I suspect the world would be better if that percentage were even greater.
My Big Fat Ham Radio Epiphany at KE9V.net
Over at KE9V.net, Jeff has had an epiphany. I thought I’d give a couple of comments.
Many hams seem to be completely paralyzed that the hobby that they love is dying, or at least changing into something they no longer think is truly amateur radio. I see this on amateur radio forums more than I do on the air. I suspect that is because those who actually operate are too busy having fun making contacts to waste much energy worrying about the future of ham radio. Ironically, I think that they are doing more to actually advance ham radio than those who primarilly sit on the sidelines and lament its passing.
Nostalgia does have a reasonable place in any balanced view of the entirety of ham radio. That’s rather the key point: we must balance our feelings of nostalgia with our desire to continue to self-train, to spread good will internationally, and to serve our local communities in times of need. We must realize that nostalgia is not a very good recruiting tool. Listing to someone in their sixties (or older) talk about ham radio operation back in the sixties does little to motivate a young person to begin operating today, as interesting as the story might be. The reason is simple: that young person cannot go back in time and gain the same feelings of accomplishment that our Elmer’s did. The world has changed, and there is no going back.
I like hearing stories about the old days of radio. I like researching what the early pioneers did. I like the stories of ordinary hams contacting cosmonauts on the Mir, or the first EME communications. There is no reason not to continue to enjoy these things which help us educate us about ham radio’s proud past.
What we should recognize is that talking about ham radio is not the same thing as doing ham radio. If we want to entice others to actually do ham radio, we can’t do so by just talking about it, we have to actually do it ourselves.
Comment from Endikos
Time 1/29/2009 at 2:15 pm
I’m just getting ready to dive into this hobby. I’m waiting for my copy of the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual to arrive along with a new battery for the Yaesu FT-530 a friend gave me to get started with. While waiting I’ve been excitedly googling everything I could think of as it relates to amateur radio. While I’m personally very excited to be jumping into this, I have to admit that it’s been a bit frustrating at times and a bit intimidating at other times to try and find clear-cut information about what it is exactly that I’m trying to get myself into.
As an absolute neophyte (albeit with some minimal grounding in electronics and a severe DIY bent), I find myself struggling to wrap my head around the lingo and science of amateur radio. It’s not that I’m incapable of learning it. It’s just that most of the material I’ve seen online has assumed that I – as a reader – have already attained a certain amount of mastery over the basics, especially in regards to acronyms. The material I’ve found that’s geared toward educating the general populace is a bit too basic, and doesn’t help bridge the gap between my current level of knowledge and the level I should be at to be able to understand the good stuff.
I know that a large number of hams have had mentors in one form or another. I know there are clubs around. Unfortunately, I live in rural America and the nearest club is an hour away. Between work and family I very rarely have the opportunity to leave for four hours or so (two of them driving there and back, two of them learning) to pick some kind soul’s brain. Besides that, it’s not my style 😉 I love to educate myself. I love to find material and absorb it, then go do something cool with what I’ve learned.
So how does this all apply to your post? I’m of the opinion that amateur radio could well be on the verge of an amazing resurgence in popularity. DIY in general is seeing an huge swell in popularity, as is evidenced by the creation of quality publications like MAKE: Magazine and it’s family of podcasts, websites, and television shows. You also see this evidenced in the recent proliferation of Ardunio or PIC or NerdKit style projects and prototypes. If some established amateur radio enthusiasts would make an effort to evangelize a bit, show off some of the cool projects they’ve completed, and help the populace at large really “get” what amateur radio is about… I think the ham community would see some new vitality come out of that.
Once I’ve finally gotten things sorted out in my head and have been able to ascend the mountain of acronyms and have my precious license, I’ll begin evangelizing and doing what I can to help people like me get through Amateur Radio 101 and excited about this wonderful hobby!