[Boatanchors] The Silence of the Bands

[Howard Weeks]

I got on the air as a novice in Jan 1957 at the age of 15. I got 
interested in ham radio because I was listening to them while repairing 
house radios that had a short wave band on them. Busted my rear, learned 
the code by myself, passed the test and spent 1957 in serious CW 
operation. By early 1958, I passed the Conditional Class test. 
Subsequently, the Advanced and Extra. I did that because I was 
"motivated" to do so - no other reason. I wanted to learn everything I 
could about radios and electronics and "ham radio"(then)was a very good 
vehicle for that purpose.

I operated continuously until the early 80's and was transferred to the 
Washington area. By then, there wasn't one in a hundred QSO's (HF and 
VHF)that I had the slightest interest in joining. Maybe my interests 
were changing, I am sure they were. On the other hand, the dialog on the 
ham bands was becoming very empty by that time as well.

I joined the ARRL in the late 50's and looked forward to QST every month 
because there was stuff in them that was of interest to me. By the early 
70's, they had become nothing but ads, DX, and contest trivia - nothing 
of interest to me any longer. The ARRL involvement with the so called 
Incentive Licensing crap in the middle 60's helped to seal my departure. 
I do subscribe to QEX because of the technical content - nothing else. I 
am now considering dropping it as well. I would like to be able to 
support the ARRL but they just do not have anything to sell me. I am not 
convinced they have the best interest of the hobby guiding their 
operations. They certainly appear, based on what they do and not what 
they say, to be a commercial entity.

Ham radio, as a hobby, is continually being dumbed down. That is killing 
the hobby, not helping it. If it continues, it will be a copy the CB 
band in the near future. If so, I will be gone in a second. I value 
quality much more than quantity!

I started collecting and restoring vintage communication receivers in 
the early 60's and that is and remains my passion for ham radio - and I 
do not need a license for that.

I am convinced that the major problem we have is one of "motivation". 
That is what makes a new member participate, upgrade, and be a 
contributing member of the hobby. An easy license, a hand held, ARRL, 
and the current use of repeaters is not a motivator. The license gives 
them a chance to evaluate the hobby and what they find is not what it 
takes to keep them. The instant and easy gratification they want is not 
there.

I wish I could offer a reasonable solution to the issue of motivation 
but I can't. Given all the causes and alternatives that have been 
mentioned in earlier messages, I have to conclude that it may be a dying 
hobby.

I am one of the old geezers in the hobby and it is steadily running me off.

I apologize for the rant!

Howard K5JCP







On 9/18/2017 7:53 PM, Bry Carling wrote:
> I think that HALF figure is exaggerated high. I bet if you count how many are still on the air after 12 months it's more like 10%
> 
> Best regards -  AF4K
> 
> 
> On Sep 18, 2017, at 7:27 PM, Ed, k1ggi <k1ggi at comcast.net<mailto:k1ggi at comcast.net>> wrote:
> 
> Been following this thread and haven't seen mention of this.
> 
> The August 3 ARRL Letter included the remarkable tidbit that "market
> research findings ... have continued to reveal that only a small percentage
> of new hams join the League, and only about one-half of new hams actually