I'm rebooting my hobby as a radio amateur and have decided to record my attempts and progress on the net. I do have a couple of commercial radios, but until I get a decent power supply, they are next to useless. As for a lot of people, money is tight. Also, spending a great deal of money on a hobby such as amateur radio, in my opinion at least, goes against what amateur radio is all about. To me, it's about learning the basics of electronics and radios, taking that knowledge and learning more by playing with circuits and aerials and so on. Sure, in most cases, you won't be doing anything new, as far as the world is concerned, but it's something you have done. Build your first transmitter, then build a receiver to listen to it, then looks for ways to improve the range. Then, after days, weeks, even a coupel of years, maybe, you have contact with a distant station. You will have done something that most folk have never done, including a lot of radio amateurs as well.