So this is what happened....

[N7YA]

I would encourage any new ham to forget 2m even exists. Human beings ruined that, the spectrum and rigs are fine, its the dolts with diseased brains that ruin it. I only do HF, with that said, i mostly do CW and never try to break into the dickhead nets on 75 or 40....30 years in the hobby, i still love it and look at it with childlike facination because i avoid the dickhead gathering places outright. I never even entertain listening for a few minutes. This is why radio is still fresh and fun for me. I chase DX, theres enough dickheadery there in the piles for a new one to hold me over.

[suddenseer]

I would encourage any new ham to forget 2m even exists. Human beings ruined that, the spectrum and rigs are fine, its the dolts with diseased brains that ruin it. I only do HF, with that said, i mostly do CW and never try to break into the dickhead nets on 75 or 40....30 years in the hobby, i still love it and look at it with childlike facination because i avoid the dickhead gathering places outright. I never even entertain listening for a few minutes. This is why radio is still fresh and fun for me. I chase DX, theres enough dickheadery there in the piles for a new one to hold me over.

I have never had, or heard "dickheadery" on cw. Maybe a dx pile up might ruffle some feathers, just wait your turn dammit. I enjoy that mode. I always chat with nice folks from all walks of life. I run QRP on 40/10/6 meter bands when I do operate. I need 12 more states on 6M. When I was 14 in the basement, turning on the rig, and headphones and getting the key going I would sometimes pretend I was a spy sending secret messages to other spies. Here comes Sgt. Schultz!!!!

[K7SGJ]

I would encourage any new ham to forget 2m even exists. Human beings ruined that, the spectrum and rigs are fine, its the dolts with diseased brains that ruin it. I only do HF, with that said, i mostly do CW and never try to break into the dickhead nets on 75 or 40....30 years in the hobby, i still love it and look at it with childlike facination because i avoid the dickhead gathering places outright. I never even entertain listening for a few minutes. This is why radio is still fresh and fun for me. I chase DX, theres enough dickheadery there in the piles for a new one to hold me over.

You are so right, Mr Bassman. Years ago, a bunch of us that worked in town doing service work would chat on VHF/UHF to pass the time in traffic. But those days are long gone. The only time I use 2 meters anymore, is when I'm traveling. On repeaters that support it, I get weather data for where I'm headed. I also use 52 simplex, and have had some nice QSOs while headed down the highway. But mostly when I'm driving long distances, I use the HF side of the 857D. Which reminds me, the pack rats ate through my coax that goes to the hitch mount for the HF antenna, and I need to replace it. Bastids

[K0RGR]

I would encourage any new ham to forget 2m even exists. Human beings ruined that, the spectrum and rigs are fine, its the dolts with diseased brains that ruin it. I only do HF, with that said, i mostly do CW and never try to break into the dickhead nets on 75 or 40....30 years in the hobby, i still love it and look at it with childlike facination because i avoid the dickhead gathering places outright. I never even entertain listening for a few minutes. This is why radio is still fresh and fun for me. I chase DX, theres enough dickheadery there in the piles for a new one to hold me over.

I agree to a point. There are a very few places in the western half of the country where I would be entertained with a VHF/UHF radio alone, but I'd need to find a local IRLP node or something similar in order to increase the variety. Back in ancient times, two meter AM was the hot thing, and it seemed everyone had a 2 meter AM rig and used it. But AM is really a weak signal mode - we would work other AMers at sometimes amazing distances - with signals that we'd never try to copy on FM. So it at least seemed that we were working new people all the time.

I like listening to the nets on 40 meters, but I usually give 75 a wide berth, along with the high end of 20. When out mobiling the vastness of the west, those 40 meter daytime nets are a nice way to keep connected to the world, particularly when the only thing on broadcast radio is Focus on the Family or Limbaugh.

But as for how good the Tech license is - yes it's great for some people, but simply not for most people who are interested in radio for radio. Those who want to get the license so they can do SKYWARN, public service, etc., are well served by the Tech, and I don't think that's a bad thing. But forcing everyone into that mold is plain wrong, and so is selling people on the Tech when they live in the 90% of the country where they won't find anyone to talk to unless they are doing meteor scatter or moonbounce. I'd be happier if we just gave Techs digital privileges where they now have CW - that would be a major improvement. But I'd rather see a new entry level that's more balanced - some HF, some VHF, low power, a variety of modes. The exam should be at least as hard as the current Tech, but more balanced between HF and VHF. Keep the Tech around for those who think they want full VHF privileges.

[NQ6U]

You folks are all committing the cardinal sin of extrapolating your local 2m scene to the entire country. Be aware that it's not the same everywhere. For instance, my local 2m repeaters are quiet most of the time but even when they are active, I seldom hear anyone talking politics. It's mostly just friendly, if banal, rag chewing.

[N2CHX]

I def need to build the two QRP HF rigs I have sitting in baggies on the shelf here in my studio. I bought them, got them weeks ago and just haven't felt the radio bug biting me as of late.

[N7YA]

Damn, Kel...im dying over here. My rig, an old FT757 i bought secondhand back in the 90's, finally took a shit. It will take some bench gear and elbow grease to get it back up and running, but for the time being, that DX bug is chewing my legs off! My wife told me to hold out and save the money for a nice new one...i may dig down deep for that kind of willpower. It may be worth it.

[KG4NEL]

Damn, Kel...im dying over here. My rig, an old FT757 i bought secondhand back in the 90's, finally took a shit. It will take some bench gear and elbow grease to get it back up and running, but for the time being, that DX bug is chewing my legs off! My wife told me to hold out and save the money for a nice new one...i may dig down deep for that kind of willpower. It may be worth it.

If it says anything...I've been looking at new HF rigs, and may end up with an FT-1000MP I'm just not that impressed with what's out there...

[K7SGJ]

I def need to build the two QRP HF rigs I have sitting in baggies on the shelf here in my studio. I bought them, got them weeks ago and just haven't felt the radio bug biting me as of late.

I imagine that had those baggies contained something other than parts, and of an organic nature, the baggies would not be sitting on the shelf.

[kb2vxa]

"I would encourage any new ham to forget 2m even exists."
There's more to 2M than repeaters, even more than FM simplex, a LOT more. When it comes to the world above 30MHz weak signal work is where it's at, people are civilized and DX can be anything from armchair copy to a challenge. Then there are challenging propagation modes, all in all there's more than will fit in a forum post.

"I bought them, got them weeks ago and just haven't felt the radio bug biting me as of late."
You can hook up a Vibroplex to a boat anchor with cathode keying or lacking a few hundred volts you can sit on it as it slowly gnaws at you. So why does it have to bite recently when one bite and you're infected for life? (Or at least I have been since the late 1950s.)