Well, I went to a much smaller Hamfest and scored big.
(snip)
There was a guy selling stuff he thought was made of solid platinum. A dual band Kenwood TM-621 (2m/220Mhz) was going for $300! He also had a Kenwood TH-315 220Mhz handheld with the fast charger and he wanted $200 for that. I got a Yaesu FT-109 220 HT for $60 on eBay not a month ago. His stuff was still there when I left.
Good grief. 220 gear has always commanded a premium, but that's a bit over the top for that TH-315 and TM-621, unless they were basically NIB...
I intended to go to the Manassas hamfest »manassashamfest.org/ this year. I guess I mis-marked my calendar since I thought it was this upcoming weekend -- although no one would schedule a hamfest for FD weekend, I guess that shows how much I'm plugged into that activity . It wasn't advertised in any of the local newspapers or other media as far as I can tell.
The ARRL is the only thing standing between us and the wolfs at the door.
The HF piece of spectrum isn't worth anything to the broadband people - since noise is inverse the square of the frequency.
The D band - just above 70cm - the FCC has mandated that all pubic service vacate it in a couple of years - which in my opinion isn't going to happen, because of the sheer number of radios and municipalities using it - and the fact that they have no place to put those people other then above 700 MHz. T band...
The bottom line is there is going to be another DTV type migration where the television broadcasters are going to have another piece of spectrum taken away from them - probably 500 - 700 MHz and that they are going to be forced from broadcasting on air to just the cable service and sat dish.
The next to go will be us on the 70 cm since we use it on a secondary basis. That would give enough bandwidth to put about 3 television channels in it's place.
The dummification of amateur radio has to stop - else the CB'rs have been taking over, and the intelligence has already left the higher frequencies.
If the ARRL and the FCC was smart, they would delegate new hams to 6 meters FM only. They would require all new hams to keep a log and to prove that they had operated for a specific period of time before they were allowed to upgrade and they would have a time cap on how long they would be allowed to stay a Technician - say maybe 2 years.
If in 2 years you did not upgrade to General - they would take your license away from you and you could not reapply for another license ever! AND, they would make the General class license exam harder ( not multiple guess ) - and 50 questions.
This is similar to what they did 30 years ago when they had the 6 tier license. The novice had to move up to Technician,, the technician had to move up to Tech Plus, the Tech Plus had to move up to General. No one place was designed to be a stopping place.
I think too many people has ham radio confused with CB radio. They think that all you have to do is get a license and then you can use it for personal communications (or in a emergency) - use it to call for help. Without any formal training - all we are is a bunch of cb'rs.
The only reason why they dropped the 6 tier license system and the CW is because the rest of the world already had done it.
Before WW II - the ARRL made up all the rules for the whole world. After WW II - the French were one of the first to suggest a ITU - International Telegraphy Union and the first to drop out of the ARRL and join the ITU. It was basically a thumb your nose at the Americans. The French were more then happy to be taken over by the Germans and were in bed with the Germans in WW II and they didn't want to be liberated.
Today, only a certain small part of the world is governed by the ARRL and guess when the ITU conferences are held? In Europe!
Most people / because they only have a Technician class license, or because they only have a walkie talkie or a mobile 2 meter radio - assumes that everything that we talk about pertaining to amateur radio - is about the technician class license portion of the bands - 2 meters and above....
The real radio goes on - up on the HF. If you ever listened to the Italians on 20 meters - you know they are using more then 1500 watts of power. You can pretty much hear them all the time on 14.250 talking. And, there is no one to force them to reduce their power...
Without some type of law to tell us what to do and what not to do - the Amateur bands would turn into the CB radio in a very short amount of time.
It is very hard to sell a HF radio at a hamfest - unless you practically give it away. The reason is - because people are not willing to put up large antenna's for the HF band and they are not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a radio that only works part of the time and requires you to have at least a General Class license to talk on.
And, you can't play telephone and talk with all of your CB radio buddies like you can with a repeater and a walkie talkie.
That doesn't leave much to sell..
Old coax
Old unwanted antenna's
Computer junk - since computers are practically throw away compared to amateur radio.
This is what perplexes me... You can have a free recycling day, and people will give away old computers that they paid hundreds of dollars for. But have a hamfest and people will still ask $100 for a two meter radio that they only paid $150 for - 20 years ago...
The ARRL is the only thing standing between us and the wolfs at the door.
Some would argue the ARRL is detrimental to the hobby by some of their positions. If the FCC really wanted to take over spectrum, there is nothing to stop them. Remember the 220-222Mhz spread spectrum fight?
The HF piece of spectrum isn't worth anything to the broadband people - since noise is inverse the square of the frequency.
You weren't here when BPL was being debated. Even though it was near blanket interference from 15m-6m, more people were interested in their internet than Ham Radio.
The D band - just above 70cm - the FCC has mandated that all pubic service vacate it in a couple of years - which in my opinion isn't going to happen, because of the sheer number of radios and municipalities using it - and the fact that they have no place to put those people other then above 700 MHz. T band...
The bottom line is there is going to be another DTV type migration where the television broadcasters are going to have another piece of spectrum taken away from them - probably 500 - 700 MHz and that they are going to be forced from broadcasting on air to just the cable service and sat dish.
Can you imagine the uproar over paying for TV? Do you not remember the uproar over having to buy digital converter boxes when DTV was proposed?
The next to go will be us on the 70 cm since we use it on a secondary basis. That would give enough bandwidth to put about 3 television channels in it's place.
And millions of people would have to buy new TVs or another converter box. Are we going to give out coupons for those too?
The dummification of amateur radio has to stop - else the CB'rs have been taking over, and the intelligence has already left the higher frequencies.
So I guess those guys who run satellite operations are just simpletons? Met one last week whose equipment costs more than many HF stations. He also works for one of the "lettered" agencies where he can't really talk about what he does. What a dummy he is (insert sarcasm here.)
If the ARRL and the FCC was smart, they would delegate new hams to 6 meters FM only. They would require all new hams to keep a log and to prove that they had operated for a specific period of time before they were allowed to upgrade and they would have a time cap on how long they would be allowed to stay a Technician - say maybe 2 years.
If in 2 years you did not upgrade to General - they would take your license away from you and you could not reapply for another license ever! AND, they would make the General class license exam harder ( not multiple guess ) - and 50 questions.
This is similar to what they did 30 years ago when they had the 6 tier license. The novice had to move up to Technician,, the technician had to move up to Tech Plus, the Tech Plus had to move up to General. No one place was designed to be a stopping place.
Now, I know this is dead wrong. I know a ham who is close to 90 and he has been licensed for years as a Technician (later Tech Plus) and has never felt the need for a higher license. He had 2 mottos; "If you can't build it, you don't need it" and "No frequency under 1Ghz is worth a damn." Those were his views. He built most of his ATV station and he runs a 1.2Ghz transmitter. He even uses a 2m rig to communicate audio when he is running ATV.
I think too many people has ham radio confused with CB radio. They think that all you have to do is get a license and then you can use it for personal communications (or in a emergency) - use it to call for help. Without any formal training - all we are is a bunch of cb'rs.
Seriously? Did you gloss over the operating practices that were covered in the exam?
As for the general public, that is lack of information. TV shows in the 70's showed the CB craze. Haven't seen a lot of informative shows showing Ham Radio. If the public is just concerned with cell phones and internet, that's is up to them but Ham Radio has done some good. If the media would report on it more favorably, then it might be shown in a better light.
Before WW II - the ARRL made up all the rules for the whole world. After WW II - the French were one of the first to suggest a ITU - International Telegraphy Union and the first to drop out of the ARRL and join the ITU. It was basically a thumb your nose at the Americans. The French were more then happy to be taken over by the Germans and were in bed with the Germans in WW II and they didn't want to be liberated.
That's their issue but the French are no longer the powerhouse they once thought they were.
Most people / because they only have a Technician class license, or because they only have a walkie talkie or a mobile 2 meter radio - assumes that everything that we talk about pertaining to amateur radio - is about the technician class license portion of the bands - 2 meters and above....
The real radio goes on - up on the HF. If you ever listened to the Italians on 20 meters - you know they are using more then 1500 watts of power. You can pretty much hear them all the time on 14.250 talking. And, there is no one to force them to reduce their power...
They have their regs, we have ours. I have a friend who, while a member of the US Air Force stationed in Germany, got a German ham license even after he already had an American license and their power limits are much more strict on all bands.
It is very hard to sell a HF radio at a hamfest - unless you practically give it away. The reason is - because people are not willing to put up large antenna's for the HF band and they are not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a radio that only works part of the time and requires you to have at least a General Class license to talk on.
And satellite operations can dwarf the costs of an HF station.
And, you can't play telephone and talk with all of your CB radio buddies like you can with a repeater and a walkie talkie.
That doesn't leave much to sell..
Old coax
Old unwanted antenna's
Computer junk - since computers are practically throw away compared to amateur radio.
This is what perplexes me... You can have a free recycling day, and people will give away old computers that they paid hundreds of dollars for. But have a hamfest and people will still ask $100 for a two meter radio that they only paid $150 for - 20 years ago...
When people stop paying platinum prices for die cast gear, then the prices will come down. That being said, I saw guys selling HF gear for prices higher than what a new rig costs even though both are solid state and not old tube rigs.
If anything, you are the guy that wants to restrict more people instead of letting the hobby grow in different directions. When was the last time you helped a new ham out?
It doesn't help either when I live 10 miles from Trotwood/Dayton.
There was another vention held locally that was mostly a swap meet kind of thing (along with examinations) it did okay, but I think they only had 7 vendors(two were selling computer stuff, I bought my Maxtrac 440 repeater from there) and 2 cut off early. I think they only had ~150 visitors the entire day. By the end of the day, there were only 10 people plus the couple of volunteers. I ended up winning a copy of the arrl repeater directory. Its nice, but I'll never pay for one. Its public information.
Anyways, I could have taken my General, but I ended up missing out on it, as they had started earlier (thinking I'll go when they did the second round.)
They are actually going to host another in October.
He also had a Kenwood TH-315 220Mhz handheld with the fast charger and he wanted $200 for that. I got a Yaesu FT-109 220 HT for $60 on eBay not a month ago. His stuff was still there when I left.
