HAM vs Freeband
Here are a few points of comparison in the discussion about Ham and Freeband. I would love to hear other people's comments and opinions also.
# Freeband Positives
* Friendly and relaxed Atmosphere
* Easy to get into, for anyone
* Good DX when conditions are good
* No Hierarchy, no rules, anyone can build a DX hunting station
* Not judged not on your call sign
* Cheap, high performance antennas
* Very rewarding when the band opens and when you have to work to find the DX
# Freeband Negs
* Band closes for long periods
* It is not legal
* Spoiled sometimes by people creating deliberate interference.
# HAM Positives
* Sense of achievement getting the ticket and you learn a bit at the same time
* Legal
* Different bands - more DX opportunities
* Lots of operators
* A lot of knowledge amongst the operators
* Easier to get into now days
Ham Negs (F calls)
* Power limit 10 watts - it fine for local VK contacts, and ok for DX on 10m when condition are very good, but 10watts not enough for international DX on bands like 40m most of the time, unless you have some very massive, very high antennas to make up for the lack of power.
* Hierarchy, elitism
* Some (only some) HAMs are not welcoming to F callers and its not uncommon to hear anonymous abuse towards F callers
* Not as relaxed as freeband
* Study, tests, paperwork, beaurocracy and money to even get started.
Please comment and have your say.
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