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The Ham radio hobby , enlighten those that don't know please Login/Join 
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posted
After watching 3 dozen you tube vids,
I have a few questions.

A. Is it a money pit like quilting or bass fishing?

B. Do business people use it to make money?

C. Does regulation become a deterent at some point ?

What is 5 x 5 or 5 x 9 or five by 3.5 ?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,





Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.



Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
 
Posts: 54502 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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In the third grade , The school principal and I spent an hour together.

He had an antenna or two on the roof of the school.

He showed me his radio set up.
Even introduced me to a fella in Arizona and another in Australia .

Each contact was only four minutes long.

He logged the contacts call signs .
To this day
Don't know why I was there,
Why we shared that experience .
Just weird.





Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.



Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
 
Posts: 54502 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Optimistic Cynic
Picture of architect
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I had a Heathkit short wave receiver when I was a kid. I was in Tehran at the time (diplomat's kid), and being able to listen to spoken English and rock'n'roll on the radio was a big thrill. Never got into transmitting, DX or anything like that. The whole chat over the airways with a bunch of old fogeys thing never had much appeal (some might argue that SF is no different). Wiring the radio, and trying out different antenna setups was more to my taste than listening. I didn't pay for the radio, it was gifted by a friend who was headed back to the State's, who never put in the effort to learn how to solder.

In answer to your specific questions:

quote:
A. Is it a money pit like quilting or bass fishing?
Of course, except considerably more so.

quote:
B. Do business people use it to make money?
Never heard of such, perhaps a Nigerian Prince or two, although they are not known for investing actual money.

quote:
C. Does regulation become a detergent at some point ?
I suppose you meant a deterrent...I would imagine so, but it doesn't seem draconian enough to deter those who get into it.

I fail to see the appeal now that we have an almost world-wide reliable communication network to facilitate communication between almost everybody who is interested in such. Perhaps if you were living on a Pacific atoll with no telephone, Internet, TV, or alternatives other than fishing and fondling your wahinis....
 
Posts: 6400 | Location: NoVA | Registered: July 22, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
A teetotaling
beer aficionado
Picture of NavyGuy
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5 x 5 or 5 x 9 or five by 3.5 are
reports as the the quality and strength of your signal. 5X5 is a perfect signal, 5x3.5 is acceptable but with some issues like static. We don't see the 5x5 scale used much. It was prevalent in the military. The 5x9 scale is more detailed and now the standard used. There are charts which detail what the numbers reflect.

Money pit? Yes it can be if you get into HF which requires a lot more gear than VHF/UHF. If you only operate in the VHF/UHF bands you can get by with $500 for a quality base station radio and antenna, or much less for a hand held (HT).

As far is the Ham network being and end all to emergency communication method these days, it has it's place but newer (satellite for example) technologies now offer good emergency coms. With digital UHV/VHF you can talk world wide with the aid of repeaters. Some say this is not pure Ham, because long haul legs may be routed through the internet by repeater networks, but I don't get hung up on that. Talking to a guy in the UK with a 5 watt radio is still pretty cool.



Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.

-D.H. Lawrence
 
Posts: 11524 | Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: February 07, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of maladat
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quote:
Originally posted by architect:
quote:
B. Do business people use it to make money?
Never heard of such, perhaps a Nigerian Prince or two, although they are not known for investing actual money.


The manufacturers of the equipment make some money, and a few retailers of the equipment make some money, and a few authors of books about the hobby make some money, but it is illegal (in the US, at least) to carry out business activities via ham radio transmission.

quote:
Originally posted by architect:
quote:
C. Does regulation become a detergent at some point ?
I suppose you meant a deterrent...I would imagine so, but it doesn't seem draconian enough to deter those who get into it.


In terms of regulation, a lot of it is stuff like "for this range of frequencies, you can only transmit with this type of transmission up to this maximum transmission power."

Most of the rest is pretty common sense stuff, like you aren't allowed to cause radio interference. If your radio makes your neighbor's TV act up, you have to fix the problem or stop transmitting.

Some of the non-obvious ones are the aforementioned no-business-over-the-air one, and that all transmissions must be made "in the open" - no codes or encryption are allowed.

quote:
Originally posted by architect:
I fail to see the appeal now that we have an almost world-wide reliable communication network to facilitate communication between almost everybody who is interested in such. Perhaps if you were living on a Pacific atoll with no telephone, Internet, TV, or alternatives other than fishing and fondling your wahinis....


If the goal is regular, reliable communication with specific people, ham radio is definitely not the way to go.

Some people get into it because they're just interested in radio - some hams build their own radios or experiment with different transmission methods, many more build and experiment with different antenna designs.

Some people do use it where other communication methods are unavailable or very expensive. One example is offroading clubs - many areas they go don't have cell service, and satellite phones are both very expensive and don't support a whole group chatting with each other. There are other radio options that you don't have to pass a test to use, like FRS, GMRS, or CB, but ham radios are much more capable.

Some people do it as an emergency preparedness thing, as mentioned by NavyGuy, although there are now good alternatives like satellite phones, as also mentioned by NavyGuy.

Some people get into it as a facet of an interest in the space program - you can sometimes talk to people on the ISS with a ham radio.

There are all kinds of reasons people get into it.
 
Posts: 6319 | Location: CA | Registered: January 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Not all who wander
are lost.
Picture of JohnV
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A: It can be. Depends on how into it you get. You can buy used equipment and get started fairly cheaply though.

B: regulations do not allow you to use it for commercial purposes. So no money is made.

C: I guess anything is possible but these bands have been set aside for HAM usage. HAMs were used during 9/11, Katrina, and the Boston Marathon Bombings.





Posted from my iPhone.
 
Posts: 4311 | Location: Tennessee | Registered: February 22, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Dances With
Tornados
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Extra Class, 32 years licensed in the hobby.

I'll address one aspect. Anybody can get a cell phone and contact probably just about anywhere in the world in just a minute or less. Generally speaking.

Crap, that's easy. I have a cell phone too.

The thing I like about Ham Radio is you have to put some effort up to learn.

The thing I like about that is in time of a natural disaster, we can toss some wire up into a tree, grab a car battery, and communicate with the world.

Witness the Joplin MO tornado of 2011. Destroyed the town. No power for quite some time, people hurting, all kinds of issues. Cell service was out, and out for a good number of days if not weeks. Hams can operate, communicate in and out, as needed. And there is always a lot needed during disasters. Power was out in Joplin, cell towers were down, and cell sites had run out of their backup battery power. Screwed! Gas stations could not pump fuel. Screwed!

Witness various Hurricanes over the years and other natural disasters.

One of the local ham radio clubs has a Tower on a trailer. It extends up to a decent height and you can work the world as needed. Or I can toss a wire in a tree as I stated above. Or I can operate mobil from my vehicle.

NO power, no gas, no problem, I have a lot of portable solar power, and of course gas powered generators, 3 in fact.

The hobby is vast in things you can do. I just do what I can to be prepared for things as needed.
.
 
Posts: 11814 | Registered: October 26, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Perception
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Is it a money pit?

Like bass fishing, it can be if you let it. You can be up and running on some bands for less than $100, or you can drop 10s of thousands into it. Some people could happily bass fish the rest of their life with a couple hundred dollars worth of gear, some dump a quarter of a million into a truck and boat and gear and most people are somewhere in between.

Do businesses use it to make money?

Generally speaking, you can't use it for commercial purposes. Businesses have a special license and band of their own for business use.

Does the regulation become a deterrent?

The biggest impediment is attempting to actually use the FCC's awful website to pay the fees for your license. The rules are pretty simple- certain bands are for certain types of transmissions and generally be a good neighbor. I and most other hams I assume don't find them to be overly restrictive. There's assholes in the ham community, but no more than you would find anywhere else.

What's 5x5?

From http://www.arrl.org/quick-reference-operating-aids

The RST System-

Readability


1--Unreadable

2--Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable.

3--Readable with considerable difficulty.

4--Readable with practically no difficulty.

5--Perfectly readable.



Signal Strength


1--Faint signals, barely perceptible.

2--Very weak signals.

3--Weak signals.

4--Fair signals.

5--Fairly good signals.

6--Good signals.

7--Moderately strong signals.

8--Strong signals.

9--Extremely strong signals.



Tone


1--Sixty cycle a.c or less, very rough and broad.

2--Very rough a.c., very harsh and broad.

3--Rough a.c. tone, rectified but not filtered.

4--Rough note, some trace of filtering.

5--Filtered rectified a.c. but strongly ripple-modulated.

6--Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation.

7--Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation.

8--Near perfect tone, slight trace of modulation.

9--Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind.

If the signal has the characteristic steadiness of crystal control, add the letter X to the RST report. If there is a chirp, the letter C may be added to so indicate. Similarly for a click, add K. The above reporting system is used on both cw and voice, leaving out the "tone" report on voice. Turn card over for examples.




"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford, "it is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards."
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."
 
Posts: 3509 | Location: Two blocks from the Center of the Universe | Registered: December 30, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
Picture of Gustofer
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quote:
Originally posted by Perception:
There's plenty of assholes in the ham community,

I overheard a new Ham trying to call CQ on 80M one night. He found quite a few of them. There's some good old boys on that band that don't care much for people playing around on their turf. Big Grin


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
 
Posts: 19975 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Perception
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quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
quote:
Originally posted by Perception:
There's plenty of assholes in the ham community,

I overheard a new Ham trying to call CQ on 80M one night. He found quite a few of them. There's some good old boys on that band that don't care much for people playing around on their turf. Big Grin


Yeah, I've found it to be a community of extremes. Most hams I've met have been incredibly welcoming, but there's some old guys out there that aren't happy if you're not miserable, and there trolls that try to jam it all up and ruin everyone else's experience.




"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford, "it is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards."
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."
 
Posts: 3509 | Location: Two blocks from the Center of the Universe | Registered: December 30, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
A teetotaling
beer aficionado
Picture of NavyGuy
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quote:
Originally posted by Perception:


Yeah, I've found it to be a community of extremes. Most hams I've met have been incredibly welcoming, but there's some old guys out there that aren't happy if you're not miserable, and there trolls that try to jam it all up and ruin everyone else's experience.


Much like the gun community, as well as most others I suspect. Most will gladly help new comers, then there's the ass who says RTFM.



Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.

-D.H. Lawrence
 
Posts: 11524 | Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: February 07, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Better Than I Deserve!
Picture of LBTRS
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Your questions have been answered so I'll just add that I really enjoy the hobby for local communications. I've not got into HF yet but do use 2m/70cm on the local repeaters. I've been a licensed HAM for a year (General Class). I also have my GMRS license and use it a lot as well.

It is definitely a money pit if you let it but you can get into it for cheap if you don't have to have the top of the line equipment all the time.


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Posts: 4986 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: September 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
There's plenty of assholes in the ham community,


Some assholes hang out on 80 meter band, but very few on Digital VHF since your call sign is necessary to transmit. (your call sign is the PL tone)


*********
"Some people are alive today because it's against the law to kill them".
 
Posts: 8228 | Location: Arizona | Registered: August 17, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
W07VH5
Picture of mark123
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quote:
Originally posted by bendable:
After watching 3 dozen you tube vids,
I have a few questions.

A. Is it a money pit like quilting or bass fishing?

B. Do business people use it to make money?

C. Does regulation become a deterent at some point ?

What is 5 x 5 or 5 x 9 or five by 3.5 ?

A. Buy cheap used stuff
B. You can announce radio equipment you’re selling but that’s it
C. Ignore regulations. Pirate radio, bro!
 
Posts: 45331 | Location: Pennsyltucky | Registered: December 05, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
drop and give me
20 pushups
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One aspect of ham radio operators is the diviristy of the people... doctors/lawyers/ merchants/news people be they local or national/world renouned musical artist/ world renouned politicans/day ladorers/plumbers/carpenters/electricians/engineeres of all disiplines /students/ retirees/ everyday common people some ages range from 10yrs old to 100yrs old....... and usually when some of the celebrities can be found on the air they just identify as a normal everyday person would and not brag as to who they were. ... such as JY1 (call sign) actually was King Hussain of Jordan who would respond that he was a government employee or public servant and not the actual King of Jordan. ............ Turning your radio on and putting out a call hoping to get a response is sort of like going fishing and not trully sure of who or what far off location might respond........ de..KL7JIU..aka.. drill sgt.
 
Posts: 1954 | Location: denham springs , la | Registered: October 19, 2019Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Dances With
Tornados
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^^^^^ Joe Walsh of The Eagles band. ^^^^
.
 
Posts: 11814 | Registered: October 26, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Totally worth doing... Greatest people on earth.

Get a starter radio like an Icom 7300 and a dipole, focus on 80/40/20 meters

You will love it.

73 John
 
Posts: 342 | Location: Massachusetts | Registered: September 18, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Stupid
Allergy
Picture of dry-fly
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Well, I got my technician license specifically for emergency communication. Radios aren’t cheap, but there are some exceptions and used gear is a good option. I need an “Elmer” to learn the ropes honestly. You can learn to pass the test but have no clue of how to operate your radio ( ask me how. Lol).


"Attack life, it's going to kill you anyway." Steve McQueen...
 
Posts: 6997 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: July 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Like most leisure time hobbies, once you get in to it, it turns into a big dick contest. You need to have 1000 watts and a beam the size of a billboard on a 100 foot tower on top of a mountain to be heard above all the bullshit. Me with my measly 100 watts on a long wire doesn't stand a chance. Be prepared to spend a shitload of money unless you just want to hang out with the "see bee ers" that dominate the local vhf repeaters.


Awake not woke
 
Posts: 566 | Location: Citrus Springs, Fl. | Registered: January 02, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
Picture of Gustofer
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^^^^^^ Can you spend a "shitload of money"? Of course, just like any other hobby, but you don't have to. I spent hours on HF last night with a 100W and a homemade dipole strung between some trees and coax running out the window. I could spend $2500 on a top notch vertical and thousands on amps and tuners and radios, but I don't need to. I've talked to Japan on a piece of 22g wire nailed to a tree in my yard. Yeah there are a lot of big-dickers out there, but I just ignore them. There's plenty of frequencies to play around on, particularly with General or Extra tickets.


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
 
Posts: 19975 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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