7 ms·

This has one unspoken bonus feature: Not having to talk to an octogenarian about politics. I know it sounds silly, but I suspect this is one of the huge featu

This has one unspoken bonus feature: Not having to talk to an octogenarian about politics. I know it sounds silly, but I suspect this is one of the huge features driving it's success. Amateur radio is plagued by bad actors and grumpy old men, along with the general age imbalance that makes it fairly unpleasant for young people and extremely unpleasant for anyone who sounds vaguely feminine...

silman 8y ago
As someone who went from nothing -> Amateur Extra when i was 23 (25 now) from a random spurt of inspiration to learn ham radio and then promptly did nothing with the license i agree with this. I don't know exactly what i was expecting from getting the license but i will say that i didn't expect it to basically just be dominated by old conservative men who don't appreciate younger folk stepping in on their air space. I have yet to actually speak to anyone because i don't feel like there is anything i would want to say. Part of me was excited to do things like decode ISS transmission or send digital packets around the world; but i wanted to ease into the higher cost HF equipment with a simple and cheap as chips baofeng UHF/VHF radio (i know, its garbage but i like i said i wanted to ease into the hobby) and when i discovered there was nothing to do but listen to old men rant i just shelved the radio. I considered getting the bitX40 but never ended up doing it because i don't own the house i rent and putting an antenna up seems like a lot of work for a place i might move from soon. Admittedly maybe my problem was getting a baofeng UHF/VHF instead of something that i can plug into my computer and do digital modes with. But no one was really around to help me decide what to choose or give me insight into what i may want to do with my new AE powers.
- mmaunder 8y ago
  Guys, no one is forcing you to listen to that stuff. Get off the voice bands, get on digital and you'll have a blast. Here's a fun talk at Defcon from Balint Seeber, a ham who focuses on security, to get you in the right headspace. I attended this and the group of 6 of us that hung out afterwards with Balint was some of the most impressive people I've met at Defcon. One had built a bug sniffer. Another was intercepting satellite comms over Iraq. And Balint had a prototype SDR board he shared with us. So much fun. https://youtu.be/cHtHBqSZE4k https://youtu.be/cHtHBqSZE4k Yes, there is a community of rag chewers who use the voice bands, especially lower HF, to keep in touch with friends. That's a tiny part of the hobby and community.
  - silman 8y ago
    So what lower-cost radio do you recommend to get started on non-voice bands? I see the bitX40 people made a new model called the µBITX. What bands and protocols will that open me up to? I also looked at the RTL-SDR but thats receive only and i'd like to do some transmitting and explore my options. Basically just looking for a cheap option that lets me explore the most bands/protocols.
    - crankylinuxuser 8y ago
      I'm not parent/GP... I bought a ADALM-PLUTO from Arrow. $98 shipped. It's a SDR that goes from 325MHz-3.8GHz, and with a "hack" will go from 70 MHz to 6GHz. 7dBm (or 5 mW Tx). You'll need amplifiers to go from 5mW to QRP (~1W). I did find one on Banggood for 1MHz-1GHz with up to 35dBm gain. I'll still need one for 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz, but that's a small price to pay for having nearly 6GHz of spectrum to read. ( https://www.banggood.com/1MHz-1000MHZ-35DB-3W-HF-VHF-UHF-FM-Transmitter-Broadband-RF-Power-Amplifier-For-Ham-Radio-p-1235641.html?cur_warehouse=CN https://www.banggood.com/1MHz-1000MHZ-35DB-3W-HF-VHF-UHF-FM-... )
      - bitcoinmoney 8y ago
        I also have an amateur license. How much is the cost to go to non voice band for starters??
        crankylinuxuser 8y ago
        I'm not entirely sure I can competently answer that. I know with my ADALM-PLUTO hardware, it can receive from 70MHz to 6GHz, but at only 5mW. So if you want to start Tx-ing, you'll need a low noise amplifier for the band you want to transmit. Also, the antennas are for 325MHz-3.8GHz and are anemic stubby 1dBi. You will want better antennas. Ideally, for the respective bands you want to do stuff with. I'm still piecing my software together. Right now in open-source land, there's lots of individual decoders and some encoders. I'm having good luck with SDRangel for handling Tx as well - there's some weirdness with encoding data for Tx with the plugins. But that's just growing pains of this being new. The other problem you'll have, if you just don't pony up kilobucks for "ham radio hardware", is that going from 7dBm (5mW) to 30dBm (1w) is going to be weirdly expensive. And then that only gets you to 'QRP'. You'll then need a second stage amp to go from 1w to higher power. If you do EME digital modes, you're amping up from 5mW to 1.5KW . $$$$$$$$ lies here. But I'm sure if you talk in freenode IRC in ##hamradio , there are EME hams there. So to better answer your question, rather than give you a bunch of options, here's a general idea of cost breakdown: Cost = laptop + ADALM-PLUTO (or relevant SDR for HF) + 30 dBi amplifier for band you want + antennas for band you want My laptop is $500 and is Dell precision m4800. 4 cores/8 threads, 32GB ram. $500 from ebay. ADALM-PLUTO is $98 shipped from Arrow. I bought 2 1.35GHz-9.5GHz antennas for $13 each from Banggood. I'm looking for a 7dBm->20dBm 2.4GHz amplifier That would bring me up to 100mW output. I also bought a random assortment of SMA connectors for $12 That would leave my current total at $136 for the wireless hardware, or $636 if you want a dedicated laptop. RasPis won't work with SDRangel - it eats CPU for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. https://www.banggood.com/1_35GHz-9_5GHz-UWB-Ultra-Wideband-Log-Periodic-Antenna-p-1167608.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN https://www.banggood.com/1_35GHz-9_5GHz-UWB-Ultra-Wideband-L... https://www.banggood.com/18pcs-1_2G-5_8G-FPV-Telemetry-Antenna-Adapter-SMA-RP-SMA-Gain-Antenna-Connector-p-1290006.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN https://www.banggood.com/18pcs-1_2G-5_8G-FPV-Telemetry-Anten...
- resters 8y ago
  > I have yet to actually speak to anyone because i don't feel like there is anything i would want to say. That's true for many people. You don't need to use it to make a statement or to express your individuality, you can just participate in contests, enjoy propagation, etc.
  - ip26 8y ago
    Yes, but if you don't have anything to say and you don't want to hear the things other people are saying, then what are you doing? Thus the remark that the radio was shelved.
    - kw71 8y ago
      DX and contesting is still a sport and for these people many contacts end after QRZ and signal report
- themodelplumber 8y ago
  > Part of me was excited [...] decode ISS transmission [...] cheap as chips baofeng You can totally do this without spending more money! I've got my first award hanging on my wall for using my cheap as chips Baofeng to do this very thing. The award itself is really cool and has "INTERCOSMOS" across the top in English and Russian, along with an illustration of the Russian ISS module(s). The decoder I used was the free Robot36 app on my Android phone. I believe there is another SSTV event coming up on October 27. If you don't want to speak to anyone, this kind of activity is awesome. Turn squelch off, TDR off, dial in 145.800 and hold your Baofeng next to your phone running Robot36. You can easily monitor the ham sats and other sats too; heck you can just sit on a park bench and do this really easily. If you want portable sat & ISS tracking, there are apps that do this really well. Since I got my extra last year, I've volunteered at three events (1 ultramarathon and 2 public safety drills at local hospitals), joined a club I like (TheGuildGlobal.org), and talked to people all over the world. I haven't set up the outdoor antenna for my donated Swan HF rig yet (thanks to some super nice local hams) but Echolink is actually really fun; I didn't believe it until I tried it. And how else can you talk to someone in Japan and someone in Scotland within minutes of each other. I heard the guy in Japan dropping his jaw open when he found out I lived in the same city in Japan where his daughter lives, so you never know. (A day after that I talked with a guy up in Seattle, where I'm originally from, about the Green River Killer for a few minutes. Fun stuff. Haha.) I haven't had a single old man conversation that I felt I couldn't politely and immediately end. Heck, I've had old timers cut out on me with "welp, I just arrived at my destination, have a nice day, K1ABC clear." It's that simple and normal. Anyway, I hope you'll give it another chance. Find the stuff you like and build on that. Find people you don't mind talking to, and talk to them. Find nets you like and chime in. There are some really awesome people out there who aren't political and who would love to talk just about anything you see here on HN. I know because I'm one of 'em. Hope to hear you on the air sometime --KM6NHH
  - silman 8y ago
    I definitely will try to do that SSTV event. I don't think i "get" echolink. You hook up your radio to your computer (somehow? I don't know how i'd do this with a baofeng) and talk into it and then it uses the internet to send that across the world to other peoples radios who are also connected to their computer? It just feels like a discord voice chat with radios as the input/output device. Am i missing something?
- unoti 8y ago
  > I have yet to actually speak to anyone because i don't feel like there is anything i would want to say. A lot of this probably has to do with where you are, or more specifically, where the people you're hearing are. I first got into ham in North Carolina. The people there were talking about hunting and meat preservation techniques. Then I moved to San Francisco, and later to Seattle. The people in these places are more talking about things like high bandwidth microwave and forming mesh networks, making reliable contacts with man-portable rigs, antenna design, raspberry pi vs adruino, sending video from remote controlled aircraft, and dozens of other things that fascinate me. It's not an age thing, it's an interest thing. And the types of things people are interested in is strongly correlated to their geographic area.
- setquk 8y ago
  QSX is coming soon. https://www.qrp-labs.com/qsx.html https://www.qrp-labs.com/qsx.html Just google like any other technology. Answers are all out there. I never went to any amateur radio clubs. I paid up to do my exams, bought a radio and just wobbled into the bar like a drunk. Also you don’t have to talk to someone past exchanging RST etc. If they start going off on one just tune away.
  - silman 8y ago
    can you explain how QSX is different from the other SDRs being mentioned (ADALM-PLUTO, HackRF One, etc)? Is it just more transmit power than those other SDRs? I feel like i'm missing something.
    - ianburrell 8y ago
      It is a SDR-based HF transceiver instead of wide-band SDR. SDR is implementation detail and extra feature. Most SDRs are receive only, and the ones that can transmit, like ones you listed, are limited in power. The other difference is interface. The QSX, and other SDR-based transceivers, work like other regular transceivers. They have USB port for computer control and sound card output. Some newer radios provide I-Q input and output which can be used for more advanced modes. But the bandwidth is limited compared to the SDRs which can monitor an entire band.
      - silman 8y ago
        So would you recommend the QSX as a good way for a beginner to get to explore all the different bands/modes? Do you think this is a good replacement to - say - a hackRF? Or is the hackRF better for specific use cases like debugging because it has wide bandwidth?
        setquk 8y ago
        When you're doing RF stuff you're usually really only interested in single signal reception and usability. To learn about the various modes this will be way better than an SDR. The SDR sure has utility but that comes at a compromise. I've done some professional RF stuff in the past and 99% of the problems are solved with very simple and way more precise gear compared to an SDR. Have a look at http://websdr.org http://websdr.org and have a play around with SDRs and then go look at a video for a Yaesu or Icom "rig" and see the difference in the usability. The QSX is more the Yaesu or Icom end of things.
- rmason 8y ago
  In certain places like 80 meters it has always been this way. There was a rather famous individual on 80M AM that used to call CQ by saying no lids, no kids, no space cadets. A lot of young ham in the sixties like to really get in this old boys face. I wasn't one of them and found out he was a pretty intelligent fellow, he just didn't had a low tolerance for fools.
  - Stratoscope 8y ago
    For the curious... http://hamgallery.com/Tribute/W2OY/ http://hamgallery.com/Tribute/W2OY/
- someone454 8y ago
  Sounds kind of like the mirror opposite of HN
mmaunder 8y ago
I'm a regular on HF and I've found the community to be welcoming and I've learned a lot from people with half a lifetime more experience than I have. Retired doctors, aerospace engineers and other interesting fields. There are many younger contesters who move very quickly and just work to make contacts. Bad actors? There are a handful, but FCC has taken enforcement action against several. https://www.fcc.gov/general/amateur-radio-service-enforcement-actions https://www.fcc.gov/general/amateur-radio-service-enforcemen... Weak signal modes have been around for a while. And voice is a different part of the spectrum.
- AWildC182 8y ago
  You're definitely right that there are a lot of really cool people out there. I had a similar experience joining an EAA chapter to discover that a whole bunch of them had worked on Hubble. That said, the FCC in my experience has been pretty lax about policing the amateur bands. You can go to any online SDR and tune around to find obnoxious, toxic, and illegal behavior within minutes. I've also found that if you're lucky enough to find someone under 50 on the airwaves, there's a >25% chance they're a crazy prepper.
  - tormeh 8y ago
    > You can go to any online SDR and tune around to find obnoxious, toxic, and illegal behavior within minutes Ah, so 4chan for old people.
    - AWildC182 8y ago
      This...is strangely accurate. Minus the anonymity since some of them will still ID with their callsign which links to a public database with their name and address.
resters 8y ago
I feel the need to clarify AWildC182's comment because I think it reflects poorly on amateur radio as an inviting place for younger people. There are some "scenes" in amateur radio that are dominated by older, somewhat conservative leaning discourse. Some VHF and UHF repeaters are like this, and there are many groups of people who chat with the same group every night on 80m SSB. Some newcomers start out on VHF/UHF repeaters and if they live near one that is like this, it may turn them off to the entire hobby even though it's just a small part of it. I recommend CW and FT8 as less conversational ways of getting on the air. If you are in the mood for a conversation, you can do so on CW, and there are conversational digital modes. I personally like contests and experiencing propagation and band openings, but don't really need to have a long chat. So my recommendation for a new licensee would be to jump right into MSK144 and then determine what to do next :)
- 509engr 8y ago
  The general responses to suggest getting off of voice modes either HF or VHF, and into digital or contesting has problems for people not living in a large city with multiple clubs to choose from. I’ve been an active ham for more than half of my life now and been finding the toxic culture in local ham club is frustrating, and real problem to recruiting younger people to the hobby. I used to participate in the local club but quit after a few too many times hearing racist comments from the (not-octogenarian) club president with no reaction by other members, I decided to call it quits. That also means the tools and instruments I used to be able to borrow, or having a few extra sets of hands to help put up an antenna has gone away. And I won’t recommend the club to other people who have asked about getting into the hobby, at least not without telling them what to expect. I still have a fellow ham I talk with who is a non-club member in the area, but he’s been in and out of the hobby as well for the last few years. Sure this is one datapoint, but the value of having a local club with available knowledge, and tool and junk boxes to raid makes it a lot easier to stay active in the hobby.
- ip26 8y ago
  Some newcomers start out on VHF/UHF repeaters I'm not close to the hobby but it seems like newcomers are specifically recommended to start out with VHF/UHF voice, equipment being simple & inexpensive, and voice being intuitive.
BaldricksGhost 8y ago
I'm in my 50's and I've been a ham for over 30 years. I understand where you are coming from. I do also operate FT8 and have thought to myself at times how nice it was to be making contacts without having to listen to people ranting. That said, there are plenty of hams who don't want to complain about politics, we just notice the curmudgeons more. I've had some great HF SSB QSO's lately that never touched on politics. Some of the more technical modes tend to appeal to hams that are more interested in the technical side than the hams that frequent HF SSB or VHF FM. There are many bands and many modes. If your VFO lands you on a QSO that you don't want to hear, QSY to another and call CQ.
setquk 8y ago
Hilariously true. Nothing worse than hearing “people” on 80m. It’s like a pub night full of racist, sexist old farts. I’m in the UK so this spans Europe as well. It’s not just a US thing. There’s less trash on 40/20m I find. I stick to CW, FT8, WSPR. Not enough bandwidth for an opinion :) On a positive note, nice to see lots of hams in here.
kw71 8y ago
> Not having to talk to an octogenarian about politics. Nobody "has" to do this on phone. Of course there are people predisposed to this but you don't have to talk to them or you can change the subject. For instance I still enjoy discussing radio stations and usually it's interesting to hear about someone's elaborate construction and what they are doing with it while they are willing to hear how I am getting over the equator and atlantic with no amplifier and a shitty piece of wire.
zipster90 8y ago
I absolutely agree. The topics of discussion on HF are mostly conservative politics, joint replacement surgeries, and their wives' behavior. Digital modes are a godsend.
3rdAccount 8y ago
My grandmother is a ham that is heavily involved in her ham club. Everyone was older, but polite. Of course they have different political views, but they're not a bunch of creeps, although there are some weird hams for sure. I knew one guy in college that was getting a license so the government couldn't listen to him like they could for his phone. I was like "what...you do realize you're basically broadcasting out to the whole city".
fapjacks 8y ago
It is painful where I live on the typical UHF/VHF bands. And even worse if anybody doesn't lie and say they're using a Kenwood/Yaesu/ICOM and instead makes the enormous mistake of mentioning they're working the repeater with a Baofeng.

silman 8y ago

As someone who went from nothing -> Amateur Extra when i was 23 (25 now) from a random spurt of inspiration to learn ham radio and then promptly did nothing with the license i agree with this. I don't know exactly what i was expecting from getting the license but i will say that i didn't expect it to basically just be dominated by old conservative men who don't appreciate younger folk stepping in on their air space. I have yet to actually speak to anyone because i don't feel like there is anything i would want to say. Part of me was excited to do things like decode ISS transmission or send digital packets around the world; but i wanted to ease into the higher cost HF equipment with a simple and cheap as chips baofeng UHF/VHF radio (i know, its garbage but i like i said i wanted to ease into the hobby) and when i discovered there was nothing to do but listen to old men rant i just shelved the radio. I considered getting the bitX40 but never ended up doing it because i don't own the house i rent and putting an antenna up seems like a lot of work for a place i might move from soon. Admittedly maybe my problem was getting a baofeng UHF/VHF instead of something that i can plug into my computer and do digital modes with. But no one was really around to help me decide what to choose or give me insight into what i may want to do with my new AE powers.

mmaunder 8y ago
Guys, no one is forcing you to listen to that stuff. Get off the voice bands, get on digital and you'll have a blast. Here's a fun talk at Defcon from Balint Seeber, a ham who focuses on security, to get you in the right headspace. I attended this and the group of 6 of us that hung out afterwards with Balint was some of the most impressive people I've met at Defcon. One had built a bug sniffer. Another was intercepting satellite comms over Iraq. And Balint had a prototype SDR board he shared with us. So much fun. https://youtu.be/cHtHBqSZE4k https://youtu.be/cHtHBqSZE4k Yes, there is a community of rag chewers who use the voice bands, especially lower HF, to keep in touch with friends. That's a tiny part of the hobby and community.
- silman 8y ago
  So what lower-cost radio do you recommend to get started on non-voice bands? I see the bitX40 people made a new model called the µBITX. What bands and protocols will that open me up to? I also looked at the RTL-SDR but thats receive only and i'd like to do some transmitting and explore my options. Basically just looking for a cheap option that lets me explore the most bands/protocols.
  - crankylinuxuser 8y ago
    I'm not parent/GP... I bought a ADALM-PLUTO from Arrow. $98 shipped. It's a SDR that goes from 325MHz-3.8GHz, and with a "hack" will go from 70 MHz to 6GHz. 7dBm (or 5 mW Tx). You'll need amplifiers to go from 5mW to QRP (~1W). I did find one on Banggood for 1MHz-1GHz with up to 35dBm gain. I'll still need one for 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz, but that's a small price to pay for having nearly 6GHz of spectrum to read. ( https://www.banggood.com/1MHz-1000MHZ-35DB-3W-HF-VHF-UHF-FM-Transmitter-Broadband-RF-Power-Amplifier-For-Ham-Radio-p-1235641.html?cur_warehouse=CN https://www.banggood.com/1MHz-1000MHZ-35DB-3W-HF-VHF-UHF-FM-... )
    - bitcoinmoney 8y ago
      I also have an amateur license. How much is the cost to go to non voice band for starters??
      - crankylinuxuser 8y ago
        I'm not entirely sure I can competently answer that. I know with my ADALM-PLUTO hardware, it can receive from 70MHz to 6GHz, but at only 5mW. So if you want to start Tx-ing, you'll need a low noise amplifier for the band you want to transmit. Also, the antennas are for 325MHz-3.8GHz and are anemic stubby 1dBi. You will want better antennas. Ideally, for the respective bands you want to do stuff with. I'm still piecing my software together. Right now in open-source land, there's lots of individual decoders and some encoders. I'm having good luck with SDRangel for handling Tx as well - there's some weirdness with encoding data for Tx with the plugins. But that's just growing pains of this being new. The other problem you'll have, if you just don't pony up kilobucks for "ham radio hardware", is that going from 7dBm (5mW) to 30dBm (1w) is going to be weirdly expensive. And then that only gets you to 'QRP'. You'll then need a second stage amp to go from 1w to higher power. If you do EME digital modes, you're amping up from 5mW to 1.5KW . $$$$$$$$ lies here. But I'm sure if you talk in freenode IRC in ##hamradio , there are EME hams there. So to better answer your question, rather than give you a bunch of options, here's a general idea of cost breakdown: Cost = laptop + ADALM-PLUTO (or relevant SDR for HF) + 30 dBi amplifier for band you want + antennas for band you want My laptop is $500 and is Dell precision m4800. 4 cores/8 threads, 32GB ram. $500 from ebay. ADALM-PLUTO is $98 shipped from Arrow. I bought 2 1.35GHz-9.5GHz antennas for $13 each from Banggood. I'm looking for a 7dBm->20dBm 2.4GHz amplifier That would bring me up to 100mW output. I also bought a random assortment of SMA connectors for $12 That would leave my current total at $136 for the wireless hardware, or $636 if you want a dedicated laptop. RasPis won't work with SDRangel - it eats CPU for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. https://www.banggood.com/1_35GHz-9_5GHz-UWB-Ultra-Wideband-Log-Periodic-Antenna-p-1167608.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN https://www.banggood.com/1_35GHz-9_5GHz-UWB-Ultra-Wideband-L... https://www.banggood.com/18pcs-1_2G-5_8G-FPV-Telemetry-Antenna-Adapter-SMA-RP-SMA-Gain-Antenna-Connector-p-1290006.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN https://www.banggood.com/18pcs-1_2G-5_8G-FPV-Telemetry-Anten...
resters 8y ago
> I have yet to actually speak to anyone because i don't feel like there is anything i would want to say. That's true for many people. You don't need to use it to make a statement or to express your individuality, you can just participate in contests, enjoy propagation, etc.
- ip26 8y ago
  Yes, but if you don't have anything to say and you don't want to hear the things other people are saying, then what are you doing? Thus the remark that the radio was shelved.
  - kw71 8y ago
    DX and contesting is still a sport and for these people many contacts end after QRZ and signal report
themodelplumber 8y ago
> Part of me was excited [...] decode ISS transmission [...] cheap as chips baofeng You can totally do this without spending more money! I've got my first award hanging on my wall for using my cheap as chips Baofeng to do this very thing. The award itself is really cool and has "INTERCOSMOS" across the top in English and Russian, along with an illustration of the Russian ISS module(s). The decoder I used was the free Robot36 app on my Android phone. I believe there is another SSTV event coming up on October 27. If you don't want to speak to anyone, this kind of activity is awesome. Turn squelch off, TDR off, dial in 145.800 and hold your Baofeng next to your phone running Robot36. You can easily monitor the ham sats and other sats too; heck you can just sit on a park bench and do this really easily. If you want portable sat & ISS tracking, there are apps that do this really well. Since I got my extra last year, I've volunteered at three events (1 ultramarathon and 2 public safety drills at local hospitals), joined a club I like (TheGuildGlobal.org), and talked to people all over the world. I haven't set up the outdoor antenna for my donated Swan HF rig yet (thanks to some super nice local hams) but Echolink is actually really fun; I didn't believe it until I tried it. And how else can you talk to someone in Japan and someone in Scotland within minutes of each other. I heard the guy in Japan dropping his jaw open when he found out I lived in the same city in Japan where his daughter lives, so you never know. (A day after that I talked with a guy up in Seattle, where I'm originally from, about the Green River Killer for a few minutes. Fun stuff. Haha.) I haven't had a single old man conversation that I felt I couldn't politely and immediately end. Heck, I've had old timers cut out on me with "welp, I just arrived at my destination, have a nice day, K1ABC clear." It's that simple and normal. Anyway, I hope you'll give it another chance. Find the stuff you like and build on that. Find people you don't mind talking to, and talk to them. Find nets you like and chime in. There are some really awesome people out there who aren't political and who would love to talk just about anything you see here on HN. I know because I'm one of 'em. Hope to hear you on the air sometime --KM6NHH
- silman 8y ago
  I definitely will try to do that SSTV event. I don't think i "get" echolink. You hook up your radio to your computer (somehow? I don't know how i'd do this with a baofeng) and talk into it and then it uses the internet to send that across the world to other peoples radios who are also connected to their computer? It just feels like a discord voice chat with radios as the input/output device. Am i missing something?
unoti 8y ago
> I have yet to actually speak to anyone because i don't feel like there is anything i would want to say. A lot of this probably has to do with where you are, or more specifically, where the people you're hearing are. I first got into ham in North Carolina. The people there were talking about hunting and meat preservation techniques. Then I moved to San Francisco, and later to Seattle. The people in these places are more talking about things like high bandwidth microwave and forming mesh networks, making reliable contacts with man-portable rigs, antenna design, raspberry pi vs adruino, sending video from remote controlled aircraft, and dozens of other things that fascinate me. It's not an age thing, it's an interest thing. And the types of things people are interested in is strongly correlated to their geographic area.
setquk 8y ago
QSX is coming soon. https://www.qrp-labs.com/qsx.html https://www.qrp-labs.com/qsx.html Just google like any other technology. Answers are all out there. I never went to any amateur radio clubs. I paid up to do my exams, bought a radio and just wobbled into the bar like a drunk. Also you don’t have to talk to someone past exchanging RST etc. If they start going off on one just tune away.
- silman 8y ago
  can you explain how QSX is different from the other SDRs being mentioned (ADALM-PLUTO, HackRF One, etc)? Is it just more transmit power than those other SDRs? I feel like i'm missing something.
  - ianburrell 8y ago
    It is a SDR-based HF transceiver instead of wide-band SDR. SDR is implementation detail and extra feature. Most SDRs are receive only, and the ones that can transmit, like ones you listed, are limited in power. The other difference is interface. The QSX, and other SDR-based transceivers, work like other regular transceivers. They have USB port for computer control and sound card output. Some newer radios provide I-Q input and output which can be used for more advanced modes. But the bandwidth is limited compared to the SDRs which can monitor an entire band.
    - silman 8y ago
      So would you recommend the QSX as a good way for a beginner to get to explore all the different bands/modes? Do you think this is a good replacement to - say - a hackRF? Or is the hackRF better for specific use cases like debugging because it has wide bandwidth?
      - setquk 8y ago
        When you're doing RF stuff you're usually really only interested in single signal reception and usability. To learn about the various modes this will be way better than an SDR. The SDR sure has utility but that comes at a compromise. I've done some professional RF stuff in the past and 99% of the problems are solved with very simple and way more precise gear compared to an SDR. Have a look at http://websdr.org http://websdr.org and have a play around with SDRs and then go look at a video for a Yaesu or Icom "rig" and see the difference in the usability. The QSX is more the Yaesu or Icom end of things.
rmason 8y ago
In certain places like 80 meters it has always been this way. There was a rather famous individual on 80M AM that used to call CQ by saying no lids, no kids, no space cadets. A lot of young ham in the sixties like to really get in this old boys face. I wasn't one of them and found out he was a pretty intelligent fellow, he just didn't had a low tolerance for fools.
- Stratoscope 8y ago
  For the curious... http://hamgallery.com/Tribute/W2OY/ http://hamgallery.com/Tribute/W2OY/
someone454 8y ago
Sounds kind of like the mirror opposite of HN

mmaunder 8y ago

I'm a regular on HF and I've found the community to be welcoming and I've learned a lot from people with half a lifetime more experience than I have. Retired doctors, aerospace engineers and other interesting fields. There are many younger contesters who move very quickly and just work to make contacts. Bad actors? There are a handful, but FCC has taken enforcement action against several. https://www.fcc.gov/general/amateur-radio-service-enforcement-actions https://www.fcc.gov/general/amateur-radio-service-enforcemen... Weak signal modes have been around for a while. And voice is a different part of the spectrum.

AWildC182 8y ago
You're definitely right that there are a lot of really cool people out there. I had a similar experience joining an EAA chapter to discover that a whole bunch of them had worked on Hubble. That said, the FCC in my experience has been pretty lax about policing the amateur bands. You can go to any online SDR and tune around to find obnoxious, toxic, and illegal behavior within minutes. I've also found that if you're lucky enough to find someone under 50 on the airwaves, there's a >25% chance they're a crazy prepper.
- tormeh 8y ago
  > You can go to any online SDR and tune around to find obnoxious, toxic, and illegal behavior within minutes Ah, so 4chan for old people.
  - AWildC182 8y ago
    This...is strangely accurate. Minus the anonymity since some of them will still ID with their callsign which links to a public database with their name and address.

resters 8y ago

I feel the need to clarify AWildC182's comment because I think it reflects poorly on amateur radio as an inviting place for younger people. There are some "scenes" in amateur radio that are dominated by older, somewhat conservative leaning discourse. Some VHF and UHF repeaters are like this, and there are many groups of people who chat with the same group every night on 80m SSB. Some newcomers start out on VHF/UHF repeaters and if they live near one that is like this, it may turn them off to the entire hobby even though it's just a small part of it. I recommend CW and FT8 as less conversational ways of getting on the air. If you are in the mood for a conversation, you can do so on CW, and there are conversational digital modes. I personally like contests and experiencing propagation and band openings, but don't really need to have a long chat. So my recommendation for a new licensee would be to jump right into MSK144 and then determine what to do next :)

509engr 8y ago
The general responses to suggest getting off of voice modes either HF or VHF, and into digital or contesting has problems for people not living in a large city with multiple clubs to choose from. I’ve been an active ham for more than half of my life now and been finding the toxic culture in local ham club is frustrating, and real problem to recruiting younger people to the hobby. I used to participate in the local club but quit after a few too many times hearing racist comments from the (not-octogenarian) club president with no reaction by other members, I decided to call it quits. That also means the tools and instruments I used to be able to borrow, or having a few extra sets of hands to help put up an antenna has gone away. And I won’t recommend the club to other people who have asked about getting into the hobby, at least not without telling them what to expect. I still have a fellow ham I talk with who is a non-club member in the area, but he’s been in and out of the hobby as well for the last few years. Sure this is one datapoint, but the value of having a local club with available knowledge, and tool and junk boxes to raid makes it a lot easier to stay active in the hobby.
ip26 8y ago
Some newcomers start out on VHF/UHF repeaters I'm not close to the hobby but it seems like newcomers are specifically recommended to start out with VHF/UHF voice, equipment being simple & inexpensive, and voice being intuitive.

BaldricksGhost 8y ago

I'm in my 50's and I've been a ham for over 30 years. I understand where you are coming from. I do also operate FT8 and have thought to myself at times how nice it was to be making contacts without having to listen to people ranting. That said, there are plenty of hams who don't want to complain about politics, we just notice the curmudgeons more. I've had some great HF SSB QSO's lately that never touched on politics. Some of the more technical modes tend to appeal to hams that are more interested in the technical side than the hams that frequent HF SSB or VHF FM. There are many bands and many modes. If your VFO lands you on a QSO that you don't want to hear, QSY to another and call CQ.

setquk 8y ago

Hilariously true. Nothing worse than hearing “people” on 80m. It’s like a pub night full of racist, sexist old farts. I’m in the UK so this spans Europe as well. It’s not just a US thing. There’s less trash on 40/20m I find. I stick to CW, FT8, WSPR. Not enough bandwidth for an opinion :) On a positive note, nice to see lots of hams in here.

kw71 8y ago

> Not having to talk to an octogenarian about politics. Nobody "has" to do this on phone. Of course there are people predisposed to this but you don't have to talk to them or you can change the subject. For instance I still enjoy discussing radio stations and usually it's interesting to hear about someone's elaborate construction and what they are doing with it while they are willing to hear how I am getting over the equator and atlantic with no amplifier and a shitty piece of wire.

zipster90 8y ago

I absolutely agree. The topics of discussion on HF are mostly conservative politics, joint replacement surgeries, and their wives' behavior. Digital modes are a godsend.

3rdAccount 8y ago

My grandmother is a ham that is heavily involved in her ham club. Everyone was older, but polite. Of course they have different political views, but they're not a bunch of creeps, although there are some weird hams for sure. I knew one guy in college that was getting a license so the government couldn't listen to him like they could for his phone. I was like "what...you do realize you're basically broadcasting out to the whole city".

fapjacks 8y ago

It is painful where I live on the typical UHF/VHF bands. And even worse if anybody doesn't lie and say they're using a Kenwood/Yaesu/ICOM and instead makes the enormous mistake of mentioning they're working the repeater with a Baofeng.