... Also a lot of them seem to be stuck in terms of technology, can't possible use simulation, simulation is worthless! ...
I tend to agree with the hams. There really is no need to simulate plugging your purchased radio into the wall outlet
Don't tell them that! ---a very small cohort will do just that, & let the magic smoke out in a big way.
That said, I do have three direct "plug into the Mains" radios:
One dead Icom IC251A, a "dead-ish" IC575A, & a Kenwood R1000 Receiver---all the rest need 13.5V or so DC.
or attaching your purchased antenna.
In my experience, "purchased" antennas need as much "farting around" as home made ones, so, unless I can get old ones at Hamfests, I leave them alone.
Most suburban homes are far from ideal locations for antennas, so, unless that is really your major interest, simulating antennas is pretty much a waste of time.
I was very happy with the "glorified clothesline" on 20m I slapped together one afternoon, made from car stereo "speaker wire" from the local "El Cheapo" shop, tuned by listening for maximum noise with a general coverage receiver, shortening enough to bring the noise into the ham band, then finally tweaking with an old "CB" type SWR meter from the 1970s.
It worked for years, much longer than I anticipated.
Based on the hams that have written me, it's a good thing too. As long as there is money to be made, amateur radio will stick around. The government may need to drop the license to drive members and once combined with the CB market, I expect sales will do fine. The CB group may make better use of some of the bands.
Again, the vast difference in Countries ------in Oz, HF CB is now all but unknown.
If you listen assiduously for a week or so, you may hear a few diehard dinosaurs chatting on CH35 upper, amongst a lot of "clear air", or, way down in the noise, maybe some illicit taxi drivers in SE Asia .
UHF CB on around 477MHz FM was a great success over time, once they were allowed to have repeaters, killing HF "stone dead" for most of the things CB is actually useful for, but even that has become a victim of the ubiquitous "smart phone".
These days, apart from a handful of "swearing bears" on one of the local repeaters, a few truckdrivers, & retirees travelling in campervans, it is nearly as dead as 11m.
Let's turn back the hands of time to 1961 and see what Paul W. Sturm K4ILP has to say on the matter.