Welcome to Amateur Radio

Ham radio is good hobby now. The lack of amateur radio operators as the boom numbers of hams of the WW2 and postwar years has died off means the airwaves are almost empty.

I can recall when 75/40/20 meter phone and CW were jam packed, and Wayne Green(and other) made tens of thousands of $$ with DXpeditions to far away places.

Now the decline is almost terminal. The recruitment is near zero. The only growth areas are the permissions given to the shut ins and other people who lack mobility and the religious groups who use it to bypass long distance call costs.

50-75% of all hamfests are now gone. The few left are a shadow of their former size. Dayton had 30,000 at one point. Might get 5000 this year.

Sad story of how technology and embedded interests at the ARRL conspired to ruin the hobby. Much like the pony express did not long survive the coat to coast telegraph, ham radio will not survive the cell phone/sat phone and the internet

I'm an (inactive) ham. Its been years. For a long time I didn't have time, and now my interest has been captured by computer technology and the internet. I just recently had to get rid of a bunch of ham gear - almost all of it vacuum tube based, along with tons of parts. I had really mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, there were a lot of fond memories, on the other hand I knew that, if I got back into it, I wouldn't be using that technology anyway. I kept a few special pieces.

I agree that nearly worldwide instant communication has taken a lot of the magic out of ham radio. Also, the transition to very large scale integration and surface-mount technology limits what you can do as a hobbiest. I used to tear old TV's apart to get parts. Good luck doing that now!

Well, I've kept my license active. One of these days . . .

Since we are at the bottom of the sun spot cycle my favorite 10m band is dead. When it opens look for me at 28.402 on the Boomtown chapter of 10-10.

I used to spend most of my time on 29.493, with the PhilMont Mobile Radio Club out of Philadelphia. Interestingly, I was told that they picked 29.493 because there were a lot of 7.373 crystals available as WWII surplus - which mulitplied nicely up to 29.493.

Aurizon writes: "Much like the pony express did not long survive the coat to coast telegraph, ham radio will not survive the cell phone/sat phone and the internet..."

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The Pony Express analogy is apropos. Failure to adapt killed Amateur Radio as much as anything else.

I remember reading not long ago the Statement of Purpose of one of the major Ham organizations, organized presumably to advance the Cause of Amateur Radio. The Statement said something to the effect that one of its functions was to "advance the state of the art." At the time I was writing DSP software at TI for just-announced 56kbaud modems. At that same time, the maximum allowed baud rate on the Ham bands was 1200 baud (!?!), and Morse Code was alive and well. Apart from a handful of experimenter types in the Houston area doing some interesting stuff with digital television, most of the geezers I heard on the air were content to just sit around in their Kenwood rocking chairs and ragchew about the Good 'Ol Days. I had wanted to be a Ham ever since I was a kid, but when I finally got my license I found Ham radio to be a huge, huge disappointment! It was more like touring a virtual, on-the-air museum.

And I see the Code requirement has finally been dropped. Finally.

Whatever. I had to log on to the Internet - not my Ham station - to post this message. What does that tell you?

Giddyup, Silver!

-e

Which is a shame, because it wasn't always true. Amateurs radio hobbiests were the first hobby organization to launch a satellite - OSCAR (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) - in 1961!

Yes, it is a shame, and it also underscores the point that Ham Radio's accomplishments are all in the past.

I've been to the Dayton Hamvention twice; once in 1980 and again in '97. The same outfits - Yasua, Kenwood, iCom, and others - were there both times, pushing their wares. Apart from the sophistication of their products' innards, little had changed. I remember on my second Dayton visit being struck by the revelation that these outfits were all basically doing the same thing: perfecting ways of making sealing wax.

It was - and is - a shame. A real shame, considering Amateur Radio's considerable past accomplishments. Amateur Radio has made itself irrelevant. My license renewal comes up this year. C'est la vie!

-e

Back in 66 a friend and myself became extremely interested in ham radio, even just listening in was great fun, the old WW11 recievers we had were huge, built like battleships and used many 10s of valves...

The friend went on to pass his license and be a member of the RSGB, I was more interested in the design and building of better radios and transmitters etc...

Every now and then I think about re-starting my interest in ham radio, but when I have looked through the ebay ham radio section, expecting to see the old valve monsters for sale I've found the new all digital, surface mount, built in the east, not to be opened or adjusted type of equipment you would expect for use by any layperson - Very disappointing!!

I wonder if the engineering talent that came about from people tinkering with their trancievers to try to get that elusive contact across the world, is a part of the so called engineering shortage industry is experiencing??

John.

'66? Same year I got interested! My 'elmer' was my best friend's dad, W8AAL. I'd never seen so much gear. Not even in the movies.

-e

Electroman wrote:

"I wonder if the engineering talent that came about from people tinkering . . ."

That could be true. It's hard to "tinker" with electronics anymore, they're too highly integrated. Likewise, tearing apart your car engine isn't what it used to be. I remember my dad's '65 Chevy Biscayne with a straight six engine - you could have put two extra passengers under the hood with all the spare room. It was a thing of beautiful simplicity: a low-mileage, polluting thing, but simple!

Between tinkerer-unfriendliness and video games, I don't think kids today get nearly the hands-on opportunities that we had back in the day.

Still, I'm encouraged by things like Make magazine from O'Reilly (for tinkerers).

Steve (WA3OWV)

Electroman recalls: "the old WW11 recievers we had were huge, built like battleships and used many 10s of valves..."

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In the forgettable (IMHO) 1979 film-comedy "1941" starring John Belushi, one scene was unforgettable: two Japanese sailors are straining to muscle a WWII radio down the hatch of a submarine. They're speaking in Japanese but, fortunately, the exchange was subtitled: "We need to figure out how to make these things smaller."

-e

You may find this to be an enjoyable site,

http://www.dxtuners.com

Yes, I date from 1955. First field day was then.

The pony express is valid. It was the fastest method of communication over long distances and wide ranges that was economical. The romans had hill top semaphore type signalling systems that were faster, but had a low data rate.

The foolishness of clinging to the outmoded code was a good part of the decline. The other part was the hams being too lazy to get together and vote out the ARRL morons. These Morons were the type that gravitate to petty politics and even become Presdidents of the USA...you know the type.

If the hams had been a unified force/voice, they would have killed code in the 60's

Bingo.

Prior to overnite delivery systems like Fedex, the Pony Express still held the record for the fastest mail delivery: 19 hours. Sender and recipient were in different, rather large, states.

-e

If the deadwood at the top couldn't adapt, the ARRL should have (at the very least) shown the courtesy of changing its name to something more apropos. Like ARGOBN: the "Amateur Radio Good Ol' Boy Network (Gently Resisting Change Since 1914)." Besides, it's easier to say.

Anything to improve bandwidth.

-e

How ironic! Thanks for posting this.

-e

It appears the ARRL is recruiting again! I like it! I used to be active, but a lot of other requirements got in the way. Then it seemed like some of the old timers were the keeper of the license - you know, five and six classes, antiquated morse code at mind-numbing speeds - for what? Data transfer got so fast the radios couldn't hardly keep up. Then along comes a hurricane or flood every now and then and HAM shows it's stuff again! I'm glad to see they are finally getting real on the morse code requirements, and the licenses are like way back when - Novice, General, Extra. I don't like to talk down on the morse code, though - it still gets through when the data is garbage, and you can still bounce it off the moon. I'm getting back into it now, trying to go all the way to the top. And hoping to spread th eword among some Boy Scouts along the way.

wow really very exotic, i wll be in with them soon

Shon

NOT A HOBBY WITH OLD DUM RADIO BUT A MODERN RADIO AND DIGITAL TECH

CHECKUP THIS LINKS TO SEE HOW BIG THIS MARKET FOR THIS HOBBY

http://www.icomamerica.com/

http://www.yaesu.com/

http://www.hamradio.com/

http://www.wimo.de/

http://www.aesham.com/

http://www.universal-radio.com/

there are larger numbers that register, but where are they? They are not on the low bands and they are not on the VHF/UHF bands. They do not join clubs or go to hamfests.

Where are they?

Are they composed of people who joined for a non experimental reasons, like chatting to their ministary in South America or Africa? Are they blind and shut in people to whome ham radio performs a social function?

Whay can these numbers of hams only support a far smaller base of dealers than there were in the past ?

I found this people using now a very modern and very sophisticated digital way of communication , they connected each other by a different means high frequency radio ( the old way ) and the new way of using internet to fulfill the gaps between cities and continentals ( the ecohlink )

http://www.echolink.org/

even the can use the hf radio to relays their email to inter net and from internet

http://www.winlink.org/

or using the soundcard in their pc as AD converter to send pictures and text to all over the globe

TEXT

http://aintel.bi.ehu.es/psk31.html

SLOW SCAN TV

http://mmhamsoft.amateur-radio.ca/mmsstv/

and if you have short wave radio with ssb listen to their big contest next March 24-25, 2007 so u can hear thousand of radio operator contesting with each other from all the corners of the globe for 48 hrs

http://www.contesting.com/

http://www.cqwpx.com/

and the most interesting part of this people are the satellite yes they built and sent and use satellite this really so cool part of this high tech hobby

Here's a startling fact — more than 70 Amateur Radio satellites have been launched over four decades. The number is astonishing because these sophisticated and groundbreaking spacecraft are little known outside the ham radio fraternity.

In fact, private groups of Amateur Radio operators around the globe have built and sent dozens and dozens of Amateur Radio communications and science satellites to orbit since the first, OSCAR-1, was launched on December 12, 1961.

http://www.spacetoday.org/Satellites/Hamsats/HamsatsBasics.html

www.amsat.org

NAD

oh yes nice links tnx

Here's a startling fact — more than 70 Amateur Radio satellites have been launched over four decades. The number is astonishing because these sophisticated and groundbreaking spacecraft are little known outside the ham radio fraternity.

In fact, private groups of Amateur Radio operators around the globe have built and sent dozens and dozens of Amateur Radio communications and science satellites to orbit since the first, OSCAR-1, was launched on December 12, 1961.

http://www.spacetoday.org/Satellites/Hamsats/HamsatsBasics.html

www.amsat.org

shon

hi Aurizon

go to this links to see where are this people

http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs/

they on sky and may not around you .listen to wave and you wll find many on ever band

NAD

25 years ago 20,40 and 80 meters were full of people. 2 meters was busy and 1-1/4 meters was never popular and 450 was doing well also.

Now they are gone. If it collect all the action in the world via that website it gives a false picture of activity.

Are they inactive? no going to clubs, not going to hamfests???

look forward help a young to be on amateur radio and do not cry on old nice days

forward what u know to other

write a blog about the useful and nice hobby

look forward

It will be nice if this relaxation of the outmoded rules does invigorate the hobby.

Thousand of amateurs, like me, have been screaming for the dropping of the code for 25+ years now.

We had to wait for the old ARRL morons to shuffle off the mortal coil for any changes to emerge.

Once the initial rush subsides I hope we see a steady 50,000 a year entering

Good point about starting a blog to pass on some knowledge.

In fact, I just recently started one about amateur radio. Check it out...

http://hamradioscene.blogspot.com

Application Avalanche Under Way as New Codeless Testing Regime Ramps Up (Feb 28, 2007) -- The avalanche of Amateur Radio license and license upgrade applications prompted by the FCC's elimination of Morse code as a licensing requirement is well under way with no end in sight. ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, reports that paperwork from upward of 450 Amateur Radio exam sessions held since the new rules went into effect February 23 has arrived so far this week. The ARRL VEC, which typically receives paperwork from about 70 sessions each day, has had to add personnel and schedule extended hours to keep up with the workload.

Full Story

young people like it thanks (guest) for this posting

http://www.hello-radio.org/

young people like it with out morse

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Amateur Radio Enters a New Era (Feb 23, 2007) -- A new Amateur Radio Service regime now is in place. The requirement to demonstrate Morse code proficiency to gain HF privileges officially disappeared from the FCC's Part 97 rules today at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. At the same time, some 200,000 Technician licensees without Morse code exam credit acquired HF privileges equivalent to those available to Novice licensees. The League is marking the occasion with a W1AW special event aimed at welcoming newcomers to the HF bands. The "W1AW HF Open House" has included exam sessions under both old and new rules. ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, points to the still-growing number of ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC) test sessions now on the schedule across the US as evidence that the rule changes will provide a shot in the arm to Amateur Radio.
Full Story

ARRL VEC still "busy, busy, busy!" (Mar 15, 2007) -- The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) reports business continues to be brisk following the FCC's deletion of Morse code as a ham radio licensing requirement. "Busy, busy, busy!" is how ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, described the situation in her department. She says nearly 800 exam sessions are on the schedule for March with another 600 for April, "and it doesn't look like test session activity will be slowing down any time soon," she added. ARRL VEC hosts 450 exam sessions in a typical month. Despite the hectic pace, Somma says personnel have been able to process most test session paperwork promptly. "The majority of our VE teams are returning the sessions in good order and with all the needed forms," she noted. "Thank you!" Even so, processing times are down a bit. Somma advises applicants to allow 15 days from the testing date before checking on application status. To follow up, first use the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) "Search Licenses" tab, or check the ARRL Web license search engine. To contact the FCC, call toll-free during business hours 888-225-5322. Applicants who tested at ARRL VEC sessions whose applications have not been granted within 15 days may call ARRL VEC, 860-594-0300.
Link to this item

Sorry about my earlier post. I forgot to make the link readable. Here is the link to my Ham Radio Scene blog again.

http://hamradioscene.blogspot.com

Field Day 2007 Offers a Learning Opportunity for HF Newcomers (Mar 13, 2007) -- Although Field Day 2007 is still more than three months away, many ham radio clubs and groups already have begun making plans for this year's event, Saturday and Sunday, June 23-24. Field Day has always been an ideal time for new hams to become more proficient operators and for prospective licensees to get "bitten by the Amateur Radio bug." That may be even more the case during Field Day 2007, as many radio amateurs gain new HF operating privileges because of the rule changes that went into effect February 23.
Full Story

Hi Folks, This is my first post and ... yes I know this thread is from 2007. Although I feel tired listening to some of the daily roll calls and chatter, There is a vibrant side of the coin for yachts around the globe. Amateur radio is an important part of the decision making process. Go/no go decisions, weather fax, convoys through the mid-east, emergency 2182khz calls and more. With 18 significant earthquakes around the world in just the last 2 weeks, hams may be able to play that familiar role. Just let our current administration take control of the internet and we will be back to the good old days where there is relative anonymity. As for myself, aside from aircraft and marine VHF, I have been 'on the side' since a boy in Miami. But now am looking for a marine HF for my boat. Thanks to those 2007 posters for the links. If there is anyone with a lead on a real affordable, marine tranceiver, tuner, I would be appreciative. I am wary of the ebay, craigslist stuff and don't want to be involved in paypal. Hope this post gets an audience.