VOA标准英语2010-Old Two-Way Radio Thrives in Internet Age

Amateur 'ham' radio operators don't need web cams or the Internet to chat with people all over the world

Matt Sepic | St. Louis, Missouri 20 April 2010

Helen Schlarman, 89, has multiple sclerosis and says ham radio lets her connect with friends she's not able to see in person.

Related Links
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
American Radio Relay League

With millions of people posting up-to-the-minute photos on Facebook, checking Twitter and snuggling up to iPhones, it's easier than ever to stay in touch.

So you might expect those old ham two-way radios to have gone the way of rotary¹ phones by now. A few years ago, several blogs even put ham radio alongside 35 millimeter film and VHS video tape on a list of once popular things slated² to disappear. But they were wrong.

In fact, the hobby where you can make your own antennas⁴ to send and receive signals and tap out messages in Morse code is thriving.

Ham radio resurgence⁵

New hams like Helen Schlarman are part of an upswing in the hobby.

Sitting in a spare bedroom with a compact, two-way radio before her, she pushes the talk button, announces her personal call sign, and looks up a friend across town. He answers and they start a conversation about everyday things, such as why his dog is at the window, barking.

Many hams chat with friends around the world and hang postcards from their global contacts on their walls, the way hunters might show off antlers from deer they've shot.

Helen Schlarman's chats are mostly local and that's fine with her. She's 89 and loves amateur radio's camaraderie⁶.

"It's a different community. There is no stereotypes⁷ of age. It's just talking and sharing and enjoying," she says, adding that the hobby is perfect for an outgoing person who stays inside a lot.

New equipment introduced in the early 1970s made two-way radios easier to operate, but hams still needed to know Morse code to get a license⁸.

Making it easier

Until recently, ham radio was declining from its peak in 2002 as older operators died.

But three years ago, the government phased out the Morse code test that many saw as a stumbling block to getting a license.  Maria Somma, of the American Radio Relay League, says that change sparked a lot of interest.

She notes that last year, the Federal Communications Commission issued a near-record number of licenses⁹. "We had over 30,000 new amateurs coming in to the radio service, and the trend seems to be going upward." Today, about 700,000 Americans have ham licenses, a nearly 60 percent jump over a generation ago.

Allen Weiner, who follows technology trends at Gartner Research, does not find those numbers all that surprising.

Unique experience

While it will never have the high-tech¹⁰ cachet of the iPhone, Weiner says ham radio has a certain 'nerd appeal.' "If it creates its own experience, that's really what's key here. If it just emulates¹¹ an experience that you can get online, it's not going to grow."

Local amateur radio clubs hold 'Hamfests,' where operators can meet to share stories and equipment.

At a ham radio convention near St. Louis, the crowd swapping¹² antenna³ parts and other equipment is mostly male and over 50.

But the hobby has also attracted 15-year-old Jonathan Dunn. He says Facebook and texting are fun, but making friends using a simple two-way radio is more rewarding.

"With ham radio you can talk to new people, all kinds of ages, races, and it's just amazing what a little radio can do," he says. "Because no matter where you're at, if you have the right stuff and the right power, you can talk to anyone."

Even though amateur radio is often more about the medium than the message, Jonathan's father Steve Dunn observes that all that polite chit-chat over the airwaves is still important, especially for a teenager. "If young people have the opportunity to communicate with a wide range of people, that instills a certain amount of confidence in their ability to carry on the lost art of small talk."

Hams in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service? volunteer their expertise¹³ and equipment to provide communications services when disaster strikes.

Hobby with a higher calling

But ham radio isn't just about casual conversation.

Even with all of today's digital technology, there is still a need for people to talk over long distances, without the help of wires or cell phone towers.

Many hams are trained to provide emergency communications during a disaster. That proved valuable after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, when many mobile phones and land lines failed.

Still, even the most die-hard hams concede theirs will never be a mainstream¹⁴ hobby.

After all, being an amateur radio operator takes skill and technical knowledge, and will never match the ease and convenience of smart phones and the Internet. But even so, there are those who still find great joy in communicating with friends near and far via 20th century technology. 

 

1 rotary   

adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的

参考例句：

• The central unit is a rotary drum.核心设备是一个旋转的滚筒。
• A rotary table helps to optimize the beam incidence angle.一张旋转的桌子有助于将光线影响之方式角最佳化。

2 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

3 antenna   

n.触角，触须；天线

参考例句：

• The workman fixed the antenna to the roof of the house.工人把天线固定在房顶上。
• In our village, there is an antenna on every roof for receiving TV signals.在我们村里，每家房顶上都有天线接收电视信号。

4 antennas   

[生] 触角，触须（antenna的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Marconi tied several antennas to kites. 马可尼在风筝上系了几根天线。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Radio astronomy today is armed with the largest antennas in the world. 射电天文学拥有世界上最大的天线。

5 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

6 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。

7 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

9 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

10 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

11 emulates   

v.与…竞争( emulate的第三人称单数 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿

参考例句：

• A device or computer program that emulates. 一种可以进行仿真的设备或计算机程序。 来自辞典例句
• Sleep Timer Emulates the time found in most TVs. 睡眠计时器模拟时发现，大多数电视。 来自互联网

12 swapping   

交换，交换技术

参考例句：

• The slow swapping and buying of horses went on. 马匹的买卖和交换就是这样慢慢地进行着。
• He was quite keen on swapping books with friends. 他非常热衷于和朋友们交换书籍。

13 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

14 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。