A under 30's open view

[geekyninja]

So this may seem like a rant but this is my view as a young amateur. Where does the time go. At time of posting we nearly 3/4 way though the year and i think wow i have barely used the radio. Where has the time go. I always said i hoped to have done my M0 by the end of 2016 and now that looking more like 2017.

As a under 30 i work 5 days a week and most radio i do now is in the office using business licence channels. I went out sailing on a 26th August to the clacton air show and the first time i worked mobile on a boat. I only had the hand held and even then the programming on them was out of date.

Most weekends i would love to be on the roof to adjust the antennas and build something radio based. Now i rather just watch TV and work on other projects. Before i would have the radio on but now i barely hear much going on.

I sometimes have the radio on but do not hear much. Even some of the websites i used to follow for amateur news seem to slowed down.

Yes over the last 18 months i have fallen out with two clubs and sadly finding a club i fit in to is very hard. Most are to old or to far up their own backside. There is no "Lads / True geeks" clubs around. I been a amateur for over 3 years and my first year i was very active.

As i close this i wonder for me has the hobby died or lost it's appeal to me. Have i reached that stage of leave the hobby for a while and hope to come back in time. The feeling should i not set my rig back up after redecorating the man cave.

[EMarkM]

10 ft pole...D & D reference?

Whereabouts in the country are you? Our club (meeting in Northwich, Cheshire) are a friendly bunch, plus we offer training and exams.

[andymuza]

You could always start your own "Lads / True geeks" club.

I find most of the radio clubs pretty dull but they are what you make them I suppose.

Question is, what do you want out of a club and what are you willing to put in, the same goes with the hobby?

I got into radio when I was 6 as an SWL, then got into CB at 13 followed by Amateur Radio when I was 20 but didn't get around to the RAE till I was 26/27. I have had times when radio has taken a back seat for one reason or another but I have always returned and I always will.

Radio is a fairly seasonal hobby for me. I mainly leave it for the winter as I have plenty of other things to do in the summer.

Maybe you just need to box it up till the interest returns, which it will.

[WhiteNoisePoetry]

Presently own:
2X Dipoles (2M / 70CM)
2X Baofeng UV-5R (UHF/VHF)
2X puxing PX-777 (UHF)
1X Puxing PX-328 (VHF)
4X Corba MT600 (PMR)
2X Baofeng 777s (UHF)
1X Icom F510 (VHF 2M)
1X Diamond RH771

Oh and a 10ft Pole

Well there is your problem.

All that amounts to is 2m/70cm, where there are about 6 people in the country looking for simplex QSO's and a few pointless club nets - yawn.

There's oodles more to the hobby than that, seek and you shall find :-)

73 de WNP

[paulears]

Where did this idea that amateur radio = handhelds, rotten antenna systems and repeaters? Of course you're bored - not exactly any real skills being learned or boundaries stretched or opportunities for more unusual stuff. At VHF and UHF 10dB of directional gain on a rotator, SSB and it becomes tricky, on HF with a simple long random wire, and ATU and a few Watts and it gets more interesting. Go up to GHz and squirt TV signals, try satellites, maybe data of lots of versions, dishes and other odd aerial systems.

You have piles of short range, low power kit with the ability to go a mile or two with the wind behind you as long as it's downhill. Expand your horizons, dump the kit that produces no contacts and try new stuff. There's some real pioneering stuff going on in ham world, but it isn't on 2m/70cm, and the really clever guys who are doing it are never to be found on a repeater (or at least rarely).

[Oggy]

Presently own:
2X Dipoles (2M / 70CM)
2X Baofeng UV-5R (UHF/VHF)
2X puxing PX-777 (UHF)
1X Puxing PX-328 (VHF)
4X Corba MT600 (PMR)
2X Baofeng 777s (UHF)
1X Icom F510 (VHF 2M)
1X Diamond RH771

Oh and a 10ft Pole

Well there is your problem.

All that amounts to is 2m/70cm, where there are about 6 people in the country looking for simplex QSO's and a few pointless club nets - yawn.

There's oodles more to the hobby than that, seek and you shall find :-)

73 de WNP

You beat me too it.....that list really does say it all

[geekyninja]

That list is out of date so less of that

[Admiral]

If you do take a break then be sure to store your kit away safely if you can, don't have a knee-jerk fire sale because when you get the itch again you'll be looking at a huge bill.

[WhiteNoisePoetry]

That list is out of date so less of that

I can't moan, I have a collection of handhelds the same as you, but mine go from 28Mhz to 1300Mhz

But if that was all I had for the hobby I'd be bored stiff.

There's lots of interesting and hidden stuff about, just look at WSPR or Opera, or the QRSS guys.

Or SSB /CW working. 6m is a nice band for messing about with. SSB is quite common, CW is still used a lot, amazing for a VHF band
and you can get away with QRP very easily on the band. When it opens, the propagation is a great leveller.

And then there is the homebrew side of the hobby.

And when you get to be an old fart like me, you realise being a radio amateur isn't ALL about being able to make QSO's and brag about it, but
being able to apply your knowledge of RF to normal everyday stuff too, bugger the QSO's.

For the record, I passed my exams when I was 14 (long time ago). Back in them days if you let your licence lapse they forced you to retake the
Morse test !

And what did I think of it all ?

Well I found the club scene to be just as crap now. No one wanted to be true geeks. Just talk crap over a beer once a month and never do anything
really technical, or get involved in a bit of contesting for a club weekend out in a field. Instead they organise cheese and bloody wine night
or "natter nights" Sheesh !!

Nothing changes it seems.

Best thing to do, find your own way,get your own gang of mates and don't bother trying to fit in with the other cliques, make your own
instead

And like the other guy said, if you take a break, keep the gear. We might be in a bit of a golden period now where rigs are dirt cheap.

It might all go belly up when the anti dumping duties arrives or sanctions on China get slapped on because things get political, or we need
the VAT duties because of Brexit. There is ALWAYS change around the corner, don't get caught out.


73 de WNP