Comments on: The Graying of Ham Radio http://kb6nu.com/the-graying-of-ham-radio/ My personal adventures in amateur radio Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:02:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Bob K0NR http://kb6nu.com/the-graying-of-ham-radio/#comment-296 Bob K0NR Mon, 02 Jan 2006 05:56:00 +0000 http://kb6nu.com/?p=743#comment-296 Joe is probably correct...the Worldradio demographics is probably skewed high in terms of age. But Dan's point is still valid...ham operators are getting grayer (myself included). My best data point was when I took my teenage daugthers (both had their Tech license at age 11) to a hamfest. They looked around and say virtually zero people in their age group. Then they asked, "Dad, are all hams fat and old?" 73, Bob K0NR Joe is probably correct…the Worldradio demographics is probably skewed high in terms of age. But Dan’s point is still valid…ham operators are getting grayer (myself included).

My best data point was when I took my teenage daugthers (both had their Tech license at age 11) to a hamfest. They looked around and say virtually zero people in their age group. Then they asked, “Dad, are all hams fat and old?”

73, Bob K0NR

]]> By: Dan KB6NU http://kb6nu.com/the-graying-of-ham-radio/#comment-292 Dan KB6NU Thu, 29 Dec 2005 18:59:18 +0000 http://kb6nu.com/?p=743#comment-292 You may be right that its target audience is the senior set, but that's what I was trying to get at in the item. If they aimed it at younger people, they wouldn't have an audience, because there aren't that many younger people in the hobby. But it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If amateur radio doesn't somehow appeal to younger people, we'll never be able to attract any, and we'll just keep getting older and older. On the other hand, the editor of Make magazine was on the radio yesterday. It seems geared to a younger audience, yet they share many of the same values that active hams do. We need to recruit that crowd, I think. As for FCC stats, the FCC some time ago quit asking for birthdates. Probably because someone somewhere thought it was an invasion of privacy. The only other survey was done by the ARRL a couple years ago, and I believe it basically showed the same thing. You may be right that its target audience is the senior set, but that’s what I was trying to get at in the item. If they aimed it at younger people, they wouldn’t have an audience, because there aren’t that many younger people in the hobby. But it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. If amateur radio doesn’t somehow appeal to younger people, we’ll never be able to attract any, and we’ll just keep getting older and older.

On the other hand, the editor of Make magazine was on the radio yesterday. It seems geared to a younger audience, yet they share many of the same values that active hams do. We need to recruit that crowd, I think.

As for FCC stats, the FCC some time ago quit asking for birthdates. Probably because someone somewhere thought it was an invasion of privacy. The only other survey was done by the ARRL a couple years ago, and I believe it basically showed the same thing.

]]> By: Joe, KD8CEH http://kb6nu.com/the-graying-of-ham-radio/#comment-291 Joe, KD8CEH Thu, 29 Dec 2005 14:42:10 +0000 http://kb6nu.com/?p=743#comment-291 Oddly enough, I just got an unsolicited copy of WorldRadio in the mail. I'd say their subscriber base is likely to be skewed. Nobody under 40 will have ever seen a magazine printed in that low-rent format apart from Trader Joe's fliers, and their editorial tone is very clubby and insular, and very focused on old-timers. There's some great information and articles in there, but their production values and attitude pretty much guarantee their audience is going to be limited. Does anyone have access to the actual FCC stats to see how old hams are? Oddly enough, I just got an unsolicited copy of WorldRadio in the mail. I’d say their subscriber base is likely to be skewed. Nobody under 40 will have ever seen a magazine printed in that low-rent format apart from Trader Joe’s fliers, and their editorial tone is very clubby and insular, and very focused on old-timers. There’s some great information and articles in there, but their production values and attitude pretty much guarantee their audience is going to be limited.

Does anyone have access to the actual FCC stats to see how old hams are?

]]> By: Joe, KD8CEH http://kb6nu.com/the-graying-of-ham-radio/#comment-289 Joe, KD8CEH Mon, 26 Dec 2005 15:13:30 +0000 http://kb6nu.com/?p=743#comment-289 I'm sure ham radio is graying, but may not be quite as bad as the survey suggests. The subscriber pool for WorldRadio may be skewed from the general demographic of hams. For example, I've never heard of it. I’m sure ham radio is graying, but may not be quite as bad as the survey suggests. The subscriber pool for WorldRadio may be skewed from the general demographic of hams. For example, I’ve never heard of it.

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