From $4999 Per Year*

*PLEASE NOTE: Since this article was first published during 2014, annual rates for Remote Ham Radio have reduced significantly, with pay-as-you-go rates also changing.  Latest pricing here.

At a guess, you're probably scratching your head about the topic of this post.

Well, $4999 per annum is what Remote Ham Radio are asking for their first level of 'PremiumDX' membership, which has limited numbers according to their web site (1/8/2014), to a fully-equipped and very capable ham radio station.

Vision of the future?  (Not a depiction of Remote Ham Radio's products)

There is no doubt at all that what RHR is offering is top-end stuff, giving hams the chance to remotely operate a world-class station on any of the HF bands, including full four squares down to 160m.  Very few of us have room and/or weather conditions suitable for installing one of those!

But $4999 per year?  That's a LOT of money.  The top tier comes in at $9999 per year - a hefty fraction of an average annual wage.  [UPDATE: Basic membership is now just $99 per year, plus per minute usage fees, currently (Sept. 2015) $0.49]

RHR also offers a lower price point of just 15 cents per minute on a 'pay-as-you-go' type of scheme - but it does have a modest $99 one-off set-up fee.  No doubt that would be more than worth subscribing to, remembering that the bills, like internet broadband of old, will inevitably soon mount up.

Questions about the 'feel' and 'authenticity' of this kind of ham radio are bound to resurface.  I've never operated remotely, nor would I particularly want to on anything other than a 'let's see' basis.  [Update: At $99 per year, I am tempted to experiment.  But the $0.49 per minute usage fee could lead to very big bills indeed!] 

Even though RHR say operators can use "their own callsign" when using their remote stations, it would appear that to operate in accordance with law, we would all need to be W2/Something (for example), which is a bit odd and perhaps less-than-ideal from a DX entity-chasing perspective, at least for the person using, rather than contacting the remote station.  You can read a good review of the recent legal and DXCC position in relation to TF4M here.

I now see RHR seem to suggest that operators use a station callsign, in that their transmission sites have their own callsigns, which you use.  In their own words (Sept. 2015): "Its [sic] important to remember that the other station does NOT care where you are sitting, they only care where the TRANSMITTER is."  Which means that a moderately interesting station like mine in MW land becomes one of tens of thousands of east-coast US stations that holds very little interest at all to the rest of the world.

More concerning to me is the vision of amateur radio that's being pushed: limited membership, very high prices.  This, despite the fact that the rich and retired are a dying breed, likely to last no more than another 20-odd years before the much poorer victims of the Great Financial Crash replace them. 

I personally wish Remote Ham Radio well with their venture; it is a significant investment in a complex hardware and software service that carries risk, but I'm sure will be popular.

But I also hope they and others will try to point out to newcomers and the poor alike that ham radio doesn't need to cost 15c per minute, nor $99 per year (plus steep usage fees).  It can be a lot cheaper than any of this, and a lot more rewarding too.