Were you once a HAM, quit activity, let your license expire and never looked back?

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I'm a license amatuer radio operator still but rarely ever listen to the active frequencies around here just haven't time to listen or scan around and see what is being said. There is a bunch of Analog/Dstar and DMR repeaters in the area but some keep it active and some don't. I may let my license expire on its own thinking about it.

Even though you have a tech license, that might be easy to reattain, I would not let it expire. It is valuable to have for a number of reasons. One of which is that you may posses a scanner in your vehicle or even home, in many states if you have a ham license. Without it, you would violate a scanner law.

 

[N1XDS]

Even though you have a tech license, that might be easy to reattain, I would not let it expire. It is valuable to have for a number of reasons. One of which is that you may posses a scanner in your vehicle or even home, in many states if you have a ham license. Without it, you would violate a scanner law.

Understandable...Ever since my dad past away in September I haven't been interested in talking much now days on the frequencies that is used here I just take care of my mother. I may keep my license for now and maybe then renew it when the time comes around.

 

[Thorndike113]

Understandable...Ever since my dad past away in September I haven't been interested in talking much now days on the frequencies that is used here I just take care of my mother. I may keep my license for now and maybe then renew it when the time comes around.

I am in the same boat taking care of my folks. In my case, there just isn't much in the way of activity in my area so there isn't much to do. I actually just took the test and got my license back a little over a year ago. I thought there would be more activity but not only is there not, there is much less than where I used to live. Most hams in my area are all on HF and refuse to use anything above 10 meters or just don't bother getting on the radio and are letting their licenses go. The one thing I will not do again is cancel my license or let it go. The way I see myself, is that I am not a Ham Radio Operator just because I have a license. I hold a Ham Radio license, and because I enjoy more than just Ham Radio, I see myself as a radio communications guy. Ham Radio is just a tool in my bag should I need it one day. Either way, its a valuable tool to keep just in case. I ended up cancelling my license many years ago because of a new Ham who decided to cause a lot trouble for me. Thankfully it wasn't too hard to get it back.

 

[wyShack]

Dropped out to raise a family (licensed since 17) -kids got the 'shack' for bedrooms. Kept the license and got back 'in' although not super active. Now retired and getting more active. I do miss building stuff (radios) but still make most of my antennas. Amateur radio is several hobbies in one-I have found that my interest can change (HF or VHF weak signal, digital modes or satellites) when one gets boring there is always something new.

73

 

[Falcon9h]

Let it expire years ago... 1) nastyhams 2) radio cops 3) FCC cult worship 4) two way tech for awhile that totally burned me out. 5) Ain't exactly a social kinda guy. Oh, I've always loved radio and keep a scanner on so I know what's going on in the community (not P25 yet) but that's it. I've scanned 2m/440, I'm rural, but there's little to no activity at all.
Went back to the kinder, gentler world of restoring old Zenith radios, got good at it and finally landed the Trans-Oceanics that I'd lusted after since 1969. Now with the Internet, all the SWL I did is finito...
But ham...? Nope, no desire at all now.

Even though, being on a SS only income, I do like CCR's 😈

 

[Boombox]

Since the late 80s I've been monitoring the ham bands (SSB & CW), as well as SW and MW, with some 11 meter activity thrown in (designed and built my own beam antenna for 11 meters). Even learned CW (and relearned it) a couple times. I can read it enough to copy the slow CW on a good day.

So perhaps I have a slightly different perspective, not on why someone would give up, but why they wouldn't get into the hobby in the first place, and it may also reflect why some let the license lapse, or they may have a license but never get on the air.

I never got a ham license for a bunch of reasons. Never had enough spare money to buy a rig, and the idea of VHF-and-above hamming bores me (on top of that, the VHF bands around here are dead, dead, dead). Since the Great Recession my finances never improved, so getting a license would be a non-issue without a working rig (and antenna). Before the Great Recession, other necessities demanded my financial attention.

The idea of joining the hobby lost its appeal for me a long time ago, about the same time that the local ham radio stores closed. I already can monitor all I want, and it costs me nothing. I can hear hams from around the world with the receivers I've already got. I've probably heard as many countries over the years as most hams have made contacts. That's enough for me.

 

[Thorndike113]

I already can monitor all I want, and it costs me nothing. I can hear hams from around the world with the receivers I've already got. I've probably heard as many countries over the years as most hams have made contacts. That's enough for me.

Ha ha ha I love it. I am sort of the same way in thinking when it comes to certain aspects of Ham radio. Mostly what I do is monitor. On occasion I will answer a radio check on DMR or throw my call out on simplex 2 meters and chat with whoever is out there but monitoring is what I do. HF? It never appealed to me. Even now, I keep a CB radio around for comms between the house and I and will hop on 38 LSB and throw my numbers out on a rare occasion, make a few contacts around the states, shut it down and walk away. I realize, that's all I would do if I worked HF ham. Seems a waste to me. The great thing about radio though is that there are so many aspects to it that almost anyone with an interest will find something they enjoy. I say, "find it, enjoy it, and enjoy your day". You are correct though on the price of Ham Radio. With the exception of Chinese radios on the VHF UHF bands, it is a very expensive hobby. If you get into the HF end of things, to effectively communicate, you need to spend thousands of dollars, of which many people these days do not have to throw on a hobby. I always wonder how many are turned off by that.

 

[Thorndike113]

Let it expire years ago... 1) nastyhams 2) radio cops 3) FCC cult worship 4) two way tech for awhile that totally burned me out. 5) Ain't exactly a social kinda guy. Oh, I've always loved radio and keep a scanner on so I know what's going on in the community (not P25 yet) but that's it. I've scanned 2m/440, I'm rural, but there's little to no activity at all.

I had the same issues and still do with some that you mentioned. I personally noticed that you find the "Ham Cops" on the VHF and UHF bands. At least that's what I am gonna guess from what I have observed from monitoring many HF bands over the years. Go down onto HF and you can find Hams playing DJ with music, swearing like a sailor, starting all out fights, playing tones and many other annoying noises to try to drown out the other guy. Its been going on for years and continues to go on. 7.2MHz gave me an earful one day that I had to turn off because it was giving me a headache.

I mainly just monitor everything on my scanner. I jump on my DMR radio on occasion to give a signal report to someone asking or jump on 2 meter simplex to chat with someone. Otherwise, I am not a social butterfly either so what I do with Ham Radio is study radio propagation. Living in Maine, there are many hills and mountains around me so it makes life interesting when it comes to signals. Its a nice solitary thing I can do that doesn't involve others ha ha. Ham Radio definitely isn't what it used to be.

I live in rurals also but in the RF toilet bowl of my area. At 310 feet above sea level with hills surrounding me climbing as high as over 1000 feet. RF doesn't get out of my area very well. Thankfully I have a car to travel to higher locations to use radio.

 

[W5lz]

Did the hobby no longer seem "cutting edge enough" for you?
Did it get too "commercial"?
Did your favorite hang out or mode dry up and fade away?
Were there local politics that put a damper on your enthusiasm"?
Were too many of your buddies dying off?
Was it getting too expensive?
Was the XYL an issue?
Was it due to lack of time?
Did the Internet play a part in leaving Amateur Radio?

I once had to take a vacation from radio because of girls, school, girls and other stuff...cars. Had to re-test and did. Haven't let it expire since ... or those other vices.

 

[KN4EHX]

I once had to take a vacation from radio because of girls, school, girls and other stuff...cars. Had to re-test and did. Haven't let it expire since ... or those other vices.

Chicks dig antennas! 2022 year of the dad bod too.

Always a lot easier to get away with if you’re a volunteer firefighter or something. As a college student I rarely ever had anyone to ask me about the antennas. 1/4 wave VHF little wire antenna most people never even acknowledged it.

Now I have an antenna farm for work, but when someone does ask about them it is usually asking if I talk on the CB - I’ve learned to not explain the difference.

As far as using the radio on 2 meters and 70 centimeters I still do on occasion but it can feel a bit like work so I probably don’t do it as much now as I used to. I listen more than I talk. If there is a net happening I’ll occasionally check in. If I hear someone calling CQ I’ll usually answer.

HF is still cool but I don’t do it as much as I did in the past. Never attempted HF mobile.

I do like digital modes just because I hear so much static throughout the day on analog. If everyone is going nuts I start getting real liberal with the nuisance delete button and repeater identifiers will eventually become victim to the ND button.

Definitely keeping the license. Overall if I want a break from anything I still turn to radio for an escape and a friendly voice. Weather reports in a pinch.

 

[wa88it]

Did the hobby no longer seem "cutting edge enough" for you?
Did it get too "commercial"?
Did your favorite hang out or mode dry up and fade away?
Were there local politics that put a damper on your enthusiasm"?
Were too many of your buddies dying off?
Was it getting too expensive?
Was the XYL an issue?
Was it due to lack of time?
Did the Internet play a part in leaving Amateur Radio?

-in my youth, i was the one with the CB mobile in my vehicle and a handie always on my belt.
-after a day or two or traveling the earth's continents for approximately 250 days a year, for 16 years, on my great Uncle Sam's expense account and my CB got lost along the way.
-next locale was a small town with high mountains surrounding the community.
-next locale was a big town with high mountains surrounding it.
-next locale almost sea level flat land w/yearly massive hurricanes hitting the area where modern telephone operation is spotty at best ~ time to prepare for emergency communications...HAM test passed, mobiles and handi-talks purchased, low key antennas put on residence and vehicles to assist in maintaining communication w/family during emergencies. several years ago at BSA resident camp my radio i carried and got ridiculed for carrying by other leaders...summoned emergency services for an unconscious youth who experienced extreme heat stroke at the range!

I, for various reasons, do not belong to the local good olde boy radio group, nor belong to their repeater; I do not chat on my system; and at this point in time wondering on the merit of upgrading my system or be like my 87 yo brother who points to his base station ~ used by Morse to develop code ~ in the attic of his garage where it has been stored for the last 15 years -- is license is still current.

so basically a believe a question should be added to the OP's list...

based on your original purpose for stepping in the HAM environment, does that purpose still exist and/or does the equipment still meet the intended purpose?

in my case...still wrestling with that, so trying to determine if the risk [lack of communication during an emergency] vs future upgrading equipment expense warranted?

to mitigate any confusion...i will maintain my license and like my brother continue to renew as appropriate.

 

[romanr]

I got my Novice in 1967 and my General (WA5SDP) a year later after my Dad drove me to the FCC office in Houston, TX to take the written and the code test. I moved up through the ranks, but by the late 1980's I was disheartened by the brash arrogance and social ignorance of the amateurs around me. I was working for Motorola where really smart, capable RF expertise of that company was fantastic (and many were hams). The pool of amateurs outside of work was more like that of a bullying clique than geeks having fun with new technology. So I let my license expire.

After I moved 'up North', I got back into the hobby because the amateurs that I ran into were exactly the type of people that I had met when I was in my early teens and everyone was trying to help everyone else learn something new. It's a nice environment around me and although I'm not as active as I hope to be after I retire, I have enjoyed the atmosphere here and been welcomed back into the fold. AG9V.

 

[sacscan]

I got my license in the mid-90s. I upgraded to 13-wpm General, but unfortunately it was a disaster for me due to a very toxic local amateur community. Several hams (including myself) had tires slashed and windows broken on our vehicles-by other hams! I also had the coax cut on a brand-new dual-band mobile antenna. False accusations and slander made things unpleasant enough that I decided to send my license back to the FCC two years later. I asked them to cancel it.

When I became a ham I thought I would make new friends and meet other scanner enthusiasts. Unfortunately I was wrong.

I now have zero interest in talking on any unencrypted radio frequency. I just stick to communicating on the phone. I'm still an avid scanner listener and always will be.

 

[Omega-TI]

If you get into the HF end of things, to effectively communicate, you need to spend thousands of dollars, of which many people these days do not have to throw on a hobby. I always wonder how many are turned off by that.

Yeah, HF never appealed to me either. It was noisy and decent radios and antennas were obscenely expensive, and for what, to talk to someone I don't know and would probably never meet? Even then, just for 2m/70cm I dumped a ton of money into radios, TNC's, antennas, rotor and then my favorite mode withered on the vine and essentially faded away. Locally and semi-locally the OM's I had QSO's with all became silent keys and then one day I decided to tear everything apart to re-organize, but never put it all back together. I held onto the gear for another decade before getting rid of most of it. All I have left is my TH79AD which I use occasionally like a scanner for a couple of frequencies.

 

[mmckenna]

I got my license in the mid-90s. I upgraded to 13-wpm General, but unfortunately it was a disaster for me due to a very toxic local amateur community. Several hams (including myself) had tires slashed and windows broken on our vehicles-by other hams! I also had the coax cut on a brand-new dual-band mobile antenna. False accusations and slander made things unpleasant enough that I decided to send my license back to the FCC two years later. I asked them to cancel it.

When I became a ham I thought I would make new friends and meet other scanner enthusiasts. Unfortunately I was wrong.

I now have zero interest in talking on any unencrypted radio frequency. I just stick to communicating on the phone. I'm still an avid scanner listener and always will be.

There are certainly some very troubled people out there, and ham radio has its share.

We've probably all run into our share of a$$ h*** hams. I know I have.

Sorry it drove you out of the hobby. You are not the first one I've heard with the same experience.

 

[Marcy57]

Been a ham since 80 General class got it in High School
Operated out of S. Korea as HL9WK was a cool experience at 18 calling CQ was unreal!
I found a empty Quonset hut and my Platoon Sgt was a ham (how lucky is that!) we set up a TS430s
a 20 meter dipole and that was that I will never forget it, was 1984 tons of JA,s UA9,s
Got back home and tried DXCC CW 225 confirmed
I think it is what you make it ?? I actually like DXing Shortwave radio and Monitoring Scanner freqs more
It,s just me, got tired of QSLing and my name is and ur 59 plus into Connecticut 73,s
But it is a great hobby it saved my life literally in High School my parents were so happy I
got my ticket and got out of trouble and stopped doing all that bad stuff, I already knew
CW going in the Army so why the other guys at Commo school struggled I was like a mentor
and helped them it was nothing for me cause it was my hobby...
Anyhow maybe if I kept up with all the new digy stuff I would still be in it?? but nah I see myself
on my mountain bike with a small QRP CW rig now that means more to me then DXCC but I,m
still a ham with my always sought after Vanity call...never giving up just took a break for awhile,
but I know it sounds dramatic and corny? but I will always be thankful to ham radio saving my
life some of my friends I lost in HS did not have that outlet....73,s Marcy

 

[Lauri-CoyoteFrostbite]

"..........got my license in the mid-90s. I upgraded to 13-wpm General, but unfortunately it was a disaster for me due to a very toxic local amateur community. Several hams (including myself) had tires slashed and windows broken on our vehicles-by other hams! I also had the coax cut on a brand-new dual-band mobile antenna. False accusations and slander made things unpleasant enough that I decided to send my license back to the FCC two years later. I asked them to cancel it........."


Holy SH*T!---- what happened?!

..................Never mind .... like rehashing it would matter.......... but all the same, that's quite a nightmare.

______________________________________________________________________

Honey, you might try again--- just choose your associates carefully and watch your "P's and Q's."

Lauri

 

[Thorndike113]

Yeah, HF never appealed to me either. It was noisy and decent radios and antennas were obscenely expensive, and for what, to talk to someone I don't know and would probably never meet? Even then, just for 2m/70cm I dumped a ton of money into radios, TNC's, antennas, rotor and then my favorite mode withered on the vine and essentially faded away. Locally and semi-locally the OM's I had QSO's with all became silent keys and then one day I decided to tear everything apart to re-organize, but never put it all back together. I held onto the gear for another decade before getting rid of most of it. All I have left is my TH79AD which I use occasionally like a scanner for a couple of frequencies.

My stupid mistake was to cancel my license. I fortunately got it back and now have my head screwed on a bit better when it comes to radio. I keep a 2 meter rig and a GMRS radio in the shack and I have my dual band in the car. I throw my callsign out once and awhile and have had a few conversations here or there but absolutely nothing like 25 years ago. I refuse to spend anymore money, especially seeing as how I am not a "Ham Operator" in the classic sense. I hold a Ham License and have what equipment I actually need. Ham Operators buy radios whether they need them or not and pretty much only do contesting/make quick contacts operating HF. I don't. What I have is a radio communications hobby that borders more on the commercial side of things and when people ask, that is exactly what I tell them because that is all it is. Like you, a few of my radios are scanners more than they are Ham radios. I wish it was different but that means getting the Ham Community to change their ways. I'm cool with it the way it is though. I have a really busy life aside from radio so radio generally sits on the back burner for now.

 

[ladn]

I got my license in the mid-90s. I upgraded to 13-wpm General, but unfortunately it was a disaster for me due to a very toxic local amateur community. Several hams (including myself) had tires slashed and windows broken on our vehicles-by other hams! I also had the coax cut on a brand-new dual-band mobile antenna.

Unforgivably rude, not to mention illegal.

This is reminiscent of what was called by one publication, the California Repeater Wars.

..." One morning he was awoken by the fire department responding to a report of a lawn fire at his North Hollywood home. What was burning were three foot high crosses on his lawn The incident made national news on all 3 TV networks. It was widely believed that the crosses were a warning from Underground Radio to Merdler to '..back away or else...'

...A few weeks later, another person believed to be a UGR member attempted to force Joe off the road and into the barrier of the Hollywood Freeway. The antenna-laden pick-up truck with no license plates (as described to me by Joe) was going to try to do whats now called a PIT maneuver and force Joe to crash..."

History Of The California Repeater Wars - Part 1

Shortwave America was listening to the Los Angeles "Renegade Repeater" 147.435, on 10-10-2010. Given the date and the history of this repeat...

shortwaveamerica.blogspot.com

 

[W8HDU]

A hobby shouldn't be work, aggravation, or dealing with feral/unstable people.

Sadly, a lot of lids ruin it for those who just want to left alone to participate and enjoy a hobby.

Add clubs to the list. They tend to develop a "pack mentality" of "them versus us", and a toxic culture of bullying non-club hams.