Amateur Radio: How we hurt ourselves

Isn’t our hobby amazing? So many different areas to have an interest in and so many ways to learn about new things. It can sometimes feel overwhelming. I personally enjoy digital communications and linking systems and people together. If you have any experience with the Alabama Link you know we try to include everyone and almost every mode. I sit back sometime and look at what we have done and while technically it is “pretty cool” realistically it can be pretty sad. Why? I answer that with a question, where is everyone? I will answer that later…

How many repeaters are in your city, county or state? How many Ham’s use those repeaters? When you want to do something in your club does it always get shot down by the same people/person? Why can’t we all get along?

Everyone wants to create their “own” thing. There are 1,815 Wires-X nodes registered with Yaesu in the United States alone! The largest room Americas link doesn’t even have 5% of the nodes. Where is everyone? DSTAR has basically four reflector systems with 1000’s of ways to connect but you will be hard pressed to find a large group on any reflector module. DMR is the same way and so on and so forth.

The same reason we have paper repeaters is the same reason we have “paper reflector modules” people want to have their own private channel. Pick up the cell phone.

Ham radio is a public entity not a private communications medium but that has been lost on people’s minds for decades.

So where is everyone? They are in there own room, own module, own reflector, own frequency and own reflector talking to no one. Remember we don’t “own’ the air waves. That is how we hurt ourselves. Connect up to a linked system and make some contacts, maybe you can share some knowledge about the hobby or help a new person into the hobby. Talk to people and understand them better. Don’t sit in the corner with your ball so no one else can play.

I know this may ruffle some feathers but I don’t want to see our hobby become a bunch of kids not wanting to share their ball.

73,

Doug

W4DBG