Announcing the QRZ New Ham Jumpstart Program

All sorted Jamie, I already have a VHF /UHF radio so I donated mine to local YOTA club,

De Ei2iP , Robbie

 

I'm not sure this is a good idea as giving HT's away, it unfortunately (IMHO), locks a new ham into repeaters, a God awful choice because new hams trying to use repeaters, gets old very fast and they lose interest, and don't know or realize there are other modes besides FM, other methods and equipment available like 2 meter sideband or with the upcoming cycle, 6 meter DX ,or a key for CW on the HF bands, a code practice oscillator, etc.

I have seen too many new hams disenchanted with FM and repeaters wondering is that all there is ?

 

What a terriffic idea! I remember the summer of saving every dime for an Ameco AC-1 and a EICO 711....a program like this would have made the trip through Technician and General much faster. The folks at QRZ should be nominated for Grand Knighthood in the Royal and Fraternal Order of the Wouff Houng! I'm sure Mr Maxim is looking down, beaming from ear to ear.

 

Everyone needs to start somewhere. I see this as a pay-it-forward approach to getting new folks started in the Amateur hobby. If the QRZ-1 stands up to the reviews I've seen, I can donate the Baofeng UV-5RA I recently purchased to someone is newly licensed or considering getting their Ham license down the road, or even purchase an additional QRZ-1 for donation. Personally I think it's a great program.

Sure some folks might get bored with 2m and 70cm FM, and it will be up to them whether they have interest in taking the next step to General. Some will and some won't, but Technician is where we all start, and who's to say what aspects of the art will interest a Ham the most or least as everyone's different.

Personally I've listened to 2m repeaters since my teenage years when I replaced the crystal in my mom's single-frequency Motorola VHF Civil Defense receiver with one tuned to the local 2m Skywarn repeater (still have that radio somewhere in my basement). Always dreamed of getting my license and using the repeaters, although the expense of equipment and fear of not grasping the study material (coupled with general laziness) shelved my motivation to move forward. Took a friend getting his Tech license to relight the fire prompting me to finally take the course and get my license at the (almost) ripe old age of 58, more than 40 years after I began listening to FM repeater traffic. Suffice to say I don't see myself getting bored with it anytime soon, even as I shoot for my General. The way I see it, it's not about the radio, the frequency mode or even the License Class. It's really about the enjoyment of the hobby.

 

Can we repost this to our club members? I don't think that they have seen this posting.

K6PFG

 

Why is a credit card required?

 

Still waiting for it to ship, hopefully they get stock soon, great program!

 

So they put my callsign with my username but when I click link to signup for the jumpstart program it comes back not eligible. I received my license on 10/05/22. Any suggestions? Thank you

 

Submit a help ticket through qrz support. I had to do that, and it was fixed quickly. Still waiting on the radio though, had to submit another ticket tonight. Good luck 73

 

Thank you

 

Nice, I will check out those videos. Unfortunately, my many radios have been sitting idle while I've been enjoying the outdoors. When the weather turns back to crappy winter PA winter, I will surely be a sad ham haha.

 

I agree. Giving things away completely devalues it. These HT's will end up in the drawer or in the basement and be a complete waste. I have a bunch of them myself with dead batteries, laying in a drawer or on a shelf and I actually paid for those, lol. QRZ will benefit by having all the email addresses of those who signed up for the "free" radio and will be able to market to those individuals for life. How much is a premium membership on qrz?

 

What a great program.
My 15 year old grand daughter received the handheld radio. I live 50 miles away and she can access a repeater local to her that I can access from my QTH so we can have a QSO via ham radio. She and I agree that is much more fun than the mobile phone. She will be studying for the general exam over the winter.
Thank you for a great program for new hams.
K2MD Jerry

 

Because this is a loss leader intended to drive future sales. The free subscription is to lull you into forgetting to opt out of renewal or just accepting it in a years time.

I'm not saying this is a bad deal for new hams. Use it. Take advantage of the opportunity. Just remember that you're the product in this new program.

 

Unless if you are engaged in purely person-to-person cash transactions, do not use a cell phone, do not use email, do not use the internet, do not pay for things like insurance, do not take out a loan...you are a commodity that is bought and sold all day long, every day.