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Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

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Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#131

Post by hwatson »

_b8r0 wrote: post #13
alibarber wrote: post #11

COVID has been a shot in the arm for Ham in the UK in my opinion, the best thing being remote exam invigilation. Now it's possible to study in your own time and take the exam when it suits you - not just a couple of times a year, or in a place miles away! Indeed, there's a lot to be said for meeting up as a club - like anything really, but the logistics of the exam system seemed like a vicious circle in the past: Not…

I did exactly that, passed my foundation online at the start of this month. I've been on my local 2m net a couple of times, but still setting up my rig. I think the online side is good (and the free Essex Ham course is brilliant) but once you pass there's nothing pointing you a what to do next. This is more that people studying online aren't part of clubs. I'm still learning etiquette and I think we'll end up with a…

I think what you're describing is what the RSGB have been attempting to mitigate through the Beyond Exams schemes, wherein they've gamified different activities you could do on your own or with a club to further your knowledge of amateur radio. https://rsgb.org/main/beyond-exams-building-experience/

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#132

Post by riffic »

paulirwin wrote: post #73
vidanay wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also more than a fair share of OM spouting off about their gout, dieabeetus, negroes, and Jeezus. Phone frequencies are a real cesspool most of the time.

I assume you're being downvoted because of the terms you're using, but you're not wrong. Extra class licensee here. On phone (Single Sideband "SSB" or FM typically, for those not familiar with the terminology, where you use radio for voice rather than data/Morse) I've heard all kinds of absolutely reprehensible things. In one single conversation where a man was ranting about mask mandates, he managed to throw in dero…

Radio is public. These people need to be named and shamed.

An automated system for recording and archiving these public transmissions with their call signs attached as tags would probably be a good first step.

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#133

Post by mywittyname »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #100

I am always very suspicious of graphs that use a vertical scale that doesn't start at 0. It makes you think the ham radio population has doubled or tripled, while in reality it only gained a few percentage points.

You shouldn't be suspicious!

Not all data is best graphed starting at zero. Such as graphs with negative and positive values or ones intended to show differences in values where the magnitude of the changes are substantially less than that of the values.

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#134

Post by armadsen »

brian_herman wrote: post #6
hibby wrote: post #2

I saw this shared on Twitter this morning, and had some thoughts: While the graph is good, it is specific to the US and ignores the fact that a large amount of the amateur population is 50+ - the hobby is healthy now, but there's an age crisis coming soon. It doesn't really reflect the health of the entire hobby, globally, just a specific subset. Millenials aren't young any more, I'm millenial and I've held a ham lic…

I've been to ham radio clubs and the age gap is real. I go to the meetups in the Chicago land area and only see about one or two people my age. The people my age are usually sons or daughters of the older people.

I got my license at age 15 in 1999. I'm 36 now, and still among the "young" people in the local club. That said, ham radio has been a huge, important part of my life, and is what inspired me to be an engineer. The people I've met through it, both young and old, have been really great.

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#135

Post by Igorvelky »

retrac wrote: post #85
Igorvelky wrote: post #42

My 5G mobile PHONE can provide me with 200MHZ of bandwidth and frequency range from 400 MHz to 7 GHZ So yes, HAM is DYING because outdated legislation is denying me same goodness in my mobile 6Watt radio.

There's more than 500 MHz of spectrum allocated to amateurs between 400 and 7 GHz in most jurisdictions. 420 - 450 MHz, 902 - 928 MHz, 1240 - 1300 MHz, 2390 - 2450 MHz, 3300 - 3500 MHz, 5650 - 5925 MHz are amateur bands here, and I think in the USA. It's also generally very illegal as a hobbyist to build and operate your own transmitter, except with an amateur radio licence. If you're more interested in how the phone…

i can simultaneously receive and transmit a 200MHz wide part of band in frequencies between 400MHz an 7GHz with my mobile SDR 5G phone after flashing custom firmware.

so what channel spacing do you use on your ham radio?

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#136

Post by Igorvelky »

abruzzi wrote: post #81
Igorvelky wrote: post #42

My 5G mobile PHONE can provide me with 200MHZ of bandwidth and frequency range from 400 MHz to 7 GHZ So yes, HAM is DYING because outdated legislation is denying me same goodness in my mobile 6Watt radio.

but an amateur license potentially gives you access to 1.8 mhz up to beyond 10ghz.

200MHz channel spacing capable radio. It is not that hard.

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#137

Post by m0xte »

jdietrich wrote: post #94
hibby wrote: post #2

I saw this shared on Twitter this morning, and had some thoughts: While the graph is good, it is specific to the US and ignores the fact that a large amount of the amateur population is 50+ - the hobby is healthy now, but there's an age crisis coming soon. It doesn't really reflect the health of the entire hobby, globally, just a specific subset. Millenials aren't young any more, I'm millenial and I've held a ham lic…

Here in the UK, we've seen a huge surge in people - especially younger people - getting licensed since lockdown, in large part because it's now possible to take your license exams online. I think that the RSGB (our ARRL) had severely under-estimated the amount of friction in the old examination system and the amount of pent-up demand created by things like RTL-SDR.

That’ll be also because the local club usual incompetence can’t get in the way with social distancing. I had so much trouble even going back a few years getting my license because most folk can’t organise a piss up in a brewery. RSGB were little help.

Eventually ML&S came through on this front with their training and examination courses which were excellent.

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#138

Post by funkaster »

Not necessarily HAM, but I just bought a pair of T800s[0] to use when I go camping with my 4yo son and friends. I'm trying to get him to understand how radios work so we have been having fun talking and learning how to use call signals, etc. What I really liked about the T800 is the Bluetooth modem that you can use to send extra data between radios (like chat and geo coords).

[0]: https://shop.motorolasolutions.com/t800-two-way-radios/produ...

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#139

Post by m0xte »

paulirwin wrote: post #73
vidanay wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also more than a fair share of OM spouting off about their gout, dieabeetus, negroes, and Jeezus. Phone frequencies are a real cesspool most of the time.

I assume you're being downvoted because of the terms you're using, but you're not wrong. Extra class licensee here. On phone (Single Sideband "SSB" or FM typically, for those not familiar with the terminology, where you use radio for voice rather than data/Morse) I've heard all kinds of absolutely reprehensible things. In one single conversation where a man was ranting about mask mandates, he managed to throw in dero…

You want to hear some of the crap I hear on 2m in London UK. I dumped my HT in the end so I don’t get annoyed.

CW and FT8 are generally best if you don’t want to deal with that sort. CW is much harder to put the effort in to be a dick and FT8 doesn’t have being a dick built into the protocol.

Re: Ham radio is not dying, it's evolving

#140

Post by facedeoderant »

Stratoscope wrote: post #91
facedeoderant wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Specifically you're talking about RTL-SDR, a hacked soundcard that can receive a lot of frequencies. The channels you can legally transmit back on for a few hudred dollars more are FRS/GMRS family/business radio channels. (Speaking about USA only here, since that's the only radio location I know about). tl;dr for the rest of my post: ham radio is the best type of radio for hackers. Undoubtedly you can have tons of fu…

RTL-SDR is a TV tuner, not a sound card. You could build a radio that transmits on FRS frequencies, but it would be illegal unless you submitted a radio to the FCC and received type approval. FRS radios must be type approved, limited power, and with non-removable antennas. I think GMRS radios must also be type approved, but they can have removable antennas. You need a GMRS license to operate one legally. FRS does not…

Yep, you are right. Apologies for the misinformation there - I had misremembered.

Good to know about FRS and GMRS. Those things just underscore how really limited experimental transmission privileges are without a ham license.

About the Chik-Fil-A thing, that was a silly way to say that even if you do transmit on FRS or GMRS, it's not like there's a community of other experimenters making it fun to do so.

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