code
acumen doesn't seem to be much of a determinant of technical savvy.

But I'm around a lot of IT types, and can make a judgement. By and
large, they are not technically proficient. That's just how it is. Of
course there are a few who know beyond programming and simply buying and
using - but they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

tapa, tapa 8^)

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -