The name is Kevin and located in Wadhurst. I will try my dedicated 2 mtr radio,
after looking at the specs of filtering it may be an advantage to me
Sent from my HTC
----- Reply message -----
From: "Gordon Bubb" <gordonbubb@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <wkars-members@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [wkars-members] Re: RSGB DRM UPDATE
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2015 5:32 PM
Gladius650, sorry have missed your name somewhere along the line, thinking of
our nets, where are you located? This will give us an idea of whether you can
easily get into the net.
Will you be at Kempton this sunday?
Gordon
G7KNS
On 5 November 2015 at 17:29, gladius650@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I am not the only M6 that gets abuse, which is why they have returned to their
roots with 11 mtrs.
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 5:15 PM
The West Kent nets are advertised every week, and M6s are always welcomed. Why
don’t you join one of them? The invitations are sent every week onto the
-announce list, so you should see them; this, at least, is something where M6s
are always invited.
I cannot speak for all licensed amateurs, but I have never heard any on-air
abuse on these nets.
In case you don’t have the details to hand, the target is 145.375 MHz, FM,
centre of gravity is Tunbridge Wells area, time is 2000hrs local time (so GMT
at the moment), and the day is Mondays, when it’s not a club night, and lasts
usually 1-2 hours depending on who is about.
73 Mark G8PHM
On 5 Nov 2015, at 15:34, gladius650@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Redacted sender
"gladius650" for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 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:
CountryNumber of amateur
radio operators% populationYear of
ReportSourceJapan1,296,0591.0121999[2]Slovenia6,5000.3172000[2]Republic of
China68,6920.2961999[2]South
Korea141,0000.2882000[2]Thailand176,2780.2752006[2]United
States738,4970.2392012[3]Canada69,1830.2012011[3]Denmark8,6680.1562012[5]Spain58,7000.1271999[2]Norway5,3020.1062000[2]United
Kingdom58,4260.0942000[2]Germany75,2620.0922007[4]Australia15,3280.0672000[2]Italy30,0000.0491993[2]Argentina16,8890.0421999[2]Poland16,0000.0412000[2]Ukraine17,2650.0372000[2]Russia38,0000.0261993[2]France14,1600.022013[2]Brazil32,0530.0161997[2]South
Africa6,0000.0121994[2]Indonesia27,8150.0111997[2]India15,6790.0012000[2]
RAs by absolute numbers 15 years ago:
CountryNumber of amateur
radio operators% populationYear of
ReportSourceJapan1,296,0591.0121999[2]United
States738,4970.2392012[3]Thailand176,2780.2752006[2]South
Korea141,0000.2882000[2]Germany75,2620.0922007[4]Canada69,1830.2012011[3]Republic
of China68,6920.2961999[2]Spain58,7000.1271999[2]United
Kingdom58,4260.0942000[2]Russia38,0000.0261993[2]Brazil32,0530.0161997[2]Italy30,0000.0491993[2]Indonesia27,8150.0111997[2]Ukraine17,2650.0372000[2]Argentina16,8890.0421999[2]Poland16,0000.0412000[2]India15,6790.0012000[2]Australia15,3280.0672000[2]France14,1600.022013[2]Denmark8,6680.1562012[5]Slovenia6,5000.3172000[2]South
Africa6,0000.0121994[2]Norway5,3020.1062000[2]
