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blog:2020-07-12:the_uncertain_future_of_ham_radio [2020/07/12 18:13] – va7fi | blog:2020-07-12:the_uncertain_future_of_ham_radio [2021/06/05 12:34] (current) – va7fi |
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An interesting article on the [[https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/wireless/the-uncertain-future-of-ham-radio |IEEE Spectrum website]] describes some of the current challenges that ham radio faces. | An interesting article on the [[https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/wireless/the-uncertain-future-of-ham-radio |IEEE Spectrum website]] describes some of the current challenges that ham radio faces. |
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One of the big questions is: what could draw younger people to ham radio? People used to be drawn to ham radio for its ability to: | One of the big questions is: what could draw younger people to ham radio? People used to be drawn to ham radio for its ability to provide: |
* Contact others while mobile or away from the home. Now we have cell phones. | * Communications with others while mobile or away from the home. Now we have cell phones. |
* Communicate with others around the globe. Now we have the internet. | * Communications With others around the globe. Now we have the internet. |
* Tinker and build equipment using the latest technologies. Now kids learn to program computers. | * A platform to tinker and build equipment using the latest technologies. Now kids learn to program computers. |
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"Instead, many [younger hams] are interested in the capacity for public service, such as providing communications in the wake of a disaster, or event comms for activities like city marathons." Since the radio spectrum that ham operators use is a finite resource (in greater demand today), this raises a debate as to whether ham radio should be seen as a hobby or a public utility (see this [[blog/2019-09-07/monitoring_winlink_messages |previous post]]).((My personal opinion on this debate is that ham radio should be both a hobby and a public utility, but it should stay "open" in the sense that every transmission intercepted should be easily decodable.)) | <QUOTE>Instead, many [younger hams] are interested in the capacity for public service, such as providing communications in the wake of a disaster, or event comms for activities like city marathons.</QUOTE> |
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| Since the radio spectrum that ham operators use is a finite resource (in greater demand today), this raises a debate as to whether ham radio should be seen as a hobby or a public utility (see this [[blog/2019-09-07/monitoring_winlink_messages |previous post]]).((My personal opinion on this debate is that ham radio should be both a hobby and a public utility, but it should stay "open" in the sense that every transmission intercepted should be easily decodable.)) |
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| On the bright side, cheap Chinese radios and SDRs are lowering the bar of entry for new hams in terms of cost, but even that can be a contentious issue. |
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| <QUOTE>As Michel, the former ARRL CEO, puts it: `Every ham has [their] own perspective. What we’ve learned over the hundred-plus years is that there will always be these battles -- AM modulation versus single-sideband modulation, whatever it may be. The technology evolves. And the marketplace will follow where the interests lie.</QUOTE> |
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