Perhaps I can give you some insight at various levels of though as to why new
hams are NOT getting on the air.
What I'm about to say should not be mistaken for the words of someone with an
axe to grind or confused with someone who is simply being unpleasant.
I want to start with the fact that we remain in a very bad economy and people
are losing their jobs. People are losing their homes, and everyone is trying to
hold on to their money. Along with this problem, there exists the issue of what
it costs to buy quality amateur equipment and then there is having to deal with
any antenna restrictions.
There are new hams who don't have antenna restrictions and have to contend with
neighbors who complain to the hills about an antenna being erected before it
can even become operational. I personally had to deal with some local idiots
who kept calling the police and the police kept trying to tell me I had to stop
operating or get arrested for som offense they couldn't even name. I explained
to these coppers that amateur radio is not within their jurisdiction, but was
simply told to shut up.
Another problem is that the "old guard" who have an axe to grind against new
amateurs due to the change in licensing requirements and other new FCC policies
to go with that change which occurred back in Feb of 2007, are running new
amateurs off in droves.
Hazing or outright threatening behavior by hams licensed before Feb of 2007 is
another reason new hams are not getting on the air. I went through this myself.
A mentality has arisen that "amateur radio is only for listening and you're
never supposed to transmit". Everyone wants the bands quiet and wants the next
amateur to just stop operating.
It was so bad in my area that I am one of several amateurs who have had their
vehicle vandalized or an attempt made to remove their antenna. There are more
details I could go into, but will suffice to say that amateur radio has become
a very nasty place to be with other hams who want to run everyone off. This is
proven by the various amateur radio internet forums...outsiders such as new
hams or potential hams see what is being discussed and they see the behavior
there and decide they can spend their time and money in better places on better
activities.
Over the past year, I have tried to introduce amateur radio to two local
schools. My proposals were turned down solely because of disparaging and
unbecoming behavior on part of the amateur community. The schools cited two
sources: amateur radio internet forums and one incidence during which a school
official bought a radio receiver, heard horrible discussions happening locally
and on the HF bands, and labeled it a possible threat to the children. Another
incidence happened when I forgot to turn my radio down while waiting for one of
my kids to come out of school and a school official heard one of our local
jammers...the school wanted nothing to do with us at that point and opted to
say thanks but no thanks.
Combine this with a city official who found the online amateur radio
enforcement letters at the FCC site who used that to also say thank you but we
aren't interested.
I have been told that Digital is very neat and have been at several
demonstrations. I've operated RTTY with a good friend / elmer from my club and
enjoy it immensely!
Let's all examine the named factors now that I have put them out here and try
to work with whatever we have left of a good public image. There has to be a
way for us to find some redeeming quality in spite of the bad behavior of our
ranks.
--- On Tue, 12/15/09, Glenn L. Roeser <hillbillietr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Glenn L. Roeser <hillbillietr...@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [digitalradio] Techs on HF digital
To: digitalradio@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 10:48 AM
Gary,
I think that it is a very good idea. I would surely go into the Novice
sub-bands to work them. I for one see the Digital Modes as the future of
Amateur Radio. As the Digital Modes become more popular we are also going to
need more bandwidth. That will be something to think about as well.
Very 73 to all, Glenn (WB2LMV)
From: Gary <grwes...@yahoo. com>
To: digitalradio@ yahoogroups. com
Sent: Tue, December 15, 2009 12:55:14 PM
Subject: [digitalradio] Techs on HF digital
I thought I'd run something up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes:
With the currently extended low sunspot cycle reducing the occurrence of 10
meter openings to near zero, there is little to offer new hams for radio
operating opportunities besides VHF FM. Many of the people who attend our
Technician license classes are interested in doing much more than chatting with
the local guys on a local repeater. Sure, VHF SSB is a possibility but for us
rural folks, even that provides slim pickings for distant contacts.
We are seeing a very low percentage of newly licensed people ever buying a
transceiver and getting on the air. We are estimating that number to be less
than 10%. Other clubs in our area are experiencing the same problem: good turn
out for classes and lots of licenses issued but few new hams getting on the
air. It may be that VHF FM is not a viable stepping stone to getting very many
new folks active in Amateur Radio.
Being an old fart, I naturally began as a novice operating CW on the HF bands.
Finding other stations to make contact with was never a problem as there was
always activity on either 40 or 80 meters, depending upon the time of day.
Making contact with other stations hundreds of miles away was common. While
that same opportunity is available today, at least theoretically, CW operation
is not part of a new ham's skill set.
So... Here is the idea. Would you be amenable to allowing Technician Class
licensees to operate digital modes in the Technician CW bands and do you think
that would be of interest to new hams?
I would imagine, the license limitations would have to state something like a
maximum of 300 baud and 500 Hz bandwidth with a 200 watt power limit. There may
be other limitations that might be nice to toss into the mix but this is a
starting point for discussion.
Your thoughts?
Gary -
N0GW
