was when the cheap Chinese handi-talkies came out and a bunch of people flooded the buyers market and started scarfing them up without thinking about what they were doing.
"Wow! A real ham radio for only $25! I can talk to people all over the world!"
This was followed by, "I got ripped off!"
"I gotta be licensed?"
"It has to be programmed? How do I do that?"
On the other hand, a number of people did get licensed and learned to use them on local 2 meter repeaters and the occasional 2 meter net. A number of these people eventually wandered into HF and bought real rigs.
While the $25-35 isn't a lot of money, many were disaappointed. What they should have done is ask around beforehand and find out what they were getting into.
Also look at some of the real ham stations and realize that many people have tens of thousands into their shacks and the liklihood of being able to do what they do for $25 is pretty slim.
The Chinese HT fad has come and gone but it was kind of sad watching some of the heartburn it created.
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