Southgate News has some feedback on a Freedom of Information request made to OFCOM asking for data on the age of radio amateurs. As no age records need to be kept now, the released data is only partial.
I think it is fair to say that many (most?) UK radio amateurs are old. It is also well known that most are men.
Recently, our local church has lost several members who have either died or moved away. What will amateur radio look like in 20 years' time?
6 comments:
In 20 years time I'll be 73. But those that are in their seventies now (a lot of OM are) most of them will not be alive I guess. We'll see, I guess I'll tell you in 20 years....if you're still alive. 73, Bas
Flippin eck, I will be nearly 80 and only two more Sunspot cycles to go!!
Better make the most of my time left on this planet, what next rig can I make or buy?
Just for the thought G3XBM the year is 2041 and you will be in your 90's.
Hope we all are all still around?
73's Steve
In 20 years' time I would be 92!! If I am still alive I would probably depend on a network radio ... assuming I still know what the controls do! :-(
I suspect this will be my last sunspot cycle, or at least the last I am aware of! ;-)
20 years? Try looking at 5 years ahead.
Once people move into a nursing home or "assisted living", standard HF operation is largely out of the question. And we've basically *defined* the hobby as HF phone operation, with anything else being considered as an inferior diversion or not "real" amateur radio.
Yep, we took the aspect of the hobby that's probably the *least* suited for an aging demographic, and bet all the marbles on that. Brilliant, really.
Antenna restrictions are now common, and will just get worse. Sure, there are compromise solutions. If you explore them thoroughly, you may actually have the chance to have some "big gun" snob chuckle at your "compromise solutions". Because we've cleverly elevated elitism and snobbery into something that every senior operator is entitled to.
Instead of looking at these immense *social* barriers, we'll keep obsessing over hardware, licensing, and 'education' (indoctrination). Or we'll break it down into simplistic cartoons: unquestionably Good Guys and irredeemably Bad Guys.
Hint: the Bad Guys are the ones who fail to parrot the proper opinions on cue. Might as well toss a heaping handful of 1950's-style conformity into this toxic mix, right?
We have talked about our aging population in the hobby many times. It bothers me that things have to change or we will just die out. I suspect this applies in other areas of society too.
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