Hey older hammies, what's with the attitude???

[jon666]

not all hams are like that. sure there are a holes in both hobbies. i enjoy radio what ever i got hooked up at the time. there is enough hate in the world.

 

[Tallman]

I have met "Clergy" that were the biggest aholes. Some of them were related by marriage. One was telling me I need to change my ways or I was going to hell.
Later that month he was arrested for rape, he also had children with women other than his wife. Other groups were just as bad.

 

[drgrant]

Sorry you don't get your wish: 725,000+ US Amateurs and growing...Highest #'s in US History...Worldwide #'s are up Also!
All the Best
Gary

Because of the 10 year licensing cycle, and 2 mouse click renewals, this number is somewhat meaningless. It doesn't really depict how many people are actual active on the air. Sadly I think while the number of "valid" licenses are up, the number of active operators of all types is way down. Obviously there's some geographic slant, too. For example on BOTH services up here in New England, over the past decade I've seen an easy 50% drop in people on the air. You used to be able to turn on a 2M rig and hear a half dozen active repeaters during the morning commute, now its like 3 or 4 maybe. Same thing with CB, there are still people around but the days of just turning the radio on during daylight hours and finding people to talk to all over are gone. Even the number of truck drivers using Ch. 19 has plummeted quite a bit. It used to be I would turn on 19 in the morning back 15 something years ago and you'd hear a ton of people, now its just a few pockets of drivers here and there.

 

[BJ radionut]

Dr. Grant : I don't doubt that in some regions activity is down. I can tell by 6m here...many 1-2-3 area callsigns have relocated to other areas. As far as general activity I find it still very busy here in the Mid-West. Even 2m FM Simplex operation seems to be coming back.
I have operated a few SSB/CW contests of late, and can tell you I have noticed a jump in activity during those events.
The 10m ARRL SSB/CW contest last month with the cycle in such poor conditions, I thought with over 800+ Q's in 28 hours of operation was pretty damn good.
We (W8PR Team) also had almost 60% of those Q's made in the CW sections.
Certainly the poor conditions in this Solar minimum have seen some op's drop off and doing other things, however I believe there will be a resurgence once the conditions improve.
Last Spring/Summer during Eskip season, 6m was very active, and 10m shown some good activity also.
I can't tell you how many times I worked New op's on 6m last Summer, running Dipoles or Squalo's w/100 watts...
So there are op's trying the bands when conditions give them the opportunity.
I would agree we may have lost some, due to poor conditions, op's trying to work 40/75m with 100 watts plus dipoles or marginal antennas only 15-20ft above ground are going to experience some serious frustration.
I certainly believe the Digital modes have contributed to reduced SSB/CW activity on most of the bands, making it appear there is nobody operating. However if you follow the " DX clusters" activity is there, it is just isolated to those very small segments of the bands.
DIGI is not my cup of tea, but if it gets people operating...FB.
All the Best
Gary

 

[Tallman]

I'll give you the best summation of this CB vs Ham radios I can. If you were an asshole before you got your ticket, you are now the same asshole with better equipment.

 

[S&W357]

That makes sense.

 

[Tallman]

Don’t broad-brush all the older folks. There’s always a few of us younger brains attached to old bodies. Don’t turn away, seek them out and try to increase your generation within the club. My experience with the VFW typifies the attitude you’re talking about. For the most part, young Vietnam vets back in the 70’s were not welcomed into their “old man’s drinking club”. Most of us learned from that experience, and things changed over time. Now we are the old farts, and I’ll be dammed if I can find any of us treating the younger vets in the same offish way. At least at the VFW’s in our area, the drinking aspect has also been largely averted and replaced with family activities, wives and children. One note about women, they’re usually at the forefront of making everyone feel welcome. IMO, clubs need more of them to be involved.

I had the same experience with the VFW, American Legion no problem. I dislike it when people paint a broad stroke across a large segment of society that stands off the side of general population because they have a skill or interest that is not mainstream. Hot rod cars, radio groups, photography, radio controlled aircraft all are cliquish. If you enter a contest for photography and you do not belong to their club you won't even place or get an honorable mention. I entered a photo that I thought was better than anything they had and nothing. The photo was painstakingly composed and the subject matter fantastic. It was a young lady in a yoga pose fully clothed with the sunrise looking like a halo around her head. Everybody that saw it wanted a copy. So what was the problem? All of the.photos had been prejudged at a club meeting the week before the contest, they knew who was in the club and they were the judges.

 

[Slowmover]

I'll give you the best summation of this CB vs Ham radios I can. If you were an asshole before you got your ticket, you are now the same asshole with better equipment.

With a bigger audience.

Nothing like incentive

.

 

[Oldtimer113]

I don't usually post up here, but this situation has put my shorts in a bunch.

What i'm about to describe has happened to four different individuals, in four different locales, all this year.
One of these people is me.

All four of us experienced the exact same thing.
I will use my own experience, but know that it is the same experience of the other three people.

I have been getting ready to get re-licensed soon, and decided to try going to a local ham meeting in order to get to know how things work as well as the people there.

I am on the younger side of the radio hobby (mid 40's), and am no slouch when it comes to talking radio.
i also happen to be a very friendly and personable person (as are the others who experienced this).

What i experienced in this ham meeting almost made me reconsider getting re-licensed.
It seemed as if every ham over 50 was not only uninterested in talking to me about anything, but made it clear that i was eavesdropping on their private conversation and wasn't welcome.

It's not like im some spring chicken CBer with a mohawk and B.O. I look and sound very similar to everyone that was at the meeting.

I ended up talking with two of the younger guys there who were about my age if not a bit younger.
they were there to prep for getting their license because they were into hiking and camping.
they weren't really that interested in the radio part yet, but wanted to be.

Upon bringing up how the older guys acted towards me, they nodded and said they had been snubbed also.

It was like there were two groups in that meeting. one full of old guys who have known each other for many years, and us younger guys just trying to make conversation with whoever was around.

This kind of attitude was the exact reason i let my license expire 30 years ago! all i got was snobbery when i tried to talk to the older hams. WTF guys???


As i said, this is basically the same experience that the three others i know had. all this year.

I really thought it might be different now that i've grown up, but nope, same old jerks, just different names.

my questions to you older hams are:

Are you aware that you come across this way?

Do you act like this in non-ham social engagements?

Do you ever bring this subject up in meetings?


before anyone answers that it's just normal age difference, two of the people that this happened to are 60+ years old.

to us, it seems like you just want to hang out with the people you already know, and have forgotten that ham radio is about meeting new people and talking to them.

I'm not looking for consolation here, i am just hoping that a few of you are willing to look inside yourselves and ask if you might be part of the reason your ham clubs suck.
LC

My,My, Make that 5 gaggles of OLD hams, @ 5 times, in 5 places!!! After getting my General in 1965, I tired of sitting on the ropes & dropped my call in 1985!!! But continued 0in electronics...
At 72 yrs old, after 34 yrs away, in March/2019 I started cramming to see if could cut it again... You must realize in 34 years electronics transitioned from Valves (tubes) to transistors!!! I was relentless in my NEW challenge... I was pleasantly surprised at the welcoming I received from the VE's & WHOLE GROUP @ club when taking & accessed Tech & Gen tests!!! Received my new call on 05/02/19... Gonna make it work this time!!!

 

[kopcicle]

Almost the same here. After 40 + years with a 1st phone/GROL I finally sat for the amateur exams. 03/30/16 . No idea why I waited so long ...

 

[w9cll]

1st phone/GROL

I have the same.

 

[bigcountry78]

I bought a baofeng uv82 last year. I got into a tech licensing class earlier this year but I wasn’t able to attend due to some issues that popped up. Today I started taking some practice tests just to see what to expect. But honestly I’m on the fence about it when I’ve read so much negativity about hams. I’m 32 and an experienced CBer but I’m not sure I like the idea of all the rules. That’s just me though.

 

[kopcicle]

I’ve read so much negativity about hams.

Read or experienced? We have our complete bastiches but they're easily ignored.
like CB the miscreants tend to congregate in one place and are easily ignored.

but I’m not sure I like the idea of all the rules.

All the rules? Or several specifically? Part 97 basically states " stay within the lines, don't be an ass, assist or give way in emergencies, and don't abuse the privilege".

I'm a "ham" an extra in fact. It isn't and hasn't been commonly known here as I don't include it in my details. I'm a volunteer examiner as well. 1st phone/GROL through most of my adult life.

Ignore the "likes" and read a sample of my non technical rants. Do you see any but humorous negativity ? ie; "get below and row" to a tech, or a reminder to a general that "it's on the exam, figure it out". In any case that's what the public sees. I've already given the answer in PM.

I consider myself to be a fair example of what the majority of hams are,
human beings.

 

[Tallman]

I bought a baofeng uv82 last year. I got into a tech licensing class earlier this year but I wasn’t able to attend due to some issues that popped up. Today I started taking some practice tests just to see what to expect. But honestly I’m on the fence about it when I’ve read so much negativity about hams. I’m 32 and an experienced CBer but I’m not sure I like the idea of all the rules. That’s just me though.

Let me give some examples of what HAMS are:
1. After hurricane Katrina the first responders were paralyzed and had zero communications. The local hams got together with their own equipment and set up a system that got them on the move. No body asked them. They just did it.
2. A search and rescue group in the North East of the Untied States had trouble communicating with the command center and each other to coordinate the search parties and aircraft being used. A ham and one of the locals involved with the search and rescue devised a plan to fix the problems. Recommended test equipment was bought and put to use. Repeaters and command central tuned up and now a Handy Talkie can make contact with any other members of the group reliably over very rough terrain.

That my friend is what you don't hear about "HAMS." Not all of us are the cranky snooty curmudgeons and are dedicated to public safety and service.
So If you don't want to be a member of such a noble group, Okay but we could use more people to chip in and help out in times of crisis.
I don't think that is an attitude.

 

[bigcountry78]

I guess I mean the more structured aspect, maybe “rules” was the wrong term. CB is a little more free I guess. I also hate how a lot of people tend to look down on CB, especially because it’s what got me into radio in the first place. You can be on the air for less than $150. I have done some listening, and I do enjoy it, but I haven’t heard anything that has made me wish I could join in. I will say the couple of hams that I have had contact with have been very welcoming, maybe I shouldn’t put so much stock in what I read. But with threads like this, I can’t help but wonder.