Afraid a G0 suffered verbal abuse that I was talking to a while back on HE, and
making comments on the repeater group site, nothing was done
Sent from my HTC
----- Reply message -----
From: "Allan Wyatt" <allan@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <wkars-members@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [wkars-members] Re: RSGB DRM UPDATE
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2015 4:42 PM
I am sorry to hear of this
discrimination.
There was something similar 40 years ago for the holder of G8
licenses but nothing so extreme.
It is important that we embrace all amateurs and all aspects of
the hobby, if we do not we will pass into history.
73's
Allan
G8LSD
On 05/11/2015 15:34, gladius650@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Redacted sender
gladius650 for DMARC) wrote:
As M6's we are inclined to look into things in great detail
to prove our worth to more experienced users, not necessarily
the theory but the more practical side of things, only to get
put down because a-c=d doesn't equate when we ask questions.
Therefore I will only ask one person now that will listen to
both sides.
There is also a great deal of snobbery amoung full license
operators, while in seperate discussion groups we are never
asked to join any group, just left on the side line to twiddle
our fingers, so we leave.
Because we feel honoured to hold a call sign, we tend to
keep up what we are taught at the time as announcing our call
signs, then we are accused of wasting time or even called
proofs, pancies, tarts even down to making comments that we
must be child molesters, the excuse they must have been drunk,
doesn't wash with me.
Sent from my HTC
----- Reply message -----
From: "Mark Kent" <mark.antony.kent@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <wkars-members@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [wkars-members] Re: RSGB DRM UPDATE
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2015 1:50 PM
Do you have a particular area you’d like to see improved? Or
particular examples where you think things might have been handled
better?
Where there’s something specific to go on, it’s
often easier to make some kind of progress, and often, people
don’t realise that they’re getting something wrong, so a light
hint can work wonders :-)
73 Mark G8PHM
On 5 Nov 2015, at 12:26, gladius650@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Redacted sender "gladius650" for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Until the RSGP/OFCOM suppresses the
arrogance towards new operators the ingress to our
hobby will remain static. Involving new operators
into conversations, and listening to their input
will go a long way to encouragement. May I add a
little light joviality also.
M6LVK
Sent from my HTC
----- Reply message
-----
From: "Mark Kent" <mark.antony.kent@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <wkars-members@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [wkars-members] Re: RSGB DRM UPDATE
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2015 11:40 AM
[ I’ve re-attached my email so that the
thread is not broken ] Comments are inline:
Mark
That's a fascinating and telling
analysis, and some of your conclusions
are pretty powerful. Thank you very
much for sharing them. A couple of
thoughts:
1. The film
Convoy was a huge boost because it
showed CB radio as the hero, a point
reinforced by its use to thwart
overweening authority. The illegitimacy
of CB here was a huge draw. I was at
the Home Office during CB's heyday, and
handled all the public communication for
radio regulation at the time - and when
we brought in MPT 1321 and legalised CB,
six magazines and a great number of
equipment suppliers went out of business
almost overnight. Never underestimate
the power of romantic unlawfulness.
Conclusion: we'll probably always be
able to attract technophiles, but if we
want real growth, we need to be able to
sell fun in the broad philosophical
sense you suggest. Raynet type
activities, demonstrating a public good
and fun to boot, are an obvious
candidate.
Robin Hood was, eventually I believe,
forgiven by the incoming regime! Pirate radio,
like computer hacking, continue to appeal to the
‘romantic unlawfulness’ genetic drive which many
young chaps seem to have. Part of this, I think,
is the perception of adventure falling outside of
normal experience, with the opportunity to act
beyond accepted norms. Once upon a time, the
armed services, bizarrely perhaps, offered
something of the ‘Horatio Hornblower’ appeal [ see
the original Star Trek series for that in a more
modernistic setting] , or indeed Blake’s 7 was
described as ‘Robin Hood in space’.
So as you say, how do we loop Horatio
Hornblower and Robin Hood into Raynet..?
2. As an Whitehall hand, I think the
RSGB has pitiful influence with Ofcom.
We lost the moral standing that comes
with a licence fee. We clearly deal
with people low in the Ofcom food chain,
when the real decisions are made by the
policy makers and legal people. The
paucity of our reach and importance is
well illustrated by that new guidance
document with its poor
drafting, non-sequiturs (see 2.79-2.82
for example) and dreadful proof reading.
Yes, big mistake. I wonder if we
should do something rather odd, that being to
campaign for the re-introduction of a licence fee
in return for some support? That’s something the
RSGB could push or it could be done independently.
3. The RSGB is an organisation bonded
by a website and magazine, but riven by
different competing and often arrogant
interests. It has dozens of very good
people all ploughing the field in
different directions. It reminds me a
great deal of policing - the upper tiers
dominated by people who live off the
experiences of their long-lost younger
days. (Hence my bleat for more kids,
ASAP.). As a consequence, it lacks any
of the focus necessary to campaign for
the hobby. Raynet has a variant of the
disease.
I get the point, but I think fixing
the leadership by adding new recruits will have a
very long time-constant, probable several decades,
so it needs other, more immediate action, going
into the mix as well, in my view.
4. We need to sell amateur radio as an
enabler, and a strategic good, not just
an end in itself. But that's where we
both agree. And we have to find better
champions and partners than Ofcom. It's
a regulator, and an auctioneer, and we
are a pimple on the hindquarters of an
elephant with no effect on its head or
direction at all.
This is worth some further thought.
73 Mike
Indeed. I’ve come around, by the
way, to what the RSGB is perhaps trying to
achieve with the film. I’m still not convinced
it’ll work, but that’s a different question.
More immediately:
Answer the question "What is the
RSGB for?" At the base level, it is a social
club, but that also has some of the
responsibilities of a labour union, or a
professional association. The latter parts are
about representing the interests of its members.
Simple enough, but a much harder
question is “What should the RSGB do?” Clearly
promotion of Amateur Radio is almost a given, as
without that, the RSGB ceases to exist. But it
goes much further, out to properly engaging with
licensing authorities, and ensuring that it is
the proper voice of its membership. Recently,
it seems to have allowed itself to be pushed out
of the way - this is clearly wrong and needs be
fixed.
There is a very basic question,
though, which is should Ofcom be responsible for
spectrum auctions at all? This is surely
poacher turned gamekeeper; the RSGB should be
raising this question into MPs and parliament,
probably on the back of the educational value of
amateur radio in promoting UK PLC’s future in
science and technology, something everyone
agrees the need for.
The responsibility for spectrum
licensing should be taken from Ofcom, or the
responsibility for licensing radio usage,
interference and such like should be given to a
separate body. That body should be charged with
protecting the interests of the UK’s scientific
future through defending essential educational
spectrum from short-term commercial
exploitation.
Secondly, RSGB and Raynet both
should be looking at the Horatio Hornblower
side; but that means a whole different
approach, and must be done *without* losing
appeal to the traditional, self-selecting groups
(universities, schools, technicians, engineers,
et cetera).
I wonder if the RSGB might
considering getting together with its CEPT
country counterparts and see about funding some
Scientific Arts as per my previous note. There
are countless examples of radio amateurs
providing unusual emergency comms, including the
Falklands, the recent Tsunamis, and of course
the activities of Raynet. There’re also the
satellites, the FunCube thing, the space
station. How about a story which weaves all of
this together?
Maybe I should try to write one :-)
================ <my previous note below>
===============
Mike et al, time for some analysis…
Facebook and social media
======================
Facebook’s biggest growth area is, and
has been for some time, in older people (> 34),
so its quite likely that radio amateurs are going
there. It’s losing popularity amongst the
youngsters, though.
For facebook: http://www.slideshare.net/oreillymedia/facebook-demo-20090415 in
2009:
The UK had 18 million active users. The
majority of users were 18-34, majority growth for
Europe was in the 45 to 65 year age range, but also
had a peak from 13-17, with most users being female.
That is about 1 in 3 people.
Japan had 3.3 million active users.
Asian user profile was similar to Europe, except
majority users male. That was about 1 in 50 people.
The US had 59.6 million active users.
Americas user profile was similar to Europe,
majority of users female. That was about 1 in 5
people.
Facebook users are rapidly ‘getting
older’, though, in 2014 :
http://investorplace.com/2014/02/facebook-users-demographics/#.Vjrc06IrNsM US
users are up to 180 million, threefold since 2009
report above, and now approx. 1 in 2 people in the
US. The biggest growth group is 55+ so that would
align with Radio Amateur populations, with biggest
active group 35-54 and the biggest fall in 18-24
years old.
It seems just as likely that Japanese
people use alternative social media, for example.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/social-media-fast-facts-japan
suggests that the Japanese far prefer Twitter, and
number an astonishing 9% of global users, but also
that Facebook users have grown by 300% in the last 3
years to 17 million, rather more than the 3.3
million reported by O’Reilly, above. Also see
https://takeme2japan.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/social-media-in-japan/ which
shows just how rapidly the trends move. In 2009,
most Japanese were using Mixi, but Facebook has
rocketed since.
Radio Amateur numbers across the world
====================================
The numbers are interesting… according
to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_operator,
(see also IARU figures at
http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=13864,
http://www.n0hr.com/ham_radio_population.htm)
we have
1,296,059 licensed amateurs in 1999 in
Japan, which is 1.012% of the population.
738,497 licensed amateurs in 2012 in
the US, which is 0.239% of the population. 15% of
them are said to be female.
(Thailand, Korea, Germany, Taipei,
Spain, then)...
58,426 licensed amateurs in 2000 in
the UK, which is 0.094% of the population. 8th
largest in the world for licensed amateurs, or
11th largest by %age of population (see the table
below).
Also note 81,000 licences allocated
according to this:
http://www.essexham.co.uk/news/ofcom-amateur-radio-licence-review.html
Global numbers
---------------------
According to the IARU figures, the
number of licensed amateurs globally has grown
from
399,000 in 1965 to
2,789,720 in 2000
over that period, showing growth each
year. I don’t know what’s happened since, and 15
years is a long time, so perhaps it’s now going
the other way.
From the %age table well below, though,
you can see that the UK is actually reasonably well
placed in Europe, in fact 5th.
The undisputed world champ, though,
either way, is Japan. Hence I’d be wondering why
Japan is so amazingly far ahead of anywhere else in
all measures.
UK RAE pass figures, 1946 to 2003
============================
Historical view of UK RAE, 1946 to
2003: http://www.g4dmp.co.uk/rae/raestats.pdf:
1946: 395 RAE passes (ex-military
folk?)
1959: 1102 RAE passes (first year above
1000 - ex mil?)
1982: 8000 RAE passes (highest ever -
post-CB boom)
1991: 3000 RAE passes (sight peak when
Novice RAE introduced )
1997: 980 RAE passes (first year below
1000 since 1959)
2003: 652 RAE passes.
After that, the RSGB began to run the
RAE, and figures seem quite hard to find! So, does
anyone know what the RAE pass figures are since
2003? I cannot find them.
RSGB membership
================
This is interesting:http://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/minutes/March2014.pdf suggests
1993 membership at 30,000 and 2013 membership at
21,500, which does show that the RSGB is, perhaps,
in trouble, but this might be more representative of
the post CB boom that anything else.
What caused the 1980s Amateur Radio
boom?
====================================
The biggest ever injection of Radio
Amateur Examination passes was, it seems, from the
ex-CB fraternity in the 1980s. This rather suggests
that making a film like Convoy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd5ZLJWQmss
might
be the best possible thing you could do. A large
part of the appeal of CB was its edgy,
not-really-legal feel, along with the
fantasy-lifestyle which went along with the films,
the E-type Jaguar, the CB jargon, and the feel-good,
go-nowhere story (I was never a CBer, btw, I was
licensed before this). So perhaps the RSGB is
heading the in the right direction in some respects!
The key follow-up TV series was The Dukes of
Hazzard, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qogVHlmFcx0
which again featured a feel-good, slightly edgy, CB
and road-based series of escapades, interspersed
with Daisy Duke’s (Catherine Bach's)
eyebrow-raising wardrobe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToEHObxHqI4.
If that weren’t enough, we also had
Smokie and the Bandit - here is the CB tutorial made
to go with the film - see Burt Reynolds teach you US
CB talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRwiAk2wjZo
Buford T Justice quotes from Smokie and
the Bandit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN3c64j2DPE
Analysis of the CB impact, and its
cultural links
====================================
The biggest growth in amateur radio was
as a direct consequence of Hollywood lifestyle
films, promoting a feel-good, slightly edgy, but
ultimately morally upright characters, taking on an
establishment of well intentioned, but ultimately
corrupt figures. CB radio provides the key
mechanism through which the heroes and heroines
communicate, using special language and social
networks which the establishment figures understand,
but are unable to effectively emulate.
The growth in illegal CB created a peak
in demand for both better performing radios and for
more legitimacy amongst users in the UK. This
directly translated into a massive boost, around
8-fold growth, in successful RAE candidates. The
subsequent disappearance in CB-radio derived
television and film genre post 1980s, and its
replacement with weak 1990s US ‘comedy’ shows like
Seinfeld, the Cosby Show providing ‘feel-good’ (if
you liked them) and the more dystopian Family Guy
and South Park appealing to the more ‘edgy’ side of
things, signalled the end of this CB-driven cultural
era.
The very utopian Star Trek spin-off
series attracted some of the more scientifically
minded, whilst the beautifully written, cast and
acted Blake’s 7, with its dystopian themes, went the
way of the CB film and TV show.
In these 1990s+ televised utopian
worlds, the technology generally ‘just works’.
Sub-cultures, such as the CB/Truckers world are
generally frowned upon, and rarely shown in any kind
of positive light. Scientists and engineers are
typically characterised in several, generally
unflattering ways, which can include ‘sneering
intellectual’, ‘troubled mad-man’, ‘amoral
sociopath’, ‘socially inept figure of fun’. Or, for
the mainstream characters, they simply espouse a lot
of non-sensical jargon, whilst shoving their
equivalent of the sonic screwdriver into something
with lots of flashing lights, which generally starts
to work after a couple of bashes, and the day is
saved. This has changed little since the 1990s, with
current television shows characterising scientific
types as ‘talking nasally’ and ‘a bit dim really’,
and always characters to laugh at.
Education
========
Our education system is deeply biased
against males. Presently, 50% of females attend
university, but only 38% of males, and by 2025, 70%
of undergraduates will be female according to the
OECD:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/5459854/Girls-will-take-up-70-per-cent-of-university-places-says-new-study.html.
The beginning of this trend coincided
exactly with the introduced of GCSEs to replace
O-levels in 1988, however, the trend towards
academically favouring females over males is
representative in many countries as well as the UK.
The only area in Universities where males outnumber
females currently is in hard sciences. The recent
‘discovery’ of the links between autism and science
seem unlikely to influence policy makers overly.
This imbalance is shocking, and is
something the amateur radio community could look to
address, by encouraging younger *males* in schools
to consider academic study. The remarks above
regarding the very negative characterisation of
science and scientific culture in mainstream media
are probably related. ‘Nerd, Geek, Anorak, …’ very
appealing!
As the RAE is fundamentally exam and
practical based, it offers equal opportunity, no
matter your learning style, something which could be
promoted.
Ofcom, businesses and radio spectrum
==============================
Ofcom seem very interested in trying to
hijack amateur radio spectrum in order to ‘sell’ it
to businesses. Once the family silver is gone,
there will be no getting it back. One argument is
the falling number of licences granted, however,
there are far more now than there were 50 years ago,
so this seems to be a weak argument.
Contrarily, Ofcom appear to have zero
role in, or even any recognition of, the educational
value of amateur radio.
Other interest groups
================
Radio amateurs have much in common with
other amateur and professional groups, such as
Astronomers, IET, chess clubs, BCS (British
Computing Society). Politics usually gets in the
way of things I know, but maybe forming
philosophical societies which include all of these
people might help.
Conclusions
==========
1. A re-characterisation of scientific
people in a positive light is essential in
mainstream culture. The moral and intellectual
high-ground has been lost, and needs be re-gained.
Influencing mainstream media is critical, and
perhaps the RSGB’s film will address some of that,
so in that sense, I’ve rather persuaded myself that
it has cultural value beyond my initial feeling.
2. A nice glossy film associating
amateur radio with feel-good, slightly edgy, but
ultimately morally upstanding lifestyle, accessible
to all, yet forming a powerful and desirable
sub-culture, could well result in huge growth again.
It’s interesting to note that most dystopian,
post-apocalypse futures films do not show
communications as existing at all; perhaps one
where radio amateurs continue to communicate in the
dystopian future would be an interesting new take.
Raynet meets Mad Max, but feeling like Convoy.
3. Spin-off television with an amateur
radio focus could have almost immeasurable
advantage. The adventures of the Wizards of West
Kent :-) TX Factor will not achieve this, it’s very
good indeed, but is about amateur radio, it’s not
about lifestyle at all. Hmm - here’s a thought, why
not invite the TX factor team to make a show about
one, or several Raynet events? That could show
amateur radio supporting the community in a very
positive way.
4. In 2003, RAE passes fell to below the
1959 level. I don’t know the figures since, but we
are 12 years on. Academically, there has been a
recent resurgence in scientific study at
universities, so the time is absolutely right to go
back out to those science departments and look to
recruit into amateur radio. Be aware, though, that
they are mostly male, so any material should be made
with that in mind!
5. The RSGB should work *with* Ofcom to
make representation to academics regarding amateur
radio and its educational value. Ofcom should not
be simply acting as the store-keeper for spectrum.
6. Radio amateurs, clubs and the RSGB
should work with other groups to create and promote
broad-interest philosophical societies, which can
help encourage males into education; noting that the
RAE is highly non-discriminatory.
============================
Tables of Amateurs around the world
============================
R.Amateurs By %age population, 15 years
ago:
Country
Number of amateur
radio operators
% population
Year of
Report
Source
Japan
1,296,059
1.012
1999
[2]
Slovenia
6,500
0.317
2000
[2]
Republic of China
68,692
0.296
1999
[2]
South Korea
141,000
0.288
2000
[2]
Thailand
176,278
0.275
2006
[2]
United States
738,497
0.239
2012
[3]
Canada
69,183
0.201
2011
[3]
Denmark
8,668
0.156
2012
[5]
Spain
58,700
0.127
1999
[2]
Norway
5,302
0.106
2000
[2]
United Kingdom
58,426
0.094
2000
[2]
Germany
75,262
0.092
2007
[4]
Australia
15,328
0.067
2000
[2]
Italy
30,000
0.049
1993
[2]
Argentina
16,889
0.042
1999
[2]
Poland
16,000
0.041
2000
[2]
Ukraine
17,265
0.037
2000
[2]
Russia
38,000
0.026
1993
[2]
France
14,160
0.02
2013
[2]
Brazil
32,053
0.016
1997
[2]
South Africa
6,000
0.012
1994
[2]
Indonesia
27,815
0.011
1997
[2]
India
15,679
0.001
2000
[2]
RAs by absolute numbers 15 years ago:
Country
Number of amateur
radio operators
% population
Year of
Report
Source
Japan
1,296,059
1.012
1999
[2]
United States
738,497
0.239
2012
[3]
Thailand
176,278
0.275
2006
[2]
South Korea
141,000
0.288
2000
[2]
Germany
75,262
0.092
2007
[4]
Canada
69,183
0.201
2011
[3]
Republic of China
68,692
0.296
1999
[2]
Spain
58,700
0.127
1999
[2]
United Kingdom
58,426
0.094
2000
[2]
Russia
38,000
0.026
1993
[2]
Brazil
32,053
0.016
1997
[2]
Italy
30,000
0.049
1993
[2]
Indonesia
27,815
0.011
1997
[2]
Ukraine
17,265
0.037
2000
[2]
Argentina
16,889
0.042
1999
[2]
Poland
16,000
0.041
2000
[2]
India
15,679
0.001
2000
[2]
Australia
15,328
0.067
2000
[2]
France
14,160
0.02
2013
[2]
Denmark
8,668
0.156
2012
[5]
Slovenia
6,500
0.317
2000
[2]
South Africa
6,000
0.012
1994
[2]
Norway
5,302
0.106
2000
[2]
--
Allan Wyatt
Curator | The National Valve Museum | www.r-type.org
This museum is entirely supported by your donations
