@croyle It's a bit of a catch 22 at the moment.
Hams will say they're friendly and will say they worry about the hobby dying.

But at the same time my experience a new ham and relatively young one (by comparison) has been miserable.

VHF/Uhf has been horrible. Most of my local repeaters are dead and when they active it's old white males discussing politics I don't agree with. They dont give me a chance to break in even if I wanted to.

Despite this, my interest in technology has kept me going and working towards a generals liscesne.
But for the average layman 2 exams to get started and find an enjoyable community is a tall order for a hobby.

The problem with amateur radio isn't that the technology is out of date. It's that most of the operatators are. That's the reason the hobby is "dying".

#hamradio #amateurradio #arrlisdying

@melodicoffer
I'd have to agree, being both a relatively new ham and an old white guy. His description of the repeater experience was telling, and it matches my experience exactly.