I think it would be nice to have a radio but it just seems like too much effort for too little reward.
I think it would be nice to have a radio but it just seems like too much effort for too little reward.
- the exam is cheap and easy as long as you study for a week (high-schoolers did it in the past)
- in some countries, you don’t need to pay yearly fee to keep your ID thing (which is also cheap)
- the effort doesn’t seem very hard
Last but not least and it’s the most important for me: you can talk around the whole world without needing a phone maker or an ISP or any other kind of company filtering what and how you can talk as long as you respect global human rules. It’s like the last freedom that we have here since the newsgroups of the 80s/90s. You can send a global message without having to rely on a weird protocol sent through a black box (phone) relayed by an ISP. It’s the rawest form of global messaging out there.
There are exams, sure. But the entry level one(s) are typically not that bad. Something a high-school grad could do in an afternoon.
Fortune? Most exams now are free, although there are some clubs that charge a token fee (~$10 USD or so). Radios from China are cheap and cost around $25.
Sure, the hobby can get really expensive, but it doesn't have to be.
And "standard phrase" is not even accurate. Typically, people "ragchew" on repeaters with the Tech license, but that is not it either. Digital modes, RC/Model airplane control, satellite coms, APRS (GPS tracking), etc.