That’s good. A big thing people forget though, is practice. If you’ve only ever used them a few times, it can be hard to remember the details of how they work or if they work, and what to expect from them when they’re working.
That’s what makes ham radio so great, you practice at least semi regularly, or as much as you want. Plus the distances you’re capable of are much larger, if that’s important to you. Sometimes local is more important.
POTA is fun. Everyone is so chill. I only get out a few times a year these days, but I love setting up in the woods. I should do it more.
To add to that, if you learn Morse code, you can use the lowest license level to use all the bands, and talk around the world with quite low power. The radios for this are cheaper, and the whole thing can be made even cheaper with things like 3d printing.
Now I know most people aren’t gonna do that. But it’s interesting that Morse code not only still exists, but is thriving. Right now, as you read this, people are having conversations with Morse code. Literally 24/7 around the world, over radio. Pretty cool stuff.
It’s hard to learn, I’ve technically learned it, but I never got super proficient, and now I’m rusty haha. There are apps for keeping sharp, I should do that.
Do it! It’s great fun. Dipoles work well. I’ve found verticals to be even easier to set up, and perform good enough for POTA
Are you able to go to a park outside the city and operate? With low noise, you’d be surprised how far you can go with QRP. There are plenty of inexpensive ($100-150) rigs that can do that. Paired with a bit of rope, wire, and coax, you can rig up a cheap antenna pretty easy 👍
Have you heard of the truSDX? It’ll do 5 to 8 watts ish, depending on the band and how you power it.
I bought a big group buy kit and have some left over, if you want one for the cost of the parts plus shipping I can send you one, just DM me. It came to like $50 per unit. In fact if anyone reading this wants in on that just message me, I have a few that I really don’t need to keep holding on to 👍
Edit: additionally, if you want more power, you can try buying something broken and learn to fix it. That’s what I did for my first linear amplifier, an SB 200. Then later I bought a Kenwood TS-530, broken, no transmit. Paid $200 I think? Turns out the switches were just dirty 🤷♂️
The amplifier needed more work though. Probably came out a little behind on that, after upgrading some parts too. But now it’s mine, and I’m never getting rid of it.
Came here to say Mariners revenge. Love that song.
I have a portable hard drive that uses this. I haven’t bought a new cable yet, limiting me to USB 2 speeds. Bleh.
Always removed about anything else?
Same, I loved that show. None of my friends remember it though 🤷♂️
Always use two fuses! Need to fuse the ground lead as well because the antenna is bonded to frame of the car!