[UK-CONTEST] 144 MHz Trophy - lack of activity

[Paul Gibson]

Having never posted here, bear with me....

When I passed my Novice exam in 1999 at the age of 16 I was very happy with
my self, but instantly frustrated as I had little interest in VHF, I wanted
to play on HF and talk to all the stations I'd been listening to for the
last few years on my 2nd hand £50 rx.

I then took the RAE in December of the same year and passed - again, very
pleased with my self - RAE @ 16 with no real encouragement (but much
support) from my parents made me proud, proudness did little to stiffle my
desire to get on HF, I simply had/have no interest in CW at all, much like
many of the people who will read this will have no interest in digi modes
(neither do I, despite having a more than an average interest in computers)
and would scream and cry if they had to pass an exam in digi modes to get on
HF....Yes CW gives advantages over SSB, but so do many digi modes.  This is
a hobby, and people should be allowed to enjoy it how they want, there is
absolutely no valid reason why someone who dislikes sending dits and dahs
should not be allowed to 4have a vocal or digital conversation on
frequencies below 50MHz.

I have a very thick tin hat on :)

Paul, M1dse



On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 01:48, Rob Hall <m0rby at waylock.co.uk> wrote:

> How many of us think, "Wow, I've got a full duplex microwave transceiver in
> my hand", when we ring our SO on the milk situation at home via GiffGaff,
> O2
> or Virgin?
>
> I still wonder at it all (which is why I am a ham) and there are youngsters
> out there who still have that sense of ooooohhhhhhhhh!
>
> Vive le school enrichment programme and STELLAR!
>
> Let's encourage development and the future, continue launching satellites,
> developing forward error correction and bringing the right candidates
> forward for the Royal Signals with all you dit dah did it stuff and all
> will
> be well. Moreover, encourage inter-family communication because, if you
> can't get it right there, you are stuffed otherwise!
>
> Rob M0RBY
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of G0JKZ
> Sent: 09 September 2011 20:47
> To: uk-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 144 MHz Trophy - lack of activity
>
> Sure things were declining before the changes.
>
>  You say why force people to do something they didn't want to do... I was
> forced to use vhf/uhf until I took a morse test. I was forced to do it. I
> never wanted to do morse and the minute I passed the test the key went in
> the bin. They only reason I have a key in my shack is to switch to cw mode
> to tune the ATU and linear.
>
> To maintain the interest, I would have suggested something like the
> American
> model, limited hf access from test pass then expanding the frequency bands
> with each grade. I certainly wouldn't suggest anything 'like wot we had to
> do' and say 50mhz up for novice but maybe 40m and 10m and everything from
> 50mhz up for novice, intermediate 80m, 30m and 20m  as well and advanced
> everything.
>
> The biggest problem is the hobby itself. It isn't a hobby that attracts the
> young like it used to. In this day and age of appliances and instant
> gratification people want things to work as soon as the button is pressed,
> none of this experimentation, learning or trial and error. Again, saying
> that, I am secretary of a club where very few people who have licences
> actually operate, either from home or even less, from the club station...
> Sometimes I have thought of proposing we sell the club radios seeing as
> they
> get used do rarely...
>
> George
> G0JKZ
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: dave [mailto:daveg3tbk at googlemail.com]
> > Sent: 09 September 2011 12:52
> > To: uk-contest at contesting.com
> > Subject: [UK-CONTEST] 144 MHz Trophy - lack of activity
> >
> > My view is that the decline in VHF/UHF Activity was evident long before
> the
> > changes to the Licensing system.
> >
> > At least the changes have helped to avoid a similar collapse of UK
> activity on
> > HF and should not be blamed for the situation on VHF.
> >
> > As for Roger's proposal, 1KW every where for full License, dream on!
> >
> > Some of the 2m proponent's comments suggest forcing people to use VHFor
> > nothing at all - that is a sure way to ensure the demise of Amateur Radio
> in
> > the UK. We saw with the Novice License that the majority were never
> > renewed, people soon tire of only talking to their neighbour on 70 cms.
> >
> > Why force people to do something they don't want to do? We have a choice,
> > and very clearly the majority prefer HF.
> >
> > As for the Contests, the majority of us do not live in Kent or Essex, any
> > scoring system which gives the rest of the UK a chance is to be welcomed.
> It
> > is significant that the only opposition to recent changes comes from the
> lucky
> > stations on the East Coast who have found their traditional advantage
> > reduced.
> >
> > Don't think I am anti -VHF/UHF/SHF - years ago (~40) I spent my summers
> > working DX on those bands and setting up big /P stations for contests. I
> > became bored with hearing only EU beacons when the bands were wide
> > open, but nobody QRV for a QSO, and in contests not being in a Group
> > prepared to travel long distances - in any cases most good sites were
> already
> > spoken for or unavailable due to commercial activities.
> >
> > I wish we could go back to those halcyon days - but trying to do it by
> > restrictive licensing is not the way. VHF must be made more appealing if
> > activity is to grow again. Wish I knew how!
> >
> > 73 Dave G3TBK
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > UK-Contest mailing list
> > UK-Contest at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/uk-contest
>
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