"Steffan" wrote in message
...
My dad was a ham back in the 50's/60's and early 70's and as a child I
remember seeing his "shack" which consisted mostly of Heathkit, a
Hallicrafters SX125 (?) and some Eico and Collins stuff.....

So anyway, shoot ahead 40 years and here I am in a mid life crisis!!!!
As it turns out I became an EE, but my job for the last 24 years or so has
been as a computer tech so my EE skills are, err....lacking shall we say


Code comes easy to me because I am also a professional musician and for
some reason, it just makes sense to me which I suppose is odd in it's own
way.

So anyhow, I still have access to Dad's old gear, but I'm looking for
something modern and some instructions on how to get started.
I had looked into this in high school circa 1975 and it was Novice, Tec,
General and I think Extra class at the time and if you didn't know code
you were pretty limited.
I think Dad is an extra.

So anyway, I plan on contacting a local club and checking out the ARRL
site but any other general advice would be appreciated.
Don't take this the wrong way, but I kind of got the impression that
current technology (pda, wireless, cell phones etc) has kind of put a huge
dent in Amateur radio?
True?
False?


False. There are more licensed hams than at any time in history.
Unfortunately some are very bashful about actually getting on the air. The
biggest problem is that today, the average person has never heard of ham
radio and has no idea what it is.

Every piece of technology has its place. PDA, wireless, cell phones, etc
have different abilities than ham radio as they are on different frequencies
and have other limitations. Hams know this but don't do a good job of
getting out the info on the different capabilities of the different
technologies. Perhaps sometimes the hams themselves aren't up on the
advantages and disadvantages of each technology.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

Old gear's function is to radiate and receive RF.

What is it that you expect "modern" gear to do?

The _REAL_ Radio Ham builds and/or modifies and
adapts existing equipment. It is the CBer who goes out to
buy off-the-shelf "modern" gear.

"Steffan" wrote in message
...
So anyhow, I still have access to Dad's old gear, but I'm looking for
something modern and some instructions on how to get started.

"Steffan" wrote in message
...
My dad was a ham back in the 50's/60's ... I
remember seeing his "shack" which consisted mostly of Heathkit, a
Hallicrafters SX125 (?) and some Eico and Collins stuff.....

So anyway, shoot ahead 40 years and here I am in a mid life crisis!!!!
[...snip...] I plan on contacting a local club

Steffan,

WELCOME! The club is your best bet. We're just a lot of old farts here
(:-) There's so much neat stuff to do and neat new equipment. BUT the old
stuff, particularly Heath, is in demand. Be careful if you get offers.
There's a new FM satellite just up, some new modes like PSK31 and all
the rigs are computer controllable, so you can mix various interests.

I'm working on some computer control software for blind hams and I say
that I am fixing it so I can have my 'computer-toy' play with my 'ham
radio-toy' so I can go up stairs and relax watching TV !! (:-)

--
Steve N, K,9;d, c. i My email has no u's.