What No One Told You About Amateur Radio

Dealing with my top ten ham radio misconceptions! Post yours in the comments!

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Music by Sonic D:

00:00 - WELCOME
00:23 - The Hobby Is HUGE!
01:52 - Want BIG range? Get on HF!
06:34 - Where are the elmers?
08:04 - It Ain’t CHEAP!
09:10 - Some hams don’t like Radio Prepping!
10:29 - Amateur Radio Is not encrypted!
11:07 - You can’t use ham radio on GMRS or CB or vice versa
12:18 - The FCC doesn’t enforce much of anything
13:20 - The Amateur Radio license covers the person, not the radio
14:21 - Amateur Radios are not Smart Phones.

#HRCC #hamradio #amateurradio

[repatch]

To be frank, the biggest problem with this hobby is how hostile some members are to newbies. I know it's just a few rotten apples, but there are very few hobbies I've indulged in where someone asking a 'stupid' question is pounded into the ground so completely. And this is doubly so when dealing with 'legal' issues. This has turned off so many people from the hobby.

[desimonevd]

To me, the open secret of ham radio is that it truly is an expensive hobby. Kudos to you for bringing that up! For someone like myself who has to make ends meet on a non-cola pension that has shrunk due to both rising medical premiums and rising prices, moving away from a handheld to mobile vhf/uhf and HF stations is a tough sell. Don’t get me wrong, the learning experience has kept my mind sharp and I’m glad I got engaged, but… sheesh…

[ADDMDennis]

The TARDIS metaphor is probably the best one-sentence description I've heard in a long while. This video is golden. People need to hear this.

[toddbowles]

Misconception: kids in college want to regularly talk to parents.

[davidharkins]

I’m a newbie for now, but there will come a time I won’t be one and I will be very happy to help someone in need, newbie or oldie it’s all good 👍

[Blackdog]

Miss talking on a CB ( when you dont need a license) and being able to listen to a scanner and picking up police, fire, rescue, etc, BEFORE evrything got encrypted!!!

[mgreenl]

Great video. You make some good points. I’m a newly licensed operator. I’ve been listening to the local 2m “weather and road reports”. It’s about what I expected. I didn’t go get licensed to really talk on the local nets. I did it to 1) support other hobbies where I want long distance tracking and 2) I enjoy the challenge and learning the technical stuff. I’m very mechanically oriented, so the electrical (and electronics) don’t always click with me right away. Amateur radio forces me to learn and practice some of this. Just like doing Arduino or something else.

The folks complaining about others in this hobby, just ignore them and move on. If you read the comments, those people exist in every hobby. Hell, there’s a ton of them on the internet. Life is too short. I (try to) ignore idiots on the internet, at the gun range and at the ham meetings and gravitate towards people that aren’t that way and that are pleasant to be around. You should do the same. Most of those folks behave that way because they want attention. If you don’t give it to them, they tend to drift off to find someone else who will react to them.

[jeffkunce]

I would make a distinction between "emcomm" and "prepper". The first is more about public service - helping other people who are in crisis. The second is about helping myself (and maybe by family and friends) when I am in crisis. Nothing wrong with either, but old-time hams often look down on those who are *only* focused on personal survival.

[Blake-jllh]

I like the way you phrased the issue about consistent communication with the same people. Ive mentioned this in ham circles before and gotten a lot of negative pushback because its hard to distinguish between getting someone on the radio all hours of the day vs anyone on the radio all hours of the day.

[darknerd]

On weekends, what I do to support my radio habit is I am a nurse properly called RN. We have a saying, "Nurses eat there young." Meaning the more experienced nurse instead of sharing and nurturing, spend more time being a detriment to newbies. In Ham radio, it can be the same environment in that the old timers want to spend time condemning instead of encouraging. My own experience is there are old timers that would rather stick to the old ways, and condemn new ways or even "new blood." More often than not there are helpful people willing to bend over backwards to accept a new person or "new blood." But, all you need is one bad apple in the bushel basket to spoil the harvest. My thanks goes out to all those Elmers that took time to share and nurture, I did not make it this far in the hobby alone. Josh, don't sell yourself short you are an Elmer, I have learned so much from 73

[michaelmccollum]

Another misconception: amateur radio is not “like a podcast” … can’t count how many times I’ve had to explain that one.

[tonykomer]

I have to say you are one of the very best positive ambassadors to HAM. After years of being HaM general, the community its has made me very jaded as to their terrible negativity. You, sir, make me excited and are who I turn new ham and those interested I toward. Keep up the FANTASTIC WORK!!!

[johntalbot]

Just entering this world. Excellent content. Thanks. Going to my first club meeting in an hour.

[malenfree]

As a newbie to HAM & GMRS I can tell you that your video was a fantastic primer for me personally - thank you!

[DarkShadowCustoms]

First off, I love the T.A.R.D.I.S. reference and I agree. Amateur radio definitely is bigger on the inside. I had no idea of the world I was stepping into when I first received my license last year.

There are a lot of people going online and into amateur radio related groups on Facebook looking for help. Unfortunately more often than not there is at least one person saying "Do you have a license?" or "You need a license to use that radio." Some other comments are along the lines of "You took the test, it is in the exam and study material." They offer no help, put down anyone who has a hard time understanding something, and act like they are better than anyone who isn't licensed. Those same people then turn around and complain about how the hobby needs more people involved. That is enough to make some feel very unwelcomed in the hobby so they stop pursuing their interest if they are looking into getting their license or not even bother with staying in the hobby if they are newly licensed. I am glad I belong to a welcoming club that is willing to mentor new hams.

[donnakano]

The thing about amateur radio is that it is what you make of it. If someone wants to buy a $25 Baofeng and use it to talk to their friends nearby, that is fine. If they want to build a moon bounce array, that’s also fine. While I have participated in contests, field days, etc., I am hardly a hard core contester and have been criticized for not behaving like a contester with a 12 element yagi and a full gallon. I find long CW ragchewing to be relaxing. I find experimenting with antennas interesting. There are thousands of facets of our hobby that are available, so no one has tried it all.

[pthithic]

A much needed, *straight to the point* video to keep handy for new people that ask these questions

[allenshepard]

Very helpful.
I would add - Electricians are safer than math wiz kids. There are some dangerous voltages once the cover is removed.
Trees can kill a signal so find an open park. While a cell phone can reach anywhere in the US, a 20Watt rig will not. Be prepared for sticker shock past 100Watts.
Keep to the band plan. Stay in frequency.
Yes it is fun. Each band kinda needs its own rig. SDR is changing this but not fast enough.

[nathanielsutton]

This is exactly what I've been searching for (off&on) for months. Thank you, Sir. Thumbed, Subbed, and Commented.

[kaku]

Fantastic video. As someone toying with the idea of getting into radio, this sheds a lot of light on the realities of the hobby.