Retention Limited

While perusing the 2023 ARRL Annual Report I was struck by something President Rick Roderick, K5UR wrote:

According to an ARRL study, three-quarters of Technician-class licensees (who make up 51% of amateur radio operators) are inactive 1 year after getting licensed…

I knew retention was a big issue limiting the growth of amateur radio, but I had no idea it was this bad. I mean sure, some amount of someone getting into a hobby and only to discover it isn’t for them is to be expected. But 75% is an awfully big number. It’s like trying to fill a swimming pool with a four-foot hole in it with a bucket and it seems to me this deserves more attention. There is little point in focusing on other aspects of recruitment without fixing this first. It’s tossing good money after bad, uselessly burning volunteer hours that could be better directed elsewhere.

It points directly to the failure of the current Technician license structure. The time has come to re-shape this class to include more privileges to give new licensees something else to sample before they head for the exits. Time is much too valuable to waste on futile pursuits.


Weekly BATC Net

I enjoy the weekly BATC net that takes place every Thursday afternoon (my time). The net is conducted via QO-100 and is not directly accessible here in North America, however, it is streamed online. Having done this for a few years you begin to feel associated with the group and the individuals and the net chatter becomes more interesting the more you visit. The medium is the message here, it’s digital amateur television (DATV) and the ability to showcase a ham shack or highlight a current project, is a big draw for video users.

Whenever the time changes, as it did recently, I seem to miss the first few sessions as it’s easy to confuse the start time, and given it’s a live event, that’s a problem. But recently Ian, VK3QL has been recording the video and making it available (for a few weeks) on his YouTube channel. Being able to time-shift the net has been handy for me and I appreciate his efforts.

Full-disclosure, I am a paying member of the British Amateur Television Club and also enjoy the online forum and quarterly publication.


Cold Snap

We always visit a local tree farm on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to pick out a Christmas tree. Today was no different. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine, but it was also the coldest of the season. It was just 15F when we got up this morning and never got much warmer throughout the day. That did make the process of picking out a tree and getting it home go a lot faster than usual.


Casus Belli

Sometime over the last week I exceeded 2,000 contacts logged this year. Spit in the ocean for much more active operators, but another milestone for me as I have added more than 2K to the log in each of the last three years which coincides with my retirement in 2022. Quantity has never been a goal, however, the results reflect the uptick in time spent in the ham shack. With a full-month remaining, I expect 2024 to be the most prolific year of radio during my entire lifetime.


Parabellum

Couldn’t stir up even the slightest ambition in the CQWW CW this weekend. Spent a few hours instead on FT-x. The bands were in good shape and many contacts were logged including working E51SGC on another band. This is the South Cook Islands operation and today might be their last day. Next was 3G7X, the Dxpedition to Chiloé Island (IOTA SA-018) who popped up with a good signal and no dog pile. Then Saint Lucia J69DS, and while I have worked Frans eight times previously, this was the first time in 2024 making it good for another entity in this year’s DX Marathon.


On Amateur Licensing

Many subjects are verboten in the amateur radio world. So many in fact, it’s surprising we have anything to talk about at all. One particular topic that has become taboo is the issue of the testing required to obtain an amateur radio license. On this matter there are certainly strong, divergent views.

One extreme posits that making licensing easier has lead to the “dumbing down” of the amateur service. Some of these would have you believe that the days of traveling to an FCC office and the requirement to draw electronic circuits on paper made ours a hobby for technical elites and see that as a good thing. This despite the fact that most who believe this haven’t taken a ham radio test in decades and likely couldn’t pass even the newer “dumbed down” tests.

On the other extreme are those who see license testing as a nuisance that doesn’t produce better hams and only impedes the growth of the amateur service. Many on this side of the argument would like to see testing eliminated altogether as they believe on the job training produces the best results. It’s as though they believe there are millions of would-be hams with their noses pressed up against the window prevented from crossing over because of testing.

With such strident opinions from both sides, a sort of détente has been achieved by simply ignoring the issue and not discussing it. It seems crazy that we can’t rationally discuss an issue that impacts our hobby, but such is this situation. A blog post or article suggesting license testing has become too easy would be instantly shouted down with accusations that the author was an old curmudgeon and not in step with the 21st century version of ham radio.

Really? We can’t even discuss it? VA3KOT would like to opine:

 ⁍  Does Making It Easier to Get Licensed Really Grow Our Hobby?

We certainly have spent enough time in this newer era of licensing to get a feel for how it’s impacting our service. Are we growing? Does anyone believe that we can forever grow the hobby by continuing to reduce the rigor of our testing? More importantly, does anyone believe we would generate sustained growth by removing all testing?

I was struck most by this point made by the writer:

“Even if we succeed in boosting the number of new licenses issued by lowering the requirements, will the new recruits stay in the hobby if they are don’t have radio in their DNA?”

It seems to me that lots of people enter the world of amateur radio, but few remain for a lifetime. We need to figure that out. That won’t happen without open discussions about the best ways to accomplish that without it breaking down into yet another holy war. We must do better.


First Snow

We enjoyed our first snow of the season yesterday. 2-3 inches of the fluffy white stuff fell over the entire day. Some say there will be much more of this over the course of what is expected to be an above average snow fall winter season. I remain skeptical about all that, but I did enjoy watching the white stuff fall.

 ⁍ 61 years ago today President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

The CQWW CW contest gets underway this weekend. As usual I plan to search and pounce on any needed entities if I can find them. I’m not interested in the contest and probably will be in and out all weekend long during this one. The exchange is simple, RST plus CQ zone. Checkout the complete rules. Good luck!


Glitch in the Matrix

About a month or so ago a strange thing began happening with my iPhone. When I looked at the photo album collection, occasionally there would be a photo I couldn’t identify, and was certain I hadn’t taken. These would disappear after a minute or two and I joked with my kids that the ghost of some old Welsh witch was trying to send me clues about who killed her.

It was odd and I wondered aloud if it wasn’t possible that photos from other iCloud accounts were being slipped in and then back out of my photo collection for some reason. No one knew or had heard of such a thing, but with hundreds of millions of iCloud users round the globe it just seemed to me like a plausible explanation, unless I was to begin believing in ghosts.

Then this morning I saw this little news flurry:

A Glitch Is Causing People To Hear Voices Coming From Their iPhone

Suddenly my mystery photo explanation seemed more plausible. Stuff happens and data in the cloud can get scrambled, swirled around, and eventually put back into place. Kinda like the Star Trek transporter. And when it happens, it can feel like a glitch in the Matrix, but there is a perfectly rationale explanation for it.

On the other hand, it could be paranormal…


Updated POTA Hunting Stats

The quest to work activators in a thousand unique parks continues, slowly. I’ve been casually hunting POTA parks for a few years when I decided that enough was enough and I was going to end the hunt, but I wanted a clean stopping point. I had about 700 uniques in the log at that point so I set my sites on making it an even 1,000 before pulling the plug. Almost all of my contacts have been made via CW and there are only so many activators who use the mode, and as you might expect, these often stick close to one area making the run to a thousand a little more challenging. On top of that, I don’t use any software aids that would alert me to “needed” activations.

As of this morning, I’m at 821 unique parks worked.


Morning DX Patrol

Band conditions weren’t very favorable in the pre-dawn hours this morning though a few nuggets of gold were found. I struck out on 40 CW where I could copy a POTA station (VK2IO/P) in NSW, but never received a response. Moving to 20 FT8 there were several VK’s calling but not much activity. Until FY/WE9G in French Guiana popped up in the waterfall and I managed to work him after a few calls. Strong signal into the US as you might expect. LoTW and Club Log confirmation followed in real time. That was my first FY via digital and only 2nd overall station worked in Fr. Guiana for me. I have FY5KE on several bands on CW, but that’s it. Rikk is there from November 15-23.

Also worked VI100IARU a special event station in Melbourne. Now time for coffee…


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