What did you expect the radio hobby to be like

Ive been into radio since I was very young and still at school. I know several licenced guys that started off the same way as me in the world of CB Radio as I used to talk to them on there, BUT I find it hard to believe the way some have turned out, very catty and anti cb radio now, some act like sheriffs of the amateur radio world.

I find it all very sad to be honest, I thought amateur radio was a hobby for ladies and gents BUT its not that at all. Its all very I'm in charge or I know more than you at some clubs, I could never be like that I thought it was all about sharing, being helpful, learning and having fun. I would go as far as to say that listening to pirate stations on 11 metres they sound more friendly than some licenced radio amateurs, not all mind because I chat to some really nice guys but certainly some clubs seem very much in competition with each other.

When I started this forum I made it all very clear it was for anyone with an interest in radio communications and electronics to help each other and learn as well as have a laugh along the way, no matter what it is. I made it clear that anyone can promote there club on here and let others know whats going on so it helps break the ice but yet I still find some clubs really prefer to be secretive and not get involved. They want you to promote them but they have no interest in promoting you. I was hoping that clubs could become more of a hub working together but again after reading and finding things out lately it seems that this is very unlikely to happen.

A few lads will know what I'm talking about here but I'm not going to hang dirty washing out for all to see, I would just like to know if them that have only recently got involved in this hobby are finding exactly the same as me, the club I go too is very down to earth and there is nothing like this at all, we all meet up and have a laugh but also talk and help each other out with whatever we can as we are all still learning ourselves.
There is some guys from other clubs that have joined our club as well and they are just like us, laughing and having a joke, Ive just got back from our club tonight and these guys had me in stitches lol, I still don't know all there names but it made no difference at all.

Amateur radio hobbyists get a life, stop being so serious all the time and try to remember where you started in the world of radio.

Any club that needs a forum and wants to place a link on there site to us for there members to share info and have a laugh with other clubs and radio operators anywhere in the world, well you are all welcome. BUT please work as one, no back stabbing or nastiness is allowed on here, please work together.

RANT OVER but please let me know your thoughts. Be honest and lets see if others see it the same way as me.

i echo all of that daryn it does not mater what the mike is conected to ham radio,cb, or just a empty box (when our las takes mine off me ) lol i had some nasty people try to bully me when i first started as a m6 but a lot of other people put me wise to what was going on and i soon put the bullys down and i love the hobby i listed more than i use it but thats what i like doing ,the best bit about it is that i can now if i choose to pick the mike up and chat back, and as far as cb is consernd i still have a lot of frends on there and i still use it ,roots thats what a lot of people forget and most of the people will say they have never been on cb but me like a lot of people remember some of them off there but thats up to them but dont preach to others about something they like as every one is diforent the hobby is great and the club i am in is starting to pic up great now we have things in the pipe line and i am looking forward and not backwards about the hobby,its like this site i come on as much as i can because i think its a great site and i like the info and picturs of peoples shacks on here wish more would just say hello but solong as they are having a read on here the site is working

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences. Unfortunately, like any area of life, there are good and bad people. Don't let them put you off your hobby.

You're absolutely right about clubs competing with each other. I don't know why that happens. I'm a member of 2 north east clubs and I've witnessed this myself. I certainly don't view one club as being better than the other. For me they each offer different things. One club is very strong on providing tuition for the exams and organising social nights out. The other club is into running field days and special events. One isn't better thant the other, just different.

There's always been elitism in amateur radio and there always will be. I particularly experienced this when I was an M6. I could call cq for hours and very few people would come back. As soon as I got my 2E0 people would suddenly start speaking to me!

I often find it much more interesting to talk to an M6 than a 2E0/M0 as there's so many different things to talk about.

From speaking with other hams I understand that some of this elitism stems from the fact that at one time in the dim distant past, amateur radio was the preserve of ex-military personnel and electronic engineers etc. It was very hard and took an enormous amount of studying to get a license. Having a license was viewed as a privelege and the amateur radio community was a bit of an old boys network.

I can understand amateurs who came into the hobby via this route feeling put out by how relatively easy it is now to get a foundation license however I don't agree with this point of view. As it was, amateur radio was becoming a hobby that was dieing out and it desperately needed an injection of new blood. While some might moan about the foundation license I think that it's the best thing to happen to amateur radio in a long time. I don't think I would be a ham now if it wasn't for the foundation license.

Keep up the good work.

I have to agree with you there it did need a new injection thats for sure. I dont hear many hams having good conversations, its all radio checks then move on. I do still love it all though its all very interesting just wish this us against them sort of thing would go away lol.

Ive always since a young age been intrested in 2 way radios I suppose it came about from listening to the Police and firebrigade on 100+ mhz VHF on a domestic wireless .

So when CB reared its head in the very late 70s AM sets I had to have one of course with all the cloak and dagger dequising antenna on the car and having codes for places so you didnt get caught out by Buzbie GPO in them days . Then when CB was legalised in 1981 I had to get a legal set which soon moved on to SSB sets ie Nato 2000 Superstar 360 FM etc and then started to make contacts abroad DXing and with the cloak and Dagger PO box to get the qsl cards. Then as time moved on a few years later I sold all my gear when the muppet bands were still alive. At Xmas just gone I was surfing Youtube and typed in cobra 148 superstar etc Then a certain op In SS had some videos up and that got me going again Nostalgia 2 weeks later I was the proud owner of 3 SSB sets Cobra and Superstars then started DXing again that gave me a better buzz than I had in the 80s.

So very quickly I decided to move on the world of Amateur Radio studied and took the foundation in April and passed giving the the worlds your oyster never looked back since But yep joining a ham club it was dont mention the CB word. But if the truth is known 90% of the members started on CB some still on CB full time

Haha you're so right there John.

I would say between 50-75 percent of Amateurs that I've encountered in this part of the country started on CB but some of them quickly forget that fact as soon as they get their ham ticket!! I'm even aware of one or two amateurs who come on air correcting other people who aren't even licensed - they're just pirating a callsign!!

Well I still use cb radio mostly Mid band and still very much enjoy it. I used to love the old am days it was great, Ive since tried to chat to my mates on am 2 metres and dont seem to be able to get my ears tuned into it lol, it may be because the volume seems low in the car on am I dont know.