Ham Radio 101: Understanding the Cost of Getting Started

Any hobby done well is expensive. Fishing and Golf cost about a THOUSAND notes to get into - so does Astrophotography (for instance). But how much can we build our first station for? Let's have a look. 73, Callum, M0MCX.
More videos:

[Greg-ghdc]

Great Video. I am a new ham and I'm going through setting up my first HF station. One bit of advice I would give other new hams, is get involved with your local amateur radio club. The club I'm a member of has been an incredibly valuable resource for me as fledgling ham. I have received a lot of good second hand items for free or reduced cost. The clubs are also a resource of expertise which is even more valuable really.

[nessymon]

I must apologise, I've just found you and just getting into all this as a hobby - thanks so much for explaining everything so clearly. Much appreciated.

[neilmasters]

Insightful video as always Cal. The only thing I would add around a handheld is that as you are limited to 10w at Foundation level I found that my Yaesu Ftd 70 enabled me to work digital Wires X through a repeater and work the world on Fusion broadening my experience and making contacts and working countries that I could not at the time have made on HF. I learnt a lot around operating in this way which helped as I developed my operating skills. 73 Neil

[problemwithauthority]

As I was told in my early 20s..."Any hobby worth doing will cost more than you expect it will".

[radiotests]

I will eagerly await this one. Being disabled it's taking months to get back into HF gear. Its so much more than a radio and antenna. The connecting and power gear is 2 to 3 times more than you expect. $250 for a tuner to use that cheap antenna. Ground rods and heavy strap $100.
Connectors and Coax, switches, entry plate, cables between devices, power supply and meter and more and more are well over $800
Add the computer connection and Digital sound card another $2-400. The little things just keep adding up and it will be another year before my used Kenwood TS-590s will be on the air.

[Porco_Utah]

Handheld radio with 1/4 wave antenna even at 144MHz in Japan did pretty well. there was enough FM stations using simplex ( no repeater allowed in 144MHz band ) , but in USA I only used them communicating inside of Costco, mall, so on. AG6JU ex JG6IUB

[julianrobertson]

Well said as always, thank you for your sound advice .

[stevegriffin]

Good morning Calum excellent video. I’m sure A new amateur operator is really overwhelmed with the choices from the radios to the antennas. And like you said don’t spend a whole lot because some of those radios as you know very well or very expensive and overwhelming to operate. Thank you for your time in explaining about the radios and the other accessories that is needed. Hope you have a great week and take care.
WD5ENH
Steve

[kevinkconohelijeepworld]

Remember it’s best to divide the cost of a rig over 365 days of the year it brings you Joy, and great thing they last more then a year so maybe divide that cost by 5yrs and cost of a rig is well worth the $$$☺️it helps justify the cost of that 5yr old kenwood 890 and to be real honest if you bought one on the release day at 3300$ you could sell it for 4500 they re asking today so it’s gained value over most rigs that loose value surprisingly 😳and I’m not even a kenmore appliance guy I like my menus and Yaesu4LIFE fanboy ☺️

[jethrobrowne]

Makes a lot of sense. Wish I knew this when I started.

[patdbean]

You can always connect a handheld to a external colinear antenna. My 5w handheld only gets me into my nearest repeater (2 Miles ) on it's stock antenna. But repeaters 15 to 30 miles away when plugged into my out door diamond x50 at 30ft above ground even at only 5w output.

[gaptastic]

This is an interesting question. My first radio was a Baofeng HT, cause it was cheap. For me, it was good enough. I live in the Metrowest area of Boston (US) and there are a crap load of repeaters with multiple nets almost every night, so I think I hit the ham jackpot. There's also a lot of ham associations. Associations help out extraneous crap.

Because of the high activity in my area, I said, I'm getting my general (month later), then I said "I only have one license left?" and got my Extra. From then on, I kept buying HT's and mobiles.

BUT I'm a gadget junkie and was willing to spend money. I did this with IT security pentesting too.

Location matters a lot. The thing I realized ... I always needed more coax, connectors and accessories. And you should NOT cheap out on coax, wire and connectors.

[MrGrunter]

I only earwig at the moment until I get my license but I picked up an ft990 for £300 that has power supply built in. Made a simple wire horizontal dipole out of some old earth wire I had laying around and I can listen in and learn just fine. I have just ordered a 779uv to give me 70cm and 2m coverage so all in its about £420 to give me upto 30mhz and 2m/70cms which helps keep the interest rather than waiting for the day when I can afford the super fancy gear.

[VKGPU]

I like to think I got into the hobby "on the cheap"... but I've found it's all the little things add up over time. The coax, the connectors, wire for antenna, ferrites.. heaven forbid you don't have a decent soldering iron and misc. tools already! I'm lucky to have a partner with different but also as expensive hobbies - no need to keep it secret :P "Hey I need a new HF radio...." "Sure my love, need some money from savings for it?" :)

[kdopi]

Bang on about handhelds. Buy one, but get an inexpensive model from a major brand.

Good summary, realistic. I’d recommend a good hf starter rig, and a cheap dual band handheld. Play hf all day, use the handheld to hit repeaters and do satellites (crazy fun).

[KarldorisLambley]

i take my foundation exam in a few days, All the stuff about ohms law etc was easy. learning the bands was not, and the stuff about ladders surprised me a great deal. the thing is i hate talking to people. strangers make me uneasy and i get tongue tied. i am worried ill have to talk to strangers. i have no interest in that. i love radio on account of radio being interesting. i want to bounce signals off the moon and time them, get into radio astronomy, listen to Jupiter's decametre transmission. radio is awesome. but talking to strangers, for me, is nightmare.this vid was fantastic, cheers.

[samuelkearney]

The wee wouxan handhelds are brilliant. I have one that does two to three times better than a beofang when the wouxan is on the rubber duck antenna and the beofang is on a 5 element beam.

[jackKFIT]

It's so easy to overdo with ham radio. I've only been in the hobby a couple of years and according to my financial planner (my wife) I have several thousand dollars invested (and she's right but she doesn't know the real figure... so far). I actually did sell an hf radio, manual tuner and external sound card and immediately ordered my DX Commander Classic and some bits and pieces to help with the install. Almost have it up and running. Too hot here to do much work outside except in the morning. Jack K5FIT

[ChoppingtonOtter]

I think in total, including course book, licence, an Anytone 778U and moonraker antenna I got on the air for well under £200. I may eventually have a set up in the house but for now its just in the car to make my commute more interesting. I bought a handheld a couple.of years ago with intent to listen and learn and so far its picked zero. No repeaters near my home in a very rural area.

[dPrint_and_chill]

I have one word. Satellites. A Yagi made from coat hanger and your in business.