I wonder if the chariot racers of two or three milennia ago lamented the death
of their sport.
I too tried to interest my grandson, now 13, in the ham radio hobby, but with
no success. He just couldn't see the point. So I reflected on when I was 13
with a newly printed Novice ticket, some 62 years ago, and when I was
captivated for life by the wizardry of radio electronics, ionospheric physics,
the smell of solder and rosin (and of exploding caps), the excitement of doing
successfully what most people can't do at all, the fascination of international
communications . . . . . all of the things we now-grandpas found and still find
attractive.
He found it a yawn.
I reflected on it some. So what? The ham radio industry will care, and those
who still believe that ham radio is imperative for emergency communications
will care (though let's be honest -- cellular and satellite communications have
taken much of the wind out of that sail.) But if I enjoy it and you enjoy it,
and we both do it, why should we fret if other people don't? If amateur radio
evolves in ways that are attractive to the next generation, all to the good.
And a form of natural selection may shape the evolution that way. But if ham
radio as we know it today doesn't get past a generational divide, if the
mutations that survive an evolutionary end point don't occur, does it really
matter?
Excuse the philosophy, but I have to ask the question: Is our culture really
impoverished by the demise of chariot racing? Or is that sport still with us,
only morphed over time into something the next generation found attractive.
OK. Break time over. Back to the ten-meter contest. Curse this solar minimum!
Ted, KN1CBR
On 12/13/2019 9:36 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
>
> This of course is a discussion that isn't likely to die before we do,
> but I really don't think that any significant portion of today's youth
> will ever look at amateur radio like we do.? I wish that weren't the
> case, but reality bites.
>
> 1.? The major lure of amateur radio for most of us was the ability to
> freely talk to faraway places.? Young people today can do that with FM
> quality and yet often they don't ... they text or chat via message
> groups and forums.
>
> 2.? Communicating today is license free, and while even now with
> today's lesser requirements getting an amateur radio license is maybe
> not a roadblock it's a nuisance to have to study for something that
> you don't otherwise care about.
>
> 3.? Effectively communicating today is far cheaper hardware-wise than
> for amateur radio, especially for long distances.
>
> 4.? Communicating today is independent of time of day or position in
> the sunspot cycle.
>
> 5.? A basic competency in amateur radio was once considered a stepping
> stone to a technical career.? That is hardly the case today.? In fact,
> I remember one manager of a test department in another company telling
> me he tried to avoid hiring hams because they talked about it too much
> on the job.
>
> One thing I do believe has carryover appeal is the spirit of
> competition.? Humans in general always seem keen to compete at almost
> anything ... from eating hot dogs to running to vicariously watching
> football to quilting to barbeque.? Young people today have video games
> that provide a FAR richer competitive environment than any ham radio
> contest (I do both, by the way), and I've always thought that one way
> to drum up interest in ham radio is to develop a contest format that
> has similar elements.? Ham radio contests are essentially endurance
> events that involve independent action throughout the contest with the
> comparison occurring at the end, and often weeks or months later.?
> Video games require different but otherwise comparable proficiency
> (both mental and physical) but involve real time counter moves to any
> opponent. The closest we hams come to offsetting somebody we view as
> competition is to steal their frequency or QRM them.? I'm not at all
> suggesting that we do any such thing, but a contest where we could
> take some action that subtracted from somebody else's score is the
> kind of thing I'm talking about.? And no, I don't know how to do that
> either, but it illustrates what I'm talking about.
>
> It's not any surprise to me that contesting is one of the few
> surviving ham radio activities with high participation.? Even
> ragchewing has practically died out, and if anyone disputes that take
> a look at how much time you spend each week reading email reflectors
> versus being on the air (other than in a contest).
>
> I'm not really sure what Wayne was referring to here, and maybe he
> implied that same thing that I'm saying, but we aren't going to bring
> young folks into the hobby by trying to convince them that the same
> things that appealed to us 40 years ago are going to appeal to them.?
> This isn't a communication or publicity problem. In spite of the
> comments from hams I've seen over the years, most young people pretty
> much know the general framework of ham radio and they've simply
> rejected it in favor of other things.? There are always a few
> exceptions, of course, but I'd bet $100 that the bulk of those young
> people who pop up online or in QST as shining examples of young blood
> in the hobby are nowhere to be found two years later.
>
> If for any reason we want young folks to embrace the hobby, the hobby
> itself is going to have to adapt.? That most of us seem unable to
> understand that fact is probably another facet of the problem ...
> we're old and inflexible (in both appearance and in fact), which
> doesn't help the image of the hobby one wit.? The pictures from Dayton
> or any other hamfest have the same appeal as if they were taken at a
> Lawrence Welk concert.
>
> I guarantee that those of us who are still above ground five years
> from now will be having this same discussion, and it won't be because
> we weren't persuasive enough.
>
> 73,
> Dave?? AB7E
>
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