Hot take: amateur radio would be more popular if the ham communities weren't so full of smug assholes.
@nprofile1q...
I picked up a general license a little over a decade ago but really couldn't get into it for a lot of reasons, much of it due to personality and values differences.
At least during the brief time I was active, it seemed like anyone willing to talk was just there to pontificate, and everyone else was hyperfocused on superficially collecting QSOs like they're freakin' Pokemon or something. Heck, a lot of the newer and more popular digital modes are almost entirely useless for anything except superficial QSOs.
I also find it a little weird and frustrating that the more substantial uses of amateur radio, like ARES and RACES, seem to have converged on expensive and/or proprietary gear (e.g., Winlink, Pactor, VARA).
I picked up a general license a little over a decade ago but really couldn't get into it for a lot of reasons, much of it due to personality and values differences.
At least during the brief time I was active, it seemed like anyone willing to talk was just there to pontificate, and everyone else was hyperfocused on superficially collecting QSOs like they're freakin' Pokemon or something. Heck, a lot of the newer and more popular digital modes are almost entirely useless for anything except superficial QSOs.
I also find it a little weird and frustrating that the more substantial uses of amateur radio, like ARES and RACES, seem to have converged on expensive and/or proprietary gear (e.g., Winlink, Pactor, VARA).
1