Looking for advice

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reedeb

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My advice is to buy a cell phone. It's one thing to listen for entertainment, but getting caught up in actually being a ham geek is a good way to drive off women in your life, and throw a lot of money down the drain that you could put into useful things. Before you waste the time and money, take a good listen to your local ham repeater. Listen to the inane conversations these people have. Ask yourself, "is this what I want to be"? Ham radio stopped serving a useful purpose when cell phones became common. Sure, autopatch was really cool in 1984, and it was darn useful. But today ham radio is really just a silly hobby. If it floats your boat, and you really want to be one of these people rag-chewing about their aches, pains, medications, and radio gear, and having to identify with their silly call sign constantly, go for it. Keep in mind, despite the geeky nature of ham radio, many in the hobby actually BELIEVE they are very important, and very wise, and are somewhat snobby and enjoy looking down on the "newbies". If you are just planning on buying a puxing and talking here or there that's one thing, but I would say not to get carried away with that geeky stuff.

I realize that many on here love it, but it is a dying hobby that no longer serves any purpose, and it repels women for the most part.

Little you know [yes we know you are a CBer and hate ham] Actually many woman ARE ham operators many got it because they met someone who was a ham and decided to study and get it. My Elmer's wife is a ham and loves it. Many woman talk to me every day around here and many are in with RACES and SKYWARN.

crimsonpirate78 ignore folks like this as he has an agenda against hams he trolls the ham threads and make these stupid remarks Ham is NOT dying, infact this yr saw the largest increase in quite a few yrs. Get your ticket and you can get away with the Children Banders like him.
 

rescue161

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My advice is to buy a cell phone. It's one thing to listen for entertainment, but getting caught up in actually being a ham geek is a good way to drive off women in your life, and throw a lot of money down the drain that you could put into useful things. Before you waste the time and money, take a good listen to your local ham repeater. Listen to the inane conversations these people have. Ask yourself, "is this what I want to be"? Ham radio stopped serving a useful purpose when cell phones became common. Sure, autopatch was really cool in 1984, and it was darn useful. But today ham radio is really just a silly hobby. If it floats your boat, and you really want to be one of these people rag-chewing about their aches, pains, medications, and radio gear, and having to identify with their silly call sign constantly, go for it. Keep in mind, despite the geeky nature of ham radio, many in the hobby actually BELIEVE they are very important, and very wise, and are somewhat snobby and enjoy looking down on the "newbies". If you are just planning on buying a puxing and talking here or there that's one thing, but I would say not to get carried away with that geeky stuff.

I realize that many on here love it, but it is a dying hobby that no longer serves any purpose, and it repels women for the most part.

You sir are nothing more than a troll that must work for a cell phone company. I have been a ham for 17 years now and met my gorgeous wife well after I was a ham. Please give your ham/GMRS/CB bashing a rest.
 

Arizona_Scanner

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You sir are nothing more than a troll that must work for a cell phone company. I have been a ham for 17 years now and met my gorgeous wife well after I was a ham. Please give your ham/GMRS/CB bashing a rest.

Hey I haven't bashed CB, it's a good value for the money. You can set up a rig for $50 and converse with every insane person in town, and sometimes from across the country. $50 for a toy is reasonable.
 

rescue161

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Hey I haven't bashed CB, it's a good value for the money. You can set up a rig for $50 and converse with every insane person in town, and sometimes from across the country. $50 for a toy is reasonable.

Okay good. I use a CB too, but there is no reason to continuosly bash other services. If you don't like ham or GMRS, then why even go into those threads to post something that you know is going to just get people mad at you?

Why would you constantly say to ham/GMRS users to buy a cell phone? Why wouldn't you tell them to buy a CB? Just saying.
 
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KE4ZNR

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My advice is to buy a cell phone. It's one thing to listen for entertainment, but getting caught up in actually being a ham geek is a good way to drive off women in your life, and throw a lot of money down the drain that you could put into useful things. Before you waste the time and money, take a good listen to your local ham repeater. Listen to the inane conversations these people have. Ask yourself, "is this what I want to be"? Ham radio stopped serving a useful purpose when cell phones became common. Sure, autopatch was really cool in 1984, and it was darn useful. But today ham radio is really just a silly hobby. If it floats your boat, and you really want to be one of these people rag-chewing about their aches, pains, medications, and radio gear, and having to identify with their silly call sign constantly, go for it. Keep in mind, despite the geeky nature of ham radio, many in the hobby actually BELIEVE they are very important, and very wise, and are somewhat snobby and enjoy looking down on the "newbies". If you are just planning on buying a puxing and talking here or there that's one thing, but I would say not to get carried away with that geeky stuff.

I realize that many on here love it, but it is a dying hobby that no longer serves any purpose, and it repels women for the most part.

It is a "dying hobby"? Funny thing is you are clearly wrong. How do I know this?
From Fox News: November 22 of this year (just a few weeks ago):
Radio Days Are Back: Ham Radio Licenses At An All-Time High | Fox News

From the linked article:

The newest trend in American communication isn't another smartphone from Apple or Google but one of the elder statesmen of communication: Ham radio licenses are at an all time high, with over 700,000 licenses in the United States, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
Ham radio first took the nation by storm nearly a hundred years ago. Last month the FCC logged 700,314 licenses, with nearly 40,000 new ones in the last five years. Compare that with 2005 when only 662,600 people hammed it up and you'll see why the American Radio Relay League -- the authority on all things ham -- is calling it a "golden age."

There is a nice video piece on the story as well. I would recommend you watch it and learn so that the next time you troll a post maybe you will at least be somewhat accurate in your assertions.

Happy Monitoring (and Hamming!)
Marshall KE4ZNR
 

W2PMX

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Ham geekery drives off women? One of my girlfriends in college was a ham, and a friend of hers (female) was one too. After I got stuck in a blizzard on the way home from work one day, and got someone on a local repeater to call my wife on the phone so she wouldn't worry, she studied and got her ticket too. (And one of the gals I used to talk to when I was in high school, over 50 years ago, still has her ticket.) Scratch one argument.

A dying hobby? In some areas, repeaters aren't as busy as they were once. But there's still packet, satellite, DX-chasing, digital modes, etc., etc. The bands are still busy (my lowband station is packed up at the moment, but I understand 10 has been hopping recently) and people are taking tests all the time. The reports of ham radio's death are greatly exaggerated (with apologies to Mr. Clemens).
 

KJ6MDX

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Insane Diego
My advice is to buy a cell phone. It's one thing to listen for entertainment, but getting caught up in actually being a ham geek is a good way to drive off women in your life, and throw a lot of money down the drain that you could put into useful things. Before you waste the time and money, take a good listen to your local ham repeater. Listen to the inane conversations these people have. Ask yourself, "is this what I want to be"? Ham radio stopped serving a useful purpose when cell phones became common. Sure, autopatch was really cool in 1984, and it was darn useful. But today ham radio is really just a silly hobby. If it floats your boat, and you really want to be one of these people rag-chewing about their aches, pains, medications, and radio gear, and having to identify with their silly call sign constantly, go for it. Keep in mind, despite the geeky nature of ham radio, many in the hobby actually BELIEVE they are very important, and very wise, and are somewhat snobby and enjoy looking down on the "newbies". If you are just planning on buying a puxing and talking here or there that's one thing, but I would say not to get carried away with that geeky stuff.

I realize that many on here love it, but it is a dying hobby that no longer serves any purpose, and it repels women for the most part.

Dying hobby? Geez, get a life. If you did any real research, you'd see that ham licenses are at an all time high. The hobby isn't dying, it's growing...

Nobody has mentioned the HT radios now being marketed in the US by the Chinese company Wouxun. While they can be a bit troublesome to program from the keypad, the programming cables are inexpensively priced and the software is a free download. HRO and Powerwerx both sell the Wouxun KG-UV3D in 2M/440 for $120. This beats the Yaesu FT-60R by $40.

I have a Wouxun KG-UVA1 commercial radio I use for railroad museum operations and it works just fine. The railroad police on the line our museum runs on are also using the Wouxun radios.
 
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crimsonpirate78 ignore folks like this as he has an agenda against hams he trolls the ham threads and make these stupid remarks Ham is NOT dying, infact this yr saw the largest increase in quite a few yrs. Get your ticket and you can get away with the Children Banders like him.

Have no fear I have been dealing with *** hats like him scene I was putting up a A99 for my Washington 10/11 meter and got a wife out of the deal(and she was hot as hell too). I must say I have a very bad urge to tell him off but I will refrain as I am trying to stop thinking like a CBer and start thinking like a HAM (and how to build my next 2m vertical ham antenna).

P.S. If it weren't for Ham I would never have had an antenna for CB were I live now.
 

reedeb

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Have no fear I have been dealing with *** hats like him scene I was putting up a A99 for my Washington 10/11 meter and got a wife out of the deal(and she was hot as hell too). I must say I have a very bad urge to tell him off but I will refrain as I am trying to stop thinking like a CBer and start thinking like a HAM (and how to build my next 2m vertical ham antenna).

P.S. If it weren't for Ham I would never have had an antenna for CB were I live now.

yesyes-1.gif
 

W2NJS

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When a person bashes anything on the Board, like A_S has chosen to do, the best course of action is to just let his comments hang out there in the wind without an answer. It'll drive him nuts, because in reality all he's looking for is recognition and attention. Treat him the same way you do a jammer on the repeater -- ignore him.
 

rico47635

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this is what I am planning I have all the really cool quick disconnects for power (I run RC cars) I have a power supply (13.8v 15amp) from being on CB for the last way more years then I want to admit. I have been going back and forth on dual band or just 2 meter to start. If I go 2m this is the radio I'm looking at
YAESU FT 1900R VHF Mobile 55 W Two Way Radio FT1900R FT1900 R 1900

And have no clue as to what I may get for a dual band been looking at Kenwood and Icom but there crazy high priced and have way more knobs and buttons then I need.


I know that some of these radios can be expensive and have more features than you think you will need. However, it's always a good idea to buy a radio you can grow into rather than getting the most basic and cheapest rig you can find. As time goes on your interests in ham radio are likely to change. It's nice to have a radio that can change with you.

My Kenwood TM-V71A is a good example. It is dual band, cross-band, and Echolink ready. When I first got into ham radio I didn't want to spend the money on a radio like it because I didn't think I would ever need one that does everything the V71A does. Well, here I am almost four years into the hobby (and two years since I bought a V71A), and I love it! I use it for the normal 2m and 70cm yakking I do on the local repeaters, but I also use it as my Echolink node radio, for cross banding when I want to sit on my porch and get into the local repeaters, and I also use it for packet radio (something I discovered I could use it for using MixW). The radio has proven to be very versatile. I could have saved myself a lot of money had I bought this TM-V71A first rather than going with the more simple FT2800M (a radio I ended up buying an interface for and a few other accessories), and the other used 2m and 70cm rigs I've purchased since getting licensed.

So, you may want to think about spending the money for a radio that does more than you need it to. As I said, your interests are likely to change with time, and it's nice to have a radio that can change with you.
 

KE4ZNR

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When a person bashes anything on the Board, like A_S has chosen to do, the best course of action is to just let his comments hang out there in the wind without an answer. It'll drive him nuts, because in reality all he's looking for is recognition and attention. Treat him the same way you do a jammer on the repeater -- ignore him.

The above has been noted. I would advise anyone just to ignore his sad, pathetic posts
from here on out. He does not exist in my world from this moment forward.
Marshall KE4ZNR
 

kd7rto

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Bountiful, Ut
Arizona_Scanner is right about local repeater ragchewers. Fortunately there's a lot more to this hobby than just that.
 

rescue161

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To pick a nit, If you're looking to "broadcast", you aren't quite ready for Amateur Radio. Communicating and 'broadcasting' are entirely different animals...

Now be nice. YOU were a newb once yourself.

James does have a point. We had a guy come to our club amateur radio class to get his license. He thought amateur radio was the beginner license for FM broadcasters. He did not come to the next class.
 

reedeb

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I'm sure crimsonpirate 78 knows what Amateur Radio is and isn't. He just used to wrong teminology. And my post to James was ment in jest. GEE so many are SOOO touchy lately. [sarcasm mented!!]
 

rescue161

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How did my post come across as "touchy?" Relax, it was just a comment.

I'm sure crimsonpirate 78 knows what Amateur Radio is and isn't. He just used to wrong teminology. And my post to James was ment in jest. GEE so many are SOOO touchy lately. [sarcasm mented!!]
 

CanesFan95

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... If it floats your boat, and you really want to be one of these people rag-chewing about their aches, pains, medications, and radio gear, and having to identify with their silly call sign constantly, go for it. ...

I just heard a couple of hams earlier boasting about how their Social Security money was posted to their bank accounts 4 days early today.
 

reedeb

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I just heard a couple of hams earlier boasting about how their Social Security money was posted to their bank accounts 4 days early today.

Like this is a bad thing? I'd rather hear that then some yahoo talking about porkin his hoe and F this and F that all the time.
 
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