Future of Elecraft
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The question was raised regarding the future of Elecraft and ham radio
in general as to what happens when we old boomers buying most of the equipment die off. That ties in with something bothering me lately, somewhat on topic. Working with a group of youngsters here in Sacramento, many of whom have their Technician or even General Class licenses, I see a constant pattern. They all tend to live in neighborhoods with tight HOA (Home Owner Association) restrictions and are unable to put up antennas. While that's not entirely true when it comes to stealth installations, it's a major hurdle for those not used to tinkering with antennas. We boomers for the most part have avoided such situations when buying our homes, but the kids have no option, plus may have parents concerned about visible wires, etc. So, that begs the question, what happens to the future of our fine Elecraft business operation when we all are so hampered in trying to increase the younger base in our hobby? The rapid growth of HOA restrictions is truly throttling our hobby! 73, Dale - K6PJV ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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There are plenty of good antenna options that HOAs can do absolutely nothing
about. I live in a townhouse in a restricted development, and my primary HF antenna is a High Sierra HS1800 mounted on a short pipe in a bucket of cement. When I want to operate, I just set the bucket with the pre-mounted HS1800 base out onto the driveway, spread out the 8 10-foot radials, and attach the whip. Antenna setup takes all of about two minutes. There's simply nothing a HOA can say or do about it because a) it's not attached to the house and b) isn't any kind of permanent structure. I also have a Buddipole -- again, no problems in a HOA development. Even if the HOA were to complain, I'd just mount the HS1800 on my car and plug into it from the shack when I want to operate. 73, Steve - KW4H On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 2:04 PM, dalekretzer <[hidden email]> wrote: > The question was raised regarding the future of Elecraft and ham radio > in general as to what happens when we old boomers buying most of the > equipment die off. That ties in with something bothering me lately, > somewhat on topic. > > Working with a group of youngsters here in Sacramento, many of whom have > their Technician or even General Class licenses, I see a constant > pattern. They all tend to live in neighborhoods with tight HOA (Home > Owner Association) restrictions and are unable to put up antennas. While > that's not entirely true when it comes to stealth installations, it's a > major hurdle for those not used to tinkering with antennas. > > We boomers for the most part have avoided such situations when buying > our homes, but the kids have no option, plus may have parents concerned > about visible wires, etc. > > So, that begs the question, what happens to the future of our fine > Elecraft business operation when we all are so hampered in trying to > increase the younger base in our hobby? The rapid growth of HOA > restrictions is truly throttling our hobby! > > 73, Dale - K6PJV > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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In reply to this post by dalekretzer
Working with a group of youngsters here in Sacramento, many of whom have
> their Technician or even General Class licenses, I see a constant > pattern. They all tend to live in neighborhoods with tight HOA (Home > Owner Association) restrictions and are unable to put up antennas. > While that's not entirely true when it comes to stealth installations, > it's a major hurdle for those not used to tinkering with antennas. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dale, I just worked 25 states, 6 provinces, and 43 countries last weekend with an indoor antenna and 5w out of my K2. I'm a retired 'boomer' who downsized to a Townhouse with HOA restrictions. Fifty years ago, when I was 12 years old and living in low income housing with outside antenna prohibitions, I got may Novice license and got on the air with (probably about) 10 watts out of a 50L6. My first antenna was an indoor wire. I think the answer to your question might be that if something is attractive enough (like ham radio was to me as a kid), necessity truly becomes the mother of invention and we find a way to deal with it. Along with HOAs we all know that our RF environment is becoming increasingly threatening. Most of us who have to deal with HOAs wouldn't dare run 100 watts for two reasons - the potential health hazards if the antenna can't be properly located, and the havoc that the RF wreaks with every poorly designed elecronic gizmo in the neighborhood. Sure, we can clean up our end but the average neighbor doesn't easily accept that the problem may really be his problem, not ours. In my opinion, having access to a top quality QRP rig like my own K2, makes all the difference in the world between operating a successful "stealth" station and going fishing. I would like to believe that ham radio is so rich in terms of its diversity that there will always be enough people around to keep it going, especially if we look at a world map and realize that what happens here in the United States is actually just a small part of a much larger world. Well, that's my two cents anyway. Stan Levandowski WB2LQF HF QRP CW -- Doing more with less for over 50 years! QCWA #35038 OOTC #4558 NAQCC #4740 SKCC #6488 FISTS #14992 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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