possible anti-gloom lessons

It's more fundamental than how "clubs" are organized or how they
set up for events. The problem is that society has grown far beyond
the basic technology behind Ham Radio. We have video cellphones,
ipods, laptop computers and satellite TV. Why should any kid be
interested in talking to someone on a radio with a lot of static
and actually have to study for and take a test just to get a license?
After all you don't need a license for a cellphone or computer...

Same with aviation. There are so many other cool things for people
to do that cost a lot less money and don't take near as much work
and effort... why bother when you can just go out and buy a jet-ski,
or a dirt bike. Powered flight is common place today, so is radio
communication. It doesn't elicit the magic and fascination that it
did in the 1960's.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:16:53 GMT, ktbr wrote in
:

There are so many other cool things [than private aviation] for people
to do that cost a lot less money and don't take near as much work
and effort... why bother when you can just go out and buy a jet-ski,
or a dirt bike.

Personally, I see that as a good thing. The person who approaches
aviation in the same thrill seeking spirit as the two examples you
cite, probably isn't a good candidate for becoming a prudent and
skilled airman. While there is no denying the visceral aspect of
aviation, it is, or should be, only a small part of the overall
motivation for becoming and maintaining required proficiency
airmanship demands.

Powered flight is common place today, so is radio communication. It
doesn't elicit the magic and fascination that it did in the 1960's.

To the general public, that is probably true, but to one who
appreciates and understands the physics of either of the examples you
cite, the magic will always be there.

The difference between them is, that cell phones and the Internet now
so dominate communications, that armature radio and short wave
broadcasting have little useful utility today, unlike personal
aviation. The ability to quickly travel to distant destinations
without enduring the airlines' abominably intrusive security policies,
uncontrollable delays, and risk of inhaling TB germs or
tricresylphosphate* renders personal aviation more attractive than
ever.


* http://marcosaba.tripod.com/gasnervino12.html

Larry Dighera wrote:



To the general public, that is probably true, but to one who
appreciates and understands the physics of either of the examples you
cite, the magic will always be there.

Well, my pointis that there are a lot less young people today that
are interested in the 'physics' of either technology. We hire
part time students alot and I know what they think.


The difference between them is, that cell phones and the Internet now
so dominate communications, that armature radio and short wave
broadcasting have little useful utility today, unlike personal
aviation. The ability to quickly travel to distant destinations
without enduring the airlines' abominably intrusive security policies,
uncontrollable delays, and risk of inhaling TB germs or
tricresylphosphate* renders personal aviation more attractive than
ever.

I hope you're right... that the abomination that is commercial
airline travel will eventually make some people so angry that
they will try general aviation. I submit, however, that these
people will most likely be business owners not really interested
in the 'physics' of it all... just want relief from the hassel.

I've held an Extra Class Ham Radio license since college (too
many years ago to admit) and hold a CFI rating so I've seen a
lot of this stuff up close.

On 2007-06-27, Larry Dighera wrote:
To the general public, that is probably true, but to one who
appreciates and understands the physics of either of the examples you
cite, the magic will always be there.

However, those people will be more drawn to things like software these
days - the barriers to entry are so much lower. You can get all the
tools you need, from the computer (a cast-off business machine) to the
software - from the operating system on up - for free, complete with
source code. If you want your program to communicate, you don't need a
license to open a TCP connection over the internet. For a young person
with limited funds, getting into radio has much higher barriers to
entry.

Personally, I find radio and electronics interesting, indeed, only last
night I laid out the PCB, etched it, and added the components for a 170
volt switch mode power supply for one of my projects. But radio? I find
writing some software to communicate over the internet very satisfying,
and I don't need to take exams to do it, and I don't risk being dragged
to court if I make a mistake (the amateur radio police over here delight
themselves in turning you in to the authorities). If I need one of my
electronics projects to communicate, well, a CP2200 IC and a
microcontroller will do the job and I still don't need a license, nor
worry about if I'm doing something that might upset the ham radio
police.

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