HAM Radio- Okay ELMER where is the easy button on these radios?

[ChadAmberg]

Yeah I agree with most of the comments. Radio is fun stuff, but you have to figure out what works for you. For me, when I had an APRS radio in the car, that was fun, and listening to some local and regional chatter. I'd also be able to receive ISS transmissions and such when it was overhead.

Mostly I do HF digital stuff, seeing how far around the planet my signals get and do some chatting that way. That's something that attracts mostly the younger (under 60) crowd, which are more open to pleasant chatter and less get off my frequency. I still need to get my damn antenna ran since I've moved...


As for the comment about what's better than Baofeng, once you've used a nice Icom, Yaesu, or Kenwood, it will quickly make sense. I have an HT made by Icom, and it's relatively nice and easy, has great audio in and out of it, and feels like it's quality when you pick it up. I'd recommend for anyone looking to buy something new to hit the QRZ for sale forums, and pick up something used. That's what I've done over the years and gotten good experiences.

[Martinjmpr]

As for the comment about what's better than Baofeng, once you've used a nice Icom, Yaesu, or Kenwood, it will quickly make sense. I have an HT made by Icom, and it's relatively nice and easy, has great audio in and out of it, and feels like it's quality when you pick it up. I'd recommend for anyone looking to buy something new to hit the QRZ for sale forums, and pick up something used. That's what I've done over the years and gotten good experiences.

I got my Kenwood 2m mobile and my Yaesu FT50 dual band HT from Craigslist, believe it or not. And I think I paid a total of maybe $100 for both radios (the Kenwood was only $25 because some of the buttons on the microphone don't work. I ordered a new mike for $18.) So they are out there on the used market.

[Martinjmpr]

Incidentally, there are people in the ham radio community who understand the public relations problem that ham radio has. There is a blog that is dedicated to pointing out the ridiculous in the ham radio world, http://www.hamsexy.com (it's not a terribly active site although there is a recent post from December of this year.)

Here is a rant from that site back in 2010 (Language warning for the sensitive.):

This whole stupid ordeal just goes to show why amateur radio will, thankfully, be dead in 15 years, when the old, cranky, overweight non-procreating men who current occupy space in this hobby will mercifully die. Then, the amateur bands can be turned over to something useful, like public safety, media, broadcasting, etc… anything but the old fart geeky whinefest that goes on these days.

Remember when Ham Radio was a vital service? When I was a kid I used to see the local amateur radio club at conventions and events, doing long distance relay messages for your friends or family, and I thought that was so cool… Extremely long distance, real time communication was something that didn’t exist for most people at that time, and it was a novelty.

Then, something terrible happened to ham radio: progress. Nowadays, with cell phones, long distance calls without the assistance of an operator and the internet have made communicating with people around the world commonplace and uninteresting. The rest of the world rocketed forward while Ham Radio stood still. There have been a few brave people who attempted to incorporate new technology into ham radio, but the ‘old guard’ resisted like someone was taking away their triple Baconator… WHAT? IRLP? THAT’S NOT HAM RADIO. WHAT? DIGITAL? THAT’S ENCRYPTION AND NOT ALLOWED. And don’t even get me started on those fucking idiots who claim that Ham Radio is a ‘vital public service’, and that it MMMMUUUSSSTTTT be maintained ‘when all else fails’…. Well, so far the only disasters that Ham Radio has been useful at have been those where self-important hams have crowbarred their way in. Hams are only good at calling in rain to Skywarn net control, fetching coffee for the REAL first responders (the ones that belong to licensed, government sanctioned organizations that actually have physical fitness requirements) or patrolling little kiddies on halloween. That’s it. And take the fucking lightbar off of your car, you fat loser … you are embarrassing us all.

Face it – Ham Radio will be all but gone in a lot shorter time than all of us realize. If you want to find out the culprit, it isn’t Echolink or BPL or Riley or even Barack Obama – it’s YOU, you smelly, fat, old piece of shit. YOU.