When was the last time you talked to a teenage ham on HF digital? If you are a ham in a Western country, more than 35 or 40 years old, it is likely that you are last of the generations of active hams in your country.
Look around, there are very few new young hams. Right now, I'm seeing a rapid increase in active hams in China... possibly the only country in the world where this is happening... mostly due to the recent relaxing of chinese Amateur Radio regulations and the huge number of people in high tech professions. Because most hams in China are not influenced by the english-speaking world of ham nay-sayers, the new wave of young Chinese hams have a vibrant experimental attitude, a good grasp of new technology, and they are active on the air. If hams in The West are to attract new young ham operators (or even maintain the existing hams younger than 30 years old), we need to start by changing the public attitude a lot of the older hams have toward those who are adopting new digital technologies. Will we graduate beyond PSK31 and keyboarding before this generation dies off? Or will we stagnate, to the point of oblivion, a footnote in history? Will Amateur Radio lose its spectrum simply by default, due to inevitable inactivity after this generation is gone? I'm already seeing it happening... the ham bands are being taken over by non-hams in many parts of the world. The "pirates" or "government stations" simply get on and use the band without any concern... there are more and more of them every day. We have broadcasters and jammers on 20 meters now (real high power AM shortwave broadcasters). All of 40 meters (including 7000-7100 kHz) and 80 meters has been taken over in most of Asia, Africa, and South America. They wouldn't be there if hams were actively occupying the frequencies already. Yet, regular activity on the ham bands is on the decrease. I've watched this happening over the 40 years I've been a ham. Sure, we have a few flurries of contest activity on the weekends (when the HF pirates are inactive). But, the sustained activity we once had, even 10 or 15 years ago is gone. And, it is not just due to the solar minimum :) Young people simply do not stick around places where they see the status quo putting down creativity, innovation, and actively discouraging new technology. QRZ.com and eham.net are flagship examples of this bad ham attitude on the web. Many young people get their first impressions of ham radio via the web, yes... even groups such as digitalradio and other yahoogroups... and hams posting videos on youtube. Stop and think for a second: What have you done on the web recently to encourage new operators? Recently, ARRL started an outreach program via a Blog on the web, to encourage young people interested in ham radio. It is called "We Do That" and it has the right attitude. It enthusiastically covers a lot of new technology and creative innovation. Click here: http://wedothatradio.wordpress.com/page/2/ 73 Bonnie VR2/KQ6XA .
