• @NineMileTower
      link
      English
      412 days ago

      I’m asking for a reason. People of a certain age are aware of HAM radios and how they are used, but clearly there’s a generation or two that’s not and I’m interested in where that cutoff lies.

      • TimeSquirrel
        link
        fedilink
        312 days ago

        Another person here, I was born 1982, and definitely know what ham radio is and have used such equipment. But I had a pretty nerdy grandfather who infected me with his tech curiosity and introduced me to it. Sometimes I still break out a little shortwave radio with SSB and hook it up to my laptop to see everyone’s messages flying back and forth. I like to screw around with SDRs too (and of course I own a Flipper Zero 😉).

        My 12 year old son knows next to nothing about it.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        112 days ago

        I’m born late 80s, and I’m fully aware of it, just never had the time to dive in. Nevermind that I rent and erecting a tower would be an interesting conversation, as I’m mainly curious on the hardware side.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          112 days ago

          There are plenty of “compromised antenna” options for you; there are loads of amateur operators who simply run their antenna around the largest room in their apartment and make long-range communications. It’s not optimal, but it works.

          There’s a whole movement in amateur radio right now which relies on being light and portable. A 15 meter carbon fiber mast, some wire, 12v and 100W and you can work the world from a park.