4 ms·

Even in Germany, hams are allowed to build their own transceivers. I can't imagine the FCC being more strict than that.

• jrockway 2y ago
  Yes, the whole point of having a ham license is the permission to build and use your own equipment. The compromise vs "buy some spectrum for 8 trillion dollars" is that you can't use ham radio for commercial (or musical) purposes.
  • sliken 2y ago
    Heh, ask 10 hams what the whole point of a ham license is and you'll get 10 different answers. I've heard "permission to build" before, but rarely.
    • mschuster91 2y ago
      I'm an aspiring ham myself :D For me, I'm interested in emergency communications, others in the club are DXers... truly fascinating.
    • anyfoo 2y ago
      Don't have my license yet, but for me it's definitely building homebrew (i.e. designed by me) transceivers. Not actually that interested in talking to other hams except for then testing my gear.
      • sliken 2y ago
        Heh, I'm not that interested in talking, but I am interested in typing. Especially with the advantage of advanced math/error correction, store and forward, relaying, and related. This adds up to a few watts in a $100 radio getting across a country. Not sure if you mean building or designing and building. But QRP labs has some nice kits.