[South Florida DX Association] Sun-Sentinel Ham Radio Article Text

[k4pg]

I dunno about that....seems he is a little out of touch for a newbie.  I 
have 8 kids and more to come who are at the high school with call signs now 
and chomping at the bit to get on the air and upgrade their licenses! 
School does not even start until next Weds in Palm Beach County.  SKs have 
been around since the beginning of ham radio.....seems I catch the call of 
someone I ran into in the past on the SK list every now and 
again.....inevitable, of course.  And we all know what happens in a severe 
storm, 900 Mhz systems go down, cell phones go down, cable systems go 
down......you know first hand from the NHC.....but not ham radio!

How can I contact this Sun Sentinel writer?

73 Kevin K4PG  C6APG


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Esteban Romagni, MBATM" <eromagni at bellsouth.net>
To: "'Bill Marx'" <bmarx at bellsouth.net>; "'aSFDXA'" <SFDXA at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2007 2:42 PM
Subject: RE: [South Florida DX Association] Sun-Sentinel Ham Radio Article 
Text


> Welcome to the 21th century...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sfdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:sfdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
> On Behalf Of Bill Marx
> Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2007 2:41 PM
> To: aSFDXA
> Subject: [South Florida DX Association] Sun-Sentinel Ham Radio Article 
> Text
>
> Cell phones taking over, but ham radio still helpful in hurricanes
> Cell phones, instant messaging are favored now
>
>  By Stephanie Horvath | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
>  August 19, 2007
> Justin Hornby, a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student, got his 
> amateur
> radio license in June, attracted to it by his love of tinkering and
> building. He didn't expect the hobby would be dominated by gray hair.
>
> "They call the guys who pass away 'silent keys,'" Hornby said of ham radio
> operators. "They have magazines with obituary listings. Those listings get
> longer and longer. It's kind of worrisome."
>
> Communicating by ham radio today is a little like hooking up a
> black-and-white TV and antenna to watch your Friday night shows. In an era
> of simple, swift, worldwide communication with cell phones, instant
> messaging and Internet calling, amateur radio seems like a quaint hobby. 
> But
> ham radio operatorsin South Florida cling to it, even though they're 
> having
> a hard time translating their passion to the younger generation.
>
>
>
> "Back then as a kid, it was cool. It was something to do to spark my
> interest," said Robert Broderick, 52, the president of the Palmetto 
> Amateur
> Radio Club in Fort Lauderdale. Of his 120 members, only a couple are young
> people, despite the club's attempts to start radio clubs at a couple of
> local high schools. "You can't grab the young kids. They want to get on
> their Game Boys. Talking around the world isn't a big whoop-dee-do 
> anymore."
>
> Hornby is in the minority. He is one of only half a dozen students in
> Florida Atlantic University's amateur radio club; the rest of its 20 
> members
> are older folks from the community.
>
> Most of the amateur radio clubs in Palm Beach and Broward counties said
> their numbers had dipped and they struggle to attract young people.
>
> Henry Van Sant, a member of the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association in
> Pompano Beach, said the club's membership has dropped to 100, most of them
> older.
>
> "When I first joined, back in 1991, it used to be a club of 700 members,"
> said Van Sant, 60, who is also the adviser for the FAU club. "A lot of 
> them
> were older people. I hate to say this, but we've lost a lot."
>
> The fading of ham radio wouldn't matter, much like the disappearance of
> eight-track players or telegrams, if amateur radios weren't still used
> during emergencies. Palm Beach County still stations a ham radio in every
> hospital and shelter during a hurricane to report what's happening. In
> recent years, the county's Emergency Operations Center has wondered who 
> will
> replace its aging volunteers, said Dave Messinger, the center's
> communication specialist.
>
> "It's not a dire situation yet," he said. "It's something we're aware of 
> and
> something we're concerned about. But we're keeping our head above water."
>
> Many cities, including Wellington, have ham radio operators work with them
> during hurricanes. So far, the volunteers have mostly done busy work, said
> Gary Clough, Wellington's environmental and engineering services director.
> But the village would need them in a disaster to call for help.
>
> "A lot of the guys really involved in that aspect won't be around in 20 to
> 30 years," said Marshall Paisner, president of the WR4AYC Repeater Group 
> in
> Plantation. "Then we'll have to sit back and decide what to do."
>
> Amateur radio used to be the only way to communicate cheaply with people
> around the world. In the 1950s and 1960s, ham radio attracted a lot of 
> young
> boys who liked the mechanics and being able to talk to people thousands of
> miles away. They studied technical manuals and learned Morse code so they
> could get their own amateur radio license and call sign. Many of them went
> on to become engineers. But today, kids can use computers and cell phones 
> to
> do much of what ham radio does.
>
> "The cell phone pretty much killed the hobby," said Richard Burdge, 45,
> president of the C3I Amateur Radio Group in Hollywood. "As the older 
> people
> retire, there's no one to take their place."
>
> Not that clubs aren't trying to recruit. Many of them have gone to high
> schools and Boy Scout troops, with mixed success. The West Palm Beach
> Amateur Radio Club started holding events and classes each month to 
> attract
> people, and half of their 30 members are now in their 20s and 30s.
>
> The older hams still cling to radio, merging it with new technology. The
> Wellington Radio Club hosts weekly networks, which are like get-togethers
> over the airwaves. They read newspaper articles, rebroadcast NASA 
> podcasts,
> read chapters from novels about ham radio and even share photos using
> computer and radio technology.
>
> Why not just use a computer?
>
> "Because it's more fun," said Larry Lazar, 64, the club president.
>
> But the people who think that way are disappearing. Most of the newcomers 
> to
> ham radio now tend to be tinkerers, survivalists and emergency responders,
> all people who like the practical side of the hobby. That includes Hornby,
> who likes to build things and be self-sufficient.
>
> Ham radio speaks to him, but he knows he's one of the few. He still
> remembers what happened when he told his dad he wanted to get his license.
>
> "My dad thought it was dead," Hornby recalled. "He said, 'They don't use 
> it
> anymore.'"
>
> Stephanie Horvath can be reached at smhorvath at sun-sentinel.com or
> 561-243-6643.
>
> _______________________________________________
> SFDXA mailing list
> SFDXA at mailman.qth.net
> SFDXA WebSite
> http://www.qsl.net/k4fk/
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa
>
> _______________________________________________
> SFDXA mailing list
> SFDXA at mailman.qth.net
> SFDXA WebSite
> http://www.qsl.net/k4fk/
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa