I was speaking about my interest. Back in the days of civil war in Lebanon when there was no landlines or mobile phones (1983-to 1994), I had been involved in the VHF/UHF world, of course it was unlicensed and we used all available spectrum. Once we had decent sized mobile phone, our handheld and car-base transceivers became less attractive.JALLEN wrote:Really. I hadn't noticed. There are more licensees than ever, more gear out there, more experimenters, more tinkerers, and to hear the pile ups these days, you sure wouldn't realize the hobby was killed.Beiruty wrote:Internet plus Voice over IP and Video Conference killed the ham radio hobby.
When I was licensed in 1959, there wasn't nearly the breadth of activity one could get involved in, no satellites, almost no VHF, no repeaters, going mobile was a real challenge and expensive. There were no transistors, synthesized radios, handheld walkie-talkies or anything else, electronic keyers, almost no antenna restrictions, and much more.
I remember hauling probably 100 lbs of radio gear, about what I weighed then, up to the National Guard Armory to string up an antenna and get on the air to pass health and welfare traffic during one of the hurricanes when people fled away from the coast up this direction. I needed the Armory's electricity, too. Now you could do it with the radios in your pocket, no electricity from the Armory needed, no antennas!
What could you do back then? Well there was getting on the air on shortwave, build your own gear, experiment with antenna configurations, explore the new world of VHF/UHF, not very popular around here since there was nobody to talk to in range. There were traffic nets to pass National Traffic System traffic, DXers, of course and ragchewers. A few devoted all their on the air time to complaining about the new-fangled SSB mode ruining the airwaves.
Yes, you can talk to anyone in the world now for a few cents or dollars. Either the idea of sitting there in your house making direct contact all over the world by radio grabs you, or it doesn't.
I still love "what is your favorite brand", Icom or (or name your brand). It is like Chevy and Ford.
