The Future of Amateur Radio

[W3WN]

I'm running the VE testing at the club hamfest next weekend.

At the moment, I'm accepting pre-registrations.

Get a phone call at 10:30 PM (EST) last night from the hamfest chair, she'd just received an email from someone inquiring about exams and had forwarded it to me, wanted to make sure I saw it. So, I went over to the computer, read the email; it was from a ham asking if exams would be available on behalf of two friends of his.

Sure.

Replied back to have them email me with their names to get pre-registered.

Got two emails this morning:

hi my name is rob and this guy mark told me to email you about some info about the test.. i got my gmrs license about a year ago besides frn number and what else do i need?? and how much is it and where do i have to go?? thanks for the info

Hello Ron ,My name is Robert [last name and address redacted] Pittsburgh Pa.15210 FRN#[redacted]

Yes, that's the text of each message. Period.

Somehow, for some odd reason, I'm just not enthusiastic about these candidates.

[WØTKX]

If you get an FRN#, you're good to go?

No Ham Left Behind?

:shifty:

[KC2UGV]

Well, in fairness, the second one might be just sending you the info he believes you need to register to sit for the test. The first guy? Um...

[W3WN]

I hear you Corey.

Clearly there's a bit of a disconnect here. I'm not sure where it is, but clearly it was prior to my receiving the two emails.

I'll be answering both gentlemen later today, with the same basic info. Along with the person who sold me the amp last weekend (currently a General) it looks like I have at least 3 candidates, not too bad.

You should come to the hamfest. The long range forecast is for temperatures in the low 50's, not bad for the end of February. It's only a 3 hour drive or so.

[K7SGJ]

Huh. Seems to me they have the perfect mentality of most of the new hams these days.

[W3WN]

Huh. Seems to me they have the perfect mentality of most of the new hams these days.
So I should tell them to get off my lawn?

[K7SGJ]

Just pass them. There is a good possibility one or both will operate anyway, anywhere they want.

To most CBers, a ham license is only for showing the other CBers that they are smarter than a CBer. Eh?

[PA5COR]

40 years ago hen i sat for my exam, the ham radio world was different, you were seen or as the nutter doing things with wires and antenna's and weird stuff, or as someone to bring their failing radio/telly to for cheap repairs...

There were just a few 1000 licensed hams then, now 14,000.
most got their novice license and kept it and didn't go further, i wasn't even much iinterested in chatting around, i was always building stuff and trying too improve stuff, transmitting was low on the list just listening what i still do most of the time.
Never interested in getting certificates or in contesting either, everyone has his/her side of the hobby i guess.

Now most get an license just to chat over ham bands reaching further as CB or FRS.
The number that goes fo the full license is quite small, aand if, just for the extra high power level to use in contests.

Since the mobile phone and smart phone ham radio lost for the youth a bit of the magic, we try with kids day and Jota/Joti to get them interested but results vary.
In the days i got my license you were doing well if you had a radio and tv set or even audio system as things to keep you busy, now computers smart phones, internet etc are more attractive.

Dying out? no, there will always be a fringe group interested in ham radio, maybe from another perspective as i had, but still..

CB is dead here, and has been for a decade or 2 after the first boom in 1977 when it went legal here, just the odd trucker still using it.
Time will tell i suppose ;)

[K7SGJ]

Yes. There is a glut of old CB equipment around, with mods to put them on 6, 10, and 12 meters. I'm sure there must be mods for other bands as well. Back when CB was big, I bought a 40 channel AM/SSB Sears Roadtalker. I modded it for 10 meters back before it was popular; There wasn't much in the way of mod instructions available either. I had a blast with that thing. I was traveling all over the place when I worked for an NBC affiliate in town. It sure made all the windshield time much more manageable. I still have it somewhere along with a Pace 40 channel rig I converted. Back then. I always wanted to lay my hands on a rig from Europe since they were pretty much all NFM as I recall.

[PA5COR]

Still have a few CB rigs, did some years repairing them to fill the hobby purse, a President lincoln, and a 240 channel "export" rig, including frequency counter and channel indication and all mode including NBFM.
The Lincoln is a basket case and somewhere in time i'll get around to it to repair it to factory specs, the other one is fully functional and somewhere on my workbench in case i need to repair another CB, just checking up on the repair job.

And then i still have the 40 channel NBFM only radio i gave to my now departed father in law to use in their camper on their trips abroad...
In the old days of CB ( 1970-1985) i rebuild old AM/SSB sets with FM modulator and demodulator with 10.595 Monolithic crystal filter to add NBFM.
Adding that filter in our crop of allowed 40 channel NBFM sets enhanced reception bringing channel bleed over to bearable hights. ( lots of traffic in city's where on all roofs were antenna's for CB)
Later they allowed all mode transceivers here which is the norm now.

Still have some 10 new 2SC 1969's around from that time, 2SC2216, MRF 445, and 10 Xfilters monolythic 10.695.

[N8YX]

I still have a few 11M rigs around. All my motorcycles are equipped with an AM-only transceiver and the shack features a rotating arrangement of Stoner or CPI gear. There are a number of Royce and Cobra rigs which are going to be re-homed as I downsize a bit.

That said, CB has its followers in these parts. Not like the boom days of the late 70s but there's enough activity to scare up a conversation if one were so inclined.

Most of the newly minted, local hams don't come from those ranks. They're more from the public service/public safety sector.

[KG4CGC]

9/11 coat tail riders? We still have those.
A couple of years ago I suggested that during downtown festivals where drinking is allowed in the streets that they should perch themselves on rooftops with their radios and binoculars to look for drunks and radio their positions to police if they see them entering their cars. One guy agreed and wanted them all to have guns too. You know, just in case ...

In recent years the city has turned a blind eye to the drunks they sponsor at these festivals.

[WZ7U]

<snip>That said, CB has its followers in these parts. Not like the boom days of the late 70s but there's enough activity to scare up a conversation if one were so inclined.<snip>

Portland Oregon/Vancouver Washington is the same. Not so much out here I think...