This is just my opinion. I’m an older Ham Radio operator (N4WTU). I joined the hobby in 1983. Back then to become a “novice” licensed operator you had to pass the technical part of the test and pass a five-word a minute Morse code. You could then use morse code to communicate all over the world. Later, you could take another technical test, and become a “Technician” class. That is when you got to use voice communications on local 2meter (think walkie-talkie) and a little on the worldwide High-Frequency radio, which were larger, desktop types. I fondly remember practicing for the Morse code part of the test by walking around the job site late at night and spelling out the signs and other items in Morse. Later, I would take another harder test, pass a 10 word per minute code test, and get my “General Class License”. It was an accomplishment, something to feel proud of.

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Changes can be good, or bad.

Then, there was the talk of the hobby fading. So a push was mounted to bring in new members. The code portion was dropped, and you had a slightly simpler test to pass. You could get CDs and other materials to help you memorize the answers to the questions. Never mind you didn’t really understand what you were answering, as long as you got the answers right. There was a lot of grumbling from amateurs that had to learn code and know more about how radios worked, but at least this phase wasn’t a total disaster. It brought new blood into a fun hobby. The truckers never really got into it, so it didn’t turn into a CB land fiasco.

The Digital Death

Maybe I’m being dramatic. Or maybe I see the end of the true meaning of Amateur Radio as it was meant to be. We were the hobby that could provide communications during disasters, when the infrastructure was broken. No cell phones, no phones, and no regular broadcast radio. We were independent, mobile and could make an antenna out of an umbrella, or a piece of wire. Then came Digital..

In the late 70s there was experimentation in digital. This experimentation would ultimately lead to development of cell phones. Yes, we Amateur Radio operators could make phone calls over our radios wirelessly connecting to a “phone patch”. Packet radio was fun. Packet Radio was sort of a type of relay using digital. Your typed words were compressed into a packet and sent to another station that would relay it further down the line to another station. This was good for getting more information in disaster areas when infrastructure had been destroyed. It was also independent and portable.

Then the Digital Age happened.

Computers are all the rage, the old timers are dying off. The new blood is all about computers and digital communication. 2 meter radio is like a super CB for those not familiar with the Amateur Radio concept. Only 2 meter was Amateur, and therefore strictly controlled and had etiquette and rules you followed. These radios had a range depending on the terrain, or five or six miles, or 50-100 miles, depending on how you had used that knowledge you learned (antenna theory etc) “Repeaters” were also used (the precursor of cell towers). A person would provide a repeater at their expense, and allow other amateurs to use it. It would broadcast your voice communications much further, doubling or tripling your distance.

By the late 2010 era with computers and the Internet upon us, the experimenters searched for the “easy” way to do things. Forgetting the basic function of Amateur Radio, reliability. Digital modes such as simple, reliable packet radio gave way to many digital modes, that are dependent on the Internet.

Digital is the next frontier in ham radio. The spread of digital technologies has increased the options available for ham radio operators. Modes of digital transmission include multiple frequency shift keying (MFSK), wireless local area networks (WLAN), D-STAR, Codec2, and Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS).

Radio for Dummies

After about a year now, I dusted off my 2-meter radio that has been sitting in its new box and set it up. It is a mobile, that I run off of my solar battery setup. True Amateur fashion. I was dismayed to tune in and hear operators chatting about nothing but digital modes, I wouldn’t have even heard them, had they not be having a problem with the “digital” connections through the Internet. I couldn’t respond to them, because apparently in the last year, they have moved most of the “repeaters” to other locations and repurposed them to digital modes. Where I used to be able to connect to 5 local repeaters for regular conversations, these have been moved. I can reach one that is about 25 miles away but is not a real clear connection. The other four, are no longer in my range.

Digital may be the new direction of Amateur Radio, but it will never be as reliable as when the hobby based itself on redundancy, and mobility in crisis. It saddens me, but I am from the old days. I could join the Internet Radio revolution, but it’s just not the same as enjoying, building an antenna, setting up your equipment etc. I once talked to the UK, using a patio table umbrella as an antenna on the back porch of our home. Now THAT is what it was all about. I talked to Australia using a long piece of copper wire as an antenna. These skills will soon be forgotten in the bits and bytes of the digital world.

I listened for three hours last night, three hours so far this morning, Other than the short chatter last night, I’ve heard one normal conversation between two gentlemen on a repeater that I can’t reach. It’s sort of saddening.

N4WTU
General Class