I'm going to start a new thread that kinda parallels this thread.
Yesterday, I took delivery of a brand new Icom IC-7000. I opened the box, unpacked the radio, hooked up an existing power supply, hooked up an existing HF dipole and an existing VHF/UHF vertical. I turned on the radio, dialed up a repeater frequency, and was on the air making contacts. Total time, from unpacking to contact? About 15 minutes.
Later, after checking into a 2m net, I switched over to 40m and broke through the pile-up to make contact with the W1AW/4 ARRL 100th Anniversary station in Tennessee. Additional time to make the first contact on HF with this radio? About 10 minutes.
Granted, I had the power supply and the antennas ready to go and I had spent about a half-hour reading the manual before the radio arrived. But, the radio part was really easy.
Frankly, I don't think people realize just how easy ham radio can be.
Yesterday, I took delivery of a brand new Icom IC-7000. I opened the box, unpacked the radio, hooked up an existing power supply, hooked up an existing HF dipole and an existing VHF/UHF vertical. I turned on the radio, dialed up a repeater frequency, and was on the air making contacts. Total time, from unpacking to contact? About 15 minutes.
Later, after checking into a 2m net, I switched over to 40m and broke through the pile-up to make contact with the W1AW/4 ARRL 100th Anniversary station in Tennessee. Additional time to make the first contact on HF with this radio? About 10 minutes.
Granted, I had the power supply and the antennas ready to go and I had spent about a half-hour reading the manual before the radio arrived. But, the radio part was really easy.
Frankly, I don't think people realize just how easy ham radio can be.