[Elecraft] THE FUTURE OF OUR HOBBY

[Don Wilhelm]

Ted and all,

I do not think restricting the choices to VHF and UHF gear is going to 
"save the hobby".

There are few inexpensive ventures into HF available today.  There are a 
few inexpensive CW only kits available from QRPme.com, but those are 
quite limited and are CW only.  Oh to have the Dave Benson SWL series 
back.  Those were good kits which could put the new ham on the air with 
a good receiver, but again CW only.  I do not see any equivalent today.

The QRPme kits are interesting, but being CW only, they are limited to 
those willing to learn CW.  Even a 'knock-off' of the K1 is CW only.

For potentially new hams, we hams need to have something that is viable 
for HF and not expensive.  Remember the high schooler and the recent 
college graduate who does not a lot of extra money.  I do not see many 
choices for them other than the inexpensive VHF/UHF FM transceivers, 
which work fine with repeaters, but do nothing for the HF spectrum.
I built my first transmitter of salvaged TV parts at a very, very low 
cost, but that was back in the late 1950's when such parts were 
available many for the asking at the local TV repair shop.

A used HF transceiver may the only current logical choice.

Elecraft has championed the high performance, high end market, and has 
done well at it, but that performance comes at a price.  Few beginners 
in ham radio can afford a K3S let alone a KX2, so for beginners, they 
are "left in the lurch" with choices mainly in the used gear market.

Nostalgia for 'what was' is interesting, but does nothing for the 
newcomers to HF with limited funds.  Even the era of cheap surplus 
military gear is gone.  I used to buy Command set transmitters and 
receivers for $5 each at the surplus store, and you could salvage parts 
from them to build transmitters and receivers, but those rigs are 
collectors items today and are expensive.

73,
Don W3FPR


On 12/16/2019 4:44 PM, Ted Edwards W3TB wrote:
> More...
> Although it has not happened, I have long expected June VHF and Sept VHF to
> displace Field Day and then get more of those many new Techs active.
> 
> On Mon, Dec 16, 2019 at 3:42 PM Ted Edwards W3TB <w3tb.ted at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Yet, here is another product idea that is driven by my concern that so
>> many new Techs get an HT and don't develop further into our fine
>> hobby/avocation.
>> A Transceiver more significant than a Chinese cheapie for getting on other
>> modes in the VHF and/or UHF bands.
>> I do wish there were a quality-yet-simple radio for 6m/2m would be so
>> handy to them to discover SSB and Digital work on those bands.  CW, too.
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 16, 2019 at 12:52 PM Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
>> wrote:
>>