by Ian, KD6EPQian@deltanet.com
I agree fully with your editorial (Oct 1996, by Ed Mitchell) October opinion on Ham Radio Online regarding the future of amatuer radio in the 21st century. I am 22 and a tech. I've been into ham radio for about 4 years now, and radio in general, computers, video and anything technical for many more.
The current state of amateur radio isn't any different than it was when I started. In Southern California, the neatest thing I've found is a linked 440 system providing handheld coverage pretty much anywhere. But it's still out-done by cellular if you want instant phone communications. Packet has been eclipsed by the Internet and its recent popularity. A few years ago, wireless computer communications were great, but the two need to be tied together, because no one is on packet anymore. Satellite stations are still way to expensive.
Over the past year, my radio has saw more use during a disaster drill than any other time. This is where I think amateur radio still can hold its own. The first few hours (and days) after something happens is where it works, as cellular and phone service slowly recover. But these services are becoming more and more reliable in themselves. They, too, are radio based. And that's the "magic" that makes amateur and commerical radio work, but Ham radio currently has less things to go wrong. (Although I've heard some inept operators that reverse that statement)
Not for long. I can see the day when vital communications don't go down. The Internet can't go down, per se. Satellites don't fall out of the sky that often. The only problem will cellular out here is that there are too many people using it. (Try making a call at 5pm on weekdays.)
Ham Radio needs to find something "new and exciting" to keep it alive. The biggest thing I can see happening is (as you've stated in the article) moving things to digital data. A digital signal in the space of a few KHz could hold a lot of computer traffic, or several voice conversations. Band some of them together and there is a large pipe to use. What can be put on it due to amatuer radio regulations may limit its success.
I don't know what else we can use it for. I'd like to have a computer in my car with wireless access. Of course, I can't do much with it because using the Internet is probably a commerical venture (although the Internet itself isn't commerical).
Those are some of my thoughts. Most of them reflect what was in the article. It's bands like 2m and 440 and 1.2G we have to watch out for. Those will be the first to go if we don't put something "cool" on them. What has to be done is to keep the hobby young and innovatively-driven. Get it into our schools. Push the computer into the hobby. It's not all about the radios. It's what you hook into the "mic" jack.
My thoughts,
Ian, KD6EPQ
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