ARLA/CLUSTER: O futuro do serviço de amador no Mundo é discutido da Conferencia da IARU Região 1 na Alemanha

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

The future of the Amateur Radio service

During the IARU Region 1 General Conference in Landshut Germany that
started this morning, the future of Amateur Radio will be discussed.
There are alarming signs that interest in Amateur Radio from the
younger generation is dwindling and a decline in worldwide membership
could threaten its existence in time.

It was the experimental, research and pioneering spirit of our early
radio amateurs that made them challenge the professional radio experts
and proved that DX operation was possible and better on shortwaves.
This is how they made their mark in history and boosted Amateur Radio,
which spread worldwide and grew from strength to strength. In later
years Amateur Radio was being seen by most as only a hobby for fun.

Radio amateurs should be reminded about the saga of the mighty Eastman
Kodak Company, whose elder managing director believed that the film
industry would last forever and did not need any innovation, even
after they invented the digital camera and sold it to their
competitors.

Amateur Radio should advance with the times and made more attractive
for future generations and it should be realized that nothing will
last forever.

Radio Astronomy is another field of radio science and was pioneered by
a radio amateur, therefore it is only natural that it should also be
explored in amateur radio science since it involves radio technology.
As space exploration expands, communications with other worlds are
just around the corner.

A wider field of the Amateur Radio service would have a greater appeal
to the future younger and space-minded generations.

Fonte: The South African Radio League