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Interesting thread topic. Beyond the how I got interested in the hobby reveal in my intro post, is the why I am a ham question.
It isn't to log contacts or make friends, but I do both of course. I find the question a psychological mental exercise. The more I ponder the straightforwardness of the question, the less I seem to come up with. For me the best answer appears to be so I can be involved with other like-minded people.
Originally it was so I could work those I was hearing on SDR sure and the gear, but I think it really came down to the license requirement. That is ham operators have to put in the effort to get their license and to follow the rules to keep it.
The license puts the hams in a much different class than having QSO's on other avenues such as chatrooms/CB/messaging/forums/etc where people hide behind aliases and are nearly unaccountable for their behavior. Hams are, dare I say a more intelligent and refined contact with morals.
Sure I've already ran into the occasional rogue ham, but that is far from the norm.
I guess that morphs into the next obvious question - what are my plans as a ham? So far it it has been QSO's, adding to my available modes/services/programs, and looking to get into some public service such as SKYWARN, ARES, or such.
However my ultimate goal or plans as a ham I have no idea. I just keep taking any available opportunity to see where it leads me in the hobby. 🤔
