HAM Radio Is Dying — And It’s Our Fault?

[Chris]

Only locally, or a bit farther with repeaters, but there aren't nearly as many GMRS repeaters as HAM repeaters. Where HAM rigs shine is for national/global communications. HAMs using HF and other parts of the spectrum can talk to each other all over the country/globe. HF requires very long antennas (the one my brother just installed at home is 133' long), so it's not portable. So, in a SHTF situation, HAMs using HF rigs will be the source of national news. For instance, if I was HF-equipped, and China started bombing us , I could contact my brother on the east coast to see how he's doing. But I'm not a HAM, don't have an HF rig, and really don't want to, so that's purely a hypothetical. I've always counted on local HAMs using HF to communicate and then locally sharing the news, but if the HAMs disappear, that's a big loss of emergency comms...

I always wanted to take it up as a hobby, but then I remember that I’ve got far too many hobbies as it is.

 

[Apparition]

Only locally, or a bit farther with repeaters, but there aren't nearly as many GMRS repeaters as HAM repeaters. Where HAM rigs shine is for national/global communications. HAMs using HF and other parts of the spectrum can talk to each other all over the country/globe. HF requires very long antennas (the one my brother just installed at home is 133' long), so it's not portable. So, in a SHTF situation, HAMs using HF rigs will be the source of national news. For instance, if I was HF-equipped, and China started bombing us , I could contact my brother on the east coast to see how he's doing. But I'm not a HAM, don't have an HF rig, and really don't want to, so that's purely a hypothetical. I've always counted on local HAMs using HF to communicate and then locally sharing the news, but if the HAMs disappear, that's a big loss of emergency comms...

So in a SHTF scenario I need to raid the places with the 100’ communication towers if I need to communicate.

 

[Rubiconned]

HAM Radio Is Dying — And It’s Our Fault?​

"Video Killed the Radio Star"
-The Buggles 1979

"Cellphones killed the Radioman"
-Rubiconned 2025

 

[steelhd]

My exposure to HAM being useful is listening to them coordinate and broadcast information on Broadcastify during natural disasters like hurricanes and tornado outbreaks.

 

[Harold&Cat]

There are daily HF Ham radio nets in different areas of the country . They work as practice for emergencies as well as for visiting . There are "Traffic" nets that are there for sending information to different areas of the country . If I was to get stranded in a remote area , I know what frequencies and times of day to find help over the airwaves .

GMRS is great for close range communication radio to radio . If there is a good GMRS repeater , then an average of 25 miles from the repeater depending on terrain .

2 meter Ham radio has a little farther reach radio to radio , maybe 10 miles on open flat terrain. With a good repeater you could be 50 miles or more away .

The HF radio in our Jeep is capable of talking around the world . It all depends on the antenna and condition of the Band at the time . I have a 17ft telescoping whip I can quickly install and can talk several hundred miles or more . I can also put up a temporary wire antenna , which usually works best . It doesn't have to be high in the air , just tuned properly . I've talked to friends hundreds of miles away on a wire less than 10ft off the ground .

 

[sab]

So in a SHTF scenario I need to raid the places with the 100’ communication towers if I need to communicate.

HF antennas are usually horizontal, so not quite that easy to find. They look like long clotheslines.

 

[Harold&Cat]

HF antennas are usually horizontal, so not quite that easy to find. They look like long clotheslines.

That is correct .

I have two that are horizontal . One is 120ft long and 20ft off the ground . The other one is 60ft long and 7ft off the ground . I have no tower , but I do have two vertical antennas that are not very tall . I don't want to be a lightning magnet .

 

[Apparition]

HF antennas are usually horizontal, so not quite that easy to find. They look like long clotheslines.

 

[John Cooper]

"Video Killed the Radio Star"
-The Buggles 1979

"Cellphones killed the Radioman"
-Rubiconned 2025

And just like the Buggles, Rubiconned is wise!!!!!

 

[bobthetj03]

The days of finding a good Elmer are dwindling.

 

[SkylinesSuck]

GMRS is popular because it's much easier to obtain the license and it covers your immediate family members . GMRS shares the frequencies with FRS which doesn't require a license. This makes GMRS perfect for off roading and traveling .

This. It's why I discovered GMRS. Threw some little Amazon cheap walkie talkies at the kids then discovered something called a UV5R could be programmed to talk to them and could live in a charging cradle to boot. Then I went full me on it and it 5 minutes later I had 50w mobile units in the cars, one in the house with a big antenna on the roof, and one in the kid's treehouse with a big antenna of it's own.

Hi, my name is Chris, and I have a problem

 

[Harold&Cat]

Hi, my name is Chris, and I have a problem

Yep , I resemble that remark ...lol

I have 50 watt mobiles in the Coach , Jeep , Truck and the house . I have three Uv82 portables and four FRS inexpensive portables . All of that is also combined with the Ham radio equipment and antennas And of course we can't leave out the old CB radio too ...lol.

 

[BigO]

I ‘m not a fan of “radio talk show” style YouTuber’s, so I watched about 10 seconds of that guy and quit. However, I’ll admit that I have watched the notarubicon guy a gleamed some good GMRS info from him.

I don’t have any GMRS or HAM equipment yet, but for the past year I gone down the rabbit hole of GMRS research, and I’m starting to feel like I’m joining a geeky cult. This weekend I just ordered my first GMRS, a handheld Baofeng UV5G+ during Black Friday. I’ll be experimenting with that in a few weeks. If i get hooked on this GMRS stuff, I already have plans to go with the 15w or 50w Midland MTX series next year during 2026 Black Friday sales. And after that, I anticipate wasting a small fortune in 2027 to purchase 3 or 4 different mobile antennas and a SWR meter, so I can experiment with the MTX to find the perfect antenna location on my Jeep and 4Runner, and test how far I can hit a GMRS repeater with decent voice quality.

And prior to all of this, I had absolutely no interest in HAM. But now, I keep wasting morning coffee time to research both GMRS and HAM. I feel like if anything, GMRS is helping HAM, like the gateway drug of geeky RF communication.

 

[GoldenGorilla]

I've had my ham license since I was 8. Haven't taken the handheld with me in at least 15 years. The gatekeeping on 2m repeater tones, difficulty accessing up to date info and disappearance of the autopatch functionality killed it's use cases for me.

The final straw, many years back in the flip phone era. I was headed into the Maze District on a photography trip with friends. The pay phone in Hite was down for some reason. No problem, I had the info and programmed my radio for the Moab repeater. Nope! The tone listed online was bad. The Mrs was expecting a check-in after the drive over before we entered the backcountry and I knew she'd be worried. We ran into a ranger and he put a cell antenna on the roof, connected me.

I finally took the Tuffy Overhead Console out of my Jeep last year along with the CB and triband Yeasu within.