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Being a Ham radio operator sounds kind of romantic on paper, but then you try it and realize that 90% of the other operators are curmudgeonly old Trump supporter types. Not really any fun chances for discourse when the person on the other side is pining for the return of Jim Crow laws

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The great thing about ham radio is that if you don't like what you're hearing, you can just keep spinning the dial. In my experience (NYC metro area), I hear very little politics on the ham bands. There are also CW and digital modes which tend to draw people with more than five brain cells. I know there are a couple infamous HF frequencies where some reality-challenged folks tend to congregate, but there is much more to the hobby than that QRM.

Perhaps annoyingly you’re spot on. The “local net” near me in London is full of Brexit breathing Farage supporters whining about their XYL. The clubs aren’t any better. It took forever to get my license sorted because of this as well. I was new blood that didn’t want to drink beer, play with black box rigs or bitch about the wife.

So I stick to 40m CW. People just want a QSO or two and then go back to playing with their oscilloscopes and soldering irons. It’s too hard to rag chew on CW.

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