[ADXA] ADXA Digest, Vol 185, Issue 1

[Dennis Schaefer]

John Makes a good point about DMR and that is basically the way I feel.  I
use both DMR and FT8 but neither are attractive enough to lure me away from
the kinds of things I've always done.  Ham radio is many different hobbies
and many don't understand DX'ers at all.  Learning about anything and using
it successfully is always worthwhile.  I think both DMR and fT8 are helping
new hams get active and that is necessary for our survival.  We have a
relatively new ham who has a horrible noise problem and can't hear much on
any mode except FT8.  We are working on it, but in the meantime, he can
operate.   VHF hams who get on DMR can talk to people all over the world,
and might get interestd in HF Dx'ing, but if not, they probably wouldn't
have anyway. They may live in an antenna-restricted place, too.   I think
the concerns about DMR and fT8 really hurting ham radio are overblown, and
most of us will continue to try most new things, dwell on it for awhile,
and then make it a major or minor part of our ham experience.  In the
meantime, I'll continue to encourage those getting into FT8 and DMR and
whatever other new modes come out.  They don't have to like CW to be my
friend, and I can respect and relate to them no matter what their favorite
interest is.  I do a little EME with JT65.  The CW EME guys are
disappointed that digital is making it easier, but that's just progress.
And - someday I'm going to make an EME contact on CW!

73,
Dennis

>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2019 23:09:47 -0500
> From: John Evans <wb5bhs at gmail.com>
> To: adxa at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [ADXA] Additional comments on DMR
> Message-ID:
>         <
> CAM2t9zK_fTjDJRSzMANJR5ScqDT+WvarB9TyW0dmY1Xf6j96BA at mail.gmail.com>
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>
> All,
>
> I guess I am on a roll tonight.   I do have a couple of comments about DMR.
>
>
> First off, I do not believe that a QSO on DMR should count for anything
> other than a nice QSO.   No DX, WAS or any award.   And yes there are many
> folks that think working Europe from TX on DMR deserves to counted as DX.
> But as we all know this is no different than using your Cell Phone, Skype
> or any other VoIP Service.
>
> The observation that I do want to make about DMR is this.   If you listen
> to Talk Group 3100, Talk Group TAC 310 or Talk Group 913 you will hear
> radio traffic for the most part.   But just sit and listen for a few hours
> on Talk Group 310.   During that time period you will hear AT LEAST ONE NEW
> Amateur Radio Operator, but sometimes Two or Three new Amateur Radio
> Operators.
>
> They are making their very first QSO on DMR.   You too can enjoy their
> excitement with them as they work their first DX Contact.   Give one of
> these new guys a call, ask them about DMR and how they got started.
> Almost every one of them have the exact same story.... just the times and
> locations are different.   But the typical conversation starts with they
> saw this DMR Mode demonstrate.   They found out more information about
> Amateur Radio, they studied or went to a class, got their ticket and now
> they are on the air.
>
> How many folks do you work on 20M CW that are brand spanking new Amateur
> Radio Operators.   They saw CW demonstrated at a club meeting and thought
> that was something they wanted to try.   So they learned the code, studied
> the theory and got their license.   Not that many I suspect.
>
> DMR is bringing new blood into our hobby.   Folks are getting their Amateur
> Radio Operator's License because of DMR.   Our job as Experience Operators
> is to help these guys and get them started into the hobby.   We need to
> welcome them into the Fraternity of Amateur Radio and not talk down to them
> because they are not really using a real radio to make contacts.   They
> have already done the hard part, they studied, they got a license and they
> got a radio all on their own.... lets try and get them pointed into the
> right direction.
>
> At least DMR is slowly pulling in new Amateur Radio Operators, very few if
> any, other aspects of Amateur Radio bringing in new folks every day.
>
> -John
>
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