[SMCARA] Loaning Radios - a pessimistic perspective

[Tom Shelton]

With the talk about loaning radios I thought I'd chime in with a more pessimistic view (based on experience). I'm all for helping out the new hams, but have a couple of suggestions. 

First, when loaning a radio, make sure there is an agreement between you and the ham that you're loaning to. 

1)  Agree on a time limit. The loan should be a bridge until the new ham gets their own radio. 1-3 months should be more than sufficient. 

2)  The radio should be returned to the person making the loan. The first time I loaned out a radio, the ham I loaned it to took it on themselves to pass it on to someone else. By the time I asked for it back (see #1 above), it had been in at least 3 different shacks and the first guy didn't know where it was. 

3)  Agree that the radio will be returned in the same condition as when it was loaned. When I got my radio back, I had to spend several hundred $$$ to get it back in the shape it was. 

4)  Make sure the ham being loaned knows how to operate your radio. In the case above, one of the hams who used it was feeding it into a random wire without a tuner. This blew out the finals. After I got it back from repair, I asked the original guy to help me with the cost and he cursed me. He told me that since he didn't do it, it wasn't his problem. 

A friend of mine loaned a radio to someone with the understanding that if the other guy liked it, he could purchase it. The other guy ended up selling the radio and my friend never saw a penny. 

Again, I'm not saying not to loan out your radio. Just know the person you're loaning it to and have an agreement. On paper if possible, but at least verbally. Also, know the person you're loaning to. Just passing a test doesn't make someone a good person. Spend a little time chatting with the person and feel comfortable with them before lending them your rig. 

Yes, I'm pessimistic, but I'd be willing to loan out one of my radios to a new ham, provided that I'm comfortable with the loan, know the person, and have a reasonable agreement up front. 

Tom, AB3IC
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