Now hold on a second. Lets get real here, okay? 1) I'll go out on a limb and say that the current entry level exam is more difficult than the old novice test you and I took, and 2) "apprenticeship experience"? What kind of "apprenticeship" is required to measure out a couple lengths of wire, strip some insulation off one end of each wire, and attach those ends to the tuner? If beginners are that helpless, then amateur radio is doomed.
I'm almost certain calculations for a basic dipole are part of the Tech license exam. It's certainly in the General. I think I built my first antenna mere weeks after getting my first radio. The radio was an HT and the antenna was a twinlead j-pole. I took it to the local club's Field Day site and borrowed an antenna analyzer to check it out. I still have that radio and continue to build all sorts of antennas for it (just built and tested a smaller/lighter version of my 6m EFHW). That said, a podcast I was listening to yesterday made a good point about this sort of thing in that people getting into a technical hobby like radio but coming from a lifetime of using tech like PCs, mobile phones, etc, are accustomed to "buying off the shelf" and having things "just work". It's an expectations gap, but it may explain why new entrants struggle so much with things older hams consider basic or business as usual. Chris
You bought a 49:1 Balun for £30 you could have made it yourself for a third of that ,not such a tight wad as you think
Couple of months back it was $35 bucks for a FCC license transaction. NOW $135 bucks for a piece of wire. Week ago, made a 20 meter contact with old extension cord, 6 feet off the ground and QRP. 5-9 Minnesota. Later connected it back to the weed wacker. I hate yard work, LOL Use what you got, CAMO
Two plastic chalk line boxes One drip line plastic T for center insulator One hundred thirty feet of Teflon insulated #18 wire. OK not exactly sure of the size. Mike and I, at Ack Radio, thought it would be strong enough and fit into two chalk boxes. It happened to be Teflon coated. Chalk boxes real out wire and act as end insulators. Little marks help measure out the wire. Toss a water bottle over a limb. Pull it up in inverted V and you are good to go. I do not know how much it cost. I just needed a portable dipole. Never did SOTA or POTA. But this little antenna was set up at cellular base station sites and campgrounds all over Alabama. Never failed to check in to my net or make lunch time contacts. Not going to hike up a mountain when the company gave me a nice SUV! And all those mountain tops. FT-817 was fun and small. IC-706 had enough power to get the job done! Your success may vary. Ham's have always had a nice selection of CW QRP radios. Well since I have been around. The new thing is more SSB. But SSB needs more power to do the same work as CW. Run the math. Ham radio can be as expensive as you allow it to be! Just like any other hobby. (I think most Ham's just like gadgets.)
Went looking for this antenna, and as with all new stuff there is a bunch of prices. Delivery has been delayed at HRO. Was unable to find it else where, but didn't look all that hard. I agree with others, a bit pricy.
Still very expensive, an EF 10 / (15) / 20/40/80 meters with copper / kevlar cable is priced at 50 euros (60 US $). https://www.hfkits.com/product/10-15-20-40-80-endfed-antenna-kit/
So one could buy TWO of those kits with the copper/kevlar wire option for 89 Euros, keep all the wire and an end insulator, then sell the remaining baluns, boxes, connectors, and other parts of the kit - effectively reducing the cost of the wire itself. Then use the retained wire to hook up to the IC-AH-705 at an impressive savings. Nice!
Interesting points, Chris, offering a viewpoint I've not considered. I was truly blessed when growing up. Dad maintained the family cars and taught me to do the same. Same with home repairs and renovations. Dad and I had our own separate workbenches in the cellar. It was extremely rare when a tradesman was called in. We neighborhood kids built tree houses ( in varying degrees of robustness and safety ), forts, rafts, and what we called "gigs" - four wheeled coasting carts, and raced 'em downhill. Many didn't have brakes. We just dragged our feet or ditched 'em off the side of the road to stop. Demolition Derby shows were popular on TV the, so gig crashes were encouraged. No helmets, elbow and knee pads, or other such silliness. We camped and cooked on campfires. Burns were educational experiences. All of us had pocket knives. Somehow the vast majority survived. Scars were "battle badges" and bragging rights. I walked through the neighborhood to get to forested areas while carrying either a BB gun, pellet gun, .22, or .410 shotgun - and nobody called the police. Hierarchy within groups happened organically without parental oversight or meddling. My how times have changed. Apparently it's not such a stretch that a lot of younger folks these days don't know which end of a hammer or screwdriver to grab.
What he said. People often today do not grow up using their hands and taking things apart as we did. I have never used nor would I ever think of using a premade wire antenna of any sort. But that’s not how it is for a lot of folks. Like it or not, that’s the world that we live in, and if we don’t deal with it we will become extinct. Or so I see it.
That’s my point exactly. And I don’t see that we can Hector people into being something that they are not. We have to except them as they are and give them an opportunity to get better. Again, my opinion.
I say brav0 to them and their marketing team if they can sell a product at those prices and stay in business. That's capitalism and I can't fault them there. On the brighter note they are made in the USA.
