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

[Thorndike113]

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

I know for me, I got into ham radio strictly for the bands above 30MHz. I have never liked HF and to me that's fine. There is a certain part of the hobby I enjoy. Others may like other parts of the hobby and for them, it works and that's cool. I just feel like I have been shunned over the years for not upgrading my license to jump on HF. Today, I don't let it bother me. I just let it go, but for many years I really let it bug me to the point that it was one of many deciding factors to cancel my license many years ago. Today I have a GMRS license to take care of the end of radio that I really enjoy and I keep ham radio around for my own purposes because I enjoy studying radio propagation and building antennas. All stuff I can do by myself.

 

[Thorndike113]

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

Geesh. That kind of behavior is exactly what drove me off of CB radio. I never had damage done to my equipment but the threats were there and I knew a couple of people who got their coax chopped.

 

[Omega-TI]

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

That's the beauty of Internet sites like RR, one click of the ignore button and problem solved.

 

[N9PVW]

Ham for 30 years, also took the code, still enjoy very much. Doing a lot of SDR on HF lately.

 

[Boombox]

I'd heard of feuds on CB, during the latter part of its heyday when I still had an antenna.... but never heard of anything actually happening physically (as mentioned upthread). It was just all on-air 'heat and discontent' as we called it back then.

Now, I recall in the early 2010's, when I last was regularly monitoring the HF ham bands, there was a frequency on 20 Meters that always had people cussing and swearing at each other, and one ham (?) even had a web page dedicated towards another ham he apparently had a feud with., and I think it was associated with that 20 Meter frequency but I don't recall completely.....

Can't remember with freq., either 14313 or something like that?

Either way, it's sad when dorks ruin it for others, and even SWLs who hear it might wonder "why would I spend money to deal with something like this?"

But obviously, that bad stuff isn't what the hobby's about. I haven't completely ruled out getting a license, and trying out CW on HF. Less wacky stuff there. But finances need to permit that.

I agree with some other sentiments in the thread, the hobby is basically what you make it. There is a lot of different aspects to it, the only real limiters being financial, and for a lot of the aspects, space for antennas that will be effective in the type of hamming you want to do (HF, LF, EME, etc., they each have different spacial requirements if you actually want it to work).

 

[kg5pte]

I am licensed until 10-11-2026. But am inactive on all ham radio bands (Except GMRS & CB Radio) Part of it has to do with radio clubs I belonged too. And power struggles egos and who is in charge. Personally I think Congress and the FCC do not like hams. But one thing that has troubled me for several weeks now is 47 CFR Part 97:113. § 97.113 Prohibited transmissions. a) No amateur station shall transmit:
(5) Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other
radio services. This statement is troubling to me. So is rag chewing illegal ? Are nets illegal ? Is other alternative radio services GMRS, CB Radio, FRS. Cell phones ? This guy in this YouTube video brings up an interesting point of view.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I am licensed until 10-11-2026. But am inactive on all ham radio bands (Except GMRS & CB Radio) Part of it has to do with radio clubs I belonged too. And power struggles egos and who is in charge. Personally I think Congress and the FCC do not like hams. But one thing that has troubled me for several weeks now is 47 CFR Part 97:113. § 97.113 Prohibited transmissions. a) No amateur station shall transmit:
(5) Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other
radio services. This statement is troubling to me. So is rag chewing illegal ? Are nets illegal ? Is other alternative radio services GMRS, CB Radio, FRS. Cell phones ? This guy in this YouTube video brings up an interesting point of view.

Google the long and sordid history of Glenn Baxter, ex-K1MAN, of Belgrade, Maine, SK 2017

 

[AK9R]

This guy in this YouTube video brings up an interesting point of view.

10 seconds into that video and the presenter makes an incorrect statement. Ria Jairam N2RJ does not "work" for the ARRL. She is an elected division director of the ARRL. While, as a member of the ARRL Board, Ria is involved in making policy for the ARRL, she does not receive a salary from the ARRL, only reimbursement for her expenses.

 

[W8HDU]

In the past 15 years some of the issues RFI-EMI-GUY and kg5pte bring up are valid. And I think many hams are being soured by the LIDs in the hobby.

It doesn't take many LIDs to turn off a large group of really good hams, especially when the bullying or harassment gets personal or public. One aggressive guy can affect a dozen people. Your average "sane" ham doesn't like confrontation, fighting, and some dork's interpretation (or making up) F.C.C. rules. They just want to enjoy the hobby and be left alone.

The sad thing is hams which know better in the same club as the aggressor won't say anything. In effect, becoming the enablers.

 

[dkaniel]

Got my Tech License in 2000, but let it expired because we bought a house, had a kid and very little time with my job and money is tight. Got my Tech License in 2018 money is not an issue now but the Wifey takes a dim view of Amateur Radio and my job can still demand a lot of my time right now. Interested in the technical aspect of Amateur Radio but get bored real quick listening to Rag Chewing? on some of the frequencies.

 

[Omega-TI]

In the past 15 years some of the issues RFI-EMI-GUY and kg5pte bring up are valid. And I think many hams are being soured by the LIDs in the hobby.

It doesn't take many LIDs to turn off a large group of really good hams, especially when the bullying or harassment gets personal or public. One aggressive guy can affect a dozen people. Your average "sane" ham doesn't like confrontation, fighting, and some dork's interpretation (or making up) F.C.C. rules. They just want to enjoy the hobby and be left alone.

I never ran across many LIDs on air when I was licensed, but sadly nearly everyone I chatted with became silent keys. My favorite operating mode also kind of dwindled away, so I lost interest. The one club I belonged to in Chehalis was great, people helped each other and we all had fun. Now the other club in Longview had too many "personalities" and politics for my tastes. Now online, yes, I've run into a few, actually only a couple of people I can only describe as having "personality disorders", but one click easily eliminates that.

 

[Omega-TI]

Interested in the technical aspect of Amateur Radio but get bored real quick listening to Rag Chewing? on some of the frequencies.

Recently I plugged in a few of the old 2m repeater frequencies I used to listen to in the past, one was a Rag Chewers paradise but now, dead, dead, dead. How times have changed.

 

[n0esc]

Licensed the same year as @dkaniel. Grew up in the 80s around a reasonably active REACT chapter, got into radio as a kid and CB at home before I could drive, then my first big boy job at RadioShack in 1997. Local club field day always fascinated me when I was younger. Then I joined and the politics and posturing soured me and I just kinda turned it off and walked away from the voice side of things after I was "publicly" torn apart by a few members complaining of how I was handling an appointed role. Mea culpa for inheriting a venerable dumpster fire of records that I tried my best to clean up with no help or answers from my predecessor. Then to hear them on 2m sim *****ing about it in that way. Still a bit bitter about it all these years later.

Kept the license active as in MN that's the free pass for a scanner in a vehicle. Not that that law doesn't have so many issues and loopholes as long as you aren't actively being a scumbag, it's not likely you'll ever have an issue with it. But it was an excuse. Ran an APRS digipeater for years until I sent that hardware off to more productive homes. Now I feed into Broadcastify Calls and dabble a bit with ADSB feeds. Occasionally I'll stop the scanner on our local repeaters and listen to the few that are left chew, but it's just not worth trying to break into the good ol' boys club around here.

 

[JM707]

I got a HAM radio license in the early 1990’s primarily as a get-out-of-jail-free card to operate a scanner in my vehicle. The law at the time made it illegal unless you were a police officer, fire fighter, or a “licensed HAM radio operator”. At the time I was more interested in SIGINT/surveillance than communicating with my fellow HAMs. Back then everything was analog and I could receive it all (including cellular) on my modified scanners. I did however hook up with a group of like-minded HAMs who were more interested in drinking/partying than the local stuffy HAM club. We had a lot of fun until the mid 1990’s when my future-wife moved in with me. I gradually lost interest in HAM and let my license expire. The final death-blow came in 2019 when CAL FIRE decided to remove our HAM repeater from their radio vault. I retired in 2017 and recently bought a Uniden SDS200 to explore the world of trunked/digital communications.

 

[Boombox]

I looked at maybe 5-6 minutes of the video. The guy lost me soon afterwards. If his own definitions and standards truly were applied to ham radio, the amateur radio service would die, quickly. He would be calling "CQ DX" (and "DX" is in his callsign) to nothing but static.

 

[k6cpo]

I am licensed until 10-11-2026. But am inactive on all ham radio bands (Except GMRS & CB Radio) Part of it has to do with radio clubs I belonged too. And power struggles egos and who is in charge. Personally I think Congress and the FCC do not like hams. But one thing that has troubled me for several weeks now is 47 CFR Part 97:113. § 97.113 Prohibited transmissions. a) No amateur station shall transmit:
(5) Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other
radio services. This statement is troubling to me. So is rag chewing illegal ? Are nets illegal ? Is other alternative radio services GMRS, CB Radio, FRS. Cell phones ? This guy in this YouTube video brings up an interesting point of view.

So he's making pronouncements about the US Amateur Radio Service when he's not even a US operator? There's a lack of credibility there.

As far as the person he's talking about in the video, she doesn't take lightly to people that disagree with her on ANY topic, amateur radio or not. I've had my disagreements with her on other social media platforms, to the point where she threatened to block me. I'm not in her division, but I hope she isn't re-elected.

 

[W2JEL]

I looked at maybe 5-6 minutes of the video. The guy lost me soon afterwards. If his own definitions and standards truly were applied to ham radio, the amateur radio service would die, quickly. He would be calling "CQ DX" (and "DX" is in his callsign) to nothing but static.

6 min of condensing dribble was all I could take of the video. Wow he thinks he's special.

 

[mmckenna]

6 min of condensing dribble was all I could take of the video. Wow he thinks he's special.

Yeah, sometimes when two people are arguing, BOTH are a$$ h****.

One thing that turns me off with amateur radio is the level of non-stop arguing about stupid little issues.

 

[N9PVW]

Listen to HF 3840 LSB everyday from 8 am to 10 am I'm surprised that they get away with some of the garbage that they proclaim

 

[Falcon9h]

Got my Tech License in 2000, but let it expired because we bought a house, had a kid and very little time with my job and money is tight. Got my Tech License in 2018 money is not an issue now but the Wifey takes a dim view of Amateur Radio and my job can still demand a lot of my time right now. Interested in the technical aspect of Amateur Radio but get bored real quick listening to Rag Chewing? on some of the frequencies.

Yeah... females pretty much have it in for male hobbies. I keep purchases under wraps. Why fly into a thunderstorm? 🙄
Ham 'round here is a moot point... I can scan all area 2m/440 freqs and hear *nothing* for hours, but I'm rural.