Hopefully not too touchy of a subject, poll inbound.





I've got an IC7K ($1100)


2 VX6R's ($600)


a couple of old Icom 2M Mobiles ($500)


a LDG tuner ($300)


an antenna analyzer ($250)


and a bunch of misc antennas, coax, power supply, etc ($400)





So, I'm into it for a little over $3K.  How about you?





I'd love to have a real tower, amp, HF beam, 2M beam, rotator, ..., but that's another $5-10K.  Unclear the XYL would approve...





-Slice





ETA:  Obviously a typo on poll option #1, but it won't let me edit.  If one of the mods could fix that for me, many thanks...




 

I just got insurance to cover my equipment through the ARRL.  So, I can give a fairly accurate estimate.  $6912.  That does not include all the antennas as several are home built. It will change shortly as I have a "new" radio on the way; and, am bidding on a tuner to go with it.

I don't know, and my wife doesn't want to know, either.

Seriously, one day she came back to the workshop (metal building out back, where my hamshack is) and looked around.  I was busy doing something, forgot what.

She asked, "All this ham stuff.  You can talk to people a long way off, even other countries, right?  If there was an emergency, phones not working, like that, you could call out of the state, talk to other hams?"

"Yes, that's what the evening nets are for, practice for setting up networks in emergency, relaying messages.  Some hams set up after a disaster, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, and help coordinate emergency services coming in, communicate local problems and needs, stuff like that."

She was quiet, thinking.

"OK," she said, and went back into the house.  She's never since mentioned a dollar spent on ham radio, or questioned any of my activities.  Not once.

AFM, don't get me wrong.  She hasn't complained, though the expense has been over the course of years.  Honestly, I'm sure she'd much rather have me sitting in the basement messing w/ the radio than up in town at the bar or MIA someplace.  At the same time, there's a lot of stuff I'd like to have which would be irresponsible for me to drop the coin on to get, from a family financial management view –– and I doubt I'll do it.  



More than anything, I'm curious what the average budget is to be "productive", whatever that means....



-Slice

Sorry guys/gals....
 

why would you edit it? tits should be free.    

Talk about a Freudian slip...

i actually have no money invested in amateur radio.  
instead, i employ subtle subliminal messages which result in others making purchases...  

ar-jedi

I like the tits answer, because if I keep track, I might scare myself a ltiile.

Here, you do the math, but do not let me know.
Kenwood Dual band for home W/Diamond X50
Two 2m hand helds
Two Dual band hand helds
IC 718 with Tuner
Multiple antenna's for portable and stationary use.
Multiple power supplies

Bill

Nice box, except for the color.  

-Slice, I'm in the same $ range spent as you.

I try to subscribe to the $5 on antennas for every $1 spent on radios approach, but I haven't quite made it yet. Putting in the tower and tribander helped.

100' tower, Mosley, K3+P3, TS820, AL-80B, SB-200, FT897, UHF/VHF gear, bench equipment....

I may have to take up drinking and smoking to cut my spending on radio. Otherwise, I'll need to expand the house.

Not counting the license fee, $0.

i covered this EXACT SITUATION for you the last time you made such a statement:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/646296_HAM_radio___do_you_consider_it_a_necessary_prep.html&page=3#i11020256

get a new record, as your current one is broken.

ar-jedi

I guess my issue may be that I don't put myself in the situations such as K4GUN did (I had read that article prior to your original response).  If I go hiking, it is in very hilly terrain, where all I would have is a handheld, and no repeater vehicle anywhere such as he used.  So at that point, i'm reduced to trying to reach a hilltop repeater in the area, hopefully I break my leg at the top of a ridge, and not at the bottom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOZllbNarw

ar-jedi

Haven't thought about it much since the packet BBS days but :

Invested in gear I use on a regular basis in the current era, maybe 2-3K.
On gear currently in my possession,  maybe 10K.
In 33+ years pursuant to the hobby, God himself probably couldn't guess!

Test $15.00
Books $25.00
Equipment $75.00

Not enough. I want MOAR

Over the last 20 years or so? Hard to put a real number on it.....but I would have to say somewhere between 5 and 10k.

Probably too much- it has a tendency to snowball.

$2200.

time spent welding and fabricating not included.

A bunch.

Most of the fun I have with the hobby is tinkering - buying broken gear, restoring, using and eventually passing the stuff along to someone else who appreciates it.

Spent $1k in the last 30 days alone. Some of that was to outfit my wife's motorcycle (she's also licensed) with a waterproof dualbander.

A lot less than I would have spent on golf over 20 years.

When looking at what someone spends it could look huge if you are thinking everybody went out and bought all their equipment at one time. I have bought plenty but it is over all the years as a ham. I bet I average way less than a radio and antenna a year.  
In fact I would bet no matter what the hobby I would have spent about the same.... Well probably more because those dang golf balls are expensive with a mean slice.

To me the nice thing about ham radio is the great used market out there. Just this week picked up a FT 950 with all the trimmings for the price of a new ft 950.   If it were not for band conditions I would be on the air now.

It's REALLY hard for me to answer that question.  I do so much wheeling and dealing that most of my equipment is bought


with proceeds from the sale of other equipment.
I can say with certainty that my collection of electronic test and measurement equipment is MANY times more valuable than


the radios I use.  
This is an incomplete and slightly out of date view of what I have now, just in test equipment:


















I need a bigger test bench!
Some of this equipment (in the racks) has been sold. I made a lot of money off it.





A local company that makes cellular base station equipment has downsized, and I got


MOST of the test equipment they surplussed out.    I've been so willing to pay the prices


they ask that now I'm the only guy they call when more comes available.   I'm just easy


to deal with and don't haggle over prices.   It has worked out VERY well for me.
As for radios, at this time all the amateur radios I use are portable and mobile radios in


VHF and UHF.  No HF gear and no base stations.    And I'm not currently even using any


mobile radios.  It's currently not installed in the vehicle.





I did have a Yaesu FT1000MP that I ran on 40 and 80 meters via an improvised antenna,


for a while, but sold it for a fat profit.  I wasn't getting much use out of it anyway.





I went to the effort to get my Extra class ticket, and I hardly use more than Technician


class priveleges.  



I do guarantee that my current cash investment in test equipment is over 10,000 dollars,

and that's getting a bunch of genuine bargains in lightly used equipment,

but some of the equipment shown has been sold for a very respectable profit.
CJ




 

Right now, probably $2K-$2.5K.  Been getting good at Craigslist and the online swaps.

At one point a few years ago about $15K.  Took a good look around and determined the cost vs enjoyment ratio was way out of whack.

Ummm...
D7 - $310
D710 - $525
VX-2R - ~$110 <$45 to buy and $65 to have Yaesu fix and it isn't fixed
Antennas - ~$200
Books and software and exams and other "stuff" - maybe $300
Should I add the $600 price of driving to Hamvention in '09?

Only been licensed 4 years and just yesterday upgraded to General so when I start making some money (unemployed) I'll probably look into some HF stuff.

LOW2000- get a dual band handheld and hit up some of the nets in your area.
I got into ham ONLY for APRS and it grew on me.
Give it a whirl.

Greg
WØGRB