Ham Radio is a Rich Man's Hobby ?

News flash: Ham radio is officially no longer a rich man's hobby.

It has been quite a while since I heard anyone complain about this but I am sure that the whining still goes on. You know the drill....some cheap (I mean thrifty) ham says "ham gear has just gotten so expensive that the average guy can't afford to own a decent radio anymore." Yeah, those radio manufacturers are really raking in the dough.

What makes me think of this today? I was reading the news on the AFC playoff game between the Broncos and the Patriots. The Denver Post reports that this game sold out almost immediately, with ticket prices ranging from $73 to $400. Now that the game is sold out, the scalpers and ticket brokers are charging even more. This means that quite a number of people are paying $300 or more to see one single football game.

I am not a football fan, so this makes no sense to me. But, hey, to each his own. Let's see what $300 buys on the ham radio front. A quick look at Ham Radio Outlet's web site reveals that for less than $300 you can have your pick of these dualband FM mobile rigs: the Kenwood TM-G707A or the Yaesu FT-7800R. Prefer a handheld rig? How about the Icom IC-T90A rig that covers 6M, 2M and 70 cm? For $312, you can have the Yaesu VX-7R, covering the same three bands.

Maybe you'd rather have an HF rig, such as the Yaesu FT-840 ($530) or the ICOM IC-718 ($600). You can't quite get one of those for $300 but you are halfway there with one football ticket.

Here in Colorado, snow skiing is a popular sport. A regular season one-day lift ticket is $75 at moderately-priced resorts in Colorado such as Copper Mountain and Breckenridge. That is not quite enough to buy a ICOM IC-T2H 2M handheld radio ($100). Well, if you include the cost of lunch and transportation to the ski resort, you probably hit $100. Or toss two lift tickets together and you have enough money to buy a Kenwood TH-K2AT at $150.

Sometimes I hear that it is the kids that can't afford the gear. Well, let's check out the latest kid toy: the Microsoft Xbox 360. Guess what, the console version (without any optional accessories) costs $400. Another popular electronic gizmo is the Apple iPod: $299 for the 30 Gigabyte version, $399 for 60 Gigabytes. Steve Jobs says that Apple sold 32 Million iPods in 2005, so they are selling these products to the masses, not just the rich folks.

So don't let anyone tell you that ham gear is too expensive.

Ham radio: the affordable hobby.

73, Bob K0NR