I was amazed to discover that Ham radio is still a popular hobby.
I remember back in about 1975-1980 a few people I knew were really into it.They would sit for hours listening to a huge volume of static, twisting dials to receive high, shrieking squeals.Then they would , just barely, make out a human voice through all the noise, and exchange a few words of greeting.
The big thrill was exchanging business cards through the mail, and pinning them up on the wall.
“Look!!–I have cards from people in 25 different countries!!!” they would tell me excitedly.
I tried not to show my boredom, but at least I could see why it might be a bit of fun. It was very high-tech for its day, and the idea of speaking to somebody on the other side of the planet was pretty exotic back then.
But, gee whiz, —nowadays we’ve got the internet.So what’s the point?
Just because another method of doing something arises, it doesn’t mean everyone will stop doing things a different, older way, particularly when they enjoy it.
Some people still choose to use quill pens, even though they have been superseded by fountain pens, the ballpoint, gel rollerballs, and various electronic writing devices.
My dad has lived and breathed ham radio since he was 16. For him, it’s about the gadgetry. My parents’ basement looks like it might be a Radio Shack that exploded in 1953.
Also, ham radio, like the Internet, has its own “culture” of lingo, activities, etc. They have clubs, meetings, hamfests, Field Day contests, and so on. People who are into it aren’t going to give it up just because there’s an alternative.
Third, many hams step up and provide emergency communication networks in the event of a disaster. At times like that, we can use all the help we can get.
I like the Internet and all, but it is not the only form of communication in the world. Some people do perfectly fine without it, believe it or not.
I’m sure some actual hams will be along shortly – N9IWP?
Wow! I think this is the first time I have been referenced in a thread before I have posted in it.
Actually, I’m not very active. The only activity I do semi-regularly is WX spotting.
I usually do this from home, but lots of people go to strategic spots and look for wall clouds and report hail sizes.
There is siginificant computer based ham radio activity. I recenty saw a presentation on slow scan television. (think of it as a radio fax, in full color)
One coll thing that I know has been done is puting instrumentation (including a camera) in a WX balloon and then transmitting telemetry.
People also communicate with sattelites including the ISS.
I’d say the interenet has impacted ham radio. For me at least it has decreased some activity.
Ex-K0YBB here (Young Brown Bear, or Yum-Brigitte Bardot. That dates me, right?). Got my General at 13, let it lapse later.
I think Ham radio is still alive and kicking, but its focus has changed. It is still the only legal way you can design and operate your own private transmitters above flea-power, and transmitters can be used for a lot more than CQ-ing to South Africa; they can be used to control remote devices, for example.
And as wonderful as the Internet may be, I think hams will be of more use in a real disaster – you know, the kind where all power is off, phones are down, cel towers inoperable, CB radios forgotten, many deaths and injuries. The kind of disaster some people dream of.
I became a ham last year (Technician’s Class – No Code). I find it to be an enjoyable hobby.
It’s true the Internet is (overall) a superior communication medium. But there are advantages and attractions to communicating via amateur radio, namely:
You can communicate while driving.
No viruses or worms to deal with.
Compared to the Internet, amateur radio is simple and elegant.
In an emergency or disaster situation, the infrastructure and utilities necessary to support Internet communication may not be available. But amateur radio communication will always be up and running.
Verbal communication is simpler with amateur radio vs. Internet.
In one sense, amateur radio is more technically challenging, and is thus a more pleasing hobby to “geeky” people such as myself.
Hey man, I grew up on the internet. I’m an internet kid.
But guess what…it hasn’t stopped me from wanting to get into HAM. If only I’d done it before University…arrggh…just too busy these days (plus the equipment costs a fortune. Even the cheap hamfest stuff).
My daughter (16) got her tech class license a year ago, at the same testing session there were two younger than her that passed also, so there is still some new life coming in.
When I was in 5th grade I was in the HAM radio club (1990/91). There were a bunch of us there, all studying/learning to go for a license. I didn’t end up getting one, but a few of the folks did.
I got my ticket back in 1996. For the last couple years, I’ve been inactive, but recently have rediscovered the hobby. I used to do packet radio on 2 meters (something like the internet, for radio) before I got online, but the internet sortr of killed that for me. These days, I do voice via local repeaters on the 2 meter band. You can meet a lot of interesting people that way. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in electronics, or even if you just really like talking to new people. It’s easy, and not terribly expensive to get started. I’ve been thinking of starting an “Ask the Ham Operator” thread, and if there’s enough interest here, I might just do that.
My brother plays around quite a bit on VK3RTV (amateur radio television).
You can see a little of what it’s all about here: http://www.geocities.com/vk3rtv
He’s been doing this for years (probably 30 or more).
I’ve never been nerdy enough to learn CW so I could get the appropriate license to play around on amateur TV, although I would dearly love to.
According to your link, VK3RTV transmits int he 23 and 70 cm bands. I don’t know what the licensing requirements are in Australia, but here in the US, all bands from 6 meters and up are open to tech and legacy novice class tickets with no CW requirement. No-code technician class is probably the most popular starting license class.
At the turn of the last century some enterprising chaps in England and France were discovering how to make primitive photographs. Upon viewing one, someone whose name escapes me declared, “the age of the painting is dead.” It wasn’t, though. Photography just gave painters the balls to try new things.
Back when they invented radio and people started setting up commercial radio stations, people all over the world declared that newspapers and magazines were obsolete. After all, why read the news when you could listen to it?
Newspapers changed; they started printing evening editions and focusing on a wider variety of subject matter in order to compete with radio news. But they didn’t go away.
Then when they invented television, people all over the world declared that the radio was obsolete. What’s the point of listening to a broadcast when you could watch one instead?
Radio changed; after a while no more serialized radio shows were being produced. News was relegated to a few dedicated stations in each market. Recorded music became the dominant content. But they didn’t go away.
Then they invented the Internet. People all over the world are declaring that television, radio, paper of all sorts, movies and books are all obsolete. I predict that they aren’t going anywhere.
New modes of expression very rarely supplant old ones. They may change the context in which the old ones exist, but they don’t make it go away.
According to the Wireless Institute of Australia (http://www.wia.org.au/info/gettingstarted.php) I believe I should start at the Novice level and progress to Limited before I can get on the 6m and higher bands.
If I start at Novice then I need to do 5wpm which is probably not that hard, but my brain is getting full and new stuff I learn is starting to push out some of the old stuff (I’m only 39 too).
It’s possible I could start at Limited, but I’m not sure. I might do some double checking. I would dearly love to have a TV station in the computer room. It would be so cool.
With the repeater at Mt. Dandenong transmitting at 444MHz, you can pick up the signal on your normal TV and I quite often watch what’s going on without being able to participate.
I might go and annoy Big Brother Nerd and get him to help me cram for the test (or pay him to take the test for me. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.)
A fact that has been a continual source of disappointment and frustration to me since I got licensed 14 years ago.
As others have pointed out, ham radio is alive and well. I love it for a variety of reasons - I’m into electronics, radio itself has always seemed a bit like magic to me, it attracts a lot of like-minded geeky types, etc. I’m fascinated by many aspects of the hobby, from the cutting edge (high speed digital, spread spectrum, microwave, satellite) to the low-tech/retro (crystal radios, shortwave). I figure I’m well equipped to help build a communications infrastructure before or after the fall of civilization as we know it! Heh…
The internet certainly hasn’t killed ham radio, it’s enhanced it, with echolink being the most obvious example.
Others have given partial answers to your question, but there’s a bit more to it. I think it’s important to add the following perspective:
A friend of mine who lives in the UK (but travels the world in his job) tries to arrange to have some of his US seminars (scheduled by his employer) in mid- to late May so that he can attend the Dayton Hamvention each year. By his descriptions, I gather that there are thousands of attendees from almost everywhere, plus hundreds of vendors - one year (when they were still fairly pricey) he brought me a scanner he bought there for $50 (no, of course it wasn’t a brand name, but it works very well).
And he told me several years ago that if you don’t make your hotel reservations while you’re there in a given year, you will probably have to sleep on the floor of somebody else’s room the next year.
IOW, it’s not just doing public service or socializing over the air; there’s a significant component of FTF social life for those who are so inclined (kinda like local/regional Dopefests, except much larger.