I’m sad to read that the HamClock project will no longer be updated. I have been inactive for about 5 years due to life interfering with my radio fun and am trying to get back into it.

Thank you Cale K4HCK for publishing this weekly update.
Tom, KZ0Z (now living in Oklahoma)

Response to “Ham Radio isn’t growing and it’s all your fault”

The story comments “we simply aren’t very friendly people” and “we’ve become a pretty damned grumpy lot” is implying at all place at all times this is true and I know for fact it’s not. Starting with my club and other ham’s I’ve met.

I’ve invested over a year+ trying to improve our club membership and since COVID-19 things have not been the same. Using a number of different social media platforms, snail and e-mails, anything else I could find, and averaging roughtly 800 view per month only one or two new hams showed up. My local e-mail ham operator base alone was near 1800, and I still found no new membership joy.

We’ve are not alone with new membership issues or finding new ham’s. Bartow’s horse riding club been around for about 60+ years, membership is declining and they are having the same difficulties ham radio is. It’s the same for Elks Lodge, Odd Fellows and the list goes on, we are not alone is find new members.

Why? There are I’m sure a number of reasons why we don’t see an increase with interest in ham radio. The key drivers behind the lack of interest in ham radio I’ve run into as been economic (high cost of living, lack of job, etc.), ham radio completing with other form of communication (cell phones) and entertainment (video games). What hurt the most was too, too many people have never heard of ham radio and have no idea who we are and what we bring to the table.

It’s our lack of visibility and the 80+ ham radio sub hobbies we bring to the table that killing us, and the fact there lots more to our hobby than emergency communications.