Well, I think I reached a crossroads of sorts in my ham radio investigation. After joining ARRL, I read the ARRL operators guide and talked to many ham operators. My conclusion is, at least at this point in my life, that I'm not putting together a base station or home HF rig. A mobile rig is to me a very different proposition, and I do believe I want a mobile rig, possibly with HF too.

The main reason I'm not putting a home rig together is more or less lifestyle related. My job is already extremely sedentary, and puts my butt in a chair for 40-50 hours a week. Add in normal email and internet usage, and that is a LOT of hours on my tail. I really don't need another hobby that sits me down for even more hours - I just physically can't do that. I have observed many of the members of state radio clubs, and observe that most members seem to be some combination of elderly, handicapped, or quite obese. For them, I get it - but I don't fit into those categories (yet).

The other thing I am discovering is the learning curve for effective HF comms is very steep compared to line of sight UHF/VHF. The dollar investment is considerably higher, as well.

I may well decide at some point that the station investment is worthwhile, but for now its on ice. My next area of investigation is likely to be line of sight semi-secure comms - and I'm getting further along that path. Anyway, just an update...