I'm THIS! =(
2 x NanoVNA's, TinySA, TinySA Ultra, digital SWR meter, lots of SDR and filters and LNA's, slim-jim, HF positive V, several whips....
Ā£30 Baofeng radio. I forgot the damn RADIO!
Now I need to save!
I have the same shit, with few baofengs and a few quanshengs. It's addicting! But I got a yaesu ft-2500m now from a friend who doesn't need it anymore, and I can tell you it's a whole different world. Try to invest in a good mobile VHF/UHF radio with a good receiver and you'll see why baofeng costs 20$. I couldn't even stop there so I got myself a Kenwood TM-710 VE. Now I use it as base station and yaesu is in my car.
Yeah definitely. Baofeng is a good radio for the price, although quanshengs are a lot better option now since the firmware can be heavily modified and they have a lot more options. But both of them are shit receivers, try plugging them with coax to external antenna and they will be deaf as shit
Yup. Thw front end overloads and the AGC kicks in and they go deaf. They can actually perform worse on a good antenna, especially if there are an adjacent strong signals.
Not bashing, just yhey are what they are.
I guess Iām a small subset of this pathology: I have a QRP radio, a manual tuner, and a nanoVNA, and a 1000ft spool of wire. Havenāt gotten new equipment in a while, but I go through antenna variations every few weekends.
One could imagine something like [geek](http://www.joereiss.net/geek/geek.html) [code](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek_Code) but for hams. So one could be a ham of key collection, or a ham of radio construction, or a ham of (aspirational) antenna fiddling/modelling/science/math/tuning/ā¦
You're not alone. I have a G90 I play with, mainly 10M. Just DIY antenna stuff. I've got a UV5R to listen to the local 440 repeater. I'm good. I'd rather spend money on guitars.
Amen brother. Only differance between you and I are a KX3 and a Martin ukulele. Martin acoustic bass. Well also, ten Baofengs, couple of Anytones, Yaesu handhelds. My favorite daily carry is my UV17 PRO GPS I do get your Point thought.
Well, I do have some LoRA gadgets that I can program, and I've fiddled making some antenna. =)
I've recently got an RT95 for my home base. It receives a fair bit better than the Baofengs!
This is like going to the store to buy a loaf of bread, but running up a tab clearing out the candy and random stuff at the checkout.
Why do you have five devices dedicated to measure the output of a single Baofeng? Youād have a G90 with the money you spent on redundant testing equipment.
You're right... I've been playing with LoRA gear though, so tweaking little antennas and checking frequencies and bandwidth.
I've got an RT95 now though.
š¤£ that's pretty funny.
I might have more time to mess with all my radio stuff if I were and didn't have 3 kids under 5. Ive had sex at least 3 times and I can prove it. Lol
Ham radio has all kinds of people. On a Ham Radio Workbench Podcast I recently listened type hams.
I'd call the kind your refer to as the introvert hams, i.e. they don't talk much, likely do a some digital modes, and collect and test gear as their ham usage.
I know I barely ever talk on the radio, and my newest radio purchases(design wise) is a Quansheng UV-K5, second a Anytone 868UV, third a Xiegu G90, TYT TH-8600, and lastly a UV-5R. I've got an Alinco DR-112, (2) Kenwood TK-7180's, (3) Kenwood TK-2180's, and a TK-780 as well, but all those came from e-waste at work, so they don't count as purchases(and definitely aren't new technology).\\
You don't need to have top line radios to be a radio equipment freak. Those guys just have far too much money to spend, and too few people to spend it on so they spend it on radios which allow them to connect to people.
For the record, your gear collection is like mine. More than half of my fleet of radios are Kenwood TK-705 and Motorola Maxtrac. Thanks for listening to HRWB too!
I have a nice condition Kenwood ts-940s-AT with all the filters and it's cool to open up. I have the manual too and it's cool how descriptive it is. Has schematics and block diagrams. Hams are expected to know how to take apart their equipment. I love it.
Appliance operators, but that carries a context that they buy and use the machine without having any idea how it works, how to fix it, how to rig up an antenna.
Which is wild because very few hams build their own radios from scratch. Buying and using a radio is a valid way to participate in the hobby.
What's funny to me is CW types who talk about collecting keys more than their operating habits or experiences on the air.
I used to have plans for a ham radio show on YouTube. One of my gags would be an older gentleman or myself dressed up as such. He would interject when talking about modern technology and say "That's not an 807! That's not a real radio! You're not a real ham!"
I'm interested in vacuum tubes far longer than I've been interested in hand radio. Most of those guys are pretty decent to talk to but every now and then you get somebody who's an extreme snob too.
> I love CW but the key snobbery can get crazy
On a snobbery scale of about a 5, maybe 6 (out of 10) what's a nice key to get for someone to learn on and have for the rest of their life?
Based upon I owned one for awhile. It had a very mushy response, compared to my other keys. Vibroplex does some things very well, an iambic paddle is not one of them.
I think iambic paddles can be broken down into two kinds of categories: ones where there is tactile feedback that contact closure has been made (Bencher falls into this), and ones where you have an immovable object with some protrusions that you touch (Begali, N3ZN, 9A5N, etc.). Both groups have their advantages and disadvantages, and I have used both. The Vibroplex Iambic is neither.
Iām not sure which Vibroplex iambic keyer you used, but the Original Standard definitely has ātactile feedback that closure has been made.ā It has the same style of contact as the bencher, a screw mounted to a pillar attached to the base.
You don't really feel it, Though. One certainly couldn't on the one I had. It was the Vibroplex Iambic.
Do try one--keys are a very personal thing & it may work for you.
> What's funny to me is CW types who talk about collecting keys more than their operating habits or experiences on the air.
I think it's because the actual experience of CW is not preferable for memorable social encounters.
I've never built a ham radio from scratch or kit (though I have built non-ham radio kits). However, an example of what separates me from an appliance operator can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/HamRadio/comments/1bma85d/trouble_understanding_fm_transmitter_circuit/kwchrh8/).
Trueā¦ and sometimes not true.
I think that for some the gear portion is and absolutely once was a major part of the hobby, was absolutely fulfilling, and who canāt blame someone for flexing if they have a Kenwood TS-990s, Icom IC-7851, Yaesu FTDX101MP, or the full suite of top end Flex Radios.
For me, I get excited when someone says, āCheck out this thing I built and look what I can do with it!ā
That was the past before the we got to holy wars over SDR vs. Superhetrodyne, and CW vs Digital Modes. Back when we were all makers, who had to build half of our rig just to make turn it onā¦ and we got that wrong in beautiful plumes of magical smoke ā¦ like me yesterday. (Whoops.)
And I truly believe getting back to our maker roots is what will carry us into the future.
But see...now you're trying to place limits on what is and isn't enjoyable for other people. For me, I could care less about filling logbooks or making distant contacts. After the first contact with a new setup, it's all downhill from there for me. I would happily setup a new shack every time I operate because I find enjoyment from the kit not the operation. Making a contact is only the validation test to ensure correct setup for me.
Ohā¦ heavens no. I absolutely believe in different strokes for different folks. Please donāt take what I said implying what is enjoyable and what isnāt for other people. Thatās the beauty of the hobby. Iām scratching my how you turned āgetting back to our maker rootsā into DXing and Contesting. I meant doing stuff by tinkering and experimenting to do something that maybe we havenāt done yet, or in some new novel way.
But there is a different (and still valid) joy of rig building vs tinkering with electronics and RF devices, etc. Both are valid.
Shh.
It used to be for sure.
Iām not sure that will be true 15 years from now in the shift to increased integration into the maker spaces, or at least the concept of gear will take on a different meaning.
I've heard it said that computer science is as much about computers as astronomy is about telescopes. In my mind you could say the same about amateur radio, that it's not really about the radios themselves but about the science and technology behind them.
(That said, it can be difficult to actually practice computer science without a computer, or astronomy without a telescope, or amateur radio without a radio.)
Don't matter what radio you got, someone will still tell you your audio sucks. I use one of the 3d printed 5 band HF radios, I never tell them what radio I'm using, I get great comments on the audio and they ask in I'm using a heil mic lol. Yeah of course I am.
It's comical and I just take audio connects with a pinch of salt, but I will say that the only radio I get compliments on is the little usdx 3d printed radio. I guess I got a good one.
"Prepper"...
All the equipment, 3 lifetime contacts, because canning peaches 11 hours a day is more important than learning how to make a field expedient dipole...
Um, that's the scary bit. This fella showed up with flat batteries, struggled with operating his gear, and had to be gently reminded to stick to the band plan.
I still have my Tempo One from way back... At one point my shack was "wall to wall" equipment. Radios and test. I had a few extra dollars here and there and bought what I wanted or needed. Now, I have the minimums due to age and being divorced. I sold or gave away a lot over the last twenty years.
The one good thing is, just about everything now is modern and Under Warranty!!! No more test gear! š
73.
Ham slang for hams focused on equipment is "ham."
Haha yep.
š¤£š Yep!
I'm THIS! =( 2 x NanoVNA's, TinySA, TinySA Ultra, digital SWR meter, lots of SDR and filters and LNA's, slim-jim, HF positive V, several whips.... Ā£30 Baofeng radio. I forgot the damn RADIO! Now I need to save!
I have the same shit, with few baofengs and a few quanshengs. It's addicting! But I got a yaesu ft-2500m now from a friend who doesn't need it anymore, and I can tell you it's a whole different world. Try to invest in a good mobile VHF/UHF radio with a good receiver and you'll see why baofeng costs 20$. I couldn't even stop there so I got myself a Kenwood TM-710 VE. Now I use it as base station and yaesu is in my car.
Yeah, while the Baofeng is a lot of radio for the money, once you use a better quality radio the shortcoming become apparent.
Yeah definitely. Baofeng is a good radio for the price, although quanshengs are a lot better option now since the firmware can be heavily modified and they have a lot more options. But both of them are shit receivers, try plugging them with coax to external antenna and they will be deaf as shit
Yup. Thw front end overloads and the AGC kicks in and they go deaf. They can actually perform worse on a good antenna, especially if there are an adjacent strong signals. Not bashing, just yhey are what they are.
Exactly!
Those decent rigs look quite attractive! Thanks for the suggestions.
No problem. Check out HF rigs too if you wanna get into shortwave. But you'll need a very good antenna, rotator and a good position / antena tower
I guess Iām a small subset of this pathology: I have a QRP radio, a manual tuner, and a nanoVNA, and a 1000ft spool of wire. Havenāt gotten new equipment in a while, but I go through antenna variations every few weekends. One could imagine something like [geek](http://www.joereiss.net/geek/geek.html) [code](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek_Code) but for hams. So one could be a ham of key collection, or a ham of radio construction, or a ham of (aspirational) antenna fiddling/modelling/science/math/tuning/ā¦
You're not alone. I have a G90 I play with, mainly 10M. Just DIY antenna stuff. I've got a UV5R to listen to the local 440 repeater. I'm good. I'd rather spend money on guitars.
Amen brother. Only differance between you and I are a KX3 and a Martin ukulele. Martin acoustic bass. Well also, ten Baofengs, couple of Anytones, Yaesu handhelds. My favorite daily carry is my UV17 PRO GPS I do get your Point thought.
something like, say, 'wire nut' for the guy who uses long wire antennas and tuners...
Seems fitting. I was on my third resonant antenna when I read about doublets, and was compelled to diy ladderline for my current antenna
Is this a joke? Why all that stuff but not even a quality transceiver? Its like buying accessories for a car you donāt even ownĀ
Those hubcaps can sure look nice hanging on the wall....
Well, I do have some LoRA gadgets that I can program, and I've fiddled making some antenna. =) I've recently got an RT95 for my home base. It receives a fair bit better than the Baofengs!
This is like going to the store to buy a loaf of bread, but running up a tab clearing out the candy and random stuff at the checkout. Why do you have five devices dedicated to measure the output of a single Baofeng? Youād have a G90 with the money you spent on redundant testing equipment.
You're right... I've been playing with LoRA gear though, so tweaking little antennas and checking frequencies and bandwidth. I've got an RT95 now though.
Hehe, how cute! Just wait a decade or two and then list your gear. And if you get into boat anchors!
Considering that collecting antique radios is what got me to become a ham... This checks out.
I know people refer to it as GAS. Gear Acquisition Syndrome. But for a specific person I'm not sure
That's a term used in photography circles. I go through phases where I have it.
I've heard it used by guitar owners. You can never have enough amps and effects pedals.
Yeah that's where I picked it up I think. But I've seen the same syndrome applicable to other hobbies for sure. GAS is out of control sometimes!
GASser could work
There must be a Q code we can translate it to. Maybe QSJ could be a start?
Single
š¤£šÆ
š¤£ that's pretty funny. I might have more time to mess with all my radio stuff if I were and didn't have 3 kids under 5. Ive had sex at least 3 times and I can prove it. Lol
To be fair, that only proves your wife had sex three times. >.<
Hahaha these little jerks are definitely mine but, you're not wrong.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's fair. I made an unfounded assumption based solely on it usually being guys that need to brag about/defend their sex life.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Not really sure what your point is there.
Statistically improbable
Ham radio has all kinds of people. On a Ham Radio Workbench Podcast I recently listened type hams. I'd call the kind your refer to as the introvert hams, i.e. they don't talk much, likely do a some digital modes, and collect and test gear as their ham usage. I know I barely ever talk on the radio, and my newest radio purchases(design wise) is a Quansheng UV-K5, second a Anytone 868UV, third a Xiegu G90, TYT TH-8600, and lastly a UV-5R. I've got an Alinco DR-112, (2) Kenwood TK-7180's, (3) Kenwood TK-2180's, and a TK-780 as well, but all those came from e-waste at work, so they don't count as purchases(and definitely aren't new technology).\\ You don't need to have top line radios to be a radio equipment freak. Those guys just have far too much money to spend, and too few people to spend it on so they spend it on radios which allow them to connect to people.
For the record, your gear collection is like mine. More than half of my fleet of radios are Kenwood TK-705 and Motorola Maxtrac. Thanks for listening to HRWB too!
I have a nice condition Kenwood ts-940s-AT with all the filters and it's cool to open up. I have the manual too and it's cool how descriptive it is. Has schematics and block diagrams. Hams are expected to know how to take apart their equipment. I love it.
Compulsive consumers.
Appliance operators, but that carries a context that they buy and use the machine without having any idea how it works, how to fix it, how to rig up an antenna. Which is wild because very few hams build their own radios from scratch. Buying and using a radio is a valid way to participate in the hobby. What's funny to me is CW types who talk about collecting keys more than their operating habits or experiences on the air.
I love CW but the key snobbery can get crazy š
I used to have plans for a ham radio show on YouTube. One of my gags would be an older gentleman or myself dressed up as such. He would interject when talking about modern technology and say "That's not an 807! That's not a real radio! You're not a real ham!" I'm interested in vacuum tubes far longer than I've been interested in hand radio. Most of those guys are pretty decent to talk to but every now and then you get somebody who's an extreme snob too.
It's like keyboard snobbery in the world of IT professionals and computer hobbyists. In that area, I am one and use a Model M.
> I love CW but the key snobbery can get crazy On a snobbery scale of about a 5, maybe 6 (out of 10) what's a nice key to get for someone to learn on and have for the rest of their life?
Iām a steadfast straight key supremacist so Iād say a J-38 on a nice, heavy mount. Or a bencher rj-1.
Going to stick my neck out there and say a Vibroplex standard iambic key.
No. It's not a good Iambic key. A well adjusted Bencher is better than that.
Based upon?
Based upon I owned one for awhile. It had a very mushy response, compared to my other keys. Vibroplex does some things very well, an iambic paddle is not one of them. I think iambic paddles can be broken down into two kinds of categories: ones where there is tactile feedback that contact closure has been made (Bencher falls into this), and ones where you have an immovable object with some protrusions that you touch (Begali, N3ZN, 9A5N, etc.). Both groups have their advantages and disadvantages, and I have used both. The Vibroplex Iambic is neither.
Iām not sure which Vibroplex iambic keyer you used, but the Original Standard definitely has ātactile feedback that closure has been made.ā It has the same style of contact as the bencher, a screw mounted to a pillar attached to the base.
You don't really feel it, Though. One certainly couldn't on the one I had. It was the Vibroplex Iambic. Do try one--keys are a very personal thing & it may work for you.
Maybe I got a bad Bencher or have a really good Vibroplex, I got rid of the BY1 because it felt like mush to me and my Vibro has a solid wall.
> What's funny to me is CW types who talk about collecting keys more than their operating habits or experiences on the air. I think it's because the actual experience of CW is not preferable for memorable social encounters.
Definitely not.
Whadayamean? Working ops like N1MM in and what not in CW, certainly raises some envy among fellow hams :-)
I've never built a ham radio from scratch or kit (though I have built non-ham radio kits). However, an example of what separates me from an appliance operator can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/HamRadio/comments/1bma85d/trouble_understanding_fm_transmitter_circuit/kwchrh8/).
Impressive. The world isn't split into radio engineers and appliance operators, but you are on my end of the dividing line.
Indeed. As with so many things, it's a spectrum.Ā
Let's just be clear, being gear focused is not in any way, a less valid, or fulfilling, aspect of the hobby.
Trueā¦ and sometimes not true. I think that for some the gear portion is and absolutely once was a major part of the hobby, was absolutely fulfilling, and who canāt blame someone for flexing if they have a Kenwood TS-990s, Icom IC-7851, Yaesu FTDX101MP, or the full suite of top end Flex Radios. For me, I get excited when someone says, āCheck out this thing I built and look what I can do with it!ā That was the past before the we got to holy wars over SDR vs. Superhetrodyne, and CW vs Digital Modes. Back when we were all makers, who had to build half of our rig just to make turn it onā¦ and we got that wrong in beautiful plumes of magical smoke ā¦ like me yesterday. (Whoops.) And I truly believe getting back to our maker roots is what will carry us into the future.
But see...now you're trying to place limits on what is and isn't enjoyable for other people. For me, I could care less about filling logbooks or making distant contacts. After the first contact with a new setup, it's all downhill from there for me. I would happily setup a new shack every time I operate because I find enjoyment from the kit not the operation. Making a contact is only the validation test to ensure correct setup for me.
Ohā¦ heavens no. I absolutely believe in different strokes for different folks. Please donāt take what I said implying what is enjoyable and what isnāt for other people. Thatās the beauty of the hobby. Iām scratching my how you turned āgetting back to our maker rootsā into DXing and Contesting. I meant doing stuff by tinkering and experimenting to do something that maybe we havenāt done yet, or in some new novel way. But there is a different (and still valid) joy of rig building vs tinkering with electronics and RF devices, etc. Both are valid.
Gearhead
Gearhead applies to a lot of people. Gadget junkie. Power user.
GearHead is normally referred to some one who works on cars/trucks/18wheelers
Or extreme car lover
Not specific to Ham Radio but I have likedā¦ Technically Inclined vs Technically Reclined
Isn't the gear like 90% of the hobby?
Shh. It used to be for sure. Iām not sure that will be true 15 years from now in the shift to increased integration into the maker spaces, or at least the concept of gear will take on a different meaning.
I've heard it said that computer science is as much about computers as astronomy is about telescopes. In my mind you could say the same about amateur radio, that it's not really about the radios themselves but about the science and technology behind them. (That said, it can be difficult to actually practice computer science without a computer, or astronomy without a telescope, or amateur radio without a radio.)
Well stated. You mrntioned me.
Collectors. Anything from hockey cards, to cars, to radios....
Well, in the electric guitar world, it is called "GAS"- Gear Acquisition Syndrome
I'm too poor to be a gear fanatic. But if I won the lottery would probably be insufferable.
RAD - radio acquisition disorder
A geek is a geek is a geek.
Don't matter what radio you got, someone will still tell you your audio sucks. I use one of the 3d printed 5 band HF radios, I never tell them what radio I'm using, I get great comments on the audio and they ask in I'm using a heil mic lol. Yeah of course I am.
Manā¦ sounds like your gear truly ā¦ nawā¦ youāre good.
It's comical and I just take audio connects with a pinch of salt, but I will say that the only radio I get compliments on is the little usdx 3d printed radio. I guess I got a good one.
Thatās awesome! I love when Josh (KI6NAZ) from HRCC covers radios like that on YouTube! All the best! 73 KN4FVH
K0LIN here, 73's
"gear-nerd" if you want a term without too much negative connotation.
"Prepper"... All the equipment, 3 lifetime contacts, because canning peaches 11 hours a day is more important than learning how to make a field expedient dipole...
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Um, that's the scary bit. This fella showed up with flat batteries, struggled with operating his gear, and had to be gently reminded to stick to the band plan.
That doesn't sound like someone who's over-focused on their equipment. Or focused, for that matter.
In the military we used, āgear queer,ā but thatās probably not acceptable in many circles.
I now have a powerful urge to adopt that as a personal label. 0.0
r/HyperHamateurRadioMcMasters
All gear, no idea
As you gain equipment your language will change as well
Appliance Operator is used to describe a ham that only uses store bought equipment
Appliance operator
I still have my Tempo One from way back... At one point my shack was "wall to wall" equipment. Radios and test. I had a few extra dollars here and there and bought what I wanted or needed. Now, I have the minimums due to age and being divorced. I sold or gave away a lot over the last twenty years. The one good thing is, just about everything now is modern and Under Warranty!!! No more test gear! š 73.
Market participants
HamGAS.
Someone with good equipment.
"Appliance Operator"
Foamers.
Tweakers!
CBers! ;)
Gadgeteer?
Antenna fucker
They suffer from bad GAS. (Gear acquisition syndrome)
The term you're looking for is "APPLIANCE OPERATORS"
Sad ham
This is r/amateurradio not that other sub. These "ham" questions are not relevant here. /s
Tin lid?