[Milsurplus] 20 Years into the Future

[Mike Morrow]

Will wrote:

>There needs to be new blood - young blood - to revitalize the hobby.

Unfortunately, there is no evidence at all that any revitalization (other than just having more licensees on the books) occurred and persisted after the several relaxations of US amateur radio licensing standards in the past.  I was hoping there might have been, after the no-code Tech was introduced, but it just didn't happen.  It's a story-book fable, a politically correct urban myth.  Good people respond to a challenge.  The challenge is long gone in the US amateur radio licensing process.  I really don't know why we have any spectrum allocated to us at all any more.

>This idea of Morse being a "Right of Passage" is just silly and
>counterproductive.

Straw man!  No one on this forum has recently made that argument for retaining Morse skill.

>Dropping the Morse requirement really will do no harm,

Agreed...the harm came to fruition in the license destructuring of 2000.  Nothing much is left to be harmed.

>NO kid WANTS to go thru any silly ham radio "Right of Passage".

That would also include any written examination.  Even if the FCC gave away all priviledges for the price of an internet e-mail application, few "kids" would be interested in amateur radio today.

>what they really DO NOT want to hear are...descriptions of ones
>latest medical condition or talking about another silent key.

Neither do I...there should be some sort of automated rig shutdown system whenever medical conditions start being discussed! : - )

Almost every aspect of your description of older hams can be observed at any gathering of, say, military veterans.  But our very best young folk (and some not so young) still voluntarily join to become the core of our military services.  That's because there is still challenge and honor in military service, and the best people respond to positively to challenges.

> if you want to attract and keep more under-30s - STOP ACTING
> LIKE A BUNCH OF OLD HAMS.

I became interested in ham radio and WWII military radios at age 12 (40-something years ago), having seen the stuff my Dad brought home from Air Force MARS.  That gear, and my Dad and his fellow hams, all seemed old to me then, yet I still was able to find it very interesting.  It is an easily made but unsupportable assumption when one claims that only the latest glitter will appeal to a young person.

Mike / KK5F