Death of a Hobby

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

No, this is not a column about how Model Rocketry is a dying hobby.  It's actually about another sister hobby that sometimes overlaps into Rocketry. I'm talking about Amateur Radio.

Just this last weekend, our local Ham Radio club held a "swap meet" which is commonly called a Hamfest.  These gatherings to buy and sell used equipment, parts and visit old friends typically happen just once a year and in the absence of the late Radio Shack, is one of the only places to find parts and electronic elements. There is also testing held to advance to higher licenses.

The admission varies depending on the club, their overhead, expense of renting the hall or venue, and the number of tables that they can sell to area vendors who will drive across state with their wares to set up for the half day show.

It's not uncommon for amateur radio operators to drive across state to attend, pay admission and get a single entry into the door prize drawings.  Usually, there's a bigger ticket item at the end of the day, about noon or so.

So it wasn't unusual to have people you haven't seen for years show up, especially after a few years off due to the pandemic.

But the complaint of one individual was out of the ordinary.

He complained about a five dollar admission when the price has not varied for the last dozen years or so.

When I arrived at 9 a.m., I heard from the other gatekeepers that there had been a complaint already.  I dismissed it as an odd duck. I didn't remember any prior complaints ever.

But when I signed onto Facebook the next day, I was shocked to see a short video review pop up, insulting our Hamfest and declaring that they were unneeded.  I clicked on the link and went to this gentlemen's YouTube channel.  There I found a 30 second video, obviously shot on his phone, that consisted of his voice over and a pan from the small hill that overlooked the flea-Market area outside.

(Inside the hall, tables rent for some $10 each, and advanced reservations are recommended. But outside, the parking area is split into  those selling off their tailgate, which this guy referred to as a flea market.  There is no contract for these spaces, and it's buyer-beware, as there is no guarantee and no price guidelines. It's first come, first served.  You can imagine that on a sunny, warm day without rain, lots of people roll up, pay the five dollar admission and attempt to set up in the tailgating area.  This operates against renting a table inside, but it is a tradition.) if it rained, they'd be inside.

The voice-over from this man (I'll call him Bob the Traveler, for short) comments that he can't believe that he paid $5 to look at junk.  He said that it was a nice day, a nice facility and the people were nice... but he claims that some Hamfests should not be held.  He says they no longer serve a purpose.  He also asked the viewer to like and subscribe to his channel.

Now, this man drove 83 miles from his home in Columbus for about an hour and 20 minutes one way.  He has attended before, as two years ago he posted a very similar half minute video that complimented the facility and what a nice day it was. I vaguely remember someone lipping off about paying $5 for junk as he drove out of the parking lot last year. But there was no video posted.  There was no formal complaint last year. I forgot about it.

The surprise was that he posted this link to his YouTube channel on all kinds of Ham Radio club pages and Facebook radio related pages.  So it popped up on my feed since it was new, the day after the event.  This means he had a half a day to wait and think about it before he posted this attack on the event.

In the comments below his post, there were 21 comments and almost every one (one exception: An account that had NO history, no photos, no postings, etc)  took issue with him and told him to stop whining. Several asked why he couldn't afford $5 for an engaging day. They said he spends that much at Starbucks each trip.

His response was that the vendors started packing up at 10:30 a.m. And that the organizers of the event should reorganize the event..  He complained that the items for sale "were junk". 

I got to thinking about this and realized that part of what he's complaining about is that he spent 80 minutes on the road but  within the same amount of time, some vendors were packing up to leave.  He feels shorted.  He's upset that he can't find better bargains for sale, yet the vendors are leaving because their sales have slowed.  He also didn't win the door prize.  So he's angry at himself for not finding value in his Sunday morning drive. Again.

Now, I arrived at 9 a.m. and heard that he was already complaining about the admission by then. Yet he stuck around and wrote that he was upset that a tailgaters were packing up by 10:30 a.m.  What he hasn't told you is that the day before was the first 86 degree day, and that Sunday was supposed to warm to 87 degrees.  It was already in the upper 70s by 10:30 a.m. AND some of these unpaid tailgaters were standing in the sun, when he walks past and didn't buy anything.  Because he thinks they have junk. So he looks, but doesn't buy.

I'm not certain how he expects the organizers to change up the event, since they haven't charged the tailgaters anything and don't control their prices, their product nor their behavior. On a sunny day, they don't set up inside where there's at least an agreement or contract for $10 per table.  The door prizes are drawn every 20 minutes or so, with the big ticket item as the last item near noon. And when that is drawn, the exodus is very obvious.  Everyone packs up and leaves as promptly as they can.

Now, perhaps this is something common only to this Hamfest, that people give up early.  As residents in the poorest corner of the state, most of the items will be of older vintage.  And as the population in the hobby ages out, there will be more and more of this showing up on flea-market tables and tailgaters.

So what does he do? He gets on-line and badmouths the event, almost guaranteeing that less people will participate next year. (My personal assessment was that the number of vendors was down, though the day was pleasant, and many of the dealers who had bought rental tables in the past, have dropped out of the marketplace due to the pandemic. But that's just me.  The fellowship and visiting and social aspect of the day is still in place.  But people are  dying every year and the number of participants in the hobby appears to be dwindling.)

This is not the fault of this local Hamfest.  But it is a symptom of the hobby aging out.

I think he's got a point about trying to keep people there and engaged, but I don't know how that is expected to occur.  He made no suggestions.  He just badmouthed the event, and attempted to dissuade people from attending.  In response to the comments, he says he'll never attend again.

And it occurred to me that I have been close to that line in our hobby.  Several times, I have sat and written a piece critical of some aspect of Rocketry, but then sat on it and didn't post it. I gave myself a chance to cool off, reflect, and think about how others were going to react to it. And then I decided to kill the posting.  When I do make a blog entry, I post links around Facebook to share.  So I share some of his behavior without realizing it.

It's a good lesson for me and for those of us who perceive that our hobby may be in decline.  
Which side do you fall on?  Do you encourage participation, or complain and discourage others?

This has been the Thrifty Rocketeer saying, I hope you're on the good side.... cause we need it.