What is so cool in ham radio and why is it worth the efforts and the time?
People ask. They worry when they don’t understand. Are they missing out on something or am I just crazy?… I need to explain. I don’t want make people worrying about themselves 🙂
There could be many notes on top of what is already written below. I may add some more later. They are very subjective. At the same time, I found many similarities with stories of other people’s lives, especially, in terms of when in their lives the caught a bug called ham radio.
Is it hobby or what?
It is certainly not a business. At least, not yet. I am trying to prevent my passions from conflicting for the time and resources.Â
Thus, answering your question, if you spend money on it, the ham radio is a hobby, from this perspective.
But this activity is so penetrating in your life and so defining on what you do, when you do, and how you do, that it becomes a lifestyle rather than just a hobby, for example:
- Previously I traveled where the diving was good or traveled to the countries, which I hadn’t visited before. Now I am checking whether the location is a DX country and whether I can bring there my equipment and get a local call sign operate in the country
- I have never thought or even considered having a cottage. Now, I rented it right away to escape the radio noise of the city when the operating the radio in the field became too cold and practically impossible
It is very technical
You have to have pretty deep technical knowledge and skills, I would say, even scientific knowledge on some level to enjoy the ham radio to the full extent. Well, there are many sub-activities, in fact. But I am referring to those that I enjoy the most: DXing, building and testing equipment and antennas, solo DXexpeditions.
I am an engineer. It is always technical.
In my previous life, I have been building antennas, transceivers, their elements: low-noise amplifiers, voltage-controlled oscillators with as low phase-noise as possible, and mixers with as high IP3 point to build as high-dynamic range transceivers as possible. Built, tested in the air, and built again.
Everything what I am professionally stems our from the radio. All my skills in electronics come from there. It is very fundamental to what I am.
It is very deep inside me
I was deep into radio far earlier than I met my wife or had kids. I met the majority of my friends and colleagues after I was enchanted by radio.
And the radio is deep in me. It has been hiding for years because I have been moving between the countries and living in the centers of capitals with limited practical possibility for the radio and antennas. But it suddenly exploded inside me, showing that the passion never left me. It had been patiently waiting for its moment.
The moment suddenly came when we flooded our neighbors below in Almaty. No home insurance in the rented apartment and no upper limit in the financial exposure. Pretty bad and very uncertain situation that kept my mood low for months because of high uncertainty and the lack of control.
I don’t know how things were linked in my head but I thought that for the money I would waste on unknown to me people I could have built a great radio station that I had been self-deprived for years. Why radio station? – why not diving in Galapagos, which I haven’t visited yet? – I don’t know.
What the heck! As a result of the mental explosion, I got my Finnish license in a few weeks, and my new radio life started flourishing and blossoming,Â
It is very weird. But it is probably like coming out for gays. Right after coming out, you feel a relief and a pure joy because you don’t have to hide who you really are and you can enjoy your nature.
It is closer to gods that one may realize
Even more, you may have the great propagation. You are a DX station, and you are called by dozens of stations simultaneously. And then the propagation is dying and everything is fading away.Â
It is really like dying. Just minutes ago everything was very bright and booming and now everything is faded away and becoming pale…
It is a very philosophical moment of transition from active life … to another life … or no life…
I love traveling and seeing new things. It is clearly a waste of money. But I started doing that many years ago and it is too late to stop practicing and enjoying it.
But when you travel, you need a point. A destination and a self-justified excuse to go there.
The point itself may not be as important. It must be appealing enough to start moving yourself towards the point. The point in traveling is traveling itself – the way, the route, the surprise, the discovery, the unknown.
Thus, traveling to the same place is a different form of traveling than traveling to new places: discovery vs. expected pleasure. Discovery is not necessary a pleasure in its common meaning. But if you survived the trip and can recover reasonably well, it is an achievement and joy in itself.
Using ham radio as a new point for traveling bring a whole new layer, a whole new angle.
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