[Elecraft] Reaching Across the Chronological Divide

Sun Dec 22 23:17:51 EST 2019

I think we already discussed that aspect, and the point is that young 
people with a technological inclination are far more likely to be 
interested in software, or robotics, or biomedical ... stuff that has 
more relevance to advancing the world and actually leading to a job.  It 
might be a challenge to bounce a signal of the ionosphere but people 
were doing that 100 years ago.

73,
Dave   AB7E

On 12/22/2019 6:52 PM, Robert G Strickland via Elecraft wrote:
> There is a constant refrain about "communicating with far away 
> places." No doubt that has been one attraction of our hobby. For 
> myself, I was never particularly interested in "communicating." For me 
> it was mastery of a technical environment. Communicating was just the 
> proof that the environment had been mastered. Another way of saying 
> this -maybe- is technology versus sociology. There are many 
> traditional activities that have been replaced by more modern versions 
> [eg, horses versus cars, walking versus bicycling, bow/arrow versus 
> guns]. Yet, there is still interest in the "old way," because the 
> earlier challenges remain in spite of more modern solutions. Getting a 
> signal from my radio, out into the ether, bouncing it off the 
> ionosphere, and back down on the other side is still a challenge. 
> Satellite links and the internet don't negate the ionospheric 
> challenge. Perhaps engaging prospective hams in the technical 
> challenges of the hobby will brings in those who like such challenges. 
> Communicating may be the benny on the other side of mastery.
>
> ...robert KE2WY
>
> On 12/22/2019 16:06, Paul Lannuier wrote:
>> Chariot racing wasn’t about the chariots; it was about the racing. It 
>> was fundamentally no different than modern F1 racing.
>>
>> 73,
>> WW2PT
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On Dec 14, 2019, at 12:24 PM, Dauer, Edward <edauer at law.du.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> I wonder if the chariot racers of two or three milennia ago lamented 
>>> the death of their sport.
>>>
>>> I too tried to interest my grandson, now 13, in the ham radio hobby, 
>>> but with no success.  He just couldn't see the point. So I reflected 
>>> on when I was 13 with a newly printed Novice ticket, some 62 years 
>>> ago, and when I was captivated for life by the wizardry of radio 
>>> electronics, ionospheric physics, the smell of solder and rosin (and 
>>> of exploding caps), the excitement of doing successfully what most 
>>> people can't do at all, the fascination of international 
>>> communications . . . . . all of the things we now-grandpas found and 
>>> still find attractive.
>>>
>>> He found it a yawn.
>>>
>>> I reflected on it some.  So what?  The ham radio industry will care, 
>>> and those who still believe that ham radio is imperative for 
>>> emergency communications will care (though let's be honest -- 
>>> cellular and satellite communications have taken much of the wind 
>>> out of that sail.)  But if I enjoy it and you enjoy it, and we both 
>>> do it, why should we fret if other people don't?  If amateur radio 
>>> evolves in ways that are attractive to the next generation, all to 
>>> the good.  And a form of natural selection may shape the evolution 
>>> that way.  But if ham radio as we know it today doesn't get past a 
>>> generational divide, if the mutations that survive an evolutionary 
>>> end point don't occur, does it really matter?
>>>
>>> Excuse the philosophy, but I have to ask the question:  Is our 
>>> culture really impoverished by the demise of chariot racing? Or is 
>>> that sport still with us, only morphed over time into something the 
>>> next generation found attractive.
>>>
>>> OK.  Break time over.  Back to the ten-meter contest.  Curse this 
>>> solar minimum!
>>>
>>> Ted, KN1CBR
>>>
>>>
>>>>    On 12/13/2019 9:36 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
>>>>
>>>> This of course is a discussion that isn't likely to die before we do,
>>>> but I really don't think that any significant portion of today's youth
>>>> will ever look at amateur radio like we do.? I wish that weren't the
>>>> case, but reality bites.
>>>>
>>>> 1.? The major lure of amateur radio for most of us was the ability to
>>>> freely talk to faraway places.? Young people today can do that with FM
>>>> quality and yet often they don't ... they text or chat via message
>>>> groups and forums.
>>>>
>>>> 2.? Communicating today is license free, and while even now with
>>>> today's lesser requirements getting an amateur radio license is maybe
>>>> not a roadblock it's a nuisance to have to study for something that
>>>> you don't otherwise care about.
>>>>
>>>> 3.? Effectively communicating today is far cheaper hardware-wise than
>>>> for amateur radio, especially for long distances.
>>>>
>>>> 4.? Communicating today is independent of time of day or position in
>>>> the sunspot cycle.
>>>>
>>>> 5.? A basic competency in amateur radio was once considered a stepping
>>>> stone to a technical career.? That is hardly the case today.? In fact,
>>>> I remember one manager of a test department in another company telling
>>>> me he tried to avoid hiring hams because they talked about it too much
>>>> on the job.
>>>>
>>>> One thing I do believe has carryover appeal is the spirit of
>>>> competition.? Humans in general always seem keen to compete at almost
>>>> anything ... from eating hot dogs to running to vicariously watching
>>>> football to quilting to barbeque.? Young people today have video games
>>>> that provide a FAR richer competitive environment than any ham radio
>>>> contest (I do both, by the way), and I've always thought that one way
>>>> to drum up interest in ham radio is to develop a contest format that
>>>> has similar elements.? Ham radio contests are essentially endurance
>>>> events that involve independent action throughout the contest with the
>>>> comparison occurring at the end, and often weeks or months later.?
>>>> Video games require different but otherwise comparable proficiency
>>>> (both mental and physical) but involve real time counter moves to any
>>>> opponent. The closest we hams come to offsetting somebody we view as
>>>> competition is to steal their frequency or QRM them.? I'm not at all
>>>> suggesting that we do any such thing, but a contest where we could
>>>> take some action that subtracted from somebody else's score is the
>>>> kind of thing I'm talking about.? And no, I don't know how to do that
>>>> either, but it illustrates what I'm talking about.
>>>>
>>>> It's not any surprise to me that contesting is one of the few
>>>> surviving ham radio activities with high participation.? Even
>>>> ragchewing has practically died out, and if anyone disputes that take
>>>> a look at how much time you spend each week reading email reflectors
>>>> versus being on the air (other than in a contest).
>>>>
>>>> I'm not really sure what Wayne was referring to here, and maybe he
>>>> implied that same thing that I'm saying, but we aren't going to bring
>>>> young folks into the hobby by trying to convince them that the same
>>>> things that appealed to us 40 years ago are going to appeal to them.?
>>>> This isn't a communication or publicity problem. In spite of the
>>>> comments from hams I've seen over the years, most young people pretty
>>>> much know the general framework of ham radio and they've simply
>>>> rejected it in favor of other things.? There are always a few
>>>> exceptions, of course, but I'd bet $100 that the bulk of those young
>>>> people who pop up online or in QST as shining examples of young blood
>>>> in the hobby are nowhere to be found two years later.
>>>>
>>>> If for any reason we want young folks to embrace the hobby, the hobby
>>>> itself is going to have to adapt.? That most of us seem unable to
>>>> understand that fact is probably another facet of the problem ...
>>>> we're old and inflexible (in both appearance and in fact), which
>>>> doesn't help the image of the hobby one wit.? The pictures from Dayton
>>>> or any other hamfest have the same appeal as if they were taken at a
>>>> Lawrence Welk concert.
>>>>
>>>> I guarantee that those of us who are still above ground five years
>>>> from now will be having this same discussion, and it won't be because
>>>> we weren't persuasive enough.
>>>>
>>>> 73,
>>>> Dave?? AB7E
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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