Here in central CA, we have a Ham Radio Sunday Night Packet net on 2m VHF. You can read about it on my Ham Radio page:
http://www.varmintal.com/ahamp.htm
TTUL...73...Al...WB6YNM...SK
Good Hunting... from Varmint Al
Posted on 06/08/2015 6:14:38 AM PDT by jaydee770
Morse code competence is no longer a requirement. But there’s a lot of bandwidth given over to CW still. There are other advantages, as well. Think of Morse are old school twitter.
If in the article I ‘missed’ it.
Do you have to pass a CW test (Morse Code)?
As to the Hams, even as MM shipboard Ops they were called Amateur’s.....
To get a Hams goat, I used to tell them I couldn’t ‘talk’ to them because I wasn’t an amateur, I was a Professional.
Guess I will get in ‘trouble’ for having Ham and goat next to each other.....
Just can’t get away from discussing Muslims and Sex???
Well, I *DO* love to smoke/grill every chance I can, so maybe we should start a BBQ thread — mandatory pics of the plated goodies.
Tis the season!
The ARRL automatically sends out an invitation to new ham radio operators.
My son passed the exam a couple weeks ago for Scouts, and we automatically received a membership application for the group.
That is a highly dangerous environment (to my wallet)!!
Good Hunting... from Varmint Al
Congrats. Passing all 3 at once is not easy, only 1 person in hubby’s ham club has ever done it. Most do it in stages.
Hubby is the Ham, he is Extra, and teaches the math portion when they do an Extra class. As that is what he taught in both the Navy and as a Prof at a Jr. College for a total of 40 yrs.
Now if you are interested you can get into the Emergency Operations end. They do a tremendous job during disasters when normal communications are down.
Would you happen to know what happened to the old TV channel frequencies when the HDTV standard went into effect?......................
Not exactly, but I think that the FCC has been playing slice ‘n dice with the old frequency allocations. Money changed hands...
My primary goal was just getting licensed and it happened a lot faster than I had expected — I was expecting to take at least a couple of attempts. All I have at the moment is a cheap, chinese, handi-talkie. Fortunately, I’m within a couple miles of a repeater.
So, now I have to start saving my nickles and dimes to buy some “stuff”. Transmitting watts cost $$, even on the low side (100 watts). This makes even lower power (QRP) operation mighty tempting to a newbie. And low-power means (for practical reasons) primarily morse-code.
Now, these days you can hook a computer up to send and receive morse code for you — but that seems quite a bit less satisfying than working the key myself. So there is my next course(s) of study...
What would happen if all normal communications went down? It will be Hams that will make any communication possible.
We (I ride along, Hubby is the Ham Extra) do the St. Jude’s Marathon every year, it takes a big load off the PD and EMTS for those non emergency needs a private truck is sent to pick up a non injured runner. Frees up the EMT’s for real emergencies.
Every Aid station has a Ham operator on site. Which means they can also keep the aid stations stocked with TP, gator aid, etc too.
Think of Morse are old school twitter.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Good example.
Years ago, when ‘fighting’ the internet - mostly because I didn’t ‘understand’ it and couldn’t take the time to learn about it, I came across a book called “The Victorian Internet”. If must have had a Key on the cover or subtitle broached the subject but the gist of the book was compare the internet to the old Naval Communications System (CW). Since I was a part of it, the book piqued my interest and I figured this ‘new fangled internet’ on those nasty computers may be worth a shot.
So, in my ‘Jerry rigged’ manner, I taught myself enough about the ‘puter to get by....
For all you ‘old’ CW Types:(and any interested)
The Victorian Internet:
The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-Line Pioneers is a 1998 book by
Tom Standage.
Think Amazon has it.
Jeez, I now feel old being referred to as a ‘Pioneer’....
Thank you!
As soon as my call posts, I’m headed over to ARRL and QRZ for a start. The VE’s said they go straight to the FCC to file it nowadays, so I *may* have my call as early as today or tomorrow.
I remember back in the 70’s when you had to (ahem, “had to”) have a CB license, it seems like it took a couple of months to get it. I wish I still had that paper license, just for nostalgia. I can’t even remember the call.
“...Prepper? ...got a home generator?...”
No comment... (if you know what I mean).
My buddy has his Advanced Class call. Now, it’s just Technician, General and Extra and no more Morse requirement at all. But, I’m leaning hard towards QRP since it’s most affordable to get started with. I’m starting morse-code study next. I could use a computer (and I still may) but I’m really interested in being able to send and receive with just my hands and ears.
Congratulations!
I am going to be starting my study and plan to invest 30 min to an hour per week day over the next few months. Do you have a recommendation for a good study guide?
No more Morse Code requirement. It’s good and bad (I think). It does tend to open the doors a bit wider for licensing; but it is also an operating mode that can get through when conditions aren’t favorable to any other mode. Plus, it can be quite affordable just to get started. Mostly for that reason, I want to learn morse next.
ARRL Field Day is the last weekend of this month. Find a local club and join in on the fun.
Decisions, decisions!
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