Am I missing something about Ham Radio?

[Certaindeaf]

I just bought an iCom hand held from the classifieds here for a great deal. The seller was nice enough to program several local channels for me. I know nothing about Ham Radio but have been a little interested in having one for emergencies.

I've been watching beginner videos and reading threads on forums the last couple days, but I still don't "get" the hobby side of it. I'm don't think I'll be geeking out on the technology site of things and wanting to build systems. I'm not interested in meeting people across the world. If I was, I'd do it on technology that's 100 years newer (internet).

I've been listening to the local channels, but I'm often wondering why the hell I'm listening to it. I heard old guys talking about a raffle today. Yesterday it was old guys talking about anti-virus programs. The day before it was old guys talking about fishing (at least that was somewhat interesting. Is this what you guys are listening to? Thought i might at least hear cops and firefighters but nothing. I keep thinking I must be missing something. I'm fine throwing this thing into the glove box until I see zombies, but I figured I'd ask here.

It sounds like your pants aren't hiked up far enough by the sound of it.

 

[AshWilliams]

Ham radio is just like anything else: it can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. If you want to rag chew and talk about the weather you can do that, or you can tumble down the rabbit hole of portable, off-grid, grid down, practical ham radio communications for preparedness as well.

Probably the best channel out there for the latter is Julian's (OH8STN) Off-Grid Ham Radio.

Off-Grid Ham Radio OH8STN

Hello Operators This is Julian, a Ham Radio Operator and US Expat living in Finland. The channel focuses on portable, off-grid, grid down power and practical ham radio communications for preparedness. The goal is teaching operators to use portable power, HF radios and data mode communications...

www.youtube.com

 

[PiratePast40]

Yes, some of us still do the post card thingy...

View attachment 1952593

From a little island called Sardinia...

Visited Sardinia multiple times years ago. Had no idea there were flamingos there. Did hear about the cork forests that Hitlers troops burned down.

 

[Kruel J]

I got into it because my dad was a ham operator since he was a kid. He always wanted me to get my license so I could participate.

I've pretty much not used it since he passed. It was his thing, not my thing. I'll keep my license current for emergencies but I never found the interest in it that he had.

 

[Cerberus Group]

Ham radio of today is way much different than what some people think.

There's not only the usual talking antenna to antenna and CW or morse code...but there's microwave, numerous digital modes, still slow scan TV, winlink, packet, talk to the ISS, satellites, and a lot of other options not coming to mind right off.

Although I still have a set from the late 60s - early 70s (tube based), I have newer stuff and I still prefer talking and code antenna to antenna...there's just something about going to hardware store, picking up some wire and stringing it between a couple trees and talk all over the world...more when you build you build your own stuff.

Kinda like buying a gun and/or ammo...or loading your own ammo, and building your own gun and watching the results.

 

[CountryGent]

Truth be told, I've completely lost interest in amateur radio awhile ago. I got into it because of personal and community preparedness and because my father-in-law is a lifelong enthusiast. I'm too busy now to do much with community preparedness and no longer do ham stuff with FIL. For personal/family preparedness reasons, I'll keep my ham and GMRS licenses current, but I can't ever see spending much time on it and I've been slowly selling off or donating equipment.

 

[AshWilliams]

I got into satellite work a few years back and the ISS but haven't touched it in a few years.

At one point I had my linux laptop adjusting for doppler shift with gpredict working with a yagi antenna. This worked well and one night in particular we had saudisat SO-50 do a 89° pass over Council Crest and the reception was probably the best I've ever heard.

 

[Indy62]

It's both a hobby and an emergency means of communication. I'm not into the hobbyist aspect of it, but I did get the technician license.

However, I do 'get' the hobby part of it. Once in a while I'll scan the freqs on 70cm and 2M just to listen to the ole guys chat. Not my thing, but I 'get' why it's theirs. Here's a good pbs documentary on it. One thing I learned from it is bouncing signals off the moon is a thing..pretty cool.

 

[Mike_M57]

I've talked to other ham operators from:

New Zealand
Australia
Slovenia
South Africa
Lithuania
Russia
Japan
Philippines
Svalbard
Finland
Bulgaria
Curacao
Galapagos Islands
Uruguay
Sweden
Montserrat
Suriname
Western Sahara
Brunei
Scotland
Canada
Brazil
Costa Rica
New Caledonia
Mexico
French Polynesia
Spain
Cayman Islands
Barbados
Belize
Turks and Caicos Islands
Guam
Cuba
St. Lucia
Estonia
Mongolia
Belarus
Aruba
Kazakhstan
Puerto Rico
Chile
Madeira Island
Falkland Islands
Ireland
Switzerland
Croatia
Netherlands

...and all over the United States.

All on HF. I don't do VHF/UHF. There doesn't seem to be a lot of activity on the repeaters I can access from my location, and I'm just not interested in those bands any longer.

Not once have I ever talked about my medical conditions with another ham operator. If you think that's all that ham radio is about, that's just ignorant and kind of insulting IMO.

I'm currently off the air until I can get my antenna relocated. Hoping to get a better signal out, but I'm in a crappy location (lots of local interference) and not a lot of options for antenna mounting.

 

[Cerberus Group]

An email from a friend this morning about the current hurricane situation around North Carolina