mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
I wish I could disagree, but I can't.
What I've learned after 26 days as a ham...
- Thread starter KE9BXE
- Start date
I wish I could disagree, but I can't.
kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ Say it, say 'ENCRYPTION'
IDGAF whose feelings I hurt, there shouldn't be a radio priced under CAD$150. That's what it cost me to get started in this hobby, a bare bones IC-2SAT that didn't even have a CTCSS board(all the repeaters where I got started were carrier squelch). Oh, that was 1993, when I was 15. In 2024 dollars that is CAD$281.83 or US$208.34.
In my very not so humble opinion, amd I don't care whose feeling it hurts, I have a hurt feeling report they can fill out, that will automatically get filed under G.
$150 is not a whole lot of money, and not even a real barrier to entry.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
I'm good with a low entry bar as long as the learning continues.
I wish more new hams would discover that there are better tools than the $19 Chinese radios, and that there really is a difference.
As it stands now, there seems to be too many that look at the number of existing valid FCC licenses down here in the states as some sign of the health of the hobby. My experience is that the increased number of licenses has not translated into a better outcome for the hobby.
I wish more new hams would discover that there are better tools than the $19 Chinese radios, and that there really is a difference.
As it stands now, there seems to be too many that look at the number of existing valid FCC licenses down here in the states as some sign of the health of the hobby. My experience is that the increased number of licenses has not translated into a better outcome for the hobby.
kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ Say it, say 'ENCRYPTION'
The problem I've seen, is that for the majority of the mouth breathers, it doesn't continue.
After they get the $19 CCR, with the $5 garbage audio accessories, you can tell them until you are blue in the face, they sound like ****, but to them they 'work great' even though they don't.
As soon as the ARRL RAC(because these are the entities I am familiar with) decided to equate number of new licenses to hobby health, it was a lost cause.
All thats happening is new licensees are being churned out faster.
Many, where I live are people that get licensed because the 4 wheel club they belong to requires they be licensed to be a member, because 40-50w VHF simplex works far better than CB/GMRS(2w fixed antennas, no repeaters or high powered mobiles in Canada).
Most of those folks really have zero use for ham radio, it is simply a requirement for their membership in their primary hobby. They are never heard outside of wheeling.
In BC, one 4WD club actually got a licensed LMR channel, and their members get a 'light license' that allows them on LADD 1-4, RR1-35, and LD1-12 an their own LMR channel.
kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ Say it, say 'ENCRYPTION'
I like to teach, and help people grow. What I javelin seen, is they don't want to.
I gladly teach and help people grow in the hobby. I will not spoon feed and do it for them.
Our club has a young kid, early 20's, join. The usual CCR analogue portable, Anytone DMR portable and a Fusion mobile.
Well myself and another ham introduced him to the world of P25 when we added a UHF P25 repeater to the UHF multicoupler string(2x UHF DMR, 1x DStar, 1x Fusion, 1x analogue) and he quickly bought one of my XTS2500 portables, and went and pieced together an XTL5000 remote mount mobile off ebay.
He's now building native USB cables to program his XTS/XTL radios. He really has gotten into P25 and how much easier it is to listen to analogue repeaters when his radios are capable of detecting and acting on reverse burst.
It's been a pleasure to watch and help this young man learn, grow and expand his knowledge base with in ham radio.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
ARRL jumped the shark.
I've met a lot of good hams, and a handful of bad ones. Unfortunately the bad hams are the ones that stick out. I did have a few good elmers when I was younger that taught me a lot. Trying to repay that here on this site.
Not sure how well the 19 dollar CCR hams are going to be at elmering others.
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
The entire concept of elmering has been replaced by YouTube and short attention spans. If one can't get their fix of info in 10 minutes, they move on. This is not just an amateur radio thing, it's today's humans versus old school "free range" humans who had to WORK and put in TIME to gain knowledge, experience and payed it forward passing it onto the next generation.
That's been replaced by technology fed by algorithms and AI, all owned by a small number of corporations. Change my mind.
That's been replaced by technology fed by algorithms and AI, all owned by a small number of corporations. Change my mind.
kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ Say it, say 'ENCRYPTION'
Spot ****ing on.
It seems nobody is taught to learn.
People just come to places like this, expecting to be given the answer, or information they want, with out putting in any effort to try and either learn, or look for the answer or information they are seeking.
Yep, Careful, our "old man attitude" is started to show.
73 OM.As we know, quantity(or cheap radios) does not necessarily equal quality, I believe the argument would be that out of 100 new hams if you got say 25% “good” ones the hobby could continue to grow. Not sure I agree and as I have stated elsewhere I am not an ARRL fan, but any progress to keeping the lights on in amateur radio might be called a success…then again maybe not🫤
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
So true. Look at not just these, but any forum.
The AI/TikTok/YouTube generation DEMAND to SPOON FED. Too lazy to even use search engines.
Give me...in 90 seconds or less.
Our humanity is forked if we don't choose to go a different route, not just ham radio.
I come here on occasion to find help with things that no one local can help me with. (a unication pager). After I've exhausted google, obviously you cannot get help from the manufacturer, then yes I come here and ask if anyone else has had a similar experience. While I've made the things do things already I was told "it won't do", I still like to get things sorted out and working best possible regardless of always "what the book says". trust me, if I've asked here (on RR) I've looked. I've elmered many in the ham hobby and to that end some commercial stuff. My pat answer is, "if I don't know the answer, we'll find it together" and to date it's worked pretty well helping others. Frankly I've gotten some pretty good answers here on RR pertaining to that device, most were spot on by people that owned them longer than I have and also tried to make the thing sing and dance. I appreciate anyone that steps up to help anyone that genuinely want's to learn and will put forth effort.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Join the club. There's a lot of people that agree. ARRL lost their way when they started focusing on new licensee numbers rather than quality. That and their asinine "when all else fails" steaming pile of bull ****.
I think the push for increasing the quantity of new hams over the quality is a very short lived and near sighted approach. I'm sure it looks good to the ARRL and the CEO's of the companies selling radios, but long term I think it's going to do a lot more harm than good.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
The number of people on this site using AI to answer someone else's questions is starting to concern me, on many levels. It's only happened a few times, but man, oh man…..
I'm pretty sure it backfired all the way around, both to the ARRL themselves and to the "big 3" manufacturers that pushed for it.
Some do come here expecting an instant answer, but most as has been said have exhausted other sources, want to get another opinion or want to share what they have learned. There are always bad apples, but this forum is one of the better ones.
Again , back on topic, my final advice to the OP is stick with it and enjoy the + and try to ignore or reduce the -. It’s only a hobby👍
Again , back on topic, my final advice to the OP is stick with it and enjoy the + and try to ignore or reduce the -. It’s only a hobby👍
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Exactly.
And it's an interesting hobby. For many of us it lead to rewarding careers.
I'm always happy to help out others if I can. And I agree about the other websites, there's a reason that there are only two I frequent.
kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ Say it, say 'ENCRYPTION'
Lol. While I am closer to 50 than I am 40, I'm still quite young for this hobby.Yep, Careful, our "old man attitude" is started to show.
I had to learn and ask questions of my Elmer's, then, apply the knowledge they shared. After applying that newfound knowledge, I had new and different questions.
I am a life long learner, and I don't have an issue with helping and teaching what I know, to others that want to learn. What I .on't have time for, is people that can't be bothered to do any research on their own, and just expect others to spoonfeed them the answers
'I'm having trouble figuring out how to create a digital channel in my Anytone' is going to get my attention.
'Does someone have a basic digital codeplug for an Anyone, that I can use to learn how to program my new radio' is going to get my attention
''Where can I get a codeplug for x area' is going to either get ignored completely.
This is where I chime in and say that my first "ham radio" was a Yaesu FT-23R. Five watt handheld, 2m only, just 10 memory channels, DTMF and CTCSS were options. About $230 in 1989; $589.47 today. Don't tell me about the "high cost of entry".
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