Ham Radio is it DEAD in 2019?

[SirAlucard]

Personally for me, I'm a rather private person. Which makes the internet the perfect thing for communicating. Cause you only put out what you want to put out. Sure there are ways of finding people if you want to, but things aren't as simple.

What has stopped me from getting a Ham license, (and I may be wrong about this, so please correct me if I am) is that it seems that to hold a license you have to have all your info out there for people to see. Any time I've looked up someone's call sign, I got their full name, and address. I don't want that kind of information out there about myself. I'm happy just being a listener if it has to come to that. So if that's not the case, please feel free to correct me.

[DaJMasta]

Sort of, in the US the FCC requires a mailing address to reach you at, but this doesn't have to be a personal address.  I believe business addresses and P.O. boxes are acceptable, and I remember when taking my first license test, one of the VECs filling out the paperwork in the beginning confirmed whether I wanted to use my home address or not, so I believe it's a common concern and there are some ways to get around it a bit.

[bob91343]

My address has been posted for all to see on QRZ.com for many years.  The only thing that causes me any trouble are the stupid ARRL advertisements.  They routinely waste their advertising money trying to recruit me.

The up side is that I don't have to tell people where I am in cases where I want them to visit or mail something.

[HB9EVI]

Just great! ...and so true 

[Lord of nothing]

The problem is nobody understand why we have to pay in the range for cheap Cellphone Contract the Amateur Radio Licence  each month. The highest Class cost 6,54€ maybe exclude Tax 
Beside of that "the" Amateur Radio Club try to do everything to block any Repeater Freq for there Club so that no other System get a Permit to operate. 
The also horde a lot of Money for the case the get sued. The refuse to cut the Membership fee.

So thats why I stay with CB Radio. 

[vinlove]

So thats why I stay with CB Radio. 

CB is totally dead in my area.

[bd139]

CB died two decades ago here.

[Lord of nothing]

I noticed that in UK Digital PMR446 is a common thing?
How common are the?

[bd139]

Hardly anyone uses them. Most people use mobile phones. Calls generally cost nothing in the UK these days and they have a better range

[Lord of nothing]

  sure Phone Company also make Backups from each Call. 
So a CB, PMR446 is more private. Especial when I use just Numbers instead of Words.
Try to decrypt 4 - 1 - 9 - 9 - 3 -1 

[bd139]

Everyone knows that. The terrorists use Disney Club Penguin and speak in code 

[Lord of nothing]

  Nope the have there own Alphabet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet

[Richard Crowley]

OTOH, there are continuous schemes to take over more and more spectrum for mobile consumer gadgets, like 6xx MHz and, 7xx MHz bands, etc. the VHF TV band, and the upper 1/2 (or 2/3) of the UHF TV spectrum, etc. And recently the very popular 2m 144 MHz band has come under attack. So Amateur Radio may succumb to death by a thousand cuts.

[bd139]

I doubt it. 2m is rammed here. ISS uses it. Not gonna die.

[Richard Crowley]

I doubt it. 2m is rammed here. ISS uses it. Not gonna die.

But that's the point. Even very popular bits of spectrum like 2m are chronically coveted by other services indiscriminately. Constant vigilance is required simply to maintain the status-quo.

I just watched a YT video by DXcommander on the rising noise floor of HF. He blames regulatory authorities and mega communicaton companies for viewing it as a relic of yesteryear not worthy of protection.   

[xrunner]

I just made a contact from TX to Svalbard - on 6M FT8!   

[bd139]

I doubt it. 2m is rammed here. ISS uses it. Not gonna die.

But that's the point. Even very popular bits of spectrum like 2m are chronically coveted by other services indiscriminately. Constant vigilance is required simply to maintain the status-quo.

I just watched a YT video by DXcommander on the rising noise floor of HF. He blames regulatory authorities and mega communicaton companies for viewing it as a relic of yesteryear not worthy of protection.   

Yeah and the ARRL, RSGB at least are all over it. Fine summary here from RSGB:

https://rsgb.org/main/blog/front-page-news/2019/07/01/144-mhz-and-the-wrc-process/

As for the noise floor, it's not that bad. Seriously. I live in possibly the noisiest place on the planet for RF. Mega city suburb with 30 wireless networks visible, overhead telephone wires galore (all ADSL), right under the approch for the world's busiest airport, next to a rammed main road and a gigantic sewage farm full of high power industrial equipment.

Meh fine. Here's a long wire in the tree in my garden:



Most of the noise floor was my youngest with a hula hoop in the background

I just made a contact from TX to Svalbard - on 6M FT8!   

Congratulations that's a pretty good win on 6m! 

[vinlove]

If Ham Radio is really dead, then it would be a great time to work some DX on 20m band, where it used to be melting pot band.
It would be therapeutic to listen and work some far away DX even with less than 5 Watts PEP.

[RobBarter]

We made just over 70 contacts on 23cm over the weekend.  Some over 800km even with a blown pre-amp.

Not quite dead yet....

[Lord of nothing]

I still receive a lot of Amateur Radio Stuff but mostly old People who talk about there decease.

[kf4hzu]

My Saturday (July 6th) afternoon was spent helping put up a new antenna for a 70cm analog/P25 repeater on a 500ft tall building because the previous antenna got fried by lighting a few days prior.

Ham Radio is still very active and experimenting with various technologies around here. On this same roof is HamWAN gear.

[bd139]

Cool stuff. So much for dead

Some solar cycle fun yesterday. I was playing with my radio's ATU, RBN, CW and a really crappy indoor wire antenna around my living room ceiling yesterday. I got spotted by SZ1A in Greece from the UK on 2W out on 20m on the first TX. 1353 miles on the steamiest turd of a situation.

[bob91343]

Yeah on 20m last night I worked New Zealand and Spain, CW and SSB respectively.  Got S9 plus reports both times.

I don't mind ham radio being dead.  But you can check that any weekend and see the contest people filling the bands.  Some of their antennas are awesome.

I heard one guy saying his vertical antenna had 250 radials.  That's a lot of wire, maybe a few hundred dollars' worth, for 40 meters.

A guy I know said how come so many DX stations have these amazing setups?  I replied that those are the ones you can hear.

I did hear some old timers talking about their physical ailments.  They aren't dead yet, but it's certainly true that not many young people are very interested in putting up a tower and sitting cloistered in their rooms trying to get DXCC.

[vinlove]

Yeah, young people these days are more interested in staring at their phones all day like my daughter.

I tuned up my new SWL receiver XHDATA to HF today, and alas the band was dead. I heard some weak CW qsos on 20m and 40m, but only one station on 20m, and he was in Indonesia YB call.

So, the HF condition must have been quite poor due to Sun Spot cycle going minimum these days? I am not sure I have not bee active for 5-6 years at least doing other things.

I will return to full activity on Ham Radio when things get settled more. So it is not the Ham Radio which is dead, but people get busy and take break, and do other things, but in the end, they do return to the hobby.

But the band is a bit dead it seems. But whats wrong working local stations for rag chew on 40 or 80m band?

[Bud]

I still receive a lot of Amateur Radio Stuff but mostly old People who talk about there decease.

There has always been stuff like that on the lower bands, it does not have anything to do with the current era.