On Southgate News there is a report about the RSGB's thoughts on activity levels on VHF and UHF bands. Apparently activity levels have dropped badly in the UK and there is talk of an even simpler exam and licence to encourage activity. There is no doubt that the hobby is facing a future crisis as people get older, less active, and die.
Like many things, we seem to try "dumbing down" as the answer. The basic issue is radio is not the magic it was to many in the 1950s and 1960s. These days you only have to look at the magazines for sale in newsagents to see this. Sadly, there are far more gaming, PC and railway magazines with, if you are lucky, just a couple of radio magazines.
Certainly, many on 2m have switched to FT8. A casual tune across the bands would suggest low levels of activity. Some would argue much less wide bands would do.
See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/june/could-a-new-entry-level-licence-boost-vhf-uhf-activity.htm#.Wx42tPZFzIU
11 Jun 2018
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
It's complicated, isn't it?
I don't think "dumbing down" will be effective. The initial interest just isn't there.
Part of the problem is that many ASSUME that any interest in radio means *HF operation*, when HF is actually *less compelling* than it was in the past -- especially to people that aren't already indoctrinated by the copious amounts of ham group-think. A licence geared to VHF is appropriate, but it won't solve the numbers issue.
Keep things like the Es'Hail satellite in mind. This is microwave stuff that has nothing to do with HF or band propagation, and it can be done out of an urban apartment with a small dish. 24/7 comms with most of a hemisphere, voice and text. We need to start preparing for *that* kind of future new ham, but we're going in the *opposite* direction: impersonal, content-free HF "exchanges" (i.e FT8).
What does this new kind of ham (prospective or actual) find when they approach the hobby? An insular culture of putative "intellects" with a 1950's social mindset, grappling with technology from the '90s, doubling down on HF operation as the very definition and ultimate destination of amateur radio.
No matter how easy the exam might be, the actual culture will continue to repel, dismay, and disappoint more people than it embraces and nurtures.
Todd - thanks for your input. Food for thought.
Post a Comment