Comment Decline of the Hobbyist (Score 1) 593
I'm the youngest guy by far in my ham radio club and I'm 34. Many of the radio guys I know aren't all that into the nuts and bolts of computing. In fact many hams resist change and that includes the introduction of digital transmission modes and the integration of RF and the Internet when it comes to ham digital networks and repeaters. You hams know what I'm talking about.
On the other hand many older hams know electronics theory cold and I'm a dabbler there at best. I'm much more adept at the digital stuff, being a programmer I'm much more comfortable playing around with packet, Winlink, Echolink, etc. Integrating software and RF hardware is fun. I still blow Joe Average away in terms of RF and electronics know-how.
I also enjoy working on my car, seems like automotive tech is another area where people look at it as a black box. That goes for many IT people, no one I work with bothers with their own car maintenance. I picked up auto repair from my father-in-law, that generation seems to be the last that really took the time to deal with fixing their own cars. Of course cars used to be easier for the driveway mechanic to deal with.
On the other hand many older hams know electronics theory cold and I'm a dabbler there at best. I'm much more adept at the digital stuff, being a programmer I'm much more comfortable playing around with packet, Winlink, Echolink, etc. Integrating software and RF hardware is fun. I still blow Joe Average away in terms of RF and electronics know-how.
I also enjoy working on my car, seems like automotive tech is another area where people look at it as a black box. That goes for many IT people, no one I work with bothers with their own car maintenance. I picked up auto repair from my father-in-law, that generation seems to be the last that really took the time to deal with fixing their own cars. Of course cars used to be easier for the driveway mechanic to deal with.
