[Elecraft] Reaching across the chronological divide

Sat Jan 2 15:32:14 EST 2021

Chronological divide, Heh. I am 67 years old, for 7 years I played WoW, for
6 years I played Everquest and for 5 years I have played Guild Wars 2. I
enjoyed each of these games. I moved on to the more progressive game but
still enjoy playing them from time to time. I only play GW2 at this time.
Making the games set up and work with all peripherals is no harder than
setting up FT8. Setting up RTTY with 2 or 3 decoders and getting everything
to work...much harder. I am finding that many people in their 40s and 50s
are getting into Amateur Radio. Some want the challenge of making stuff
work, some want the antenna building experience, some want kit building but
most seem to be from a subset of the population that are what one might
call internet geeks. These guys do great in the transition to ham radio.
Many gamers spend upwards to 2k$ on a video card only for their game box.
So, $$$ is generally not a limiting option for this group. When they get
hooked, they are hooked hard. In NCJ a few years ago, there was an article
about contesting and video games. The parallels between the 2 of being "in
the zone" were made. The same psychological high is involved but actually,
it is more involved and dynamic than an online game.

Pile ups, gotta love them, any mode you can get them, cw or ssb will
provide that psychological high that melts the time away and keeps you on
your toes. One can get so involved that you have to force yourself to take
a deep breath and relax the shoulders and refocus on your posture so you
can continue to run. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 hours later, you have to pee, get a
drink, grab a snack and get at it again. It is addicting. I am glad that cw
contests are not every weekend because my life would end. LOL. SERIOUS
online gaming requires raiding to really advance in MMORPG games. Serious
ranking for WRTC takes the same. It takes tech, engineering, $$$ and
commitment to advance in the world of contesting. What reward? Well, if you
like to compete then this is your mojo. If you like to collect wallpaper
for working all places, counties, countries, etc it is there. If you want
to be recognised in a magazine for contest performance that is here.

In the ham radio world there are no cash prizes. Not so in the gaming
world, there really are professional gamers. Heh for that matter, I used to
farm gold in games and sell it for $$$. I did this while waiting to Raid.
In games you have dps meters and one always tried to be on the top of the
pile by being best in your class for whatever your function was. N1MM has a
rate meter and mults window based on band population and  feedback and
spotting networks. How does one get these gamers to transition to Amateur
Radio? Good question. When I state that my hobby is Ham Radio, I get, "I
did not think people did that now. Or Really, what is that? Why would you
do that?" the conclusion that I get from these comments is: there is not
enough exposure of the population to Amateur Radio. Plain and simple people
just don't hear about it or see it in action. There are no public special
events. There are not enough elmers to encourage people. There are no
longer any towers being put up because of HOA and zoning ordinance rules.
Towers used to be focal points for people to talk about. Why does he have a
tower? Once that question was asked then a tour of the shack generally was
involved and maybe 1 in 10 or 20 became interested to progress into the
hobby. Rarely do you see a tower any more. Less exposure, less questions,
about the hobby. People in general are curious.

If we want Amateur Radio to survive, we as a whole have to whet that
curiosity. We have to be Elmers. We have to welcome people and encourage
them to get involved. We have to be honest about the realistic expectations
of the hobby both in what it can and can not do, what is going to be the
realistic cost to get going from marginal rig/station to contest capable
station. The greatest disservice that is currently being done is licensing.
I traveled for 23 years up and down the east coast. I have attended many
radio club meetings and the focus has been licensing, getting more hams.
Sadly, that is not the answer. Many of those that got the license never
operated. Then there are the shack-on-the-crack 2 meter hams that just get
on repeaters and yack all day long. The same 3 or 4 guys on the repeater
day in and day out talking about the same thing. Heck if I were a new ham,
I would give it up in short order and try to sell my baufong asap. The
problem is even though we get people licensed there is little or No
followup with helping them get on the air. When I got my license over 50
years ago, I studied the Ameco Radio theory course. I bought the ARRL
handbook. That was my bible, my religion when I was 12 years old and living
on the farm. Today you buy a license manual. It has all the questions and
answers. Marking out all the wrong answers so that only the question and
right answer appears and after reading just the question and the answer
through 6 times and never reading anything else, there is a good chance
that a person will pass the exam and never know a damned thing about radio
but they will be an Extra. Whoopie. I expect a fire war when I say this and
that is, most extra class hams licensed with in the last 15 years are
dumber than a bag of hammers when it comes to radio theory, operation,
station building, safe practices or anything as simple as soldering or
crimping on a PL259. Much less do they know what an SO239 is and what it is
used for. Then there are those that sell new hams broken or marginal radios
and that despoils them on the hobby. There are tons of pitfalls to getting
new hams into the hobby. The problem is not licensing, it is helping the
peer get going so they can have fun. Whether it be CW, SSB, Contesting,
Satellite work, building antennas or kits or just helping choose equipment
and antennas and helping with that first QSO, those are the things we need
to be doing. I have no proof of this, but, if a new ham does not get on HF
quickly after getting licensed he or she will not be long for the hobby.
Getting them invested in more than listening to a squelch tail is what
needs to be done.

I praise Elecraft in their business model. First and foremost, they do not
produce crap radios. They are clean. They can be used in tough conditions.
For the most part with reasonable care and feeding, they are bombproof.
Plus, they have a price point for almost every entry into the HF spectrum
of the hobby. Their KX2 is a marvel for mountain top operating or the
traveling ham that wants a park-bench QSO in his down time. It is a quality
radio under the 1k$ mark. Next is their KX3. It has a way better RX, extra
bands and more power and sells well equipped for under 2K$. Then enter the
K3S, now discontinued. It was the gold standard of all contest radios well
equipped for Under 4k$. Now they have the K4 iterations which I believe
will set a new standard for further manufacture of ham radios. In wondering
if Eric and Wayne were gamers, they made a radio that can be upgraded by
plugging in new cards which is congruent with upgrading a computer game
machine. Because their focus has been quality before beauty, seemingly,
they produce an excellent radio, which is durable and does not have the LS
branding of chrome and fancy knobs to detract from lack of performance
found in other brands. Any of their radios can be used to contest and they
are not painful to use. Every time I have called Elecraft, I get someone
who answers my questions. Honest, to the point answers and service beyond
what any other manufacturer has today. I am not forwarded to the call
center where it is like working DX with QRM and QSB trying to understand
the person on the other end. Yes, I own some junk radios, 991A, 450D, 746,
Xeigu, and not one of those radios compares to a KX2 in functionality of
RX. If you can't hear them you can't work them. My current radio for the
past 5 years is the K3S with a second RX. I have worked thousands of QSOs
on that radio. Nothing keeps its trade in value like an Elecraft. If a new
ham can afford an Elecraft, you have not done him a disservice in
recommending one to him. For a new ham, buying an Elecraft and putting up a
resonant antenna is almost a guarantee for successful communication.

Yes, I drank the koolaid, and I continue to do so. It tastes great. I want
more. I guess that is why I ordered 2 K4s in group 1.

73,
Morgan NJ8M

BS + MS + $2.98 = COFFEE
Real Life Experience = Priceless, says the man who set his back yard on
fire with a breadboard tuner loading a 160 meter inverted L with 1000
watts. LOL

On Sat, Jan 2, 2021 at 12:27 PM Tom Azlin W7SUA <tom at nilza.org> wrote:

> Sorry to not agree EricJ.
>
> I have made a lot of friends over multiple QSOs, in my case digital
> modes. To me that is the magic that continues. Including long QSOs with
> hams across the ponds. But then I got my Novice in 1972.
>
> At local neighborhood watch got asked if I could help if we in this
> rural area lost land lines and cell phone service. So I explained how
> ham radio can help. No kids there so getting them excited still work in
> progress.
>
> 73, tom w7sua
>
> On 12/14/2019 7:46 PM, EricJ wrote:
> > We're missing the point here somehow. Siri's answer should have been
> >  "The best way to contact Helen is to pick up your phone and call
> > her."
> >
> > Anything else is pretty much a waste of time and resources just to
> > talk to Helen. Seriously, there's a sizable investment in specialized
> >  equipment to make contact via AMSAT or whatever. The contact is set
> > up for them. Then Jon and Helen wait to be told when the link is
> > ready. If that's worth doing and will attract young people, then just
> > shoot me. It sounds terminally boring.
> >
> > Making that investment in specialized equipment can't be justified as
> >  utilitarian communication because it's expensive and inefficient. If
> > the point is to contact your friends any time you want to, they are
> > already doing that with a half a dozen reliable instant technologies
> > all accessible from the same smartphone. I don't get where ham radio
> > comes in to solve a problem they have already solved. Certainly not
> > with a system that requires waiting 15 minutes for a satellite to get
> > in position, and a Cupertino Robot to set up the call.
> >
> > I don't have the answer to attracting young people to a rapidly
> > changing hobby in an even more rapidly changing world. The aspects of
> > the hobby that attracted many of us was the sheer magic of radio
> > itself. We weren't attracted to it because it let us contact our
> > friends. Even then we had the telephone for that. We were attracted
> > to the magic. Nine times out of ten, the communication part was "599
> > OM PSE QSL".
> >
> > I always heard how DX contacts would allow me to learn about other
> > cultures. Actually, it did. After exchanging signal reports, I'd look
> > up their city with an atlas or encyclopedia. But I learned zip on the
> > air. A few California Kilowatts could hog a DX station, and chit chat
> > for a few minutes, and did because they could. But the rest of us
> > never got beyond the basic exchange and fought like hell for that.
> > But it was magic so it didn't matter that it wasn't all that
> > practical.
> >
> > The magic that attracted us is gone. Maybe there's new magic to be
> > found, but it's different magic that most of us with 30-70 years in
> > the hobby won't understand...and probably won't like. We are the
> > wrong people to even be considering answers but anyone expecting to
> > make a living from the hobby will have to find that new magic. It
> > ain't instant communication and it ain't the ham radio equivalent of
> > retro turntables.
> >
> > Eric KE6US
> >
> > ex-K1DCK, WA6YCF, WB2PVW
> >
> >
> > On 12/14/2019 5:35 PM, andy.moorwood at moorcom.com wrote:
> >> Question: Can amateur radio reach across the digital divide ? My
> >> answer: It could Follow up Question: Do you think it will ? My
> >> answer:  No, not with current products and modes of use
> >>
> >> Why do I say this ? My 20 year old wants a turntable for Christmas.
> >> Why on earth does he want one when he can download any song he
> >> wants from his apple music account ? Answer: People of his
> >> generation are moving beyond mere utility (listening to any song
> >> anywhere anytime), they now want a musical experience, playing a
> >> vinyl record - could be one of mine - with all the "atmosphere"
> >> (hiss and scratches) to experience the music as it was "made".
> >>
> >> Could this experiential notion morph to a communications form?
> >> Communications utility is being able to contact your friends at
> >> anytime from anywhere, instantly,  AKA the ubiquitous smartphone.
> >> A communications experience could be one where the path / mode is
> >> dynamic and not guaranteed to succeed (applies to VHF linked
> >> repeater systems and HF).
> >>
> >> So why won't this happen ? We (amateur radio hobbyists and
> >> industry) don't follow the usage paradigms they are used to and
> >> frankly expect, built around their smartphones.
> >>
> >> The turn tables I'm looking at have RCA jacks to connect to an
> >> amplifier but they also have Bluetooth to connect to your phone and
> >> speakers, and of course "there's an App for that" on the
> >> smartphone.
> >>
> >> People of this generation are not going to configure virtual COM
> >> ports so their apps can access a radio.  Neither will they work
> >> through windows "wizard" configuration screens.  Apple and the
> >> other developers have made set up effortlessly work  and offer
> >> digital assistants to help you on your way.  For example, below is
> >> a conversation from a possible radio future.
> >>
> >> Jon, Ham Radio Operator: "Hey Siri what repeaters are near me and
> >> can I link to Helen in Scotland ?" Siri: " Yes Jon there are
> >> several repeaters nearby but the best way to contact Helen is via
> >> Amsat, one will be over horizon in 15 minutes, shall I let Helen
> >> know you want to contact her ? conditions are favorable" Jon: " Yes
> >> Siri, let her know, I'll get the antenna ready"
> >>
> >> Sounds like science fiction ?- no this is technically feasible
> >> today - question is will some entity make the investments to make
> >> it happen   ?
> >>
> >> Best Regards Andy K3CAQ
> >>
> >> -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> >> <elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick Sent:
> >> Friday, December 13, 2019 6:24 PM To: Elecraft Reflector
> >> <elecraft at mailman.qth.net> Subject: [Elecraft] Reaching across the
> >> chronological divide
> >>
> >> Hams of a certain age, including yours truly (first licensed in
> >> 1971) recall their excitement on joining the hobby: there was the
> >> promise of contact with faraway places, collection of vivid QSL
> >> cards, mastery of esoteric equipment, synchrony with the rhythms of
> >> Morse code, and the crafting of antennas to harness action at a
> >> distance.
> >>
> >> Most of us still feel that spark, occasionally--some on a daily
> >> basis--experiencing the wonder all over again.
> >>
> >> While the accoutrements and equipage of youth have evolved over the
> >>  decades, their DNA has not. Somewhere, nestled between the genetic
> >> codes for half-pipe snowboarding, Instagram, Juul, and ambient
> >> house, there's a dormant sequence for the Radio Art waiting to be
> >> stirred.
> >>
> >> Is there a Battle Royale for ham radio? A tactical RPG?
> >>
> >> What is our sorcerer's stone? Our rap?
> >>
> >> Will Gen-Z or Gen-Alpha tickle the ionosphere, and if so...why?
> >>
> >> To hand our batons across the chronological divide, we'll need
> >> empathetic, open-ended inquiry.
> >>
> >> 73, Wayne N6KR
>
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