Perhaps you are not looking in the right place. It's not your daddies ham radio anymore. 40m cw?..gone. 80m ragchew??...gone.

However check out the digital HF modes. Copy signals so weak you can not hear them. PSK-32 is the primary mode, but there are several others that are very popular.

I use 3 digital satellites very regularly. Not to mention the Space Station. APRS, the position reporting and tactical communications system developed by the Naval Academy is very active.

Even 2m voice is growing. Not the local repeater type, but IRLP which links multiple repeaters into a single talk group. Then there is Echolink. I use that a lot. I can sit at my computer, link up through my satellite internet connection and pop out anywhere in the world through participating repeaters.

If I want to know if a friend is listening someplace, I send a digital message to a server (via digital radio of course) and the server replies with the friends location, the closest IRLP node, and the connection information. Then it sends my friend a message providing my closest IRLP node address and connection information. Kind like a world wide "information" system.

I am in the desert near Ajo AZ. We have about 40 trailers and motor homes gathered here. Most, like myself live this way full time. We have been at it since '97. Many are hams and we use ham radio extensively.

Today we traveled through the Barry Goldwater Bombing Range (with the Air Forces permission). We had 8 4x4 and used 2m simplex for local talk and a wide area repeater for safety back-up. Cell phone?? Nada.. Well if you were on a hill, you might hit one, but the Ajo repeater covers a huge segment of the southern AZ desert. Oh, there is also an IRLP node. So I Wanna talk to the folks back home. No problem. Go to a simplex frequency, punch in a 4 diget number an pop out in Maine.

Yes many of the repeaters are quiet. Much of HF is decaying, but there is a lot of activity, just not in the old places. Ham radio, like all technologies is in a constant state of change. The old comfortable places are gone now. Jump in, learn something new.

Oh, as we travel about the country we see a growing number of "training" nets on 2m. The one in Phoenix is a good example. Each monday night on a linked repeater system, Mike WB4ZKA provide an hour long net dedicated to the education of new hams. It has a new topic each week. Portable operation, Battery use, Mobile use, How to make a 911 call (one of the members is a 911 operator )so they placed a "real" call to the Phoenix 911 center and had the operator discuss what information was needed and how to best convey it.

If this is not happening in your area, then get behind a program to start it. I can put you in touch with Mike and perhaps he will share his knowledge.

Ham Radio is alive and well. Like I said at the beginning, it is not your daddies ham radio anymore.

73, Ron N1AHH

It's nice to hear an optimistic post about the current state of amateur radio. Some amazing stuff going on there, it sounds like.

Martin,
Some good advice from Schwert and others. I have greatly enjoyed HAM radio, but not as active now that I live in a place that allows no antennas, but I still have my handhelds. Phoenix is quite an active place for HAM radio and if your area is not--take the bull by the horns and start something!

Good to see you posting Schwert and Nomad!!!

Truly, I've not monitored much for quite some time. But in this area, much of the positive and interesting activity that has been mentioned used to be regularly and intentionally interfered with (jammed) to the point of uselessness by illegal operators. Sadly, some of this activity was even generated by advanced class licensees themselves. The FCC enforcement reports used to be full of it. I hope that this has burned itself out. Ham radio was once a highlight of my life, and I hope people can still get some of the charge out of it that I used to.

There are a lot of things affecting amateur radio:

1) Modern "instant gratification" technology
2) Public perception of amateur radio.
3) "Easier" modern technology
4) Change in the "social networking" scene around the world.

If I had to choose a communications device that has all of the following, what would I choose?

- Nationwide and/or Global Reach
- Offline message storage in case I don't answer
- Can reach all of my friends directly
- Can take it to work without people gawking over it.
- Can take on an airplane or through security and not be further scrutinized.
- Doesn't require that I take a test. Hmm... perhaps there needs to be an etiquette test for every electronic device.