Where is everybody?  I'd guess they're either dead or watching youtube videos on the death of ham radio!

Digital modes have become so popular that less voices are heard now.

Stayed with you till the end Ray,and i couldn't agree more.I'm stuck in the past too.☺

Good video Ray! I think it's a combination of the factors you listed. Poor propagation conditions, too much noise, too much power combined with poor antennas probably make some give up but the biggest factor is that amateur radio has become an old man's hobby. Those old men are dying and there isn't a significant influx of youth to replace them. 73, Ace, G0ACE

Here in the US as well.  I think everyone is on 20M FT8.  Sometimes I think my receiver is dead.

40 meter band has been brilliant for me, in Cambridgeshire...
Got a contact in the Netherlands a couple nights ago, 5w QRP, with my Xiegu G106..
On a home made Inverted V, made from ebay cheap speaker wire...
2m / 70cm has been dead for a couple of months now though..
My local repeaters are GB3PI, GB3PY, GB3OV, GB3KL, GB3KY and my local one GB3EL..... Always dead...
In regards to power... Im sorry, But NO ONE needs 1kw..
Im on foundation licence, so limited to 25w... And i have worked many countries on 25w or less...
Its all about the antenna!

Hi Ray! G3ZZO here, who hasn’t been on the air for literally years!    I think the trouble is, we’re all doing what I’m doing now, and that is, watching you on a very interesting video, instead of listening to to you and communicating with you on 40  metres!   And , besides, I’ve got the hobby that I always revert to since I was 4 in 1954! Model railways! Keep up these interesting videos ! And feel free to rant on!

I’m a veteran of the Cold War operating Larkspur and Clansman radios. The modus operandi for us then was to communicate using the least amount of power possible and I enjoyed the challenge with proper antenna siting and a bit of skill required to fettle the equipment. There was always the Soviet Bear sited on the Brocken in the Hartz mountains listening in to our transmissions and reduced power was one way to reduce the threat of Ivan and his mates intelligence gathering. With the increase to 1000W, I’m afraid my interest in amateur radio has waned somewhat. Try QRP and you just get stomped on by someone working Inter-G down the road on 1000W. Haven’t switched my transceiver on for months now - I get more enjoyment trying to breathe new life into old military and valve equipment. 73

I enjoy listening to a good old moan whatever the subject.

From the States here.  I am very impressed with the Clansman!  Talk about heavy duty and well made!

As nothing else would be expected, I bet that most people preferred and still prefer the supposed convenience of the web, instead of dedicating themselves to radio frequency.
I honestly regret that things are like this, when there are no real reasons to almost abandon the amateur radio activity.
I'm not a radio amateur in the truest sense of the term (because I'm not trained, limiting myself to 11 meters) but I've always supported amateur radio.
After so many years, I am sad to see the partial disinterest of operators I knew, who simply stopped being interested in the more educational activity in the radio spectrum.
Fortunately, there are still those who remain active, waiting for an opportunity.
I wish you good health, Ray.
And thank you for everything you have raised with your interventions on YouTube.

Macedo Pinto
Portugal

The same for 2M/70cm.   With good  tropo conditions in the morning every repeater was busy and now it's almost silent with great conditions.

It is not just amateur radio. I am a HAM and also a two way radio dealer. Whatsapp, Zello and PTT (cellular based) radios are killing the hobby and the business.

Thanks Ray. Brilliant video as always. 73

Greetings Ray, from San Francisco. 73

Hi Ray..Another old timer here, and love your vids, rant or otherwise, and I usually find that you are eloquently putting into words what I (and I'm sure many other 'old timers')are thinking. Sad to think that when our generation is gone, nobody will remember those 'heady days' of working the world on a few Watts and a wire, when you never heard anybody say 'noise floor'😢
Keep them coming, Ray..73..John..G4EIJ

The sun has been wiping out the bands on and off for months now. So I think most of us have gone off the hobby when everytime I go on my rig the sun has wiped out the bands. If it’s not that it’s s9+ qrm from solar panels.  Great to hear the moan. 73’s John GM0MST.

FT8 has destroyed SSB activity all over the world, and cheap Chinese switch mode supplies and solar inverters have lifted the noise floor immensely.

Over here in a suburb of Boston the issue is the horrendous noise caused by cheap Chinese LED bulbs and switching power supplies everywhere.  It's hard to communicate (at least receive, I do get out) when the noise level is 20 to 40 over sometimes with a mains frequency buzz.  It is a lot better in the middle of the night but I'm getting too old to do that often.

I always love chatting about the old days. I was a teen in the 70s and still on 11 meters. On a quiet night the noise level was so flat I sometimes thought a local rabble rouser might have clipped my coax! Now it's never below S3 even on the best nights. You could find someone to talk to on almost every channel. All that's left now is a few local idiots infecting channel 19. Keep up the videos Ray and all the best to you!