VK2AVR wrote: Ham radio *will* die unless newcomers are welcomed to the hobby, and it's a shame that many just don't seem to care.
Agreed.
These would be the old school hams... the ones who have resisted the interwebs and other changes in the last 20 odd years.
Most of this lot are extremely clever when it comes to RF and electronics, but are
absolutely clueless on how to reach out and engage tech savvy younger folks who
are online, and may be interested.
The old school interwebs phobia has made ham radio become "invisible" over the years, so it's no surprise there is very little new blood discovering ham radio.
It really is that simple.
It's important to understand this situation ham radio put itself in didn't suddenly happen last week, last month, or last year, but has been slowly happening over the last 20 years.
The world moved on, ham radio didn't.
And why, in 2015, do we still have email reflectors - closed groups you need to know about before you can even learn from them.
Again, this points to being hard to find and invisible... unless you already know about it.
VK2MUS wrote:... we are talking about getting more people into the hobby - thus making the entry more enticing to younger people the debate on upgrading is irrelevant...
John, exactly!
Sadly, most hams cannot see the bigger picture.
Upgrading privileges for any class of license is only treating one symptom of a much larger problem.
IMO, the WIA has ONE job to do: attract, engage, and make it easy for more people to sit the required tests so they can obtain a license.
Anything else is a distraction, and in 15-20 years time, it may not even matter if things don't change much.
If you have an open mind...
Umpteen of the local FPV (First person View) racing drone guys I fly with have expressed interest in becoming a licensed ham.
The #1 motivator here is being able to legally run more than 25mW EIRP with their 5.8 GHz FPV video downlinks.
In fact, there are almost 600 people in the FPV Australia Facebook group, 300 in the FPV QLD group, many of whom regularly yearn being able to run more than 25mW.
Many are already prepared to sit some appropriate test and pay a license fee.
This is not cold calling (like setting up an embarrassing ham radio caravan in a public location) - these guys are all warm prospects into the ham radio ranks.
FPV video downlinks wouldn't be the only use... thinking 2M FM handhelds for co-ordination around a group meet venue.
Most people playing with drones (a healthy spread from teenagers through to retired) are quite tech savvy:
They can solder and wire up electronics modules up (flight controllers, motor speed controllers, GPS modules, video cameras, etc), download and FLASH their FC and OSD modules via USB (firmware updates come out regularly, as it's constantly evolving), they update their various GUI apps, experiment with 1.2G, 2.4G and 5.8G RF for radio control and video down linking. They are using SMA connectors and RG316.
They are constantly striving for greater range and experiment with antennas and diversity receivers.
There's something oddly familiar about that, no?
How many hams have played with 5.8 GHz cloverleaf, crosshair, or CP helix antennas?
Not many?
100's of drone hobbyist in VK alone use them on a daily/weekly basis.
WIA decision makers - are you reading this?
I can tell the ham community right now:
If F-Calls had access to 5650-5850 MHz (as per advanced license allocation) and be allowed to run, say, 1W EIRP of video (call it ATV!) you would have 100's of new F-Calls in Australia.
Yes, there are that many drone enthusiasts out there now.
OSD (On screen display modules) can superimpose a callsign periodically to maintain ID requirements - this is easy, I do this with a
$16.50 OSD module.
The microwave ham bands are grossly under utilised as it is.
Another thing to consider:
In the last few years over dozen online stores that sell drone parts
in Australia alone have appeared.
Many of them have employed extra staff in the last 12 months and/or moved to larger premises to keep up with the growing demand.
And how many ham radio stores are left in Australia?
Another point of view is that of the ACMA's.
Their constant badgering about the 25mW limit is only driving FPVers underground.
(And most of them run 200 or 600mW TXs)
Wouldn't it make sense to allow a relatively easy means for FPV drone hobbyists to become legit?
Expecting a drone hobbyist to pass an advanced amateur level test is unreasonable for somebody who just want to use a 600mW video transmitter within a 400m radius.
The government also receives the $51 annual license fee into the coffers, instead of nothing.
If amateur radio wants a guaranteed influx of tech savvy people, change one thing:
Allow F-Calls access on 5.8 GHz, to run wide-band video transmissions, say, up to 1W EIRP.
Implement whatever changes are required to the syllabus and test to accommodate this, and both hobbies will be on a winner.
I wouldn't be surprised if some FPVers, once they have obtained a basic Foundation license, became further interested and explored other facets of ham radio.
The trick is to get them through the door in the first place, long before discussing upgrade incentives.
With all due respect, some of you blokes need to look at this from a totally fresh perspective, and from outside of ham radio altogether.
(Continued debate of 10W or 100W on HF is classic example of not thinking outside the box.)
The synergies of these two hobbies, one old, one new, should not be ignored.
ps
There are many hams playing with drones, as this 62 page thread "
Are you a ham" reveals.