Quote Originally Posted by spqrzilla View Post
Not sure why you don't want to mention the name of the ham radio shop on Iliff ... but I'll go with it..
Like Mrs. Rabbit used to tell Thumper "if you don't have nuthin' nice to say, don't say nuthin' at all.... " I softened my comments a bit as I was writing the post but left the first part alone.

I do feel like there isn't a real inclusive attitude in the HAM world. I don't want to take anything away from what they do, but would like to be able to use some of the capabilities myself. I don't want to have to figure out all the settings, I think CHIRP does a pretty good job for most of it, why the clubs and repeater operators don't publish plain english versions of setup instructions I will never understand. I didn't see an overabundance of traffic when I was messing around a couple of years ago, and don't think making it easier would change much of that. I support the test, to make sure folks have a basic understanding of the radio, and more so the "rules of the road" with regards to what is and is not acceptable use.

I have the handheld on the charger at the moment and the programming cable for the new radio should get here Friday. So, hopefully I can see how things are working over the weekend.

Thanks again to all of you who have shared your thoughts and experiences. I don't know that I want to start a crusade to "make ham easier" but if I get things working reasonably ok, I would be more than happy to share whatever setup info I have.