re: Does anyone still use ham radios?

How many people operate in the HF range without a license? Why would I license myself if I can still operate the radio and communicate with the outside world. The government doesn't need to know my communications capabilities when SHTF.

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shutterspeed

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There are all kinds of uses, the most obvious is just for fun. All aspects somehow involve a radio. There are different radios that perform different functions, so there are different uses.

Examples would be just talking with each other, like a chat room. Closely resembles what most people think of when they think of CB radio. As many people as you want all meet on a certain frequency and talk about just about anything. Radio, sports, news, politics, whatever. Generally speaking you'd only gather with a group of people that you share common interests with, so naturally you'd have something to talk about. I routinely meet with a bunch guys at night that stretch from Texas to North Carolina. This probably the most common "use".

There are the guys like anyone who's listened to CB on Channel 6 knows, that like to talk to stations as far away as possible. This can be other states or other countries, just depends on the conditions, band, time of day, energy from the sun, etc. Generally this is followed up by an award (nothing more than a certificate to say you did it). To get the award you have to send a post card proving in writing that you've talked to the other station. These are the QSL cards you see on the wall. Gather up enough of them, send them into someone who certifies them, and you get the award.

Although this sounds easy, turn on the radio, talk to someone get the card and turn it in, you have to put this whole thing into perspective and what makes this part challenging. There are countries that stand in the way of completing all 340 recognized countries, that are pretty freaking isolated. Either geographically like somewhere in the middle of the African desert or Antarctica, or somewhere where politics rule and there are no hams, like North Korea. So the challenge is to get all of the countries, but you have to wait for them to be active.

Then there are the emergency guys, who rush into disasters. Its more than just turning on a radio and talking. Bottom line is, such as in Katrina where the Doctor at Tulane set up his car as a station on the parking garage, you have to be smart enough to adapt and make do. The true sense of the hobby isn't the guy who passed the test and talks on a walkie talkie. Its the guy smart enough to take the battery out of a car, use some stereo speaker wire and hook up the Xray machine to transmit information into and out of New Orleans in the event of a loss of all facilities.

So there's talkers, experimenters (Maker Faire), Contesters, distance talkers, digital people, morse code people, satellite people, etc.

There came a little boy's voice on the radio line

And he said, "Breaker 1-9, is anyone there?
Come on back truckers and talk to Teddy Bear"

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SATCOM

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It does in some aspects, but I think that both are equally unreliable at times.

The hobby as a whole is of course more than HF communications. Hams have VHF and UHF frequencies into the microwaves. For instance, as a ham, I can pick certain channels in the 2.4GHz wifi region, use my callsign and have up to 1500 watts on my Linksys router. (Would be hard, but is legal, so long as ID.)

HF compared to SATCOM is probably cheaper, easier to use, more suitable for some 3rd world countries, etc. If for no other reason that the tolerances are so much larger. People used to assemble HF stations from old TV sets, you're not going to do that with SATCOM.

So there are certainly times when each would be more appropriate. Of course, speaking of SATCOM, there are satellite frequencies assigned to hams, as well as satellites dedicated to just ham radio, owned by hams around the world. LINK

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How hard is it to learn for someone who knows nothing about communications? Seems like a very good skill in times of disaster

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I knew nothing about it before Katrina. After Katrina, hospital staff were encouraged to become HAMs, they even paid for the testing. I became a HAM about a year later.

If you buy the book, you can pass the test, it isn't hard stuff at all. You don't even have to know Morse code anymore, which I think kept a lot of people out.

LC

Very cool.

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CQ, this is W9GFO. CQ, this is W9GFO here. Come back?

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You watch Contact too much.

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The government doesn't need to know my communications capabilities when SHTF.

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When TSHTF, I don't think many people are going to worry about identifying themselves over the air.

With that being said, if the government wants to RDF you, it's not going to matter whether you're licensed or not.

LC

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You think they'd have the time or resources to RDF HAM operators during a no shite SHTF situation?

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I'd guess it all depends on what the exact "SHTF" situation is.

Like I said, if it's true SHTF, identifying is not going to be a priority. But "the Feds" don't need your license number to find you, if they think they need to do so.

I'd say either possibility is very small.

LC