Ham radio is still a thing? Operators say it's very important 

Aside from emergency communications it is a fine hobby, many amateur radio enthusiasts like myself have made a career out of radio too.

Ham Radio served the Florida Community well during the many hurricanes I helped with for the long power outages that followed

My first exposure to Amature Radio happened when I was nine years old. Fast forward fifty eight years, and at sixty seven I received my Technician License two months ago. Although there are some frequency limitations at this stage, the electrical-electronic aspects of how and why are facinating. I have secured technical publications from the ARRL to help me prepare for the General License training I plan on receiving in early 2024. 73's - KC3VXP

Amateur Radio gets through when everything else fails. Be a Ham Radio Operator !!!! Prepare for the worst that can ever happen.

Taking my test this September. Can't wait to get on the air and be prepared. Especially when where I live we get a lot of power outages.

Thanks for posting this video. Kd4stt 73s

In a true grid down situation, regardless of the event........natural disaster, hurricane, cyberattack, power failure............all your traditional forms of communication, landline, cell phone will all be unavailable or severely hampered making it unreliable. How do I know this, I've experienced this first hand a few times in my life. Having the ability to communicate outside of these traditional modes is critical, I come at this not as a ham radio enthusiast, but as a prepared mindset.

It doesn't have to be a national emergency. A local total grid failure can be individually disastrous for some. Imagine your grid power source goes down. The cell service gets interrupted. The only momentary system is mobile radio. even if it is only one day in the summer when the electric lines over heat, or a tornado, hail storm, wind shears, or fire stops the flow of electricity to a community. Help is needed immediately, if only to get emergency generators to where they are needed. Having a communication availability that is not dependent on infrastructure can be the moment of need you have now, not in a day or two. Cyberattacks on the grid will cause problems in many areas, mobile communication is a good tool to have.

If I remember correctly, ham radio was the main comm's during hurricane Katrina. I wish they woulda explained more about what Field Day is, what its purpose is, mention being able to communicate via satellites, but more so had some excitement and pep in their step. Unfortunately I think this segment only reinforces the stigma that younger people have about the hobby. There was literally no energy or excitement here, none :( C'mon people, look alive, you're gonna be on tv!!! I'm glad the news did a report on ham radio nonetheless, it is appreciated. 73's!!!

congratulations Great job 73 from kb2uew

Amateur Radio is no longer relevant within affected areas and that claim can be easily proven. Provide examples of FEMA, National Guard, Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, Salvation Army, Trauma 1 Hospitals who, on their website or letterhead, have a scheduled drill that details Amateur Radio as a participating emergency communications liaison participant. Prior to Katrina, these drills were commonplace, often quarterly. As a Ham who participated in EmComm in the 80's and 90's, Amateur Radio played an essential role. Today, the new blood in the hobby are not backfilling the ever-aging and dying hardcore emergency-centric operators and Net Controllers (e.g. NTS/ARES)....and the older Hams still alive are mostly disabled and/or morbidly obese unable to mobilize their equipment or themselves. And if you ain't practicing, you are not prepared, and worse, you could make matters worse. And "Field Day" as an example of practicing emergency communications? Gimme a break. Field Day is nothing more than a bunch of Hams talking on top of each other or 1-2Kc's on either side of another conversation - If the on-air, elbows high, inconsiderate Field Day operators are any indication of how EmComm would be conducted the public are screwed. Amateur Radio is nothing more than a hobby with only sporadic, many falsified, claims of "saving lives" "when all else fails." The lack of relevance is why the FCC RIF'd/redeployed nearly all of their Part 97 enforcement staff who were responsible for rule compliance within the Ham bands. Sure, there have been a handful of fines advertised...but research this, how much money has been collected? The answer is ZERO. And how many of the fined Hams lost their Ham license? The answer is ZERO. Go ahead fellow Hams, look it up on the FCC ULS system.

For any new people looking to get into it, first go and meet some of the older ham operators. They will verbally abuse you, curse at you, constantly tell you what youre doing wrong, with no instruction on how to do it 'their way ', and ultimately theyll run you off, which is why theyll go back to being miserable and alone and keep certain people wondering why ham is actually dead on most all places, but you wont....because you'll know exactly why its dead. Old timer fudds killed it. Just like they intended.

I wouldn't trust anyone working in the radio communications industry, without a licence (license). Think about it, Ham Radio allows operators to use radio frequencies for experimentation, and knowledge development. Radio communications are everywhere. including everyone's cell phone. Why would you employ an engineer to work with radio waves, that hasn't got passion.

I have my h/b 5 Watt h.f. radio and an FT817ND and a Wireless 19 Set with an inverter so all run off a 12 Volt battery and solar panel so if the mains power goes off I can still operate. I love building or modifying gear and have a Pixie on 5.262 MHz which is only 350 mW out but even that has got me 180 miles and a SWL report from 220 miles. G4GHB

they are all waiting for that day that one day the system goes down. if that happens, oh dear oh dear.

Shame they weren't operating modern radios!

Not only ham but gmrs as well

Weather reports?? Regular communications methods have gone silent, we don't know what's happening anywhere in the world much less the next town and you're worried about the weather? I think I'd be more worried about if we were under attack or even at war.

Best Hobby ever

Hamradio is here to stay forever de.. n1sca palmbay Florida

These are the things that most young people don't understand. They look at HAM radio and these older people as a joke. Boy are they in for a big surprise. The jokes on them and it won't be nice for them.

Remember California !!

Ham radios are very important

Nice!🥰👍

Rubbish, modern emergency systems have made ham radio totally obsolete. The only ones that still don't get it are those that live in the past. Ham radio has turned into a meaningless pure hobby like CB and listening on those ham bands there is no difference and in many instances it is worse.. Hams these days are appliance operators if there is a real emergency or something breaks they are totally lost. Field day is not a preparedness test...in a real emergency you can't borrow generators and other equipment from all over town, you don't spend months and countless meeting planing (and still don't get it right)...lol. Field day is nothing but an outdoor contest clobbering up precious spaces with meaningless chatter. Ham radio's time has come and gone it is about as obsolete as smoke signals and the frequencies used a pure waste of a public resource.The agencies responsible for frequency planing around the world better do their job and assign those frequencies to a use that really benefit the public as a whole and not just a very small minority of hobbyists and nerds whose number is not even statistically relevant..

CQ CQ CQ de W1OP

i only use it because of the sstv sometimes there are funny cat pictures