[AMRadio] I'm finally back on CW

[Jay Bromley]

>>>I will say one thing that I find disturbing.   In 1976 I was 15.  Most
people that I worked were older than me (although I did work other teens).
Now that I am 52, STILL everyone that I work is older than me.


Hi,
That is because there is a bump at the age of 54 in Ham Radio!  I am at the
age and was licensed in 1972.  I attended an ARRL forum at Hamcom and
listened to Rick Roderick talk about the average age in ham radio.  To cut
to the chase, the bump or average age for amateur radio is 54.  There is a
gentle roll off after that heading towards older hams.  Basically below that
54 age bump there is nothing below us!  While there is always examples (good
ones I might add) that don't fit into this mold, the new kids are not
interested in black boxes and CW for the most part!  When you grow up with a
smart phone that has more power in your hand than an expensive computer just
a few years ago it is not hard to understand why.

Some of you might remember a recent add in QST with a guy holding up a bug
while the kids and their teacher looked at it in amazement.  That picture
was taken from a ham radio demo we did at the U or A Forth Smith.  We had
two ham radio demonstrations, one for a grade school of talented kids and
the other was a demo for the college electronics class.  In the college
class only one person seemed interested to stay after the demo to ask more
questions.  The young kids liked the CW demo, but only while watching me
decode it with software package which was put on a huge screen.  Yes, if you
have a good enough fist, software can decode even a bug.  We had an
excellent op that day, K5JUC, which also gets on with vintage gear.  The
kids seem to relate this decoding to texting and they took delight in
figuring out CW shorthand like ur, tnx, and the Q signals.  This class later
built up a bunch of regen receivers as a class project, but I don't know how
that turned out.  I lost track of them after the demo.  

While teaching a ham class at the beginning of this year I saw this first
hand.  We had the largest turn out ever!  Right at 20 new folks wanting a
ham license and we had no dropouts!!  We only had one teenager in the group
:-( !   After the class he never bothered to take the test that I know of.
The rest had no problem passing and are on their way.  When I inquired as to
why he didn't take the test, I was told it was to add to his bucket list and
he was not interested in becoming a ham at this time.  Maybe later in life,
but a sad state of affairs for sure!

I noted from surveying the class, ex-CBers are no longer the main ones
wanting to get into this hobby.  This was the case a few years ago, now a
days the folks are interested in weather spotting and survivalist radio (aka
doomsday scenario).  The later was surprise when I told them their crank
radios would not survive an EMP and that got me into a huge discussion into
tube type vintage gear.  What is hard teaching these days, the students
don't have any practical experience.  One thing I liked about teaching guys
from the CB ranks was they knew a lot of the terminology.  These new breed
of hams have never seen a VSWR meter or know what a PL-259 connector is used
for.  We might have had two people that even knew what CB radio was!  My oh
my how things have changed!

In the last few decades I am Elmering or offering to Elmer more than ever.
However whether we are talking older generation or kids, no one seems to
want to take the time, or has the time, to learn or be Elmered.  Elmering is
a lost art it would seem.  Look at the stories I continue to see from 3
decades ago or more about kids riding their bikes over to a ham's house
introducing themselves.  Lifelong friendships ensued along with a hobby that
is loved, but today when is the last time you heard of that happening?  Ham
radio was/is magic to me, but for today's kids I am not sure where the magic
is for them?  Have you asked them?

The bottom line that some will not want to hear on this list, if you want to
attract youth, you better be looking high tech.  Statistics don't lie in
this regard if you don't believe what I am saying.  Robots, satellites,
digital and SDR is the way to go to get younger folks into this hobby.  Once
we get them going, then you can convert them to the old ways.  I am hopeful,
some of this will work, but I have my doubts.  

Let me put it from my prospective, I have 3 daughters and one son.  Two of
them have their Technician license.  One girl has her General.  The girls
are not interested in getting on the air, but they like to build and have
built!  The son loves tubes, but only from a musicians point of view, aka
tube guitar amps.  They are all now grown and out of the house.  None of
them get on the air!  My wife bought the youngest girl a dual band HT in
sophomore year.  She is finishing up her Mechanical Engineering degree at
that U of A in Fayetteville, AR.  That was 4 years ago and I am still
waiting for her to make our first QSO!  She mainly uses it for listening to
FM band while doing her homework.  I am worried that in an emergency she
would not know what to do or how to conduct herself.  Maybe it is the
kid/dad thing and she is doing more than I know of?  She is also active in
the U of A's ham club, but again at FD this year had to push her to operate
and even then she mainly logged.  Today's kids are so active in other
things, they don't have time for hobbies like ham radio.

I hate being negative---- ever, but my generation is probably the last one
for ham radio.  When I first started in the 70's you could call CQ on CW on
40m and always get a QSO.  Now if you are wanting a QSO after 10 p.m. you
better have bandscope to hunt for them!  We have more hams than ever, but
they  don't seem to be on the air.  In a way I love the more wide open
spaces as it gives my AM operation a wide berth and there doesn't seem to be
as many QRMers these day when on AM, but times have changed!  

We need to quit thinking that what attracted us to ham radio will work on
the new generation!  Love what you do, but understand that is not going to
work for everyone.  

73 de w5jay/jay..







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