>communication time is short and there is little to no chance to exchange anything other than the most basic info like name, location, calling code etc.
I don't think this is entirely true. Maybe on more crowded frequencies this is the case, but a lot of radio waves only travel around 50 miles or so, making conversation a lot more local. Also, I don't really agree with just summarizing the hobby of talking with people as being the same as talking with strangers on a busy street. I think given the right circumstances, it could be a lot more like chatting with people on IRC; for long periods of time, there may be no one broadcasting anything at all, punctuated by spikes in activity when a few people could talk back and forth. Also, I think the notion of only sending name, location, and calling code mainly just applies to packet radio, whereas there's a lot more spectrum and analog radio chatter out there. Prior to a lot of services like police, and ambulances services, and fire fighting taking their communications digital, I believe it was possibly to tune into the frequencies they were using and listen to the goings on and calls for things. I think that's still possible in some places, but I can't imagine it's entirely as common as it once was. I would imagine another draw of the hobby is simply interest in radio equipment itself. Due to the long history of radios being around, there's plenty of different equipment such as old vacuum tube receivers all the way through extremely compact digital handset radios.

>>81321
Maybe I need to get more specific but what I mentioned is especially true for Shortwave/HF communications where it's possible to broadcast thousands of miles and across continents. Most Amateur Radio hobbyists eventually get into Shortwave/HF because it has technical advantages that other radio systems don't provide.

What you said applies more to UHF/VHF communications which only do local communications, the antenna is also more compact so using it indoors is not much issue. But these are already commonly covered by lots of other radio devices that don't require an Amateur Radio license to use.

I heard that In Japan it can actually be highly illegal. There are lots of permits and regulations around it and such.

>>81334
It's actually the same in the United States. The FCC doesn't mess around with unlicensed broadcasts, and if a signal persists for long enough they will triangulate the source and find the source to tell off the person who was broadcasting without a license. Furthermore, it's also very illegal to broadcast on frequency bands you either don't have permission to be broadcasting or, especially in the case if broadcasting on frequencies that emergency services use. Likewise, it's illegal to broadcast on military frequencies, but that goes without saying.

there's so much rural area in North America that you'd have to be doing something sketchy to get investigated

>>81319
Still lots of rag chewing on the 40m bands.

>>81337
This reminds me that there was a frequency band used for checking for signals from space or something, but 5G was majorly treading into it. Well, or something like this. I can't remember the specifics, but I remember it was related to astronomy and it was bad news for it.