Is VHF Ham radio dying out?

[Gemini4]

I don't know about anybody else,I can shout till I'm blue in the face and never get an answer most times.
Has VHF ham radio really seen its day?. I hope not.

[Admiral]

I think it saw it's day when the crazy decision was made to give Foundation licensees access to HF. V/UHF was always the place for hams to cut their teeth before being let loose on HF and the rest of the World. UHF has seen a revival in the past couple of years because of DMR, I think a few VHF DMR repeaters are now popping up, and along with some relatively cheap (compared to professional gear like Motorola and Hytera) Chinese dual band DMR sets now coming onto the market, I think 2m will start to get busy again over the next few years, as for analogue, I think it's past its sell by date now, and unless Ofcom go back to V/UHF for entry level licenses again then analogue will die out in the next 10 years.

[Gemini4]

I agree with that to be honest,I am foundation licence based and happy with that and want to stay like this and happy to stay with VHF. I do think there should be another level to get on hf and not just a free ride. Myself I'm happy to trundle along on VHF and enjoy it to be honest and it needs bringing back in line.But that's my opinion only and some foundation holders will say they will battle on with 10watts..not enough power to be honest for my liking.

[MrWeetabix]

There is decent levels of activity for the weekly RSGB contests on VHF/UHF, it may be that you have to try for contacts during that and then break out after that for QSOs. At least you'll know that there are people about the band and not just shouting into dead air.

[Admiral]

My comment wasn't a swipe at Foundation licence holders, but throughout this board there are people bemoaning the fact that some M3 and M6's are quite happy with their lot and there is no incentive to progress, that's because they have access to HF, if it were like the old A and B licenses pre-2003 then they would have an incentive to progress if HF was available only to intermediate and full.
Anyway, that's veering OT, 2m is a great band, but my local analogue repeater (at the moment) GB3PE is rarely used these days, and apart from a bit of D-Star and some packet signals the whole band is a graveyard around here.

[Gemini4]

It just seems to have died in my area maybe (Derbyshire).. I've tried repeaters and local and get nothing back, I used to get a lot of contacts in the last year..but this year seems dead.

[Farty]

Pretty Q round here too of late.

I stuck with my M6 ticket for 6 years before doing my inter, simply because I'm equal parts busy and lazy, and had no inclination to do it just to make so done else happy. Its my ticket, not yours or theirs, and its my business and mine alone what I do with it. That's the bottom line.

Its the smug M6 bashers making the airwave quiet, and I've seen plenty drop by the wayside because they can't be bothered with the Werther's suckers who want it to remain 1957 for evermore.

[Gemini4]

As I say I'm happy with my lot and scanning hf..but talking to an old cb fan who's come back to the hobby ( his CB hobby, not mine) he said he hears nothing on AM or FM. So it's not just the ham side that's suffering. I've got to admit I used to hear a lot of the old brigade moaning about foundation members being allowed on VHF never mind hf...and some simply ignore you...but it's their loss.

[Admiral]

Well I don't have a problem with Foundation holders, I got a free ride onto HF in 2003. That's why elsewhere I advocate that the Foundation licence should be exam free and just a V/UHF allocation, but some of the G's on here think I've been sniffing glue as it would allow 'riff-raff' into the hobby, I guess you will never get rid of bigotry in the ham world.

[Dave_M0YAA]

trouble is a lot of people have moved from analogue to digital. It started with d-star which being expensive was out of the reach of many, who wouldn't pay the money for a d-star radio which would've bought a very decent multi-band. Now with the advent of fusion, etc, and the likes of Baofeng and the TYT etc radios being sub £100 a lot of people prefer it. VHF still has it's place, data, SSTV, etc and local to mid contacts, but it's not as busy as it was.

[Farty]

Fair point. A lot of local users like our 4x4 club etc used Mototbro. People are still there, they're just locked into their own little talkgroups.

[Transwarp]

My comment wasn't a swipe at Foundation licence holders, but throughout this board there are people bemoaning the fact that some M3 and M6's are quite happy with their lot and there is no incentive to progress, that's because they have access to HF, if it were like the old A and B licenses pre-2003 then they would have an incentive to progress if HF was available only to intermediate and full.
Anyway, that's veering OT, 2m is a great band, but my local analogue repeater (at the moment) GB3PE is rarely used these days, and apart from a bit of D-Star and some packet signals the whole band is a graveyard around here.

Hmm, if your original comment was not a swipe at FL holders then why make an attempt to justify that comment Sorry but the newbies and the oldies divide is still evident!

Anyway I see some changes coming for ham radio and they won't be to any licence class holders liking. Time will tell.

[Admiral]

Hmm, if your original comment was not a swipe at FL holders then why make an attempt to justify that comment Sorry but the newbies and the oldies divide is still evident!

Anyway I see some changes coming for ham radio and they won't be to any licence class holders liking. Time will tell.

Think what you like old son, you'll be hard pressed to find a comment from me on the WWW being derogatory to Foundation Licence holders.

[Transwarp]

Hmm, if your original comment was not a swipe at FL holders then why make an attempt to justify that comment Sorry but the newbies and the oldies divide is still evident!

Anyway I see some changes coming for ham radio and they won't be to any licence class holders liking. Time will tell.

Think what you like old son, you'll be hard pressed to find a comment from me on the WWW being derogatory to Foundation Licence holders.

Ok old boy.

[Werthers]

A lot of people end up buying crappy radios like the Boafengs and other rubbish with cheap Chinese antennas that flood the market, then give up then revert to there smartphones never to be heard again or mess about on PMR446 because apparently its better