I have been a licensed Ham for two-and-a-half years. Not once has anyone asked me to help them get into it, though my family, friends, and acquaintances all know about my hobby... When I take a radio to a public place, all I get is "People are still using those!?" or "Morse code is still used!?" It feels like I have a tyrannosaur on a leech and they ask me if those are still around... All they know is that you can send a text message instantly to anywhere in the world. They have no idea how it works and how fragile the system is. Bottom line is, people will not get interested in radio if they don't see it in action.
We need to take our radios outside of the house. Take that QRP rig to public places and turn the volume up. Sadly, it might get you the wrong kind of attention today, but it might help some people realize that yes, radio is still used today and Morse code didn't disappear right after WWII. Nobody but us can do that. It's not television, movies or magazines that will promote the hobby.
I don't want to have to answer some day "nah, nobody uses those anymore, that just looks good on the mantle..." It's great to "radio-prep," but we do need other people to talk to...
Gil.
Gil, my take on it is that radio is no longer enough as a hobby for its own sake as far as the traditional technically bent in the population are concerned. Technology has well surpassed ham radio for day to day lives, and the technological frontier is not ham radio anymore.
These days we need to show how ham radio can support other activities and interests. Prepping is one classic example. We also see a fair uptake in model rocketry for telemetry using digital etc. 4x4 clubs and motorbike touring groups currently benefit too.
So the bigger question I see is, what other hobbies and interests is radio a good fit for, and how can we show them the value that radio would offer them?
Let's also accept that ham radio is very expensive compared to most other technology related pursuits, which sadly does play a part.
Quote from: gil on March 02, 2015, 02:42:04 AM
I have been a licensed Ham for two-and-a-half years. Not once has anyone asked me to help them get into it, though my family, friends, and acquaintances all know about my hobby... When I take a radio to a public place, all I get is "People are still using those!?" or "Morse code is still used!?" It feels like I have a tyrannosaur on a leech and they ask me if those are still around... All they know is that you can send a text message instantly to anywhere in the world. They have no idea how it works and how fragile the system is. Bottom line is, people will not get interested in radio if they don't see it in action.
We need to take our radios outside of the house. Take that QRP rig to public places and turn the volume up. Sadly, it might get you the wrong kind of attention today, but it might help some people realize that yes, radio is still used today and Morse code didn't disappear right after WWII. Nobody but us can do that. It's not television, movies or magazines that will promote the hobby.
I don't want to have to answer some day "nah, nobody uses those anymore, that just looks good on the mantle..." It's great to "radio-prep," but we do need other people to talk to...
Gil.
Careful what you wish for, the bands are pretty crowded as it is ! Last time I took mine out into a public park and set it up, I had folks asking me if I was a spy cause I was sitting there working code and they were mad that they couldn't understand what I was sending and started making rude comments about me tying up a picnic table. I just told them the info I was sending was not for them and they didn't need to understand it <grin>. Then I noticed a sheriff's cruiser pull in about 100 feet away watching me. I just waved at them and smiled figuring they would come and question me, but they just left !
Personally I don't see any need to promote amateur radio, those who are interested will find it, those who aren't - by definition - aren't interested. I'll welcome with open arms those who show interest but the people who respond with "What's the point of that? I can call anyone in the world with my cellphone" clearly don't see the magic of radio and nothing I could say would probably convince them otherwise.
I think I'm a pretty typical example. I wanted to be a ham while I was in college. I didn't become one until I was 52, mainly because I didn't know any hams and never saw it in action. What finally got me into it was seeing a table full of ham gear on public display with a club member talking-up ham radio and drumming up interest in the club and their license class.
Granted, today the internet makes it enormously easier to find out about things and hook up with people that can help you along. But I agree with Gil that showing it off in public will help bring people in.
Hello, it the past 30 years I have seen a lot of changes. Now that we have cell phones, a ham using a Ht does not draw much attention. When I operate a Hf portable station, people walk over to see what I am doing. Kind'a retro but sometimes the old stuff is new again. In many areas of the nation, ham radio's big draw is bad weather. Tornadoes in the early Summer, ice and snow storms in the Winter and hurricanes along the coast.
When I look around, the amateur radio community is aging fast. I am almost 60 and that is about the average age of the people in our ham club. Our club has conducted ham classes and over the years we have licensed about 20-30 new amateurs, yet almost none of them ever get on the air. Maybe because the tests are so easy, the new amateurs don't develop a love of the hobby. Maybe the technology is just too simple, there is no longer any "wonderment" or experimentation for new hams. Many new hams think of an amateur radio like you would a toaster or any household appliance. From what I see, in 20 years there is going to be a lot of empty spectrum if we can't energize new amateur operators.
I teach an emergency comms class, streaming online. Two hours of it is programming Baofengs with Chirp. Which can be trying. The main 4hr class covers use of the radio but more importantly using all the other resources as a comprehensive plan. I have a private skype room for all the students for all the follow up questions. Well over 200 people now have radios and know how to use them. Some become hams some don't, hopefully they at least listen to skywarn when needed.
That's my way of trying to make comms a priority.
I have been interested in getting young adults interested in amateur radio, and thought about how to get my own boys interested. So I wrote two fiction books in which radio is the central theme, along with disaster preparedness (to appeal to the more Boy-Scout-oriented demographic). A young adult is the protagonist - my attempt at targeting kids. Then I wrote a book on emergency comms, targeted at my mom, an audience with no engineering background. While it covers various technologies (e.g. satellite comms, FHSS, CB, FRS/GMRS), the hands-down winner for flexible emcomm solutions is ham radio.
I teach at a local, annual emergency communications academy, a class targeted at new or aspiring hams. That said, I still often think about the best way to get new people interested. One way it to target groups who are likely already interested, e.g. preppers, CERT classes, Boy Scouts, etc.
In any case, there is some good news: it appears that the number of hams is on the rise: http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-showing-steady-growth-in-the-us.
On the other hand, if that trend stops, or significantly goes the other way, that could mean lower ARRL membership, less $ for lobbying, and the erosion of the ham bands as other technologies vie for more frequency territory.