No signals on radio? doesn't mean there aren't other things to do in amateur radio

I think that a lot of people get really wrapped up in propagation conditions you know whether or not there's anything going on on the radio is there anybody to talk to you know etcetera etcetera when there's so many other things about this hobby that you could be doing

[@janiceemery2008]

I agree with you, you can really get sucked into the ham radio vortex. How much listening can you really do? I would love to learn how to fix or even start to put stuff together. I don't even know how to solder. There must be something out there that you can buy to learn how to fix electronic stuff or learn about all the electrical components.

[@hamradiohack]

On amazon they have kits for practicing soldering and specifically smd soldering training kits.

[@GoonyMclinux]

Soldering you have to just start out disassembling old broken boards with a heatgun and a soldering iron then practice removing and replacing components. If Im not busy doing something I pull out the gear and practice. Every now and then I figure out another neat method to get something mounted or removed. The most difficult thing to master is reballing SOC's and ram and such everything else ends up quite easy after practice. Kits are a good way to practice also, like simple radio kits or what not. There is books that are pretty decent to learn from, encyclopedia of electronic components series is good to learn what everything does.