I am VE3HWO. I hold a basic with honours and advanced qualifications in Canada. Hoping to connect with other hams on HN. 73
Comments
I do. I'm not sure I like exposing my home address by providing my callsign with my HN account (something to think about for other posters).
> I'm not sure I like exposing my home address by providing my callsign with my HN account
Please explain. Surely one simply opts out of having ones address published in your countries call book?
In the US it's a public database, and you don't get to opt out of providing your name and a mailing address (mailing, needs to be valid but doesn't need to be your home address, PO Boxes work).
https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp
By blackfawn 2026-03-126:14 While PO boxes work, you would have had to set one up prior to getting any licensing since past addresses are retained in the system as well. And then you are paying an unending fee to maintain a PO box just to try and maintain some slight privacy online.
It really is baffling they are so stuck on having full address available to the world. City/state, zip code, Maidenhead locator squares, or a number of other options would be more than enough to place one into a local area without an exact address listed publicly. Until that happens, I definitely will continue to refrain from mentioning it on any online accounts to help keep all the data miners a little more at bay.
By Marsymars 2026-03-070:24 I put my office address for anything where I need to provide a mailing address but I don't want to provide my home address.
Wow!
I know American data protection law is pretty poor, but that really is shocking; such data should not be made public without the users explicit opt-in consent.
They have opt-in consent: it’s a known part of the US ham licensing process that the database is public and searchable, and nobody is forced to get a ham license.
In fact, several of the questions on the ham test involve the fact that you can look up operator info online.
By akerl_ 2026-03-0921:21 If you type your name and address into the HN comment box and hit submit, you have opted in to having your address visible in a comment on HN.
The ham registration is the same. Before you can take the test to get licensed, you have to go to the FCC website and enter your information into their public database. It’s clear what you’re doing, you have to actively choose to do it, and it’s the direct outcome of the action you take.
By singleshot_ 2026-03-0621:53 Your amateur radio license is only active when:
By Jtsummers 2026-03-0617:39 A lot of information is out there for a lot of people in the US. Here you can find salary information for GA state employees by name: https://open.ga.gov/openga/salaryTravel/index. If you don't know their name, you can search by organization and get a big list of people and how much they make each year.
By ToddWBurgess 2026-03-0815:05 In Canada because of our privacy rules we have the ability to opt out of having our address published in the official government ham database. American hams don't have that option which complicates things for them.
By ProllyInfamous 2026-03-0613:28 That's why I use a PO Box — still not sharing callsign though =P
I hold an Extra Class license... the old 20 wpm kind. The cool thing is, I got my extra back when I was 19 years old and it set me up for a great tech career since I understood RF.
Not going to dox myself here putting my callsign in a post.
By ProllyInfamous 2026-03-0613:291 reply AD0NIS — that you?
By zikduruqe 2026-03-0615:00 Heh. I mean you are kinda close.
My callsign is a 2x1 call.
I find the technical side of the hobby very interesting but the thought that it requires having a conversation with strangers and that too synchronously, is a personal deterrent.
I don't know if there are others like me.
EDIT: Glad to see that there are others around. Happy to meet you. Async acks are great. So is the joy of engaging with something intellectually challenging.
Humans can be so different, it's fascinating and awesome. I'm quite the opposite. Where I wanted to talk to people from around the world and have some interesting conversations about everything, the fact that they are mostly "Hello, I'm calling from x, using radio y, and your signal is z. 73" is a big let down for me. I somewhat like the technical sid of it, but just calling to say "Hello, x, y, z, bye." ends up feeling like a waste of time to me (in the sense that I could be using this time for other, more interesting things. I still find it somewhat interesting though). But, if you enjoy the technical aspect of it, then I think it's fine, you can focus more on cw, or the digital modes where the contacts are automated.
edit: I know there are ragchews all the time, but it's still mostly about equipment.
By srean 2026-03-0612:15 Oh I love meeting and knowing people from different parts of the world, have curiosity about their human stories, about how they think, what they find funny, their food, their music, their culture, their interests. Oh yes their food, music and humor.
That's one reason I love New York so much.
However my pace is much slower. I take my time.
On the technical side, the added attraction is to do some homebrewed amateur radio astronomy.
By olorton 2026-03-0611:40 I've been licensed for a couple of years. All my QSOs are short and sweet, mostly activating and hunting POTA/SOTA contacts, where the activator prefers to have short QSOs in order to activate the park/summit. I have no interest in having a conversation with the other amateur, at most I would exchange what gear I'm using and what power I'm running. That is it.
I like building kits, QRP, CW, and building my own antennas. I only make contact with other people to be able to improve my skills and validate my gear.
My father has been licensed for nearly 50 years, he loves the technical side of the hobby, I've made more contacts over the last 2 years than he has in 15 years. There are others like you.
Oliver, M7OCL
By montroser 2026-03-0611:38 There are dozens of us, friend. I got my license for the challenge and learning that came with. Tuned in to signals near and far but never sent my own voice over the air.
By Tzela 2026-03-0612:23 Totally the same. I got my license 7 years ago just for fun. I challenge myself to have at least one QSO per year which always takes an hour of prepping myself mentally. But I love the technical side and am always happy to join practical meetups.
By implements 2026-03-0620:29 Yeah, I’ve got a UK Foundation licence but have never actually made a call - it was more of a “have transceiver might as well be legal to use it” thing.
(Also, HF antennas - just didn’t anticipate how difficult they were to set up properly)
By scarecrowbob 2026-03-0619:59 I've made all of a single contact via CQ. The tech has taught me a lot and continues to teach, but listening to folks rag chew doesn't stay interesting for very long.
By Pfhortune 2026-03-0622:06 Taking my technician test tomorrow! Wish me luck!
Not only am I pursuing this because I want long-range emergency comms in case cell networks go down (like what happened with Verizon recently), but also because I see a very notable contraction on what communication is allowed to be done on the internet, especially in the last year. Censorial regimes around the world seem to be accelerating and I don't want to be cut off from communications because I am not of an "accepted" identity.
And yes, I'm aware that states police the amateur airwaves too. But I see it more like how getting a driver's license doesn't mean I can't flee a country with my car... Learning to drive, or operate a radio, is still a valuable skill to learn and practice.
