# Whatever happened to ham radio? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334 "2018-04-30T05:28:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/21 "2018-05-01T02:45:23Z")
When the first tornado listed here occurred, in addition to causing relatively little property damage, it completely knocked out power, Internet, and both cell and landline service to the town of Bowling Green, Missouri, and until the ham radio operators showed up, some people wondered if the town had been wiped off the map. It hadn’t been; utilities were restored within a matter of hours and the townspeople were fine. > **[Tornado outbreak sequence of April 19–24, 2011](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_sequence_of_April_19%E2%80%9324,_2011)** > > An extended period of significant tornado activity affected the Midwest and Southern United States from April 19 to April 24, 2011, with 134 tornadoes being spawned across six days. The outbreak produced an EF4 tornado that tore through the St. Louis metropolitan area on April 22, while other tornadoes caused damage in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, and other parts of Missouri during the period. No fatalities were reported in this outbreak. This event was directly followed by... ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/22 "2018-05-01T03:48:50Z")
> [@Oglomott](#): > > You may be mistaking CB radio for ham radio. No, I’m not. > [@](#): > > Not the same thing. CB radio is an unlicensed service utilizing 40 channels in the 26/27MHz range, and limited to four watts output (in the USA). Ham radio users are licensed, must pass a written test, and are issued callsigns which must be used as identification over the air. In ham radio, your “handle” is your first name, which is used in conjunction with your FCC assigned call sign. There are many different ham frequency bands authorized; there is much more frequency spectrum available to hams than in the CB band. Yes, I know - my husband had his FCC call sign, but one of the things hams used to do was send postcards to people they had contacted on which were written additional things like nicknames. Since he had a very common first name he used his nickname to distinguish himself from all the other people with his first name. He had quite a collection of the postcards. I remember he used to bitch a lot about the Morse code requirements - he really struggled with that. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/23 "2018-05-01T15:42:09Z")
The internet and mobile phones happened to Amateur Radio. Outside of its usefulness in remote areas and during emergency situations, It’s much much easier for people to communicate with each other over long distances via the internet/mobile. So as a hobby it has become extremely niche. I have a technician’s class license (KD8BAM) and I rarely, if ever actually use it for communications. Almost all of my Ham activity has been using packet radio for transmitting data without relying on an internet connection. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/24 "2018-05-01T16:24:05Z")
One of the later ham environments is Digital Mobile Radio, or D-Star. Not the same thing though similar. You connect to a repeater that is internet connected to others around the world or state. You can then chat with other hams in a group. Kind of like the chat rooms on the 'net, but using radio. By selecting different repeaters to relay to you connect to different areas or world wide. And you can do it from your car, boat, bicycle etc. Put of range of a repeater as I am? Use an internet connected RF Hotspot. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/25 "2018-05-01T18:43:18Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I am not a ham operator, but it is my understanding that the Morse code requirement was dropped a few years ago (2007 if my googling is correct). There has been a no-code option since the early 80s. I licensed as a no-code Technician class in 1992 or so. The code requirement was dropped for all other classes about the 2007 time you mention. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > My brother has had a ham license since he was a teenager (\>30 years). He renewed his license several years ago, $50 for 10 years. If he paid, he was cheated. It’s a [free renewal](https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/guideshelp/common-filing-tasks/common-filing-task-renewing-license) via the FCC web site. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/26 "2018-05-01T21:13:29Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > There has been a no-code option since the early 80s. I licensed as a no-code Technician class in 1992 or so. The code requirement was dropped for all other classes about the 2007 time you mention. > > If he paid, he was cheated. It’s a [free renewal](https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/guideshelp/common-filing-tasks/common-filing-task-renewing-license) via the FCC web site. And recently they’ve even made vanity calls free. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/27 "2018-05-01T21:34:05Z")
Several years ago I was called by a ham radio operator to relay a message from someone who’d read a letter I sent to a magazine. (They liked the letter.) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/28 "2018-05-01T21:40:12Z")
In the early days ham radio was a significant source of electronic technological innovation. Is that still happening at all? ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/29 "2018-05-01T21:58:45Z")
One of my brothers had a theory about the decline of amateur photography. He felt that amateur photography had been replaced by other forms of tech. Even if that tech had nothing to do with photography. The idea is that the same type of people who might have taken up amateur photography as a hobby several decades ago would now take up other forms of tech hobbies. I suspect that something similar is at work in the decline of ham radio. It’s not just that there are other forms of communication, but other forms of technology have replaced ham radio as a hobby, appealing to that same personality type. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/30 "2018-05-01T22:46:38Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > One of my brothers had a theory about the decline of amateur photography. He felt that amateur photography had been replaced by other forms of tech. Even if that tech had nothing to do with photography. The idea is that the same type of people who might have taken up amateur photography as a hobby several decades ago would now take up other forms of tech hobbies. > > I suspect that something similar is at work in the decline of ham radio. It’s not just that there are other forms of communication, but other forms of technology have replaced ham radio as a hobby, appealing to that same personality type. Oh, that’s not even debatable, in that the early microcomputer hobbyist world was centered around amateur radio and radio hobbyists: MITS advertised their early kit computers in _Radio-Electronics_ magazine, and the very idea of a kit computer presupposes a familiarity with soldering and other basic electronics that hams building their own rigs would have had. There was definitely overlap, and I think your substitution theory follows naturally from that. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/31 "2018-05-02T00:05:41Z")
Extra class ham here. I’m a contester and participate in quite a few contests throughout the year. This year marks my 33rd consecutive Field Day in June. And I worked the November sweepstakes and took first place in my category and region. Great hobby. Been licensed since 1982 and highly recommend it. Get a good mentor as well. Someone who really loves the radio stuff and can teach you. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334/32 "2018-05-02T00:40:44Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > This year marks my 33rd consecutive Field Day in June. And I worked the November sweepstakes and took first place in my category and region. That’s impressive. What category were you? Tell us about your station? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-ham-radio/813334.md?page=1)