So, on /r/amateurradio this afternoon there was a post asking for opinions about a new antenna analyzer by Chameleon. The thing costs $200, and as far as I can tell, only measures SWR.
I commented, “Take a look at the SDR-Kits FA-VA5 600MHz Vector Antenna Analyzer. For about the same price, it covers up to 600 MHz, and does a heck of a lot more than the Chameleon analyzer. I have an earlier version of this analyzer–the VA-4–and it works great.”
To which someone replied, “lol you have to put that together yourself.” What followed was a series of comments about how difficult it would be to build the VA-5 kit and whether or not it should be doable for most hams:
Me: “Basically, it’s just final assembly, and you get a much more capable analyzer. If you can’t do that yourself, well….”
Him: “Says there’s soldering involved. That’s pretty intense for newbies compared to this unit that is ready to go right out of the box.”
Me: “It’s really not that difficult, and like I say, you end up with a much better analyzer for about the same price.”
Him: “You’re probably right, but for someone that’s never touched a soldering iron in their life, it doesn’t matter how much it costs they’re not going to buy it.”
Me: “If you’re doing stuff that requires you to use an antenna analyzer, you should know how to solder.”
Him: “Agree to disagree. I use a coil antenna in the field. I use an analyzer to ensure I get it tuned below 1.5:1 without using a tuner. I’ve never needed a soldering iron for anything and I’ve been a ham since April 2000.”
Me: “OK. We’ll agree to disagree. I’ll say one more thing, though. If you’ve never touched a soldering iron in all that time, you’ve ended up paying more for your hobby than you need to. This is a case in point. By doing a little soldering here, you could get a lot more for your money.”
Him: “I don’t think that is accurate. Nothing I’ve purchased over the years could have been assembled by me with just a soldering iron except the N9TAX roll up jpole I purchased a few years ago but even with that it would have required more tools than a soldering iron that I don’t have either.”
Me: “I don’t know what exactly you’ve purchased, but I’d bet that there are some things you could build yourself with a soldering iron (and some other tools, of course). And, by doing so, saved yourself some money, or gotten more for your money. Not only that, by building your own stuff, you’ll learn more about how radio and electronics work. If you’ve limited yourself to using only things that you can buy you’re really missing out on one of the big pleasures of amateur radio.”
I am both amused and befuddled by this conversation. I don’t have any reason to believe that this guy is lying, but at the same time, I find it hard to believe that this person has been a ham for more than 20 years and has never soldered anything. Maybe if they only had their license for 2 months, but 23 years?
And, as I said, if they really don’t have a soldering iron, what do they do when things break? Just throw it away and buy something new? That’s crazy.
I really can’t imagine being a ham and not having a soldering iron. Soldering is ham radio 101 or should be, no?