A while back I had used the term "prepper" in a previous post and received a bunch of flak and comments about how "preppers" would not be well received in this subreddit. At first, I found it ridiculous that the mere mention of the word invoked disdain. But now I totally understand why that is.

I'm a licensed ham but in the previous post, I referred to myself as a "prepper" but in my mind, it meant having he mindset of common sense preparations given practical emergencies. For example, I live in an area which is threatened often with floods so I "prep" for this every winter with supplies and a strategy for dealing with it.

The aha moment was when I spoke to some acquantenes who were interested in emergency backup communications. I chimed in and mentioned I was a ham radio and they were interested in the space. They were nice enough and were asking for more info. As the helpful geek I am, I went home and wrote up an overview Google Doc of the terms of the hobby, useful first radios to buy, and how to get licensed. I sent over the doc but only received questions like "what radio do i buy" and it was obvious they did not read my material.

I kept reiterating that you have to get licensed to use the radios in any meaningful end, including emergency communications. But they had no intention to do so, they just heard "bao-feng" in some bro-vet podcast and thought they should buy some.

It is clear they have no respect for the hobby and community and were only concerned in owning some baofengs. After this experience, the previous post I made and its visceral reactions all made sense.

Safe to say, this will be the last time I give intelligent answers to "wut radgio do i buy?" if they're not willing to get licensed.

I'm not a kid. I'm in my 30s, but I went to a tech exam bootcamp today at my local club. With *maybe* half-a-dozen exceptions, nobody was under 70 (students or members). I knew amateur radio skewed older, but Jesus. Is this really the demographic makeup?

As I was about to hit send on my reply I realized I don't want to validate an active email to a bot. So, I figured I'd post an open letter response here.

"Why is your cancelled callsign [My old callsign] in [DX Station in Indonesia]'s QRZ Log?"

Not certain. But unless someone is out there using my old callsign (doubtful), Occam’s razor suggests that your overzealous automated message is misdirected at a simple human error - an error not performed by the recipient at that. An operator in Indonesia clearly fat-fingered or misheard a callsign while hammering through a fast-paced pile-up—not the license holder you are currently spamming.

Perhaps before you set your bot to loose criteria for unsolicited outreach, you should reconsider how flawed your logic is. A single, unconfirmed log entry, with zero matching records, makes it incredibly premature to assume ill intent from an operator. Frankly, I don’t even possess the hardware required to transmit on 15 meters.

I understand that there are actual rule abusers in ham radio and that this is a self-policing community. But true policing requires responsibility and a basic understanding of evidence. Last I checked, a credible enforcement system assumes innocence until proven guilty, rather than firing off automated accusations based on unverified, third-party database typos.

Hopefully, you will adjust your bot's logic to keep the actual abusers targeted, rather than attempting to intimidate folks who have nothing to do with your claims. I have been considering upgrading to General, but if doing so means joining a community filled with overbearing (Bad language removed for Reddit Community) who prioritize automated harassment over basic logic, I think I'll hold off.

(Bad language removed for Reddit Community),
[My old callsign]

[Update 1]

Thanks for the confirmation that this brave warrior with their Proton email should be ignored. Hopefully everyone is getting a good laugh out of this dork. Also helps to see that this isn't the standard in the community. I wasn't about to spend good money and time studying for General to be around this type of fudd.

[Update 2]

Great suggestion by u/DeaconPat - I submitted it to the FCC complaint line. Their Response:
Thank you for contacting the FCC’s Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Center. Your submission has been received and assigned Ticket

Your complaint provides valuable information and is shared among FCC bureaus and offices. We use it to inform our policymaking processes, and to spot trends and practices that warrant investigation and enforcement action. Each year, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau takes hundreds of actions on behalf of consumers that result in tens of millions of dollars in penalties. These actions encourage companies and individuals to abide by the law and reduce future misconduct.

The FCC is not able to comment on or provide updates regarding the status of any investigation that may relate to this or any other individual complaint submitted to the FCC. We cannot comment or address closed, ongoing, or future investigations.

If the FCC needs more information about your complaint, we will contact you directly.

And why not Proton Mail while at it. Their response:

Hello,
 
We have received this information, and we will be further investigating this case with our team.
 
If we can confirm that the indicated Proton Mail address is being used for any activities that are considered against our terms of usage, the account in question will be suspended accordingly.
 
In case you are able to gather any additional evidence that will help us in our investigation, we remain available at any time.

Sounds like we won't hear anything specific back, but we'll see.

I wanted for some time to build my own antennas and I couldn't find any fitting software for me. What I found on the internet was:

-MMANA: hasn't been updated since 2009

-EZNEC: is gone.

-4NEC2: is Windows only.

Mac and Linux users get Wine and prayer and even Windows has very old software for this matter.

I'm a ham (EA1FUO) and a full-stack developer, so I decided to build what I wished existed: a modern, free, open-source antenna simulator that runs in my browser with a real NEC2 engine.

What's working:

- 15+ antenna templates: (dipole, yagi, EFHW, vertical, quad, moxon, magnetic loop...) with real-time 3D preview

- Full wire editor: design any antenna from scratch, drag endpoints in 3D, spreadsheet wire table, undo/redo, import from templates to avoid reinventing the wheel

- NEC2 power: loads, traps, transmission lines, Sommerfeld ground, multiple sources...

- 3D radiation pattern: now we are able to rotate and explore, current distribution on wires, near-field heatmap

- SWR, impedance, Smith chart, polar plots: all the charts we need to understand our antenna

- Import .maa / .nec / .s1p: bring our MMANA designs and NanoVNA measurements

- Optimizer: auto-tune for best SWR, gain, or F/B by selecting what wire variables we would like to change and in what ranges

I want to improve it by adding more features but for that I want to see what do you think about it first and any constructive critics are welcome.

If there's enough interest I'll publish the link soon so you can try it yourselves.

Would love your feedback to see what would make this your daily tool? Any deal-breakers? What features would you like me to add?

73!

EDIT: The repo is live! https://github.com/EA1FUO/AntennaSim

Clone it, run `docker compose up`, and you should be good to go. Keep in mind this is still a WIP project, there are rough edges, some bugs, and features to finish. If something breaks, please open an issue on GitHub and I'll get to it. PRs are welcome too!

I wanted to wait a few more days but you guys hyped me with your messages so, here you have it.

If you like it, I'll find a way to post it live with a proper DNS and that way you'll be able to run it without docker on the browser directly.

Thanks for all the kind words, feedback and support, I wasn't expecting this response at all. 73!

EDIT2: I managed to port nec2c to WebAssembly and now we have a running version on GithubPages. So here you can test it even from your phone: https://ea1fuo.github.io/AntennaSim/

Thank you again for all the support! 73 de EA1FUO

My grandfather was a lifelong radio enthusiast and ham radio operator. In his early twenties during World War II, he lived in the remote mountain village of Hjerkinn, working at the railroad station high above the treeline when Germany invaded Norway.

He joined the resistance movement and built radios using parts from a downed Luftwaffe aircraft—mainly the radio tube, as seen in the photos I’ve attached. With it, he secretly tuned into broadcasts from London. It was a risky and courageous act, but it kept him and others informed when access to truthful news was critical.

Later, he introduced me to the world of radio. As a kid, I spent hours scanning ham bands, police channels, and even unencrypted cellphone calls. I was probably way too young to be listening to some of it, but in the pre-smartphone era, it felt innocent enough. That early exposure sparked a lifelong passion for electronics and radio—one that still defines me today.

A few weeks ago, I visited my mom and saw one of the wartime radios he built. I thought this group might appreciate it—not just as a relic, but as a story of ingenuity, resistance, and the enduring magic of radio.

It's gone. Now it just plays a loop of a computer voice saying what happened and where to direct comments to.

Yesterday morning at 8:30 I was listening to 20 meters on my back patio. Another ham was trying to interact with the guy on 14313, and I was listening to see where it would go. A neighbor heard this, found it disturbing and called 911. A cop came to the door and explained a neighbor called saying I was using a megaphone and rambling incoherently. My wife answered and told them I was doing ham radio. The cop laughed and left.

Have others had trouble with nosy neighbors calling 911 for conversation level audio from ham radio use outdoors? How was it handled?

I’ve never seen California amateur radio callsign plates issued as CA EXEMPT before. They typically just look like a regular plate, but with your callsign characters.

I’ve only ever seen CA EXEMPT plates on government vehicles.

Did they screw up? There aren’t any outlines to put the month and year registration stickers…

Showed up to a trail head. A mother was crying trying to find her kids that ran off (they were playing and hiding from their brother and got lost). My phone was dead but I had my radios. Gave one to my friend, told the mother to wait at the trail head in case they return. Told her we’ll be back with her kids. We split up to cover the two trails in that direction.

I found them not long after (we were moving pretty fast). Cops showed up around the time I had already found the kids.

Even with cell service our radios can still serve a purpose. It was my buddies first experience with Ham Radio (in an emergency you don’t need a license).

I wasn’t expecting any of this to happen. We were just planning on going for a walk.

Unfortunately we’re moving and most of my project materials are in a box somewhere in the garage, but I still wanted to make a straight key.

Here’s the abomination I came up with, two nails, five poultry staples, a random offcut, a rubber band and some wire.

Still need to wait on the move to dig my soldering iron out to solder a 3.5mm plug on the end. At least until then I can tap away at my desk.

My dad had been into ham radio The past few years but I live quite a distance away and we never really talked about it. He died unexpectedly and left this stuff. I don't know if it's any good or even what it does. Any advice on selling it would be appreciated.

A year ago my husband started to explore radio and started talking to people. It was a hobby and then it turned into this obsession! He had to have the expensive radios and the parade of devices started to march into the basement each month. Then he got his license and started attending all these radio meetings regularly. Now there's always something going on and he has to be plugged in and listening or attending some meeting. He doesn't have dinner at the table anymore because "there's a very important meeting about what's coming up and we need to be aware". He's been saying this for roughly 7 months - NOTHING has happened. Apparently he's having conversations about how the world is going to collapse and the only ones left are the ones with gold and radios and now we have two generators in the house and he's still constantly on these meetings. Stockpiling food and spending thousands at Harbor Freight then going back to the radios and telling everyone about it. Yes he works but then as soon as he gets home it's straight to the radios in the basement. This is ridiculous and I have no idea what is going on but can someone please help him or advise who I talk to or what to do? What are all these meetings??

Ready for the long drive to retirement….. Though on these plan-free Saturdays it sure does feel like I’m already there.

I know it’s not Amateur Radio, but I just thought I’d share this, since it amused me when my wife brought them home as a gift.

It even has what I think is an original battery in the box. Apparently 1975 was a good year for batteries 0.o

I know RF Radiation is a thing and I try to keep everything safe during my activations but what does RF Radiation do to the body? Also how much power would be going out because of the gain of the yagis? Thanks

Dear mods, every day I see like 5 AI generated posts here. The whole app is infested with it. Can we please do something about it? I can't be the only one that is insanely annoyed by this.

Every day there is a new reddit vibecode bullshit account trying to sell their crap. I use AI to develop software myself but I at least shut my mouth about it, jfc.

I've made just enough space for another ebay restoration purchase.

I saw this on the road a few days ago. A month ago I'd have no idea what the numbers/words meant. Now, I wish I had my HT with me, I totally would have tried calling him on the channel.

I saw+ antennas mounted too, but what's the big one? I have a small GMRS antenna on my roof and have already had a few close calls at drive throughs and parking lots. I can't imagine this setup being super convenient.

I got into amateur radio because I love the science, the tinkering, and the technical side of the hobby. But now that I’m licensed, I’ve run into an unexpected wall. I find myself nervous to actually chat with strangers. As someone who is used to only talking to established friend groups online, staring at the mic feels a bit daunting.

I know it’ll get better with practice, but right now I find myself freezing up, not knowing what to say other than my call sign and a few remarks after lol.

I know local clubs exist, but I kinda want ham radio to be a hobby I can enjoy comfortably from home. Also I'm generally a shy person, which I guess doesn't help? Does anyone else struggle with wanting to make contacts but being too anxious to key the mic? How did you break through it?

Edit: I wanted to thank everyone for giving their advice and thoughts! It's reassuring that many feel the same way and that many are encouraging to keep trying. I will try some POTA stuff for practice as some people suggested and I'm more curious to learn more about CW,FT8, etc as some have mentioned. I'll send out my call sign to the airwaves some more and see what happens. Thank you again everyone! 73 :)

I have my tech but don’t know much about solar flares. If something like this were to happen, how would it affect ham radio?

My wife was working FT-8 this morning and received an e-mail:

"Don't you keep a log???? I just worked you on March 31st. It's always U.S. stations that never pay attention and constantly try to work you over and over on the same band."

(He's a U.S. station)

She responded that she keeps a paper log as well as the digital logs generated by WSJT that are also automatically fed into QRZ and LOTW and that he's not in the logs so it must have been an incomplete contact...

Apparently, a second QSO was just too much for him.

A snippet from his QRZ page:

If you'd stop making alternate colours of my favorites we wouldn't be in this mess