I watched it too. Can you imagine having a weekly club meeting?

There are three other factors he doesn’t address.

1) Demographics. Santa Barbara used to employ hundreds if not thousands of engineers at the various aerospace companies. Many of them were amateur radio operators, and SBARC had many members that worked with each other. That population was a great source of potential ham radio aficionados.

2) Younger people don’t make things. Everything is an app. If there isn’t an app for it, they're not interested. Even these days, with all the cheap radios out there, they don’t do anything that they can’t already do with their smartphones. Plus even with a fully operational radio, there is still a lot to learn. No one ever asks me to show them how to program their radios. They ask me to do it. No one wants to learn things for the sake of accomplishment.

3) Everyone is too busy. It’s not the same anymore. Everything is “on demand” now. Setting time aside for activities at certain times on certain days is a nuisance. In the 12+ years I have been doing evening nets, we’ve gone from 15-20 checkins, to 5-6 if we’re lucky. It’s just not a priority.

— Brian - K6BPM

On Sep 20, 2026, at 3:49 PM, Ken Alker via SBARC-list sbarc-list@lists.netlojix.com wrote:

Marvin, that was a great dissertation. It is very well done and thought-out and thought-provoking. I think everyone anxious about the future of the hobby or in a leadership position with in the club should listen to it. (One can listen to it without watching the video - the video is fun but doesn't really add anything; just a bunch of random snap-shots in the background of the talk).

Thanks for forwarding it.

Ken KA6KEN

----- Original Message ----- From: "Marvin Johnston via SBARC-list" sbarc-list@lists.netlojix.com To: "sbarc-list" sbarc-list@lists.netlojix.com Cc: "Marvin Johnston" marvin@west.net Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2026 2:05:39 PM Subject: [Sbarc-list] Why Are Ham Radio Clubs Disappearing? The Truth Is Bittersweet

An interesting take on the history, and to some extent, the future of ham radio. For a lot of us, this video will bring back memories of the way things used to be. And maybe some ideas of how to get more people involved.

Why Are Ham Radio Clubs Disappearing? The Truth Is Bittersweet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Z5RwIO5bE

Marvin, KE6HTS

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