8 reasons why I still trust in ham radio

Let's get to the point directly: CB radio is (almost?) dead and ham radio has lost quite some users and use cases also.

However, I'm a ham for 16 years now and I have been told it's dying ever since I got my license.
Lately, someone stated on Twitter that every new development of it within the last 100 (!) years made people question the future of it. (I failed to find the specific tweet ...)

Maybe you're asking yourself now whether it even existed back then. Are you? ;)
Let me assure you: it did. It actually exists since humans know who to transmit and receive radio waves.

Why is it still relevant?

For a bunch of reasons!

First: There's no such way to learn about radio physics in a friendly environment.
People who offer trainings (usually) have not attended any seminars on education science. This sounds like a drawback but it actually ensures that they aren't doing educational stuff for a living. When they do it, they are doing it because they love to.

Second: It's a social thing to do.
There are various conferences, meetings, fielddays, chapter evenings and and and ... Oh, and special dates for radio transmission contests too. It's actually a second family. And for some, it's their first.

Third: It's not a hobby for the elders only.
YES, there is a growing number of old men (and women) in this hobby. But there are youngsters too. And the diversity of this hobby offers so much to youngsters also. Of course, not all kids that have been introduced to it stick to it for all their life. But the same happens with other hobbys also.

Fourth: It's not for males only.
STEM related stuff has that aura of being for boys only. I admit: ham radio is no exception. However, as in every STEM related topic the recognition within the society matters a lot. Girls and women are defeating that for up to 90 years by now. Why should they ever stop?
Within the ham radio society, the licensed ladies always have gained recognition and received respect from the males to a greater extent than they get in general.

Fifth: There's no such easy entry to science and engineering.
Electrical engineering is an occupation which will never lose it's relevance. Ham radio licensees were and still are employed in any areas which require a technical background since most of them have proven knowledge on and love for those topics.

Sixth: You may still build your stuff yourself.
Yeah, it sounds like unnecessary work. But it's freedom too. Ever walked into a region in the mountains without mobile phone connection? Having your homemade antenna and transceiver at hand keeps you accessible for the others - and vice versa. Without extra pay.

Seventh: It connects you to the world.
Even though there's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, ... offering immediate communication channels to anywhere in the world there's no such thing as a successful radio transmission on shortwave bands. Because you have to make more efforts but the success makes you much happier also.
And in general, there's a worldwide friendship of all hams.

Eighth: There are no restrictions and obligations.
Well, almost. You have to pass the license exam, you are restricted to some specific frequencies (and sometimes the power output) and you have to make your neighbours accept that antenna on your roof and/or your car. In some countries, the administrations wants to know about your antenna setup and transmission schemes. But that's all. Nobody tells you which specific antenna or transceiver to use, it's just a recommendation. And legally, you are free to build your equipment yourself and/or with other hams' help. For usage within the licensed frequency bands, that is.

But the internet is killing it, right?

No, it's not. It's just another medium some of us hams are using to connect. With Packet Radio we have had IP based networks before the internet grew to a global scale. Almost all operating modes from the past have not lost their use but others have evolved. We are allowed to do experiments and we are doing those. The pager system DAPnet is one of those projects and I guess there are others.

I actually expect ham radio to remain that special cherry on the cake of communication and technology education for a long time still.