"W5DXP" wrote in message
...
That antenna is simply $30 worth of PVC pipe and wire. Don't hams homebrew
anything anymore?
--
73, Cecil, w5dxp.com

Many hams don't homebrew. They do not have to tools to do things like hams
of the past.
It is often cheaper just to buy something already made. Say I was going
to put up something like the G5RV. I have to buy some wire. The wire is
just over 100 feet. That might mean buying 500 feet on a roll or ordering
it with the postage. Then need some ladder line. Need about 35 feet. Have
to get either 50 or 100 feet if I can find it locally, probably not any
around now as most TV sets use cable or coax. Also insulators and coax to
locate. Things start to add up. Or I could get it all in one 'kit' for much
less.

Not all hams have a place to store supplies or build things that are large.
I sometimes build and sometimes buy. I just bought something to program
some radios off ebay. It was a circuit board with the parts on it. I did
have to put it in a box. The board only had 1 IC and a few capacitors and
leds on it. Two boards shipped was only $ 7.99. The shiping could have
more than that at some places. I was going to order a VHF preamp kit but
the postage put me off. They wanted $ 12.00 for postage. I could have put
50 of those kits in the $ 5.50 UPS mailing box. The kit was about the same
as the postage.