HAM Radio Is Dying — And It’s Our Fault?
- Thread starter Apparition
- Start date
I am not going to listen to 10 minutes of that, but the old neckbeards have definitely killed the "hobby". To be fair GMRS has also very much helped move us off the gate keeping of HAM tests for $25.
DirtDawg
TJ Enthusiast
Hard to disagree with his points...
My buddy and I run mobile units in our jeeps and SxS (headsets in latter) vs CB or FRS with all regional repeater duplex frequencies programmed. Aside from superior car-to-car communication clarity, a big reason for those repeaters being in case of medical emergency for ourselves or others encountered off-pavement or to report a fire or other situation. Great in theory but what if nobody is monitoring those specific repeaters, thus no response to an emergency CQ?
The HAM club in my former town demonstrated what "Josh" warned, wherein old-time "Elmer" members didn't seem much interested in mentoring new radio users. Yes, that club hosted periodic HAM licensing classes but getting the basic Technician license is the easy part. Knowledge of local area frequencies (simplex and duplex) as well as how to program radios has a learning curve. Not difficult but much easier with simple guidance. Said buddy and I were instrumental convincing the jeep club in that town to adopt HAM several years ago as an alternative to CB, which many did (with or without being licensed).
But then perhaps, I/we are part of the problem with no desire to monitor radio communications aside from off-pavement usage. I only twice participated in a weekly Net session as one never interested in that as a hobby or using a base station.
My buddy and I run mobile units in our jeeps and SxS (headsets in latter) vs CB or FRS with all regional repeater duplex frequencies programmed. Aside from superior car-to-car communication clarity, a big reason for those repeaters being in case of medical emergency for ourselves or others encountered off-pavement or to report a fire or other situation. Great in theory but what if nobody is monitoring those specific repeaters, thus no response to an emergency CQ?
The HAM club in my former town demonstrated what "Josh" warned, wherein old-time "Elmer" members didn't seem much interested in mentoring new radio users. Yes, that club hosted periodic HAM licensing classes but getting the basic Technician license is the easy part. Knowledge of local area frequencies (simplex and duplex) as well as how to program radios has a learning curve. Not difficult but much easier with simple guidance. Said buddy and I were instrumental convincing the jeep club in that town to adopt HAM several years ago as an alternative to CB, which many did (with or without being licensed).
But then perhaps, I/we are part of the problem with no desire to monitor radio communications aside from off-pavement usage. I only twice participated in a weekly Net session as one never interested in that as a hobby or using a base station.
I didn’t listen to it all either and I agree GMRS is a big factor. Run Inreach and my iPhone can talk to satellites if I need long range communication off grid.
Honestly this is the same thought that @sab mentioned in the 3d printing thread... I want to communicate with my friends jeeping not have to tinker with radios. Same thing there, I want to make things, not tinker with a printer.
I don't miss all the big Ham Radio Towers that used to be on many homes around town. And think of all the money spent to buy and erect them.
Didn't watch it, yet, but if it talks about losing the emergency capabilities that the HAM community provides, I agree 100%. The HAM community does so much behind the scenes to assist during disasters, and the government can't replicate that on their own. Losing that community is not good, but it may be inevitable. Nobody wants to learn that skillset anymore.
I take a different view here, barring some special cases - if there's an emergency I really do not care what the law says - anyone that can help communicate in a constructive way should do so. No one is going to worry about a license (again, barring some extraordinary situations).
I suppose I am guilty of not participating on the local ham radio repeaters . I use my HF radio nearly every morning visiting with friends , but I haven't participated on the local nets in some time . The main reason I stopped participating in the weekly nets was the time of night, just wasn't convenient for me . Sometimes I still participate when we have severe weather . Without much success , I have tried to get some friends to get their license .
GMRS is popular because it's much easier to obtain the license and it covers your immediate family members . GMRS shares the frequencies with FRS which doesn't require a license. This makes GMRS perfect for off roading and traveling . The UHF band that GMRS and FRS uses is much nicer than using the CB band that we used for many years trail riding . While the 2 meter VHF Ham band normally gives you better distance , that's usually not a problem while trail riding . Our Jeep has Ham , GMRS , FRS , CB and Cellular capabilities . I usually carry a couple of extra portable radios if someone in the group needs communications . We also have the capability of stationary HF Ham radio if needed for long range communication .
I may get more active in the future as I do believe it is important to have the local repeaters operational .
GMRS is popular because it's much easier to obtain the license and it covers your immediate family members . GMRS shares the frequencies with FRS which doesn't require a license. This makes GMRS perfect for off roading and traveling . The UHF band that GMRS and FRS uses is much nicer than using the CB band that we used for many years trail riding . While the 2 meter VHF Ham band normally gives you better distance , that's usually not a problem while trail riding . Our Jeep has Ham , GMRS , FRS , CB and Cellular capabilities . I usually carry a couple of extra portable radios if someone in the group needs communications . We also have the capability of stationary HF Ham radio if needed for long range communication .
I may get more active in the future as I do believe it is important to have the local repeaters operational .
I think Harold&Cat points out some of the things you may not be considering, rasband. There's a lot more to communications than just buying a radio, tuning to a frequency and talking. The HAM community has equipment and knows how to use it on a wide spectrum of frequencies, all having unique characteristics that are useful in many different scenarios (world-wide communications by radio blows my mind, for instance!) That knowledge and equipment at the ready is what we're at risk of losing as the hobby dies out. I'm not a HAM and have no interest in it as a hobby, but I appreciate the skills those old HAMs have.
Someone down from me recently installed a huge antenna in their back yard within the last couple of months. Didn't even notice until recently.
Ive seen an awful lot of HAMs vigorously protecting the hobby and frequencies but very, very, little outreach to bring new people in.
Yep, sad to see the hobby going to the wayside. I'm fairly new to the hobby, but have enjoyed trying to keep the hobby alive in my area. I run a GMRS net every week, joined the local HAM club, and play HF when I have the spare time. Once you weed thru some of the sad hams, you generally find some good people willing to help you.
My two brothers are both HAMs. One has been into it off and on for decades. The other just got into it. He just got an HF radio, and I didn't realize the range on those! He lives on the east coast, and his local club has been incredibly helpful to him. Just like every other hobby out there, you'll find helpful people and grumpy people. Unfortunately, with the HAM community aging out, there need to be many more helpful than grumpy people to keep the hobby alive!
HAM radio is the only way to communicate should the grid go down unintentionally or intentionally. It's station to station without a third party.
Only locally, or a bit farther with repeaters, but there aren't nearly as many GMRS repeaters as HAM repeaters. Where HAM rigs shine is for national/global communications. HAMs using HF and other parts of the spectrum can talk to each other all over the country/globe. HF requires very long antennas (the one my brother just installed at home is 133' long), so it's not portable. So, in a SHTF situation, HAMs using HF rigs will be the source of national news. For instance, if I was HF-equipped, and China started bombing us
, I could contact my brother on the east coast to see how he's doing. But I'm not a HAM, don't have an HF rig, and really don't want to, so that's purely a hypothetical. I've always counted on local HAMs using HF to communicate and then locally sharing the news, but if the HAMs disappear, that's a big loss of emergency comms...
Sure, but they're relatively short range. Shortwave radios can reach all over the world. I heard that when 9/11 happened the HAM operators were the first to transmit the news.
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