How do women in your lives react to your hobby of radios

[Danny37]

Statically speaking scanner, radios, ham radio tends to be a male dominated hobby. How do the women in your life react to your hobby? Do they think its weird, fascinating, whatever or actually join you in the hobby. This can be your wives, girlfriends, mothers, sisters etc. My mom thought it was whatever but my last girlfriend thought it was cool. My sister is always like it ain't the 70s anymore we got cell phones now lol. Just curious how the women in your life react.

[mkewman]

My girlfriend thinks it's weird. She calls both Scanning and Amateur Radio my "stalker hobby."

I've tried to explain it but it doesn't seem to interest her and she doesn't like it when I'm tinkering and "not paying attention to her." She is half kidding of course, but it does seem to weird her out a bit.

She especially finds it weird that I've talked to people on local 2m repeaters and then met them in person, gone to their house to check out their setup, etc. She thinks that part is almost creepy.

We just moved in together, and I'm setting up my monitoring post this weekend. She hasn't seen my whole setup yet (mostly because I didn't have enough room in my last apartment). This could get interesting folks!

[phillydjdan]

My mother got me into scanning. She had a 16 channel JIL (one of the first programmable scanners) up on the mantle. She also bought me my first handheld scanner for Christmas waaaay back in 93. She didn't have one for awhile until recently, when I decided I had gotten enough phone calls asking what the sirens were about, and gave her a newer one.

I managed to get one of my ex-girlfriends to allow me to install a radio in her car for us to talk to each other, but she didn't want to hear anything else. All the rest reviled it. In fact, I am at any time about one step away from living in a cardboard box lol. I've had to invest in an FM transmitter and audio mixer so I can listen silently via small FM Walkman and ear buds

[n9mxq]

My wife is fine with my hobby. And even enjoys the scanner. She knows that radios are in my blood. I've had radios of one sort or another since I was seven.

She's not interested in getting her license and I'm fine with that.


No bits were harmed in the posting of this message.

[Blackink]

Here's a link that gives several views on your question Danny.
I asked a similar question earlier in the year after I had my new scanner set up for a couple of weeks.
My wife enjoys listening to the scanner as much as I do......a complete shocker, but I'm glad she does.

[cacherjoe]

When my wife talks to others about my HAM and Scanning hobby she says it's odd, but expresses interest when I'm talking to someone or something interesting is on the scanner.

As always, women are hard to understand.

[searingxheretic]

Scanning interest is 50/50 as long as I'm explaining what is going on. I haven't delved into Ham yet, I don't think that will go over so well with the added equipment. Oddly enough, now that I've started receiving and logging ads-b information, my fiancée has been very interested. Now every time a plane or helicopter flies over that we can hear, I get "who is that?" Or "I hope you're tracking that one". All in all, my fiancée is very supportive of my hobbies. If she wasn't, i suppose we probably wouldn't be engaged haha.

Sent from my cm_tenderloin

[wmscanfan]

My wife I am sure doesn't 'get it', but she knows deep down that I could have a lot worse hobbies....

[xmo]

If you want to actually HAVE a woman in your life [girlfriend/wife] it's probably safest to NOT talk much about ham radio - at least until the relationship is far enough along for her to reveal her show fetish....

[Fuzy_GSXR1000]

My wife supports me....until I talk about thousand dollar all mode Transceivers!! She will accompany me to a Hamfest or the local shop but when it comes to spending mucho dinero that when it gets a little complicated. I still want a decent rig but I need to upgrade to general first!!!

[KS4VT]

My wife told me that she never really paid any attention to towers before she met me..lol

She doesn't seem to mind that I almost always have something on in the house, which is usually the local SO district that we are in. She will sometimes call me if she sees something going on and have me turn on the radio, but by that time the initial signal has been dispatched and is usually a non-event.

She does enjoy using GMRS when we are at the theme parks and recently the spectrum has been pretty quiet as the use of FRS/GMRS at the theme parks are died off quite a bit so communications is pretty good using real radios with 5 watts.

[fxdscon]

My wife says that she wishes I was doing drugs instead.... it would be a lot cheaper.

.

[ab3a]

My wife, the mother of our three children, is not technical. However, we live across from a fire station. She has always been curious where they're going when the siren goes off. I have been a ham for a long time. I bought an analog scanner, and she was hooked. Unfortunately, the county uses a P25 system, and so, with a grudging approval, we purchased a trunking scanner that could keep pace.

That is on my night table. We listen some nights, particularly Friday and Saturday nights, to all kinds of wild traffic. My wife will turn it up to listen whenever she hears the police cars go tearing down the country road in front of our house. She hears all kinds of things and her friends know that she's a scanner addict.

So, yes, she not only approves, she's an addict like me. :-)

[Danny37]

I am very impressed with the answers and thoughts I'm receiving. Some of you guys i wish I trade with lol just kidding. But be very greatful for the women as some few users have stated their women are turned off by the hobby lol. To the user who told me to never tell my girl that I'm into radio, its usually the last thing I tell them. I have a wild amount of hobbies from volunteering as an EMT, to sports, music, cars and animal rescue. Don't worry bud.

[mmckenna]

I haven't been into scanning in years, but I've had a ham license for about 24 years now. My wife of 13 years got her ham ticket about 4 years ago. We have a radio in the house and one in each car. I occasionally talk to her on the way home. I was meeting her for lunch today, and I talked to her along the way. I think the only thing that annoys her is when I'm listening to the radio a bit too loud, other than that, she's OK with it.

[KB0VWG]

When I met my girlfriend now my wife she thought it was cool to listen to the scanner and she did have a cb long time before I was around. But now she is my wife and there are 2 scanner is the bedroom going 24/7 and she has her ham license and participates in the Ares nets. She mostly just talks to me 99% of the time. She has no problem with me buying radios since I do take care of the finances. I am pretty level headed and never go overboard on anything.
Mine kb0vwg
Hers kb5vwg

Gmrs
wqoi992

[cellblock776]

My better half doesn't have a problem with the scanner at all and as for ham radio, she went and got her Tech ticket several years ago and was active in Emcomms and ran a YL/Newcomers net on a local repeater for a short time. These days her health isn't great so she doesn't get out to do the public service and emcomm stuff anymore but supports me doing it.

[zz0468]

My wife is VERY supportive, has her ham license, and is on a first name basis with the folks at the local ham and electronic stores. She also helps out with a few of the ham clubs.

[Robinsmark]

Generally, I get a generally supportive and slightly inquisitive response. It is THE ANTENNAS that draw fire in my QTH ! The specifics are this, small antennas like my 440 MHZ beam are OK. Scanner antenna OK, anything bigger than 3 ft. in height or 3 feet in length draws flak. So far to date, a 10 meter Antron A99 has been up since January, and I have not YET heard anything to date...keeping my fingers crossed!

[LtDoc]

I look at it like this. If I don't have an interest other than the 'significant other', then that 'significant other' is going to have to spend more time with me. Right? Explain it to the 'significant other' like that and chances are that you radio hobby will turn out just fine... simple.
- 'Doc