> The philosophy of the ARRL seems to be get everyone on 2 meter FM
> with an HT, immediately. I think that is how most hams get started
> today. They may then migrate to HF, to SSB on VHF, or lose interest
> all together.
I got my start in ham radio with a bunch of friends. We all hung out
on a 2m repeater with lots of technical chatter, and had a 2m fm group
simplex freq. Then, I moved away. The new 2m repeaters were devoid of
open community chatter and I didn't have any ham friends to work simplex.
CQs went unanswered; my rigs went unused.
Fast forward ten years. I learned cw and found a wonderfully warm
commuity of hf qrp operators! Then I discovered VHF ssb and suddenly
realized that there had been an equally wonderful community all around me
-- we were simply never introduced! Had my second rig been a 6m ssb
rather than another 2m, my radios wouldn't have been in boxes all those
years! Funny that it took getting my Extra to learn that my old Tech
license offered almost everything I ever wanted out of radio :).
Now-a-days, my recommendations for new [tech class] hams are A) the
ubiquitous fm HT, and B) a 6m cw/ssb rig. The FM rig will get you on the
repeaters, give you simplex, and allow you participate in service events.
The sideband rig will give you an outlet for rag chewing, contests, and a
taste of the dx magic that inspired the hobby in the first place.
FM gets you on the air, but for a great many of us, it provides
neither the community nor the the challenges needed to keep the hobby
interesting. I wish more new hams could be effectively introduced to the
worlds of cw or vhf side band. I think we'd keep a lot more of them.
--
Jessie Oberreuter
joberreu@moselle.com
"He's a bit on edge, Mr. Johnston -- he hasn't slept since 1945."
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