The life of radio today... Well?

[KX4QC]

https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?thread ... io.895136/

In the realm of waves, where signals used to play,
Lies a forgotten art, a relic of yesterday.
Ham radio, once a beacon, a guiding light,
Now stands in the shadows, lost in the night.
Technology advances, swift and bright,
Rendering the old ways, out of sight.
Emergency communications, once a ham's pride,
Now in the hands of tech, worldwide.
No longer the need, to tune in, to dial,
When help is but a click, or a digital smile.
The men of the hobby, introverts, they say,
Find solace in the silence, in their own way.
Yet, the airwaves are silent, the frequencies bare,
A waste of space, in the open air.
The FCC holds the keys, to this vast expanse,
Yet, the potential is lost, in a regulatory dance.
Commercial companies, with their signals so strong,
Could make use of this space, it wouldn't be wrong.
A revenue stream, a financial delight,
If only they could access, the ham's flight.
So here lies ham radio, a memory, a trace,
Of a time when communication, was a slower pace.
Yet progress marches on, and we must adapt,
For in the face of change, nothing is trapped.
KC5CSG, Today at 12:43 PM

And not surprisingly, IMHO, this was poetically pounced on:

Oh the dystopian cries
Full of anguish, anxiety-- and lies!
Ham radio is going downhill on a slippery slope--
No future no fun, The Horror!-- to this I say NOPE.

I'm on the radio with glee
Until I have to get up and p**
Listening to a far off net
In a tongue I can't vet.

Four antennas in the air
Getting signals from I-know-not-where
That'll change in a minute or soon
Maybe with the phase of the moon.

So Fie I say, take your dystopia
And go away.
I'm tuning an antenna;
I like to play.

73 Tom W9YW

Last edited: Today at 1:35 PM
W9YW, Today at 1:02 PM

[KX4QC]

What is the question?
Radio is not fun because the audio is sometimes not great? Newer tech?
Maybe we still use older radio tech alongside newer. RTTY thrives along with FT8, JS8Call, FreeDV, Much technical advance comes out of improving the old. CW, anyone? Dead and obsolete, or still useful to punch through when other modes can't?

You can pick up a cellphone? Easy, if there is a signal. Away from population centers this can be a problem....Then what?

My dear XYL tells me that her cellphone contains the contacts she needs. Hmm... (Rule 1: XYL is right... Rule 2: see Rule1. )

My log contains shows my confirmed contact with Bermuda, Lebanon, Mauritius, England, Malawi.... I don't remember seeing a cellphone Contacts page anything like a typical Ham log. Yes, both can enable a ragchew, but radio gives you a new and different friend rather than the same ol', same ol' companion.
So which is more open to future acquaintances and experience? I would hate to have my world restricted to cellphone QSOs. Social media posts? Yes, can be good, informative and enlightening, though often the structure brings like minds and extreme views together to the detriment of friendship and an open mind?

KC5CSG's point about moving with the times calls for the abandonment of radio. What then? The all too easily jammable GPS system, and satellite comms have no alternatives? But HF including NVIS survives, though often blamed for its limited digital capacity. Maybe the recent relaxation of digital symbol rate restrictions will allow a rapid improvement in many aspects of Ham radio.

We recently did a ham hookup with the ISS and Hopewell Middle School viewtopic.php?p=32#p32. There's the local TV report on The Hambone. Take a look: these are not old farts reciting their many ailments, but fired-up youngsters enthusiastic about what they have just taken part in. While YOTA programs still thrive, radio's future is bright. Radio is not doomed at all, but we are if we just give up. But that doesn't sound at all like the hams i know...

[KX4QC]

Bob has a video posted on QRZ at:
https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?thread ... 1r.893504/ which asks do we need ARRL, QST, and if we do, how they should be better.
Seems that it's a bit like voting: you need to participate or you don't have much to say!
Does that mean that every ham or a majority or just a few need to support the ARRL's representation of us before the FCC and international regulators. Then there are the publications -licensing, The Handbook and much more, the advocacy, the forums...
Then the rest can complacently sit on their duffs and save the subscription!
How about that?

[admin]

Culled from RadCom Jan2024, vol100, Nr 01 p90
(Pse pardon the clumsy OCR.)
Public perception is the future of amateur radio?
They need to know what you're doing!

Ask anyone in the street what amateur radio is and you're bound to get a range of answers from ‘is that still going?' to ‘My grandad used to do that' and ‘Isn't that CB?’ All of these indicate to a certain degree that the hobby is a minority one, not widely known and something of the past. Don't get me wrong, | enjoy messing about with wireless bits and pieces and it keeps me out of mischief.
Without going into statistics, which I know would be treated with disdain, one only has to look at some of the remaining radio rallies in the UK. Who doesn't love a good rummage looking for things amongst the array of test equipment and radio accessories that might come in useful one day? However, there is no longer the five-deep struggle with the crowds to look at suppliers’ wares. Indeed, its very thin on the ground with people.
Just try to initiate an event to get new people introduced into the hobby with the help of some radio amateurs and you will be met with the cry ‘but I want to work DX’ much like a spoiled brat that doesn’t gives too hoots about anyone else and even less about tomorrow. The event takes place and with the DX operators on the radio with their backs to the public and totally oblivious to their presence. Number of people introduced to the hobby... zero! Does anyone really think the hobby will continue when people come across like that?
Well amateur radio is at the forefront of technology I hear. Trust me, it isn't by a long way. Yes, there are indeed some radio amateurs at the cutting edge, and they are a very tiny minority and involved in excellent research. The vast majority purchase off-the-shelf equipment. Nothing wrong with that at all but please don’t kid me it's the equivalent of having an esteemed Cambridge education level when it's really a reflection of the
size of your credit card and puts newcomers right off! You may not agree with some of the things that I have said and fair enough, but radio amateurs need to have a hard look at themselves if they want the hobby to continue because now it is not doing itself any favours and needs a reality check.
Leslie Butterfields, GOCIB

So, as expert communicators, we need to do a better job of communicating what we do. Or soon, it won't be done at all.

• When did you last see The Public actively invited to any ham radio event?
  When did you last see ham radio operators explain to onlookers -maybe interested- anything of what they're doing?
• Banners, flyers, local media publication of events are easy and not expensive.
• Blow the horn online, not only on The Hambone, but on non-ham Social Media. I am learning how to link feeds between The Hambone and mainstream social sites to help with this. A little patience, please, as this Old Fart (sic) learns slowly nowadays...

Print-shops are everywhere, and having used many to produce large-format professional meeting materials over the years, I can attest that these folks are anxious to help and are a treasure chest of help and advice.

Maybe time is short to enlist everyone's help to make amateur radio thrive?

[KX4QC]

Well?
Yes, it is a thing, and we do it all too much with Amateur Radio.


-It's ok to look it up!















Noun: The action or habit of estimating something as worthless.

[admin]

The fun of it all...
"But I don't do that...."

Most Hams will agree that radio is fun. Good. Most -I suspect old farts (so XYL says...)- show up for regular nets with the same crew week after week, and delight in grousing there's not much new in Ham radio. Shame on us old farts!

So sometimes I tell of the thrill of receiving a color photo by SSTV from some DX, or getting the latest NOAA weather map by WEFAX, or constructing a QRM eliminator for under $20, or trying adaptive audio filtering, chokes and baluns for a Moxon, QRP, digital modes, CW, or yes, even tinkering with a website. There's too much to do!

The commonest reply is "But I don't do that...". We all started ham radio as something new, so why are so many now reluctant to try something new? I rather suspect that the rewards of Ham Radio are a reflection of what we put into it.

I have a nice rig -bargain price for an open box- but after that pretty much everything is homebrew or cheap commercial. The antennas, Linux-Win laptop, RasPi, open source free software, nothing that anyone couldn't do or have.

Somehow, the future of Ham Radio has to get past "But I don't do that...."?

Maybe take a look at a new club group, perhaps Makers, or CW beginners, or QRP, or ARES or take a browse round ham radio topics on YouTube. Even ask someone you know how to do SSTV or FT8 or Olivia or portable QRP.... The sharing is maybe the greatest fun of all!

[KX4QC]

Found this link of a local TV telling folks about Amateur Radio!

We should do this more!



Shouldn't our club be famous too? These guys sounded really good!

[admin]

Wake-up alert!

Ok, now I have your attention as you read this, currently the most read topic on the Hambone -well over a thousand reads.
I guess that's interest? Perhaps.

-But not one contribution to the topic from any reader, ever, so far. A reader energy-index of 0.1%?

About 1:1100 visitors to The Hambone have the energy to get of their duffs and sign in with just a Callsign. I have no idea why the rest come here, and maybe the do-nothings couldn't matter less? But we all could actively contribute to the health of Amateur Radio in the local Club, yes, even online discussion, and so assure a bright path ahead. Ours to choose; general complaining seems less constructive.

The "ship" of Amateur Radio does not have an assured future, despite the increasingly rare and precious cargo carried: STEM science, freedom of expression, communication over international and partisan boundaries, community building -all remarkably under the one "umbrella" of Amateur Radio. (No, I cannot exchange even Gmail with my family in China. Uncensored Amateur Radio is truly a treasure.) Just look at the kids' faces in the video clip of the Hopewell school ISS hookup! viewtopic.php?p=32#p32

We all know the excitement when our CQ is picked up, often by a complete stranger, maybe far, far away. Please join me in helping spread this excitement and encouragement to all who enjoy Amateur Radio, even a it's only little bit now. This grows so easily when we share what we do, what we think, and explore the growing points, such as Free Digital Voice on HF.

Like much in life, what we get out of Amateur Radio has much to do with what we put into it!

Editorial note: Admin has been licensed just 3 years, and clearly doesn't understand the power of jaded disillusionment. Hopefully never will!

[KX4QC]

The future of radio is a burning question the world over,
-with the possible exception of those too apathetic to care, or do anything about it.

"Someone Else's Problem." by Colin Butler, M6BOY sums up how it is in UK, where schools and youth programs abound, and bureaucratic hurdles are truly daunting compared with US. Equipment, in terms of average earnings, is also considerably more pricey. Their Amateur Radio does well, but see this article to see the comparisons.

RadComApr24_64-65.pdf

So, is the cause one that the Amateur Radio community can put right, even if it is a symptom of modern society as a whole?

My cup is at least half-full: I have such fun with phone, digital and FreeDV, SSTV, a little CW, mostly on HF, reaching worldwide. It's also fun to share the fun!

How lucky we are with ham radio; I tried to confirm a QSO with a friendly B callsign, using my gmail. Right? NO! Gmail, Google and much of the modern internet is not accessible in China and many other places round the world. So much for the cellphone as a world-inclusive ham radio substitute!

For now at least, ham radio is one of the only ways the world can speak to the world, freely.

That alone makes Amateur Radio worthy of our support.
-Unless Freedom of Speech doesn't matter because you have nothing to say...