To ham it up or not and why - a discussion of "fit"

[RadioDXfun]

Hi there, I have been off air a lot more these days I just over did the DX a little and became tired of it and have just come back on after some months rest from radio. I see myself as a high performance yet small station. I run 100W and use verticals. There will always be high power beam users and those who want to speak about themselves and I of course do that. Hams have a sense of pride about what they do and their choices. You can actually learn something and you can always shorten a QSO if it feel best to do so. So don't let that put you off.

Some need to shout about what they are up to all the time for attention on Youtube, live streaming, showing their newly made junk as being the best antenna on the planet, endless models letting us know how great something is without ever building or using it. Making QSO's is not enough they need to shout about it too. It also might help them with their DX if they are online streaming their DX session. Maybe more people watching the stream than on the radio ! Almost certainly more than the DX contacts actually made.

Let them get on with it... some need to make a big fuss about nothing. The hard and fast truth of the matter is luck is a very big part of ham radio
DX contacts. Right time, right QTH, right conditions and they can change over a space of just 30 miles, put the best signal you can out and hope someone is there listening when it comes back down on one of its potentially many hops. The rest is down to luck.

Just enjoy what you can achieve.. that is the fun of it. Some people are more competitive than others for different reasons. I am a little competitive at heart but I realize in ham radio such a big part comes down to luck that it is competitive spirit misplaced really. There are a vast number of factors out of your control that make some contacts seem more impressive than others.

I made a really nice contact yesterday on 15m to a station in Corpus Christi Texas.. you may well have made contact he seems like a prolific DXer
portable/mobile down on the beach. 100w each way vertical to vertical S0 to me for most of the contact with a peak up at S3 on occasion. Omni to Omni is good going when you think how little energy is sent in any one direction.

Try and learn your technical stuff and just go for it I say. It just adds more things you can do with radio and can be very rewarding, the solar cycle is progressing well and it is a good time to become licensed.

Do it and find out for yourself, it'll be your own journey........that is the right way forwards.

I wish you the best of luck with it all.

 

[mmckenna]

Nope-not for me.. too many nastyhams, ham cops, FCC cult worship for me. I have no desire to get a license or get castigated if I use a Baofeng or God forbid, break or question some BS rule. And clubs are completely out. I'd rather be sentenced to Rura Penthe in Star Trek. I've seen some sad hams have a stroke if God forbid you use a detachable antenna on a radio with FRS frequencies. I'll pass on such pettiness.
If I was gonna do something like off-roading I'd use MURS or GMRS and have done.

Some hams forget it is a hobby.
Some people forget that the FCC rules exist for a reason.

No one should get flamed for asking a question.
No one should get upset if they don't agree with the answer. Some hams forget that part of getting a license is agreeing to follow the rules, even if they don't agree with them.

But, I've run across exactly what you are talking about. Some hams need to take a pill and freakin' relax.
On the flip side, it is kind of fun to watch them get their undies in a bunch.

 

[TexTAC]

I took the Technician and General on the same day and would recommend it to anyone that will invest a few weeks in studying. The Technician license opens up the local repeaters on 70cm/2m but the General adds access to SSB on many more bands. A decent transceiver and a simple wire antenna can get a General reaching out across the world.

 

[chief21]

The amateur radio hobby is like an onion... There are many layers to the hobby, and not all of them necessarily involve dealing with the oft-mentioned curmudgeons. If one is electronically oriented, the learning and exploring aspects are substantial. If one is more hands-on, you can design and build as much as you like. There are also public service opportunities, and on and on. If you're interested, don't let the actions of a few prevent you from the enjoyment of a fantastic, lifelong hobby.

 

[Skyd]

Thanks for the well written replies. I would say "rag chewing" is probably the least appealing part of ham to me so I'll be exploring other aspects. HF is something I'd love to do, and I plan to get my tech and general the same day.

I also love tinkering on anything really. I've worked on electronics before and find it enjoyable.

As far as the people that will chastise me if I use a Baofeng, I couldn't care less, I'll just ignore them and move. In fact, I almost get a kick out of people that get so upset at what other people do with thier money.

That being said, I intend to follow rules as I typically do for the most part as a licensed driver. But to say I never go 5 over the speed limit, never roll through a stop sign or anything like that would be ridiculous. However there aren't people on the street writing down my license plate number and reporting me for a rolling stop.

Self appointed hall monitors are annoying. Friendly people that know the rules and gently nudge people to stay on path is totally fine. It's all about your attitude and how you handle it.

If your gonna get after me because 11 minutes passed until I repeated my call sign, that's being a radio Karen IMO.

Anyway, point is I'm studying for my general now. I'm already passing the technician practice tests with no more than 1 wrong each time. Plan is to test before February is over.

 

[mmckenna]

Thanks for the well written replies. I would say "rag chewing" is probably the least appealing part of ham to me so I'll be exploring other aspects. HF is something I'd love to do, and I plan to get my tech and general the same day.

I agree, nothing more boring that listening to someone jabber on about their day, opinions, etc. I rarely get involved in random conversations like that because I always seem to find the guy that has nothing better to do. Usually I don't mind a 5 minute conversation, but that's about it. I usually make up an excuse to get off the radio when that happens. I think some are just lonely and want someone to talk to.

Most of what I do is communicating with family.

I also love tinkering on anything really. I've worked on electronics before and find it enjoyable.

The hobby can absolutely fill that. There can be a lot of fun in just building things and making them work right. I used to do that with home built antennas. I usually had more fun building them than actually using them.

If your gonna get after me because 11 minutes passed until I repeated my call sign, that's being a radio Karen IMO.

Those radio Karens are absolutely out there. I think most hams have met one at some point. Some of the radio Karens seem to lay in wait for someone with a new sounding call sign to come on the air.
My wife and sister both have their licenses. They were talking once on some random simplex 2 meter frequency. Some old fart radio Karen got on and started chewing them out because he didn't hear their call sign. When they both gave their call signs, the guy said that he didn't believe they were real and was going to look them up.
Absolute radio Karen, just waiting to get into a fight with someone. Easy way to deal with that is change frequencies. Usually it comes down to it being "their" frequency, like the own it or something.

 

[pb_lonny]

I was an amateur for a couple of years, my licence lasped and I have never renewed it. I have thought about it a couple of times but can't justify it.

 

[AK9R]

As far as the people that will chastise me if I use a Baofeng...

How will they know? There's nothing that pops up on the display of my Icoms, Kenwoods, or Yaesus that says "the bozo who's talking right now is using one of those cheap, Chinese Baofeng radios that are ruining amateur radio".

If they ask what radio you are using, reply "as long as we are able to communicate, it's not really important".

 

[Skyd]

How will they know? There's nothing that pops up on the display of my Icoms, Kenwoods, or Yaesus that says "the bozo who's talking right now is using one of those cheap, Chinese Baofeng radios that are ruining amateur radio".

If they ask what radio you are using, reply "as long as we are able to communicate, it's not really important".

I was just speaking hypothetically. Plus if the roger beep is enabled they're likely to recognize it, but then again they'd probably lose their minds over the roger beep anyway. HAHA

 

[nd5y]

How will they know?

1. The unkey delay time while the radio sends the 55 Hz STE tone. (unless your'e smart enough to disable it)
2. The CB roger beep. (unless your'e smart enough to disable it)
3. Accidently pressing and holding the "emergency" siren button. (unless your'e smart enough to disable it)

1 and 2 are not limited to Baofeng. Some other CCRs also have those but may not be enabled out of the box.
You can't disable STE on some (maybe all) Wouxun models.

 

[AK9R]

IOW, whether or not your radio sends signals that might indicate that you are using a Baofeng are 100% controllable by the operator.

 

[Falcon9h]

IOW, whether or not your radio sends signals that might indicate that you are using a Baofeng are 100% controllable by the operator.

I'd probably leave them enabled just to troll the Karens and say I'm a bootlegger. 🤣 License? I don't need no stinkin' license! 🤡

 

[Skyd]

I'd probably leave them enabled just to troll the Karens and say I'm a bootlegger. 🤣 License? I don't need no stinkin' license! 🤡

Don't give me any ideas LOL

But on a serious note - I really don't know why they care what radio you are using as long as it meets the rules and requirements. Silly.

I'm starting to look at some used kenwoods and icoms on ebay for my shack but I do already have a baofeng GMRS radio so, ya know.....whatever lol

 

[ladn]

I'm starting to look at some used kenwoods and icoms on ebay

Be warry of buying used equipment on eBay. A lot of used equipment ends up selling for unrealistically high prices--sometimes more than what the same thing sells for new. There's also the issue of will the actual equipment be as advertised.

Look at some of the larger ham radio specialty stores like HRO, DX Engineering, GigaParts, and Main Trading Co. for both new and used equipment. You can usually get no sales tax and free shipping.

 

[Skyd]

Be warry of buying used equipment on eBay. A lot of used equipment ends up selling for unrealistically high prices--sometimes more than what the same thing sells for new. There's also the issue of will the actual equipment be as advertised.

Look at some of the larger ham radio specialty stores like HRO, DX Engineering, GigaParts, and Main Trading Co. for both new and used equipment. You can usually get no sales tax and free shipping.

Thanks for the suggestions I'll check those out as well.

 

[mmckenna]

Don't give me any ideas LOL

But on a serious note - I really don't know why they care what radio you are using as long as it meets the rules and requirements. Silly.

Sometimes they can tell by the poor audio quality. Not always, but sometimes.

But I agree, who cares? If it's what you want to use and you can establish communications, "run what ya' brung".

 

[chrismol1]

I can usually tell a baofeng by its crap audio combined with crackling of the ptt button

 

[nd5y]

I have yet to hear a Baofeng with bad audio. I don't know what "bad" is.
Maybe to some people not having overdriven audio or sound effects is "bad".

 

[caverjamie]

It's wrong to dislike a roger beep? I guess I am one of "those" people, as that would irritate me, but so does the mototrbo talk permit tone, static, muffled and hard to understand audio, and the sound the car makes when my seat belt is unlatched. I'll try not to take it out on any of you though.

From reading forums online I have found it really odd when people complain online that they do not want to get an amateur radio license because some person or group of people upset them. My hobby is based off a test I took so I could do whatever I want within the confines of FCC regulations. It's not like the Masons, I don't need to be inducted into some fraternity. Get the license if you want it, don't get it if you don't. I just wish people would stop whining about the "sad hams" that treated them unfairly. I started on CB and had a ham act aloof and elitist toward me when I asked about his radio. Whatever, no big deal.

There are all sorts of creeps in the world, in every walk of life. Some guy is liable to murder you for your XBox you tried to sell on Craigslist. Just live your life and try to be nice to people you encounter, their attitude is up to them. (I know, I should be a guidance counselor or something haha)

 

[Skyd]

It's wrong to dislike a roger beep? I guess I am one of "those" people, as that would irritate me, but so does the mototrbo talk permit tone, static, muffled and hard to understand audio, and the sound the car makes when my seat belt is unlatched. I'll try not to take it out on any of you though.

From reading forums online I have found it really odd when people complain online that they do not want to get an amateur radio license because some person or group of people upset them. My hobby is based off a test I took so I could do whatever I want within the confines of FCC regulations. It's not like the Masons, I don't need to be inducted into some fraternity. Get the license if you want it, don't get it if you don't. I just wish people would stop whining about the "sad hams" that treated them unfairly. I started on CB and had a ham act aloof and elitist toward me when I asked about his radio. Whatever, no big deal.

There are all sorts of creeps in the world, in every walk of life. Some guy is liable to murder you for your XBox you tried to sell on Craigslist. Just live your life and try to be nice to people you encounter, their attitude is up to them. (I know, I should be a guidance counselor or something haha)

It's because if you find yourself in the wrong neighborhood, you're likely to be belittled and suffer other attacks on your intelligence. Should you avoid all of NYC because there are some bad places....no. But if you're first exposure is being dropped in the middle of some gang battleground or something (I clearly don't live in the city, haha) it's going to give you a bad taste in your mouth and make you question if the city is a place you should be.

BEEP BEEP (that's my roger beep, enjoy)