Interesting. My experiences with amateur radio people on the air have been largely positive.
But on the internet, there seem to be only two groups:
1. Old hams: New hams are the cancer that is killing the hobby!
2. New hams: Old hams are the cancer that is killing the hobby!
Funny enough, I ran across a ham radio magazine from the 1920's and found letters to the editor that said the exact same things. A hundred years ago, the same old flame war rages on.
The standard refrain of "it's always been like this" is a great way to avoid confronting the very real problems facing amateur radio.
But despite your insinuation I'm not a "new ham". After a few brushes with the ham community in my area I very quickly decided I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.
My experience with ham radio has also been positive. I've been a ham for about 14 years now, and I can't recall any bad experiences. Most of the contacts are barely more than signal reports, but any conversations I've had have been at least cordial.
I can't speak for bityard, but I think that pointing out that there have always been complaints is just saying that there are always unhappy people regardless of the state of the hobby. Most people don't talk about something if there's no problem. The people that speak up are unhappy with something. That can make it seem like the problems are common, even if they are rare. That's my take on it anyway.
But on the internet, there seem to be only two groups:
1. Old hams: New hams are the cancer that is killing the hobby!
2. New hams: Old hams are the cancer that is killing the hobby!
Funny enough, I ran across a ham radio magazine from the 1920's and found letters to the editor that said the exact same things. A hundred years ago, the same old flame war rages on.