this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2025
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What Can We Do to Get Youth into Ham Radio? (www.onallbands.com)
submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This really showcases how out of touch most hams are. $800 just to get your foot in the door is completely unreasonable. OR you could buy a broken piece of junk for $300 that you have to fix yourself? Good god.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's a misrepresentation.

800 for the last radio you'll ever need. I didn't say start with it.

4 to 500 for a middle ground radio.

300 if you want to learn to fix it, it's a feature not a bug. And it's not for everyone, I never said it was.

You can get a 5w HF radio for $100, plenty to learn on, but can be frustrating if the solar cycle is down.

If you really want to get your foot in the door, get your foot out the door and over to your local club, they lend you gear, or even give it to you and has happened to me a time or two when I was starting. Or you can use their club station, or go out and do a POTA with someone. That's what I do with my buddies kids, and they love it ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ

There's plenty to do, nobody is trying to gate keep here. It's just a hobby with a very high cost ceiling, and a lot of people who've been doing it for decades and built up equipment stores. It's a lot to come into, and yes we do need to be more welcoming.

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS.

Do you think people are made of money? I'm not spending $100 on a hobby I don't even know if I'll like yet. Out of touch indeed. My dude if I can manage to put $50 in my savings account on any random month, that is a fantastic month for me.

One dude in the article spent $25,000 on his gear, that's more than twice what I spent on my car!

My budget is $20 max to start. If and only if I enjoy it will I possibly consider spending months and months of savings to buy better gear. You want more hams, start here.

And all of this is just for the transceiver! None of your costs account for antenna, wiring, coax, antenna tuners, etc. etc. and it assumes you have SPACE for these giant antennas in the first place, which I do not.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Kind reminder that words have meaning, and your tone, to me at least, is coming across very combative. I'm just trying to have a conversation ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ

I'm sorry that $100 is out of your reach. The economy isn't getting any better, it seems.

Truly it seems to me that based on your requirements for hobbies, this is one you may have to pass up. Which stinks, but sometimes that's how it goes.

For a lot of people, $100 is still a lot of money, but not out of the realm of possibility for a hobby startup. If they were interested, that is.

All that said, going to a club and hanging out with people who have the equipment and would love to share and teach you, is completely free, and a valid option. My club's radio room is open every Saturday for anyone who wants to warm some clouds with RF. If you're not licensed, someone will sit with you so you can use their callsign.

There are some crusty old curmudgeony farts in this hobby, sure. But if you only ever look at the negative, you'll never see the positive. Lot of chill people, some normal, some weird, all harmless, who want to help you ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ