[CQ-Contest] Will there be anyone to work in 20 years?

[Rick Kiessig]

I agree with Zack's point wholeheartedly. Pitching radio just as a way to
talk to others, which puts it in competition with cell phones, Skype and the
Internet, is a mistake.

For me, a better pitch would look something like this:

- With a cell phone, your radio signals travel over the air for a few miles
at most, then go by wire to the destination. With ham radio, your signals
can travel over the entire planet, with no wires required (imagine having
radio waves generated from your voice touching billions of people)
- Cell phones and the Internet are natural complements to ham radio. This is
an area that's still undergoing rapid growth.
- Ham radio is also a service. There are opportunities to help people in
your community or all over the world in times of disaster, in ways that are
impossible with cell phones or the Internet (particularly when the
infrastructure they need fails).
- With radio, you can communicate with people who don't have phones or the
Internet. They may be in remote locations, on ships, on airplanes, or even
on high-altitude balloons or the Space Station.
- Ham radio is multi-dimensional. In addition to just talking to people, you
can build or optimize your own equipment, which can be as simple or as
complex as you like. You can use radio to understand more about the world
around you, in a hands-on way: physics, atmospherics, the effects of the
sun, propagation, and much more.
- Radio Contesting is fun and exciting. It gives you a chance to talk to
people all over the world, while also refining your operating skills and
your radio setup. Imagine talking to 100 or more people all over the world,
in under an hour.
- Ham radio provides a wonderful foundation for many engineering careers.
The combination of hands-on experience building or modifying your own gear
and the extensive use of software is something you won't find in other
hobbies.
- Hams can build their own radios; you can't build your own cell phone.
- Hams can build everything else they need, too, from simple antennas to
huge radio towers; you can't build your own Internet infrastructure.
- Voice communication is only one aspect of ham radio. You can also use
Morse code or a variety of data modes, each with their own pros and cons.
You can even create your own data mode, if you're so inclined.
- There is no one between you and the person on the other end of a
conversation by radio; what you say and hear can't be filtered or restricted
by others like it can with cell phones, Skype or the Internet.
- Ham radio doesn't have any monthly fees or fees for data. It can be on all
the time, for no cost other than for the gear and your time.


It occurs to me that one thing that could really help is a well-done 1 to 2
hour-long documentary. There's so much about ham radio that is just not
well-known by the public. Based on previous experience, a high-quality video
could be done for maybe $2M. I wonder if that's within the range of what we
could raise as a group?

73, Rick ZL2HAM


-----Original Message-----
From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
Zack Widup
Sent: Monday, May 27, 2013 3:44 AM
To: CQ Contest
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Will there be anyone to work in 20 years?

Somehow we have to convince them that radio is MAGIC. I have always thought
this and still do. It's not the fact that I can talk to someone in Russia
which I could also do on a phone or Skype, it's the media! It will always be
magic to me.

73, Zack W9SZ