11 votes

The uncertain future of ham radio

4 comments

  1. ali
    Link
    I’ve been wondering about that recently (I just started studying to get a ham radio license. As someone who likes to go on remote activities, it would be pretty cool to have access to some...

    To capture the interest of young people, he urges that ham radio give up its century-long focus on person-to-person contacts in favor of activities where human to machine, or machine to machine, communication is the focus

    I’ve been wondering about that recently (I just started studying to get a ham radio license. As someone who likes to go on remote activities, it would be pretty cool to have access to some information in case of an emergency. Like in the middle of the ocean and you injure yourself, or you got bitten by something in the middle of nowhere.

    11 votes
  2. vord
    Link
    The shortwave radio bands have such immense potential, I'd hate to see them fully divvied up and auctioned to the highest bidder. Especially since they have global reach. It would be great if they...

    The shortwave radio bands have such immense potential, I'd hate to see them fully divvied up and auctioned to the highest bidder. Especially since they have global reach.

    It would be great if they could be left as a commons, left for anyone whom wishes to use it, with some simple rules to not drown everyone else out.

    9 votes
  3. [2]
    userexec
    Link
    The engineering aspect of it has always fascinated me, and I'm a sucker for electronics equipment, but what's always stopped me from pursuing it is just that I don't think there would be anyone to...

    The engineering aspect of it has always fascinated me, and I'm a sucker for electronics equipment, but what's always stopped me from pursuing it is just that I don't think there would be anyone to communicate with on it that I'd actually want to communicate with. Back when I was a truck driver I had a CB, but I always left it off because the only conversations on it were hard right rants, racial slurs, trucker gatekeeping, or lot lizards advertising their services. I'm sure ham radio isn't quite that bad, but I still get the impression I'd just be dumping thousands of dollars into equipment and learning for the equivalent of Fox News survivalist chatroulette. Totally possible I'm wrong; just being honest about what's kept me from doing it.

    7 votes
    1. mtset
      Link Parent
      I'd say it depends which bands you spend time on, but honestly most hams just want to talk about radio gear and propagation and the like. After all, it's the only thing we all have in common.

      I'd say it depends which bands you spend time on, but honestly most hams just want to talk about radio gear and propagation and the like. After all, it's the only thing we all have in common.

      6 votes