From: Jason White <whitewaterssoftwareinfo@gmail.com>
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. <piclist@mit.edu>
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Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2020 05:35:50 -0700
Subject: [OT] Socializing over Ham radio? (as a "young person", and the
	usability of the upper HF bands)
Thread-Topic: [OT] Socializing over Ham radio? (as a "young person", and the
	usability of the upper HF bands)
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Hi everyone,

I'm a fairly recent college graduate. The socially awkward engineering
type. I was wondering if Ham radio could be a viable way to "expand one's
social circle" - perhaps by participating in local ham club nets.

My impression is that ham radio consists predominantly of retirement age
folk. And, that outside of university/college run ham clubs that I'd be
unlikely to encounter many people my own age.

With the advent of "advanced" digital modes - the distinction between the
experience of talking over the radio and talking in an internet chat room
is blurred. I find myself questioning the value of investing in tbe
purchase and setup radio equipment/antennas.

I got a technician license in 2015 and a Boefeng UV-5 handheld radio. At
the time the goal was to tinker with and build some RF circuits and
socialize. I found that the local 2M nets were not much to my liking - my
transmit power was low, and even on close repeaters I rarely could manage
to get a single word in due to the eagerness of the other participants to
speak.

I was recently granted a general class license. The thinking being that
perhaps DX (international contacts) and local nets on the HF bands might
provide a better experience. However, now that I have gotten my license and
am looking at the investment involved in getting a radio and a 40m dipole
set up in a suburban area - I find myself wondering about the value that it
would provide to me.

Additionally, I've read that the sunspot cycle is at an all time low. My
limited understanding of ionospheric radio propogation is that many of the
shorter wavelength bands (that use more reasonably sized dipoles) can be
marginal without high gain antennas and high transmission power levels at
this point in the solar cycle.

I'm going to cut off my post here. I look forward to hearing the advice of
others - even if only tangentially related.

-Jason White




--=20
Jason White
--=20
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