Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
News

Is Ham Radio Dead?? 27

Posted by Cliff from the no-the-web-is-just-overhyped dept.
aTRaTiCa asks: "I've been reading up and studying for my Technician license to operate on the ham radio services... Are there still people using this, or has the Internet taken over and pulled people away from this pastime? I imagine there are still people using the services and broadcasting but not as many as were in the days I was growing up. I always thought working with equipment and chatting with people over radio waves across the world was awesome. My neighor used ham radio for years, but unfortunately he passed away." Ham Radio? Dead? It might be less popular than the Internet, but I wouldn't expect it's going the way of the dodo anytime soon!

FYI, aTRaTiCa mentions this tidbit which might proove worthwhile for those of you interested in Ham Radio: "A neat fact is you can get your technician (first) license from the FCC by passing a simple test. This test consists of a pool of 348 questions. If you're interested in passing, go to Radio Shack and buy "Technician Class" by Gordon West. He gives good exam tips and publishes all 348 questions WITH the answers. These are EXACTLY the same answers and questions that are on the real test."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Is Ham Radio Dead?? More

Is Ham Radio Dead??

Comments Filter:
  • Ham Radio is most certainly not dead - far from it. There are a number of radio amateur organizations, like ARRL(http://www.arrl.org) and RAC (Radio Amateurs of Canada - http://www.rac.ca)

    Companies like Yaesu and Icom manufacture radios primarily for the hobby.
  • Ham Radio sure isn't dead, it's just not talked about in the mainstream anymore, obviously because it's aging, but more importantly because of the immeasurable flood of communications and entertainment news. The FCC still issues technician's licenses and there are still companies that manufacture the hardware. You just don't hear about it anymore.. instead, electronics and communications publications have shifted their spotlight onto the digital/cellular domain.
  • No, I don't think so.. I've got the technician license (LC2JAT), and here in Norway Ham Radio still is a hobby. In the last 2 years it has got a lot of new signatures, so Ham Radio is still alive. Here in north we've found new places to use our radioes e.g. sports meetings like cross contry and offroad biking... Wampum

  • Sick, but not Dead (Score:3)

    by Detritus ( 11846 ) on Tuesday July 04, 2000 @09:42AM (#958544) Homepage
    Amateur radio has been hurt by the popularity of computers and the Internet. The urbanization of the United States has also caused problems. It is difficult or impossible for many people to put up external antennas and towers due to space constraints, zoning regulations and home owner's association restrictions. Advances in technology have made it more difficult to build or home brew equipment. The average age of amateur radio licensees has been creeping upward for many years. The relaxation of the anachronistic morse code requirement should help the situation, but it isn't a cure.

    N3DMC

  • A lot of what has been holding ham radio back since the 70's was the insistence on an obsolete test on high-speed Morse code. This was required for all hams who could use the lower frequencies, which have international range. This test was required of hams regardless of whether or not they were interested in Morse code operation: if you want to work on voice or digital modes on the lower frequencies, you had to learn high-speed Morse first. This is in not only national law, but paragraph S25.5 of the International Telecommunications Union treaty. Fortunately, clear heads are finally prevailing: the U.S. has reduced the code speed to an easy-to-learn minimum until the international law is changed, and Europe, it appears, will follow. One now has to learn 5 words-per-minute code, which is pretty easy, versus 13 words-per-minute, which is fast enough that you have to recognize the sound rather than count dots and dashes. Many people have never been able to do this, and it took me 3 months of practice, half an hour morning and evening, to get from 5 to 13 WPM. That was wasted time for me, I've never used Morse on the air.

    We expect the international law to fall at the 2003 ITU conference, and after that hopefully the Morse code test will be entirely eliminated from national laws. Ham Radio should be a way to learn technology for our young people - you can do so many things that aren't possible on the Internet! It's too bad that stupid laws have held it back for so long.

    Bruce

  • I forgot to mention No-Code International [nocode.org], an organization pushing for an end to code testing. Hit their web site and join, it's free!

    Bruce

  • I got my Novice license way back when I was 13, and my General license not long after that. At the time, I was really interested in the long-distance communication that you could acheive with the lower bands (e.g. 10-80 meters), but I became disillusioned by what I heard once I got on the air--typically a bunch of crochety old guys debating politics, or talking about their rigs. Needless to say, I lost interest.

    If I had the money and the space today, though, I'd want to get in the high-frequency side of Ham radio. Even in the 80s, projects like AMSAT we're pushing the boundaries of the discipline with microwave and satellite transmission. And then there's amateur television (SSTV, FSTV) and high-speed data transmission (Packet Radio), which have been around for a while, but infrequently used.

    If you have the money and interest, I would highly recommend looking into the alternatives to the ragchew folks that dominate the lower bands. Don't forget that the most wonderful thing about Ham radio is the relative lack of restrictions that you face in using the bandwidth--you can experiment to your heart's content, and the FCC won't get on your back (esp. in the upper bands). You might have to get a more advanced license, but the effort is usually worth it in the amount you'll learn, and the amount of bandwidth access you gain.

    Tim
    KB8KRQ
  • I'm sure you're well aware of the can of worms you can open with the WPM issue, as there are some very loud voices on both sides of the issue. :)

    I do think there is something to be said for rewarding dedication to the hobby. The WPM requirement only affected the HF bands and these days the hot ground for development seems to be up in the VHF, UHF, and GHz regions, so maybe lowering the Morse speeds will not have that big of an effect anyway (with some of the language being used on the 80m band, one wonders why you'd want to hang out there anyway).

    DE N3UKS

  • Personally I feel that this is a great time to get into Ham radio because we are at the point where more and more hardware and software are being used in radios.

    As it was true in the past, one can still build their own radios because the parts are not that expensive and are relatively easy to get a hold of (that is, as long as you are not trying to build old tube-based radios because finding the old tubes and air-variable capacitors are pretty tough these days). In particular, radios are relying much more on software in EPROMS to do their work (much like the WinModems pass things off to the CPU). If you don't want to build your own, there are still companies cranking them out all the time.

    Another great area of interest for the technically-oriented person is in the upper bands (above 1 GHz). Everything is going wireless these days and the GHz regions are very fertile grounds for experimentation. Have some fun figuring out new ways for network traffic over RF.

    I think the internet has taken attention away from many people that might have been interested in Ham radio in the past, but if you are the kind of person that not only likes to program your computer, but also crack it open and diddle with the hardware, then you can go nuts as a Ham (with both a radio and a computer).

    DE N3UKS

  • Yes, the no-code tech has been around for a while. I had one for a few months and was licensed as KD6OTD, then I upgraded.

    The problem is that the way the no-code tech was set up fragmented ham radio - the no-codes were on VHF and the coders were on HF, and the codes didn't consider the other guys "real hams" at all and didn't mix with them much. We've gone a lot of the way toward ending the fragmentation now, because the new folks have to a large extent moved onto HF.

    Thanks

    Bruce

  • (I'll bet this gets called flamebait, perhaps rightly so... I'm just feeling contrary 'cuz I'm working instead of partying and blowing stuff up tonight)

    I had the pleasure of attending the Dayton Hamvention [hamvention.org] this year; any technically inclined person should probably go at least once. I was amazed at the efforts some of the old timers were making to reach out to people like me... not licensed, but with enough interest in the field to be there. Linux advocates need to learn from those folks, they're polite, helpful, informative, and effective. Unfortunately, their attitude is not representative of most of the hams I've known.

    Hams have always struck me, as a group, as being far too willing to not only unquestioningly follow whatever arrbitrary rules are laid upon them by appointed officials, but to expend considerable efforts to make others toe those lines too. I don't mean reasonable stuff like frequency allocation or interference regulations, I mean stuff like language regulations and the morse code requirements. Others have mentioned the morse requirments being relaxed, but that's just one example. Ever speak to somebody over 155 miles (possibly I've got the number wrong) away on a CB? That's illegal, you know... Even with legal equipment.

    It's not even so much that there are so many ill considered or marginally useful regulations, it's the pervasive feeling I get from hams that if they have to observe all this crap, anybody who wants into their clique had better do so too. Moreover, many seem to revel in the regimentation, seemingly feeling that the fewer hams there are, the more special that makes them.

    Finally, what has ham radio to offer? There's a lot of talking, but very little communication, from what I've heard. UseNet or even Slashdot provides far more interesting discussion in an average hour than I've ever heard on any ham band in days. Building a transciever might be fun, but theat effort, or the money to buy equipment, plus the effort to get licensed etc, and what do you have when you've succeded? The opportunity to discuss your latest foot troubles for hours on end? The chance to have some 45 year old who still lives with his parents make it his life's work to get your equipment confiscated, if not your body imprisoned, 'cuz he doesn't beleive you've got a better than average antenna, not an illegal amplifier?

    -- h2odragon, unlicensed; not transmitting on a freqency near you, unless you happen to have FCC markings...
  • Im not a big ham person , but I went to feild day june 24-25 , we were KF4OUM 4-A (alpha) , and got 515contacts via Fone and 89contacts CW , and that just with 4 stations. and we didnt do it the WHOLE 24hours so thats gotta say something..

  • HAM radio is far from dead, it's still active - but it is an archaic practice. There was a time when a lot of young children fascinated with electronics built ham radio kits, chatted over the air, dreamed of far away places and so on. HAM radio was a culture of home brew, electronics, comradeship and many other things.

    I would suggest that a lot that momementum has gone elsewhere, and while there are many people still practicing ham radio, not nearly enough younger people are interested any more: they're far more interested in new age computer technologies, perhaps even the likes of /.

    I would be interested to hear a comment from a someone much more in tune with the culture who can substantiate or repudiate the above.

  • I'm going to be joining the local Amateur radio club [expage.com] soon, and I'm only 21. You're right, it is mostly older guys. But I think packet radio (GPRS) has potential to be explored by a younger, Internet-savvy generation - especially packet radio connected to the Internet.
    I think the interest pendulum is starting to swing back to peer-to-peer access, with regard to how we do communications. Witness the development of NexTel's "walkie-talkie" feature, and the new Cybiko [cybiko.com] "organizer" for the teenie-bopper/geek set. Hell, I'd get one of those things if I had a spare $129 or whatever it is :-)
  • I like your comment about hams and Linux advocates. There are many similarities between a Hamvention or repeater club meeting and a LUG meeting.

    The reason that hams "mindlessly" follow "arbitrary" rules is that it is a self-policing community. The amateur community has a very good relationship with the FCC as well as the the ITU (which you can think of as the "international FCC"), and this relationship is based on respect that goes both ways. In the US, the FCC largely takes a hands-off approach towards hams because the FCC allows hams to monitor themselves, and one important monitoring activity is locating and reporting the law breakers. The FCC only steps when it needs to, such as for cases of malicious interference. The last thing the FCC and the amateur community wants is for things to get so unruly that the FCC has to step in and actively monitor and enforce the amateur airwaves like they have to do on the broadcast bands. Hams don't want them looking over their shoulders, and the FCC doesn't want to have to expend the time, money, and manpower. There really aren't that many restrictions; stay in your allocated bands and be respectful that others are on the air too.

    One reason hams "mindlessly follow" the morse requirements is because that is the law, not only in the US but around the world. Hams mindlessly follow language regulations because not only is it the civil and polite way to communicate, but because the FCC and just about everyone listening doesn't want to hear it. If you don't like the fact that you can't legally use a CB for long distance communication, then that is one reason to become a ham (don't equate CB radio with amateur radio because they are not the same---the first you don't need a license where the other you do (and you are allowed much more bandwidth with the latter)).

    I think ham radio has very much to offer. It curious that you think there is a higher signal to noise level on usenet and Slashdot. You don't get much spamming on the radio. Plus, usenet and Slashdot are topic-specific forums where ham radio (except for radio nets) is like walking into a room full of people; you aren't going to be locked into the same topic of conversation. Ham radio allows you to talk to people all over the world, whether it be about your foot problems or not (besides, how many of your daily telephone conversations are much deeper than that?). Ham radio is a world-wide community; there are some great people to meet, and there are jerks. I stay a ham because of the great people and friendships I have made over the air, and I also love the technical challenge. Others do it for the support it gives to the community (disaster communication assistance, public event communication, etc). You get out of it what you want.

  • I think one reason you do here alot of older hams on the low bands (10m-160m) is that they have houses that you can put up an antenna on, and they have somehting the younger guys do not have.....time. I can't sit in the same room as my shack and listen to the static waiting for an opening. I have a son and a wife that deserve my time more.

    I do work VHF/UHF. It's easier, the equipment is portable and has significant benefits. Most repeaters have a phone patch now so now I can call my wife (no commercial use, the law is too grey on that) anytime, anywhere in the range of the repeater. There's also a linked repeater that has a phone patch linking to a neighboring area code (close, but far enough to be LD on land line).

    Also Hams have been working with TCP/IP since before the web and doing this with a wireless connection! There's also the APRS (automatic position reporting system) network that not only you can do with a computer, but you can do position reports w/o a computer AND view the APRS map from any web browser using javAPRS (on the web page in the area of interest to you). APRS uses GPS technology and is on almost every platform (XASTIR(GPL) and XAPRS for Linux/UNIX and DOS APRS (the original developer started here), WinAPRS, MacAPRS, and palmAPRS for the Palm Pilot!...nothing on BeOS yet that I know of.

    For the HF stuff, you can do a station cheaply if you do QRP! QRP is working the HF bands with 5 w or less! When the band is open, it works and you just can't believe you are using only 5 w. Point is, something is only dead if you let it be dead, to you. Someone is always using something, even those old Atari 800XL's. You just have to find the web page or people to talk to.

    Joel McLaughlin N8VQJ

  • One of the aspects of the hobby that has not yet been mentioned is public service -- hams often provide emergency comms during "problems": hurricanes, severe storms, or, in my case, the Hi Meadow fire.

    When I arrived on scene for the fire on Monday night, the ARES groups (district 6 and 23) were relegated to the flag pole outside. We were using a mobile running off a car battery and a simple quarter-wave ground plane antenna.

    Well, many of the responding fire crews use different bands for their radios, so the individual crews could not communicate with each other, nor with Command. They tried handing out cell phones, but good luck trying to get coverage into the canyons with cell phones; Bailey is rural, we're lucky to have dial tone.

    Long story short, we were the only means of communication the fire crews had; even after the Feds arrived, their stuff took far too long to set up, so we were active much longer than we ought to have been.

    Want to make yourself relevant to your community using ham radio? Get with your local ARES group and get trained. Get with your local fire department and get red-card certified; that will allow you to go out to the fire crews themselves to provide comms as needed. Get a GPS and a TNC and get set up to do APRS out in the field.

    The internet might be the current bane of ham radio's existence, but it's a darn good thing we still have hams who can provide a public service. On Monday night, a fire crew called in and said that they were trapped, and needed an escape route. My wife, KC0EFM, was part of the effort to get them out of there; apparently, the news reported the next day that a bunch of ham radio operators saved the lives of a fire crew.

    Irrelevant? Ask the fire crew.
    --
    Matt Meola KC0DXW
    Bailey, CO

  • What's this? A rational, reasonable, polite response to criticism of one of your hobbies? How'n hell you ever gonna get anywhere with that attitude? :)

    Maybe "mindlessly" was a bit harsh, perhaps "uncritically" would be more accurate. I'll allow that some rules, for example about specturm use, possibly even language, are not necessarily bad. How many of the regulations binding you in the pursuit of your hobby fall into the category of useful, and how many are desk-jockey make work? In my opinion, too many.

    "...just about everyone listening doesn't want to hear it" ... Hmm. Spam, or the moral (airborne?) equivalent thereof. Ain't we free not to listen? Ain't there enough bandwidth to switch channels? Wouldn't there be if the FCC had a little more sense when it came to spectrum allocation? Perhaps we can better use the limited spectrum available legally by using encryption or some such... but that ain't legal either, is it?

    I admit my ignorance of most of the rules under which hams operate, having mostly forgotten the little bit I learned back when. I'm arguing from gripes I've heard and read from (mostly former, I think) hams there. Personally, I'm the type who'll violate rules for which I can't see reasons just for the doing of it. In short, I could well be wrong. Perhaps my reflexive disgust at a governmental body claiming ownership of the air blinds me to the self-evident need for, say, rules against using temporary propagation phenomena because they're not reliable; or spectrum allocation policies firmly rooted in the days when 100Mhz was about all the bandwidth there was.

    My daily phone, and indeed, face to face conversations aspire to the giddy excitement of podiatry, mostly. (...and now, for your enjoyment, the National Podiatrist's Assocations presents an educational musical play about the dangers of athelete's foot: "Pus in Boots!"... sorry)

    The continous party is a good analogy; occasionly you can have fun walking into a room full of strangers and just meeting new people... It doesn't happen to me that often. Usually I meet crashing bores, those utterly convinced that they must convert me to whatever their faith of the moment is (hindu, green party, fundamentalist christian, whatever), and folks who are most chairitably described as maladjusted. To each their own, I guess.

    ...ah, hell, I started out to make a point around here a minute ago... oh, yeah: "self-policing" community? what can ye do but snitch? Certainly there's folks who if they have a problem will work it out, but can even you call 'em a majority? When I used to listen to 2m, well, it was just hair raising the "I'll tell mamma on you" festivals that they'd get going.

    But that wasn't the point either. Ham ain't for me, despite the surface attractions the restrictions make it unappealing. I don't see any prospects for it ever regaining the freedom and wide open thrill of discovery that it must once have had. Computers, on the other hand, have that freedom and thrill now, and with any luck will never lose it.

    ...still up, still working, ranting and frothing for no good purpose... If I wasn't self-employed I'd strangle my boss.
  • HAM radio has always been at the forefront of technology but its missing the boat today. First off there is no "killer app" left. None of my friends are licensed.. and few want to spend the effort required. Its easier to use CB and cell.

    That having been said there is a huge demand for wireless internet access. If an informal network of TCP/IP gateways could be built (perhaps hosted by people with cable/DSL access) and a simple high speed (at least 56k better would be 110k) portable packet radio. Probably spread spectrum in the 1.2GHZ or 2GHZ amatuer bands. A device like this would almost have to be built commercially but if standards could be developed competition could lower the cost. This system could be free to use with no per packet charges and would do wonders for making the wireless net avaailable for everyone.

    The FCC would have to clarify the "commercial use" rules. Currently if you do not profit from the transaction it shouldn't be illegal to use Amatuer Radio. (ie ordering a pizza over the radio is not technically illegal but a delivery driver using it to call back for directions would be) However this ruling is fuzzy and many HAMs are uncomfortable with any commercial use.

    Then there is the encryption aspect.... any attempts to scramble the communication is illegal. Scratch https.. but is ICQ illegal (since the program internally scrambles data)?

    Wireless internet access could easily be the next killer app for HAM radio... but can it be done?
  • I just joined NCI - I am a no-code tech from the early 90's - My ARRL membership just came due, and I'm not going to renew.
  • The new folks have moved on to HF, but that seems to leave >50 mhz operation dead! At Field Day, I couldn't make one single contact above 2 meters, or on 222! Now, maybe there's more people looking for contacts below 2 meters because of better propogation, but why weren't the local yokels on FM?
  • I know this guy who does packet radio. He's a member of one of those amateur radio clubs and put up a tower for packet radio next to the repeater they run. It's pretty cool. I helped him work out the ground work with it by doing an independent research project back when I was in college. It seems relatively simple, although the equiment was not particularly cheap. We had a laptop hooked up to a box, I think it was called a TNC (I was just the coder, he was the hardware guy), which then connected to his portable radio. At his home, he had a similar setup on a base unit connected to his LAN which was firewalled into his ISP over a dedicated line. We had TCP/IP running over the airwaves and we could easily telnet from his laptop to anywhere. It was pretty cool. Our final demo was having the professor jump in his car and check his mail while we drove around the block. He could not afford good equipment so the connection speed was slow, but I believe you could easily check email, either by telnet or POP, and possibly use the web if you were patient.

    Now I don't know anything about security issues. I guess it would depend on how everything was set up. I would imagine that there could be a simple way to encrypt stuff or whatever. All he made was a wireless hub, of sorts.

    On a side note, I recently passed the Technician No-Code test myself. I can barely wait to try it.

  • I know what you're getting at; but if enough people break the rules (or don't turn in those who are breaking rules), then the FCC and ITU will start getting far more authoritarian than they already are. It is kind of silly. But that's the way bureaucracy works, unfortunately.
  • Quoting the article:
    A neat fact is you can get your technician (first) license from the FCC by passing a simple test. This test consists of a pool of 348 questions.

    I'm surprised that aTRaTiCa didn't mention this, but there are only 55 actual questions on the Technition class test.

    The technician class licenseing test is actualy two tests: the novice test (with 30 actual questions) and the technician test (with 25 actual questions), or at least it was two tests when I got my tech license 4 years ago. I believe that the novice and tech tests were merged with the recent lincenseing restruchuring, but I'm not sure, and I can't look it up right now.
  • I'm surprised that aTRaTiCa didn't mention this, but there are only 55 actual questions on the Technition class test.

    That slipped my mind at the moment while I was submiting the story. I should've also told how it's split into sections and only 1 questions from each section would appear on the test...

    Thanks :)

  • No problem, just wanted to clear that up. :)

    I believe the numbuer of examn questions in each section of the tests are structured like this:

    section number of questonns
    novice tech
    Commission's rules 10 5
    Operating procedures 2 3
    Radio wave propagation 1 3
    Amateur radio practices 4 4
    Electrical principles 4 2
    Circuit components 2 2
    Practical circuits 2 1
    Signals and emissions 2 2
    Antennas and feed lines 3 3
    Totals 30 25

    At least, it was set up like that when I took my test.

    BTW, i know theat table sucks, I don't have a whole lot to work with, here.

  • First of all, I'll admit that I am one of those lowly "No-Code Techs" that people often used to mutter about. However, I am not one of those who is fond of the FCC lowering its standards. When I first saw the new requirements, I was tempted to let my license expire.

    Even though Morse Code may be on its way out, it still is a useful tool for getting through when it really counts. A solid carrier can be understood much easier through heavy interference than a voice. I know I have yet to learn it (I have tried on occasion), but that isn't my point. Morse Code has had another semi-useful side effect: it kept those less civil out who would otherwise just blindly wander into the hobby. Granted, it also kept those who could not learn it easily from coming in to Amateur Radio and advancing, but it is hard to say which it has done more of just by looking at the numbers.

    How many people saw the lines that formed when the Morse Code tests were being done just prior to and after April 15 (the date the new pools)? I assisted with running a hamfest (a technical flea market for a day) around that time which offered a testing session. We almost had more people coming just for the old (shorter) test sections than we did for the actual hamfest! Our Volunteer Exam Coordiator (VEC) had to go get more people to assist giving the exam, and space that was not intended for use with the exam sessions suddenly became dedicated to it. About the only reason I was not among them is because I have trouble taking standarized exams; I actually failed the first time I applied for my license.

    Rumor has it (and correct me if I'm wrong) that the California area has a major problem with unlicensed users getting Amateur Radio equipment. Even here in New Jersey, local repeaters have often become more CB like than anything. I know CB is often politely referred to as "11-meters," but that is being too kind. The more people that use Amateur Radio, the more we risk it becoming another CB as people see getting a simple license as an unnecessary obstacle.

    But this time, the FCC simply can not stop licensing it. CB was a local thing; Amateur Radio is mainly on Internationally set frequencies. (AR's 40-meter band is a shortwave one, but who knows what the FCC was thinking then.) Yes, the ARRL has the Offical Observer (OO) system in place, but how much can we do without the direct authority the FCC has to suspend, revoke, and fine? Although this is partially due to the Internet, the number of FCC actions against Hams I've seen is on the rise.

    Part of the problem is our own lack of supervision of the rules. How many hams do you know who have modified their equipment for MARS/CAP/European transmitting operation on the wider bands those provide? How many do not identify themselves online every 10 minutes? You would be surprised. The OO's in our area love the local repeaters. Since they made their presence known, people have been getting back into shape. But Amateur Radio must not get too open and too easy to get into lest we go the way of the CB.

    Anyway, this is just my rant. Call it flamebait or whatever you want. I recognize I am being a bit harsh, but take it however you think it should be.

Slashdot Top Deals

What the gods would destroy they first submit to an IEEE standards committee.

Close