Hi Colin.

You are right.  I see it in conversations that I have with co-workers who 
are 15 or 20 years younger than I, and just the differences in life 
experiences over that time span is staggering.  And I haven't even turned 
50 yet.

I think that Amateur Radio is a victim of the decline of volunteerism in 
america.  I cannot speak for Canadian or British society as I haven't lived 
in those places, but I see it in the U.S. in a number of things, like the 
decline of volunteer fire departments, organizations for our youth like the 
scouts or 4-H, etc.  Part of it is that people who are in the prime of life 
are just to busy trying to earn a living to invest in the community like 
they used to, and so that puts even more of the burden on older 
people.  Amateur Radio is falling victim to some of the same forces that 
are weakening our other community organizations.  Add to that the plethera 
of electronic technologies that compete for time, and you can almost expect 
a decline in activity.

All that being said, what do we do about it?  Wringing our hands doesn't 
help.  I do try to make myself and my station available for new hams, and 
try to get equipment into the hands of young hams, but even that seems to 
fall short.

73, de Lou K2LKK

At 06:14 PM 11/3/2008 -0700, you wrote:
>well, as was said already in this thread, amateur radio as a hobby is top
>heavy with aging hams.  Most people over 60 are conservative in their
>thinking already.
>And if not conservative, then they don't necesarily have the where withall
>to learn new technologies and embrace them and utilize them in the hobby.
>Therefore, i think elmering is going the way of the perverbial dodo. If we
>could bring some good elmering back by those who are experienced, i think
>the younger generation would be able to use the structured support of those
>elmers to bring in new things and make them usable by everyone.\
>As it stands, the generation gap in ham radio is a strong reflection of
>north american society in general.  The older, conservative baby boomer
>generation who don't like a whole lot of change or newness, and the younger
>generation who don't even think that way and who automatically embrace new
>technology as par for the course instead of fighting it for being "new"
>Things are changing so very rapidly in our modern society that the younger
>generation doesn't even realize how different it is from day to day then it
>was 30 or 40 years ago.
>The norm is change, and it's excepted at face value as a part of everyday
>life.
>anyway i've rattled on enough.
>73
>Colin, V A6BKX
>
>
>
>--
>No virus found in this incoming message.
>Checked by AVG.
>Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.8.6/1765 - Release Date: 11/3/2008 
>4:59 PM

Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
Home e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work Telephone:  (585) 697-5740