N2EY:

When there was some mystery to radio, perhaps, no longer... most even
listen to shortwave on the internet...

Check out radio australia, BBC, etc. webpages... they even make note of
it... and you can get their broadcasts though your computer with audio
quality which is remarkable...

No, we are just watching the end of an era, like the horse and buggy...
no one stuck in the past can ever see the future coming, and they all
end up dreaming of halting progress... even from their rest homes...

If you stay active with the youngsters and an important part of your
community activities it is much easier to accept change and have the
skills to adapt...

.... staying current is a real chore, popping into a college now and
grabbing a course to stay current is beyond what some can will or
want...

Many are just too old to be able to incorporate the computer into their
lives, the current generation can't live without them--but then, neither
can I and I consider myself an old fart...

John

wrote in message
oups.com...
Mike Coslo wrote:
Dee Flint wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
John Smith wrote:
Dee:

[snip]

"Dee Flint" wrote in message
...

"Mike Coslo" wrote in message
...



[snip]


So what you really needed was exposure - publicity - examples -
demos.

Were you attracted to amateur radio because it was like the
internet,
or because it was something very different?

Yes I needed to know what it was all about before developing an
interest in
radio for it's own sake. The Novice/Tech class I took along
with my husband at the time filled that role.

"Radio for its own sake" - that's the key to amateur radio. If
someone is turned on by that, they may want to be a ham. If not,
it's highly doubtful.

I have to note that in an earlier post where you disagreed
with me
about a person "knowing" they wanted to be a ham,
after reading this, I
have to agree that the things that I most enjoy now
are nothing like
what I thought I wanted to do when first becoming a ham.

Which of course is a powerful argument for
keeping the Morse code test.

Exactly.

When I first got started with a shortwave receiver (homemade),
I was attracted to ham radio by the folks on 75 meter AM. I
wanted to join them, so I set about getting a license.

In those days, that meant at least a General Class license,
so I set about learning the code and theory, and setting up
a station. Got the Novice at age 13 in 1967 and went on the
air with Morse Code.

Now originally the plan was to use Morse Code on the air until
I could get the General. But a funny thing happened on the way -
I discovered how much fun Morse Code was, and how much could be
done with very simple equipment using Morse Code. And it became my
favorite mode.

Once I had some basic knowledge about ham radio, I was
attracted by the fact
that it was NOT like the internet. What attracted me
was that I could talk
around the world with NO INFRASTRUCTURE. That
communications was totally
dependent on me and my skills and my knowledge of
propagation once I had the
basic radio and antenna. Here I, just an average citizen,
could put a radio
signal around the world and even beyond if I wanted to
pursue it.

That's the hook for me, too. Plus doing it with equipment I
designed and built myself.

If it had been like the internet, I'd probably have lost
interest.

Although I use the Internet a lot (probably waay too much) I
love Ham
radio precisely because it ISN'T the Internet.

Same here.

The big difference is that the 'net is a means to an end. Ham radio is
an end in itself.

73 de Jim, N2EY