Ham Radio is Not Dying, It is Evolving

Every so often I run across an article or video lamenting the imminent death of Amateur Radio. These folks generally point to how radio has changed over the last few decades as the internet and cellphones have gained prominence in our lives. They argue that the ubiquity of those devices have opened up a world of communication that once was almost solely the domain of radio. Specifically ham radio.

And it’s true: Cellphones and the internet have made communicating with almost anyone, anywhere in the world simple. Moreover, the quality of the connection, the sound quality and so on are excellent and immediate. As an online instructor I had students all over the world. Using the school’s VOIP phone system I could talk with students in Saipan as easily as I could a student down the street. And the quality was excellent with little to no jitter or delay. Truthfully, the same cannot be said for communicating around with world with radio. Atmospheric conditions, sadly, play a large role in the quality of the connection with radio.

To the extent that we’re considering radio as a means of communication, I have to agree: Radio is no longer the best way to connect to others elsewhere in the world.

But there are a few catches with that argument.

First, while I can make a phone call to or from almost anywhere in the world, I am limited to only reaching those whom I know. I can’t make /new/ friends in far away places. And that’s one of the cool things about radio. I can get on the radio, call CQ and someone in a place I may have never even heard of can respond. Yes, It might only be a short exchange of signal strength and so on, but still ain’t it cool to connect with a stranger half-way around the world? And, if you’re lucky you might just strike up a conversation with them and over time build a friendship – a pen pal via the airwaves. It was this very notion that attracted me to Amateur Radio to start with.

The second catch is that in order to use the internet or a cellphone, the infrastructure to support those services must exist. There must be cell towers and phone lines (or now at least satellite dishes) in order to reach someone using those services. Where there is no supporting infrastructure there is no service. Radio’s only restriction is that the operator have access to power, such as a 12 volt battery or solar panel, a radio, and some type of antenna. With those three things, all (relatively) cheap, easily obtained and transported, the operator can be reached almost any where.

Now a lot of folks will argue that cell service is fairly ubiquitous. And that is true. Except in areas where it’s not. Even in the US cell service is lacking in some areas, particularly in the wide open west where the population is so sparse as to make the cost to install and support the infrastructure unjustified. And the same can be said for rural internet. Yes, satellites have filled some of that gap, but at a significant cost to the individual. And not everyone can afford that on-going cost.

But that is in the US. In other parts of the world, the infrastructure simply isn’t there and the countries simply don’t have the resources to provide it. This is where radio shines.

Then there’s the whole “grid down” scenario following major natural disasters. Again, here in the US the cell companies do a pretty good job of getting temporary towers up. But they can’t provide coverage for the entire area, particularly if the damage is wide spread. Following Helene in North Carolina, I drove for forty of fifty miles with no cell coverage available for weeks because the damage was so widespread.

And, again, cell service is generally a 1:1 proposition. You have to know who you’re calling and what their phone number is in order to use that service. Radio has no such limitation or requirement. You can get on the radio and make a call and somebody is going to hear you and respond. That can get you help more quickly than a phone call in those situations.

But You Said it was Evolving….

Yes, I did.

The key here is that amateur radio is and always has been more than simply a means of communication. From early on in its history, and codified in the FCC rules, amateur radio has been at the forefront of experimentation.

From the FCC:

§ 97.1 Basis and purpose. The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles: (a) Recognition and enhancement of THE value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications. (b) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art. (c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art. (d) Expansion of the existing res- ervoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts. (e) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s unique ability to enhance international goodwill.

Notice the bolded wording. The idea behind amateur radio is to enhance the development of new uses and applications of radio. Amateurs were the first to explore the lower bands (below 200MHz)¹. They were the first to use Single Side Band (SSB) which made radio transmissions clearer, more power efficient, and provided better range. Amateurs were also among the first to explore satellite communications which are, today, integral to our communications network.

And we continue to explore new ways to use the radio waves to transmit information. Amateurs have developed multiple means for sending data via radio, for example. We are exploring new technologies such as LoRa or low powered, long range communications which can transmit data of various kinds, including text messages without the need to for expensive infrastructure or device investments. These mesh networks offer the opportunity to develop more resilient systems that don’t rely on centralized control and can be deployed by individuals, again very inexpensively, making the system much less subject to interference from foreign actors. And that’s true of radio in general. With multiple frequency options available to us, radio operators can continue to communicate with each other and the authorities even when no other options are available.

So, is radio dying? Hardly. It’s continuing to grow, just in different directions!