I've only dabbled in FT8 so I'm not an evangelist for it, but the
hundreds of folks who are on FT8 almost constantly certainly haven't
lost interest in ham radio. They just enjoy something different than
you do ... something that by the way has significant signal to noise
advantages for folks with minimal antennas. Almost all of the people
who are active on FT8 aren't new hams ... they are hams who used to rag
chew or DX on SSB and CW. They just found something more interesting to
them. I have a pretty good station and on a non-contest weekday I can
typically find maybe five QSOs that aren't on FT8. You can't tell me
that talking on SSB is harder than making a contact on FT8 ... except of
course that there are so few people to talk to on SSB anymore.
And for sure "making it hard and interesting" certainly isn't going to
appeal to the young folks ham radio needs to maintain the hobby. They
have all sorts of other ways to achieve that. The competitive ones play
video games, the techies work with software, and the chatters have their
cellphones (Facebook and innumerable online forums like this one).
I find it hilarious that the folks who regularly despair about the lack
of interest in ham radio are the ones who are so very much against
anything new that might entice new members. Read the posts on the
subject here ... almost every one of them (including yours) talks about
what THEY think ham radio is about and how they somehow think that the
aspects of it that are no longer interesting to the great majority of
the general population are what will save it. It's like trying to
convince somebody to ride a horse to work (or school) because THEY think
it was more interesting than driving a car. Nobody actually cares
enough to think about what we could do differently that might actually
appeal to people who AREN'T already hams ... and if they do they reject
it because it isn't what ham radio was.
Ham radio is dying because we're stuck in the 1960's and 1970's ...
which of course is when most of us got licensed. Yes, there are
anecdotal exceptions and somebody is bound to put forth an example of
some student who just got their license, all while of course ignoring
the fact that almost all of them lose interest very quickly. For many
of them, the interesting challenge is getting the license ... actually
operating not so much. They soon change ... we don't.
Dave AB7E
On 8/30/2025 10:11 PM, dyno lab via Elecraft wrote:
FT8 and some other modes have made it too easy to sit on our backsides and let
the computer do the work while we gradually lose interest.
It takes the excitement out of making contacts the hard way.
No wonder so many are giving up.
There was a time when we built our own equipment and could not wait to put it
on the air.
We need something that makes it hard and interesting again.
I thank the Ol Man Upstairs that I still find it really fun and interesting to
see a problem and go about building something to fix it.
73,
Hal
W7YNC
DynoLab.com
On 08/30/2025 6:51 PM PDT Glenn Maclean via Elecraft <[email protected]>
wrote:
I have to say. The on going Morse Code Class I teach at a local bar because the owner is a ham and welcomes the class. I am little by little getting more students that see our table and are curious. I give them my spiel about ham radio and why Morse Code. Which is when boom boom the lights go out Morse Code will always come through! Then the next thing I know I end up with a new student who wants to become a ham! The new students are in their 20’s - 30’s
Glenn Maclean WA7SPY
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 30, 2025, at 09:03, [email protected] wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Effective ways to introduce amateur radio to newcomers?
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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2025 11:12:55 -0400
From: email <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Effective ways to introduce amateur radio to
newcomers?
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Why ?? (Why is it necessary that we talk other people into ham radio in
the first place??)? WELL, In the USA, the average age (determined by my
browser) is 65 years old.? That means in 20-30 years, that 800K number
will be 400K without adding new (younger hams) ???
My kids are in there 30's (and have let the license lapse - but plan on
renewing ??)
My wife is not active...
I know a number of hams in retirement communities that are not active.
How many of the 800K are active ??
I have a friend (Scout admin I work with/for) that had a novice in grade
school, she let it lapse a number of years ago.? I have been giving her
Tech class info and she may have time to do the zoom class...? She did
like CW (still knows it).? I may give/lend her my "old" NorCal 40.? It
would be nice to have a kit again ??? for new hams.? The NorCal 40 is
simple to use and a single band dipole is simple to "throw" into a tree...
73, Steve WB3LGC
On 7/26/25 18:57, David Gilbert via Elecraft wrote:
Exactly.
Trying to talk people into being interested in things we're interested
in for the reasons we're interested in them is a foolish endeavor.?
Evangelism is boring and off-putting.? The best we can do is describe
what ham radio can offer and let people decide if that has any
interest for them.
If we have to convince somebody that ham radio is interesting to them,
then it probably isn't and even if they go along it won't last.
Which brings me to this question:
*
Why is it necessary that we talk other people into ham radio in the
first place?? * There are supposedly close to 800,000 licensed hams in
the U.S., which is a bigger market and a bigger pool of like minds
than LOTS of other activities.? Is there some sort of collective
insecurity complex going on every time this comes up? And it comes up
with annoying frequency on almost every forum.
Dave? ?AB7E
On 7/26/2025 2:27 PM, Fred Jensen via Elecraft wrote:
They almost all view ham radio from a utilitarian perspective, not as
a hobby ... they have hobbies and interests. Probably the largest
non-work interests were in the outdoors.
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