Facts about amateur radio and radio Hams
All Hams are geeks
Wrong! Some are and their conversation is limited to oscillators, modulators, sine waves and the like but most are sensible like you and me. You must be sensible or you wouldn't have read this far.
I need to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to get on air.
Wrong! You can work some amateur bands very well with a Chinese hand held radio costing less than $50.
All Chinese radios are crap
Wrong! Some are crap but there are some good, cheap Chinese radios that are great value for money. I'll tell you more about them under the Radios section. Just don't expect the performance or build quality you'd get from an Icom or Yaesu radio costing five or six times the price.
I need a really expensive radio and a huge antenna to work DX (long distance)
Wrong! You can make DX contacts very effectively with an entry level HF transceiver and a home built dipole antenna.
You need to learn morse code to get a licence
Wrong! This requirement was done away with years ago.
The exams are really hard
Wrong! The Foundation Licence is very straightforward, the Standard Licence somewhat more challenging and the Advanced Licence requires a fair amount of study if, like me, you're not from a technical background.
XYLs don't like big antennas
True! By the way XYL stands for Excellent Young Lady. For some strange reason most women can't appreciate the beauty of an accurately cut, perfectly tuned dipole.
Wrong! Some are and their conversation is limited to oscillators, modulators, sine waves and the like but most are sensible like you and me. You must be sensible or you wouldn't have read this far.
I need to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to get on air.
Wrong! You can work some amateur bands very well with a Chinese hand held radio costing less than $50.
All Chinese radios are crap
Wrong! Some are crap but there are some good, cheap Chinese radios that are great value for money. I'll tell you more about them under the Radios section. Just don't expect the performance or build quality you'd get from an Icom or Yaesu radio costing five or six times the price.
I need a really expensive radio and a huge antenna to work DX (long distance)
Wrong! You can make DX contacts very effectively with an entry level HF transceiver and a home built dipole antenna.
You need to learn morse code to get a licence
Wrong! This requirement was done away with years ago.
The exams are really hard
Wrong! The Foundation Licence is very straightforward, the Standard Licence somewhat more challenging and the Advanced Licence requires a fair amount of study if, like me, you're not from a technical background.
XYLs don't like big antennas
True! By the way XYL stands for Excellent Young Lady. For some strange reason most women can't appreciate the beauty of an accurately cut, perfectly tuned dipole.