Ham Radio Is Dead

I'm a fairly new ham, I've tried HF a bit here and there, and play around with 2m/70cm on the local repeaters or when camping.

But a constant source of frustration is how little innovation seems to happen in the hobby, aside from some outlying groups that experiment with modern technology.

Yes we have fancy SDR based HF radios with big color screens now, and DMR and other digital modes, but they're still half-duplex and operate only on an extremely narrow bandwidth. Essentially they look fancier and more modern, but other than that are the same under the hood.

What interests me is new stuff; like mesh networks made with little low cost devices like an ESP32, or LoRa with long range connections at low power while still having reasonable data rate capability, or maybe HF but with full duplex digital that can transfer significantly more data.

I also have quite a few clickbaity thoughts that look at ham radio in a much more optimistic light.

https://n0ssc.com/posts/583-millennials-are-killing-ham-radi...

The video's actual title "Ham radio is doomed" is a rather different and more reasonable claim than the post title "ham radio is dead."

Likely the old ham culture is doomed. Perhaps a new one will arise. I am studying to get an amateur radio license, and so are a number of my friends. The group we're studying with are all a bunch of lefty radical types in their 20s and 30s; at 44, I am one of the older folks involved. I've been connected to the Internet and previously BBS culture for effectively my entire life, and I've worked on a couple of mesh network projects and a bit of low-power radio hackery (zigbee walkie-talkies with store-and-forward text messaging, woohoo).

I had no idea that ham radio could be related to the kinds of decentralized communication networks I've enjoyed playing with over the years. I thought it was all just a bunch of cranky old right-wing dudes chatting with each other, CB style. I got interested last year after seeing how VHF walkie-talkies could be useful for coordinating large group activities, where FRS is too limited. Now I'm learning about repeaters, DMR, Echolink, APRS...