Posted on 04/08/2024 7:08:51 PM PDT by kawhill
Before you can get on the air, you need to be licensed and know the rules to operate legally. US licenses are good for 10 years before renewal and anyone may hold one except a representative of a foreign government. In the US there are three license classes—Technician, General and Extra.
That is a shame as this was and still is part of the fun. I was a ham for just about fifty years and due to my handicaps and age haven’t been active in the past few years. I remember copying code at the beginning printing all letters. Eventually when I wanted my extra class of course this was no longer possible as it was not fast enough and had to switch over to longhand, but it was worth it. At he time I passed my advanced at the Dirksen building in Chicago and my extra in Rock Island Il.
One of the most exciting events was, while on the road to the QC’s (Quad Cities) it was a beautiful summer afternoon, at the time I had a 2 meter home brew quad on the roof of my car and was listening around 144 MHZ side band and heard a station from Texas loud and clear I came back but no luck as it had disappeared. Normally this isn’t done unless there are some inversions and ducting effects between hot and cold layers of air, but in any case it made my days. 73’s
bookmark.
I still have mine from when I did college radio. I don’t remember it having an expiration date. I’ll have to get it from the ‘old stuff I still keep’ drawer and check.
There’s a study app I have on my phone. I’ve meant to get started for a while. COVID put the brakes on it and I haven’t had time since my job has started consuming my soul.
— -— .-. ... . -.-. -— -.. . .-.. .. -... . ... !!!!
Please tell me it so i dont have to translate/recode. A .- 6 -.... Regards.
Baofeng handheld for local comms and a base station for long distance.
Smart enough to get it, but I have no idea how to use it.
Not that expensive.
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Back before Covid, I got my General Class license, I bought a Boafeng on Amazon Prime Day one year for around $20, figured out how to get programmed, started listening to local repeaters, then got my technician’s license, with the ultimate goal of getting the General Class License for HF or longer distance communications.
The biggest issue with HF communications is the Antenna, each one is a trade off between frequency band and performance.
My big project was being able to mobile HF communications, I put together a backpack with cabling, radio, Antenna, battery, etc., everything you need to setup in a remote location and communicate via HF without Grid Power.
I haven’t set it up in a few months, I’ve had it setup in my driveway in NE Florida communicated up and down the east coast up into Canada and down in the Caribbean and west out to Texas, Oklamoma, Michigan, etc...
It’s definitely something to have in your inventory in case of a grid down situation.
My primary radio is also the FT-991a.
KD9VLV, General Class
It would be awesome if there was a Freeper net!
“CBs are about done but for Truckers.”
And even with truckers they are becoming sparse or they don’t/can’t talk much at all. Only about one in twenty trucks even has an antenna.
And I know why, into CB and watched it happen play by play over the years. It is hard to even use a CB when you have the DX/skip clubs and HAMs transmitting at 1.2-1.5 Kw stomping all over 11 meter. And I wish they would stop because they never actually “say anything”, all they do is stomp on everyone’s radios with 1200 watts and yell where they are transmitting from in an english language you can’t even understand. Never any actual normal productive conversation or respect for others who want to try and productively use a channel without getting stomped on.
So in their efforts to keep CB alive they are actually destroying interest in CB with their over powered selfishness. They won’t even at least leave just 19 alone so truckers can actually still use it locally without getting stomped on.
Been a gam for about 4 years and have the General ticket and studying for Amateur Extra. I enjoy DX the most. 73
A freeper net would be great.
For volunteering at a rally (more later) you will need a 50 watt or so mobile radio, coax cable whatever you can cobble together or buy for a mast to get the antenna up about 20 feet and a high gain whip antenna or perhaps make your own J-Pole.
Most of the things I now find interesting about ham radio, I didn't know existed before. When you become a ham, join the ARRL.
The monthly magazine has gotten me interested in WSPR, digital, etc.
I like making unusual antennas or re-purposing other things as an antenna to see where my 200mw WSPR signal reaches on different bands.
So far, the best, even better than a commercial antenna I bought, is a solid copper and brass sword I bought at our local flea market. It works great on 20 meters and 40 meters, and pretty good on the rest.
Just get your general license and dive into some direction, you will find yourself doing something fun and interesting.
Before getting my general, I used 2 meters for supporting auto rallies and some other events, which is interesting too. You learn whet equipment works best and work the bugs out.
Here's a link to the ARA Rally schedule. You can volunteer as a ham or not if you don't have a license yet.
There will be a lot of hams there to learn from and see their setups.
IMHO it is a great way to get into ham radio and learn how to use it for a disaster. https://www.americanrallyassociation.org/2024-ara-schedule
I’m working on this now.
Thanks for the links.
L
GMRS is both fun and very useful.
L
KQ4PJO
73
.....sadly, I have to agree.....was first licensed as a Novice in 1961 but let it expire...could not get the 13 WPM code to upgrade to General....got back into the hobby in the early 1980s...but the technology just far outstripped my ability to even understand it, so I am totally inactive now...I could not even understand most of the articles in the ham radio magazines I subscribed to....at the end, they went straight from my mailbox to my recycling bin.....
No Morse now. The questions for the test are public, and if you have a decent memory it is easy to remember the answers. I did all three tests in a month.
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