[geeks] Moved to geeks: Cheap Ham radios (was Dayton Hamfest)

[wa2egp at att.net]

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Anthony Ortenzi" <geeks at litfire.com>
>
> Sridhar Ayengar said:
> > Please don't feed the trolls.  8-)
> 
> Please do explain, though, why people care about HAM.  At this point in
> time, as someone who's not been involved in HAM, it looks like long-range CB
> with cranky ol' geeks on it.
> 
> In this day and age with communications like push-to-talk cell phones
> reminiscent of Star Trek communicators, the only appeal I can see in HAM is
> the way that you're closer in involvement to the transmission medium... that
> somehow remaining uninvolved with complex communication networks which
> "smartly" route your voice, you have a more "direct" connection with the
> person with whom you're talking.
> 
> Which, of course, could be discounted as a dorky nostalgia.
> 
> The "we'll be the only ones left after the big war" thing doesn't help with
> that impression.
> 
> I'm open to hearing wonderful stories, but I can't, for the life of me,
> understand the draw.
> 
> -Anthony

Same reason why some on this list will pick up computer equipment that's been tossed by a company, left an orphan by its maker and best left to a landfill and try to get it going again and find some use for it.  We enjoy it.  I like "dorky nostalgia".  I never know who I'm going to talk to and have made numerous friends locally and worldwide.  There are so many aspects of the hobby, it's hard to explain them all.  For me, I think I got my license to legally try the home build radios to see if they work. :)  I still find it amazing that a signal can be sent out and received at a microwatt level using just the ionosphere rather than a multi-million dollar infrastructure.   And I can build the equipment.  Takes no talent to use a cell phone.

Bob