A couple of days ago, I blogged about all the Chinese VHF/UHF radios now being sold here in the U.S. The post included links to 13 different mobile/base radios being sold on Amazon. I had never heard of most of the brands, including Leixen, Juentai, Tokmate, and QYT.
Comments on that post ranged from, “You have to be crazy to buy these rigs” to “The rig is solid!” Despite the differing views on rig quality, they all agreed that these radios are a nightmare to program.
Another trend, of course, is the rising number of new hams. The number of licensed radio amateurs here in the U.S. has gone from fewer than 660,000 in 2007 to more than 730,000 this year. Most of these are new Techs, and presumably, they went out and purchased some kind of radio.
Then, today, I got an e-mail from someone who tied these two trends together:
I am disappointed that VHF and UHF activity is way way down here. Some times I turn on my Kenwood HT while reading the newspaper and there is nothing on either 2 m or 70 cm repeaters. It’s not just in my area but throughout the USA. I think perhaps that a lot of active VHF/UHF FM guys have become SKs. I know that a lot of local hams from the 1980s are all gone now. I wonder, though, why no one has replaced them?
This fellow has a point. If there are more radio amateurs out there, and they’re buying more radios, why don’t they get on the repeaters?
By the way, I often monitor the W8UM repeater here in Ann Arbor on 145.23 MHz. It’s accessible via node W8UM-R on EchoLink. If you feel like generating a little 2m activity here in Ann Arbor, MI, give me a buzz.
ct says
And the related question is why so many repeaters remain on the air, when utilization is so low.
Dan KB6NU says
It’s a combination, I think, of enjoying the technical challenges and a bit of a power trip.
k8gu says
Coordinated pairs are (were for a long time) a hot commodity in much of the populated parts of the U.S., especially on 2 meters. I think there are a lot of quiet repeaters that are “holding a pair.”
The issue with HTs is twofold, and goes back a little bit to what N8SBE said. First, they are the lowest common denominator: inexpensive, easy to use, and therefore nearly useless in most everyday situations. Second, I remember the time in the not-too-distant past before widespread adoption of cellular phones and the Internet when hams did keep in touch on VHF FM. Many of the guys I know who did this switched to mobile phones and email as soon as they could. It’s simply better for what they want to communicate. This left the people who had little say on the repeaters, and it converged with CB radio in a lot of cases.
In summary, the most interesting users were just there to communicate and moved on when something better came along.
Doug - KM4FWM says
I use my Baofeng UV-82 HT for ARES nets & public service events. Relatively little repeater activity locally, other than for scheduled nets. I rarely listen.
FWIW, programming the Baofeng is quite easy if you use a genuine FTDI serial chip programming cable and the free Chirp programming software, The Chirp software works with a wide variety of radios, including Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, Alinco, and a number of Chinese brands — http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home and can import from repeater directories and output in spreadsheet formats. Very slick.
The site http://www.miklor.com/ is a very valuable resource for owners of Chinese radios. All in all, I’m more than satisfied with the UV-82 and accessories.
I’m also a new ham (1 yr.), but an Extra. (Thanks for the Guides, Dan!)
Rich says
Longtime SWL point of view here. If the hew hams are all techs and don’t progress above that, maybe they get the new Chinese 2m and 70 CM HTs and put them away for “emergencies” and never see them again. Just a thought. Enough activity on local 2m repeaters to keep me interested, but my listening attention is divided a million ways.
KE8CAN - Jim says
I’m one of those new licensees this year, tested for tech and general back in September. But I did not go out and buy a radio. I did spend a fair amount of time researching VHF/UHF radios, but hit some financial potholes right after getting my license, so I had to put buying a new radio on the back burner for now.
I even went to a local ham fest hoping to find a decent deal on a used radio. I left early and disappointed. I felt that most everyone there was trying to unload their junk at inflated prices. Anyone who was selling radios that weren’t terribly outdated was asking far too much compared to the cost of buying a new radio. The rest was piles of CB radios and old Ni-Cad powered handhelds that had to be nearly 20 years old. I figured I was much better off waiting a while.
So that’s one anecdote from a newly-issued-but-inactive license.
KI5AII - Dave says
Ditto this two and a half years later, although I do have the baofeng rd5r dmr HT. And have got it hitting at least one digital repeater nearby, have had some out of state QSO’s but that is not too hard to do on DMR. Have an SDRPlay coming in the mail as a receive only unit that will have to suffice till I can get a nice radio to pair it with in the future. Delayed gratification for sure, but still having fun planning antennas and such waiting on the mail.
Chris KQ2RP says
Using Chirp, I don’t find the Baofengs all that difficult to program. No more so than programming my Yaesus.
Thoughts with regard to new hams and quiet repeaters –
Every time I see the ‘more hams than there’s ever been’ numbers mentioned, I wonder about the age demographics. Are we really generating new hams at an accelerated pace or is there a bubble where there may be a steep decline coming (because they’re older) over the next 10 years or so?
Maybe we’ve gotten worse at elmering.
I seem to hear new hams using machines here in NJ. Perhaps some areas of the country are growing hams more quickly than others?
KD0TLS Todd says
“Perhaps some areas of the country are growing hams more quickly than others?”
That’s definitely the case, if you look at the state numbers on ah0a.org. Wisconsin, for example has actually lost around 100 licensees over the past two years. Minnesota’s ‘growth’ is flat and starting to decline, too. Ohio is also showing declines, along with other States.
Mentoring is now little more than ‘advice’ on how to spend your first thousand. The underlying notion seems to be that, if the new ham can be be browbeaten into spending a lot of money, they will be reluctant to abandon the hobby (and their investment). Bad strategy.
I’ve seen a dozen or more new hams get on the air and abandon the hobby after three months or so in the three years I’ve been a ham. It’s always the same things mentioned. They’re made to feel ashamed of their new HT. They don’t find compelling conversation or sufficient activity. They get relentlessly pushed to ‘advance’ instead of being allowed to explore. They get talked down to as idiots by ‘helpful’ and condescending ‘mentors’. It’s all about *changing* them, instead of accepting them.
Dave, N8SBE says
My personal experience deals with a colleague at work that I convinced to get his Tech license. Thanks to Dan’s book and his class in Ann Arbor, he came away with a license. He immediately purchased a Baofeng and then did nothing with it, until I pestered him into bringing it in to work, and we went outside at lunch and operated through a local 2M machine, just to get his feet wet. As far as I know, that’s the last time he actually got on the air. He’s now left the company and moved to Grand Rapids, so I no longer see him across the aisle from me daily.
Why didn’t he become more active? A number of things come to mind:
1) Some folks are actually more interested in HF operation, and my colleague complained to me that I forgot to tell him he could have taken the General test at the same time as the Tech test and for no additional money. So, don’t undersell the HF aspects of the hobby, and encourage new prospects to go for the General, if they show interest. They may have no interest in chatting on FM on the local repeaters.
2) An HT is a really poor substitute for having a proper mobile installation, and even though the repeaters in the area generally have good coverage, the distances covered by a typical commuter easily exceed what you can reasonably expect from a 2-4 watt HT, even using an outside mag-mount antenna. Running 35-50 watts mobile tends to result in more balanced coverage, since most repeaters run at least that much power.
3) An HT is a pain in rear hooking up and unhooking it from a mobile environment. If you have a DC charger cable and outside antenna and speaker mike, you have a lot of plugging and unplugging to do every time you get in and out of the vehicle. That gets really old, really quick.
4) This particular friend lived only a few minutes from where he was working. That just magnified the hassle of setting up his HT every time he was going to or from work. Even with a permanent mobile installation, with the round tables that tend to pop up during morning and evening drive times, you often can’t get but one or two transmissions in before you get to your destination. I note that the typical commute users are the ones that find a machine that covers their commute from start to end (or nearly so), and their commute lasts at least a half hour or more, sometimes more than an hour. I drive 115 miles round-trip every work day, so I’m on of those users.
5) I’ve heard folks on the local repeaters getting really impatient with newbies that are trying to use HT’s with weak signals. They are told to “get a real antenna”, etc. If I was a newbie, and couldn’t (or didn’t want to) afford a ‘real radio’ and antenna setup, I’d be discouraged by what I would perceive as an oversell. That is, newbies are told that they can spend less than $50 on an HT as a starter radio, and then find out they can’t reach but one or two machines, and often poorly at that, unless they want to stand outside.
I would recommend telling folks that are interested that they should count on buying a 35-50 watt dual-band mobile and gain antenna, if they want to join the crowd. Anything less, will be a frustrating experience.
Same goes for advising a newbie on HF radios. They may think they can get by with a 5 watt QRP rig that goes for cheap, but in my opinion, QRP can be frustrating for a newbie that is not ready for the challenge. Steer them to a good (used if necessary) 100W HF radio.
Better to help new hams into the ‘mainstream’, than to try to entice them with cheap low-power HT’s or HF radios. Too easy to discourage them at that point.
Doug - KM4FWM says
After a year spent as a new amateur in CERT & ARES in a county where the ARES EC/AEC each have over 50 years experience as hams, I’m finally beginning to understand why new hams lose interest in amateur radio. I got hooked because I was interested in personal preparedness and public service. The Baofeng UV-82, for all its faults, did the job, with an added roll-up J-pole, second battery, and speaker/mike. Chirp made programming convenient. Good enough as a starter system. Listened/participated in the ARES nets. Joined county ARES. Very, very big mistake.
My ARES EC regularly belittles me for my “cheap Chinese radio.” Of course, he chooses not to participate in the ARES District-sponsored weekly county ARES net because he has political issues with the District ARES people. Never participates in the weekly District-wide ARES net, either. Funny, but all the other District ARES leaders don’t seem to have a problem with me and my “cheap Chinese radio” participating in the ARES nets. Skill building is the mission.
The issue, according to my EC and AEC is that the “fools’ at the ARES District level buy into the FEMA IS “Unified Command” idea, rather than ARES primacy in emcomm. Old-school ARES rather than modern ARES is their preference. (Sorry, but that ship sailed in 2001.)
I participated as an ARES COMO (“Communication Operator”) in a major international event’s Incident Command Center, run under the “Unified Command” principle (with Homeland Security, FBI, multiple police agencies,, and other emergency services) with a COML and COMT (“Communication Leader” and “Communication Technician” over the ARES volunteers.) My ARES team leader was a (different) city EC also who also guided me in improving my education. I’ve knocked out about 17 FEM IS certs, ARRL EC-001, and NWS SKYWARN since then. Fantastic learning experience. Unified Command and IC work very well in practice, IMHO.
We had an ARES Section-wide event critique, which included the event COML and the ARES Section leader. Virtually everyone had positive comments and suggestions for improvements, except for my county’s EC/AEC, who only had minor roles in the event. They were passive-aggressive negative throughout the critique meeting. Note ARES-centric. Quite sad.
At the suggestion of my event EC team lead, and with the cooperation of the area lead ARRL VEC, I suggested the possibility of a Tech-In-A-Day class to improve the emcomm skills of the other CERT volunteers. The local ARES EC discouraged it.
After taking the NWS SKYWARN class and chatting with the (other, local) county CERT class coordinator, I suggested the possibility of a SKYWARN class for the county CERT and Fire/EMS volunteers in my county. More negativity from the EC
Look, some experienced hams are “anti-Elmers.” A newbie doesn’t count because he/she doesn’t have the experience. (Quality of ideas don’t matter.) I was an electronics tech/programmer/sysadmin for many years. I have a fair amount of experience. I studied my butt off and took Tech and General on the same day. Did well (Thank’s Dan — used your Guides.)
Two month’s later, I did my Extra. Did great. (Thanks again, Dan.)
Doesn’t matter. I don’t count in my local ARES, nor do other newbies. Screw that!
There are lots of other ham activities. Clubs and other public service events, including ARES events in other counties.
FWIW, I highly recommend the ARRL EC-001 “Introduction to EMCOMM” course. My online class mentor was an experienced ham who was an ARES, CERT, and Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteer. She could not have been more helpful. Excellent class.
If you are interested in ARES, check your local Section/District web pages for course suggestions. I’ve found many of them to be highly worthwhile.
If you run into “anti-Elmers,” just keep looking.
Many, many, many of the local ARES leaders re dedicated to public service and tru Elmers. Take advantage of their suggestions.
Yohei N8YQX says
“why don’t they get on the repeaters?”
At least for me, local repeaters are boring and not very fun:
1. It’s the same people day in and day out. I can get that at home and work.
2. There’s usually a clique, making “outsiders” feel unwelcome.
This isn’t to say I don’t get on VHF/UHF. I usually park my FM rig on 146.52 and see how far I can get out. People there are usually friendly, and it’s exciting to work someone who’s outside of a typical repeater coverage area. This is the same reason why I enjoy working weak signal on HF through UHF.
Chasing the “rare one” isn’t everything, but I think seeing how far you can stretch your limits is one common goal for many hams. Instead of encouraging more repeater activity, maybe we should be encouraging more FM simplex activity to get new hams really hooked on this hobby.
Joey says
I just bought a handheld, just to wet my feet once I get my license I’ll get something better, I wish I knew somebody that could teach me I don’t even know anything about ham I’m so lost it isn’t funny and I want to be a ham so bad . I’m already looking to put a dipole outside my bedroom window so I could reach out, I have a repeater 3.4 miles from my house and then I have about four other repeat is within four or 5 miles of my house, I would love to get a big watt rig And I will as soon as I get my feet wet and learn, but like you said nobody takes me seriously because I have a handheld. Hey if anyone wants to teach me you can reach at [email protected] I’m going to be 57 years old I want to learn so I have something to do when I’m not working no more. Take care people I hope someone gets in touch with me.
ED CRAIG says
Hi Joey, How are You? I am fine. My name is ED. I’m an Old Timer Ham Radio Operator, age 74. I first got on the air on CW in 9th grade of Senior High School at Needham Mass. at age 15. There were numerous other beginner teenagers on the air both on phone and cw on the HF bands, especially 40 meters. ( between 7.0 and 7.3 MHz). I knew almost nothing about Ham Radio when I started. Another kid at school was very excited and enthusiastic about it and was obviously having a good time. He taught himself cw so I decided to try it too. But I had no money. An upper-class kid at school at the Radio Club told me what to get as a transmitter and my Daddy bought that for me. Another kid ( my age ) at school, whose Father was already a Ham Operator, asked his Dad to give me a free short wave receiver but I had to build a power supply for it according to the manual and ARRL books, and hook up a speaker and antenna to it. I taught myself how to do it. I built my own transmitting antenna too, called a folded dipole for 40 meters. It took me about 5 months to get on the air, CW only. I bought a straight key with money from my Dad. I did not know what the morse code was supposed to sound like, really, although I passed the test sending and receiving at 5 words per minute. I really learned the code by on-the-air experience and frequently goofing-up numerous times, but nobody seemed to mind that. I started sending at about 3 words per minute… very very slow. After about 3 weeks of sending CQ and my call sign, I heard someone calling me in the noise and interference, but he was going too fast. I was able to write down his call sign. I had spent about an hour each day after school playing with my new radios and calling CQ.
After spending about 5 hours each day for about 3 months on my school summer vacation I was pretty good at CW.
I suggest you get a simple radio like the ICOM IC-718 transceiver and get on 40 meter CW. It’s fun after awhile and a lot of laughter and giggles getting up and running. 73, ED, N1TV
David - N4FSI says
This summer I picked up a radio for the first time in thirty years (my original ticket, earned in ’81, was Tech class; when I left home for college in ’84 I became inactive (but always renewed)). This summer I bought a Chinese HT and meticulously programmed it for all repeaters in my metropolitan area (DC). Every one had its weekly net, and sometimes I’d overhear a scheduled chat. But other than that: deafening silence. I started working on my code speed, then to (thankfully) learn that my ’81 tech exam could get me an administrative upgrade to general. I could sit with my HT for hours, even days, and hear not a single impromptu QSO (or get one started). I can sit down with my new (used) HF rig and get a QSO at once … even on CW, which no one has to learn anymore but folks obviously are. The lack of repeater activity makes me wonder about a concern I hear now and again about HTs dissuading folks from upgrading to general. I think people are earning their tech license and not going on the air. As for me, I’m happy to be HF-active now, and the HT sits in my bottom desk drawer.
ka2dew says
My take is that new ham radios used to be fun to use. The cheap bad-firmware radios are anything but fun. 2nd thing is that people keep telling the new hams to get on EchoLink. IRLP, C4FM, DMR, D-Star, etc.. that is hardly more ham radio than this forum is. How about if we tell the new hams about ham radio instead? Yikes.
N9CWS says
A friend of mine is in Ann Arbor and I’ve been trying to get him into ham radio. When he moved there a year and a half ago, someone gave him a FRS radio and it got him interested in ham radio. Family commitments stalled his studying. Every so often, I bring it up. He loves electronics so ham radio is right up his alley.
Dan KB6NU says
Have him get in touch with me. I’m going to be teaching a one-day Tech class on January 27. I’d be happy to have him join the class.
DW says
The reason why they haven’t been replaced is because hams are often stereotyped as old cranky men that hate cbers, no coders, Baofeng users, anyone not in their “clique” or all of the above. Plus most young people are drawn to what is hip at the moment, which is cell phones and texting, and the internet. To them, ham radio is an old dinosaur. Kind of like 8 track tapes or black and white TV’s. So it’s no wonder they choose not to want to go take the test and get on the repeaters. In fact I predict it won’t be long that with all the cheap HT’s flooding the market, the repeaters may see an upswing of unauthorized use by unlicensed purchasers of said cheap HT’s. There’s already hunters who buy these for chatting with the others. They live long range communications and believe it will be hard to track them down if they are mobile.
John Murphy says
I take offense by the statement ‘It’s not just in my area but throughout the USA.’. Here on the Front Range of Colorado (fron Ft Collins down to Denver and even to Colorado Springs, VHF/UHF repeater and even simplex use is in high use (no pun intended). Pretty much any time of day and even well into the wee hours of the morning you can someone to talk to. The Colorado Repeater Association has a linked repeater system throughout the front range, and the Colorado Connection system of statewide linked repeaters are used from the high mountain peaks like Vail & Steamboat Springs to the plains on the east in towns like Limon and Sterling. While there many nets everyday of the week, there are also ragchewers on all the time. So we just need to convince some that the repeaters are there, for thier use. If a club or association doesn’t want anyone using them due to the cosg of maintaining the repeaters, then why have them? I understand the cost of repeater maintenance and upkeep and utilities, but it is like in business, that is the nonrecoverable cost of the service. If you need to justify the cost of repeater ownership, then maybe you need to rethink why the reoeater is there in the first.place. I have been in other areas where after bekng on a repeater a few times then receiving a letter asking for money to use that repeater. Gentlemen, fellow hams, in my opinion, this NOT what ham radio is about. I suspect that my experience is not the only one, and it MAY be the reason others don’t use a repeater….they don’t want to intruse on the repeater owners(whether that be an individual or club) property. I say if they are open then get on and use the air, after all if you are licensed then the airwaves are for all, and not a particular individual or group (keepjng in mind some repeaters are setup for ARES or other emergency groups for thir use…but only during an emergency or exercise…other than that they ahould be open) de WN6OTL
Kieran says
I think one problem here in the UK is that there is a generation of licencee’s that frown upon the young. I’m an M6 and i have been told many times by older G stations to stop talking to them or just simply been ignored and i know it isn’t just me. This has put me off joining in on existing conversations when i turn on my radio.
porcupine says
I think in general most hams aren’t into talking just to talk. There are a couple weekly nets where i live but other than that the system is pretty much silent. Of course CB is pretty much dead here too. Maybe people just don’t like talking on the radio anymore.
Bernie Rubble says
Recently got Tech Lic. Purchased 2 handhelds. I’ve scanned the airwaves for day and don’t hear a thing. Only once I heard a bit of traffic on a NET then days and days of nothing. Very disappointed that the only time I found a NET, my unit did not have the power to reach the repeater and at least make a first contact. Given the almost complete silence I will not buy more powerful equipment to reach the repeaters in my area. I just can’t justify the investment if I can’t use it. I’m in Atlanta and will put my radios away for emergencies or for when I go camping/hiking. I don’t think anyone cares if I use the 2 handhelds with my family when camping even if they don’t have license. No-one is using the frequencies and these are low power devices.
Walter Underwood says
You can use those Hrs legally. You would be the control operator for the unlicensed operator. When I do that, I have them identify with their name and my call sign, so “Frank at K6WRU” or “Julie at K6WRU”.
Do any of the repeaters have a signal strength report? That is a good way to tell if you are getting in. The tone might be wrong, offset wrong, etc.
Also, some of the inexpensive handhelds have pretty poor antennas. Which ones did you buy?
Walter Underwood says
Danged autocorrect, should be “HTs”, not “Hrs”.
Rob says
Bernie, here are a couple of ideas to get you past this start-up problem.
First, get in touch with one or more local ham clubs about which repeaters are active, and which repeaters you can easily reach from your home. They’ll likely have some institutional knowledge along the lines of “Oh yeah, that repeater’s out of HT range from your place, but it’s really active. Try an external antenna.” In my getting-started year, I found a dozen or so repeaters near my house, most of which were dead. But there are three that are busy, and I needed to go beyond an HT with a rubber duck antenna to reach them. One of the ham clubs really helped there (which I soon joined!), going so far as to bring over and try out equipment to see exactly what would work. Great people.
If that doesn’t work out, for whatever reason, build or buy a simple hang-in-a-tree antenna, maybe a window line slim jim, maybe a DIY ground plane. Here’s a plan for a slim jim: https://sites.google.com/view/kn9b/2m-ladder-line-antenna and here’s a guy who’ll sell you one with coax for under $30: http://www.2wayelectronix.com They’ll pretty much make your HT about 10x more effective and let you reach more distant repeaters. If nothing else, they’re great to take camping. Hang one at camp and your range to the other HT, with just its duck antenna, goes way up.
Anyway, don’t give up. And congrats on the new license!
Jeff Dumont KC1JSY says
I’m a new ham in 2018. I got my Tech, Gen and Extra. I’m in Concord NH and we have lots of activity on our 2 meter bands. We also have a phantom net also that uses a 220 repeater (local) that ties into other repeaters (220-440). I can talk in NH, MA and ME on my HT. Also went down to Clayton GA for thanksgiving and talked on repeaters to people in that area.
The nets can be pretty quiet sometimes but there are many of us that talk as we commute to and from work.
Don’t give up….there is life out there!
Jeff / KC1JSY
Ron says
I just found this website, and I can definitely agree with article title. Incidentally, I just tried making contact with W8UM-R via echolink. No joy.
Joey says
Just bought my first HT, bought an aftermarket antenna and put a rats tail on it, with 8 W output I should be able to reach my local repeater which is 3.4 miles from my house and then they are all for others within 5 miles. I have a lot to learn if anyone cares to help me as far as getting my license knowing how to operate these things my email is [email protected] Thanks guys, PS once I learn I’m going to throw this radio into my survival gear and get me a nice rig for my car. I’m 57 years old I need a new hobby for retirement.
Wes says
Forget repeaters. Try FM simplex.
callihan says
I got into radio in the 80s with a cheap CB HT i received as a gift, I mainly listen. Then purchased scanners in the 90s and listened to SSB plus emergency frequencies.
Back then the bands were full of activity, it’s been in slow decline since. I decided to get my ham ticket in 2014 and I discovered how many inactive repeaters are in the area, 30 in a 25 mile radius with about 3 that get any activity at all… mostly 2m , lots of 440 repeaters dead 24-7 so I decided to ditch the dual band radio in favor of a 2m only rig, Ive moved over to HF radio which is more interesting, more activity where people actually hold a coversation and not just a “net”. I mainly use vhf for listening to weather reports during tornado season and giving location reports, and even for that it’s nothing like it was back pre-cellphone …
.alot of the old timers are dying off and occasionally i hear a new ham, who may hold interest for a month or 2 but then disappears never to return.
Paul says
The big mystery is that with so many idle nodes across the USA it makes you wonder why
the nodes are kept running as their maintenance and power costs money.
Some hams have switched to DMR,Dstar,Fusion but the overall lack of activity is still evident.
Some good answers above but i guess that ” Change is the only Constant ” fits this issue.
G3SEA/KH6
Dave says
Old post but interesting topic. My question is, why does it matter that repeaters are quiet? My opinion… repeaters were unique before cell phones and the internet, but not now. We (hams) hang on to a surplus of them now in the thought that they might be useful one day for a local emergency or something… hence all the nets. But just rag chew? That can be had in any number of ways outside talking on a repeater now. I think people like to be challenged to keep coming back. Whats the challenge in spending $20 bucks on a HT and talking on a repeater?
I’d day in summary, I think the premise of the question assumes that # of hams and radios should have some correlation to repeater use. I personally think the heyday of repeaters is over. They serve a purpose, but not nearly as much as before the proliferation of cellphones and internet. They are not a representative measurement of activity in amateur radio like they once were. There are tons of QSOs on HF at any moment.
Ed Dionne KM6UTC says
Very interesting article. However it is now almost mid 2021. There ‘appears’ to be a large influx of new HAMs into our hobby since this article was published. Is there any current data (rather, do you possess) that can be added to the findings? I would be interested in seeing the curve of the graph reflecting the added data. Cheers & 7 3
Dan KB6NU says
I’m sorry, Ed, but I don’t know of any recent studies of repeater activity. I suspect that it’s highly dependent on where you are. Some locations will have more activity than others.
Chuck says
No body mentioned all the “Preppers” that have bought new cheap radios to use when the sky falls and have no intentions of ever licensing them. They feel that when the sky does fall no one will care if the have a license.