PDA

View Full Version : Amateur Radio - Parts 1 thru 8



Mudderoy
06-05-2009, 01:10 PM
Back in the mid 70's my half-brother came to visit my Mom, Dad and myself. He was 18 years my senior, and moved to Arkansas with his new wife many years prior.

He had become interested in CB radio. He had a white van that he and his family had traveled to our home in. In the van he had installed a 23 channel CB radio. One evening he was showing our Mom and I how it worked. He was talking "skip". What was funny was how he would yell at the top of his voice so his "audio" would be loud and he could be heard.

It was funny, and exciting. Not only because my brother was so big, 6'4", and loud but also because we could hear people from all over the country.

If you don't recall, or you were a fetus in the mid 70's, AT&T ruled the communications world, along with the local phone companys. If you wanted to talk to someone more than 30 miles away, sometimes less, a very expensive fee, per minute was charged to your phone bill.

The idea of talking to someone hundreds of miles away from FREE was just amazing. Seeing and hearing all this at the tender age of 13 was all very interesting to me.

Sometime later I was able to talk my Mom into getting me a CB. I looked in to what it would take to get a license and found out that I would be unable to get a license because of my age. You had to be at least 18 years old.

I was disappointed and surprised because I had found you could have a HAM license at any age, all you had to do was pass a test. My Mom found a used CB for sale in the paper. It was a tube type radio, and had a strange name, Sonar. Her and my Dad purchased it for my birthday present, $100.

http://xjtalk.com/images/special/sonar-fs23.jpg

I was anxious to get it hooked up. I didn't know anything about antennas, or what wire was used to hook up between the antenna and the radio.

A quick trip to Radio Shack and a few questions to their "CRACK" technical advisor, also called a salesman, hooked me up with a $24.95 omni-directional "base station" antenna and 50 feet of 50 ohm coax! Wild and wonderful names.

My Dad and I drove down to the local hardware store and bought a 20' section of 1 1/2" water pipe. His idea was to hammer a 5' piece we already had into the ground then using a threaded sleeve attach the two pieces.

We attached the upper end to the side of the house. It actually was a very good idea, and it gave me a very good ground. We ran the coax into my room and soon I was on the air with my CB radio.

Now 14 and talking to people in their 30's and 40's. Since my voice had already changed I was mistaken for a 20 something 30 something adult! This was important at the time, because I was always in fear of having the FCC find out that I was talking on the CB illegally. We had a license and I used it, but like I said before, you had to be 18 or older to talk on the radio.

More to come ...

BlueXJ
06-05-2009, 05:58 PM
Very interesting. Please continue. My first CB was a huge Johnson base station and a 30' homemade antenna.

DETOURS
06-05-2009, 07:16 PM
Having some intrest, lets get past your issue's with puberty and get to the nitty gritty......(that was a joke ;) ).......Why do you need a liscense for a radio?

Mudderoy
06-05-2009, 09:08 PM
I had a pretty good time talking on the CB. My Mom was interested in it too, so we bought a mobile radio from Radio Shack and I installed along with an antenna in/on my Mom's power blue 1973 AMC Gremlin. :rotfl2: (The really sad thing is prior this this POS she had a 1965 Red Mustang, but that's another story.)

So I was reading books and learning about radios, antennas, etc... Some of it I learned from the old timers off the CB. A few years later I figured out they were guessing at 90% of it. ;)

I found that CB was created by the FCC to allow for local communications for the general public (Citizen's Band Radio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens'_band_radio)). Talking to someone over 150 miles was strictly forbidden, and you could lose you license and even be fined for doing so.

You were also limited to 4 watts of maximum power at the transmitter. As CB grew in popularity over the next 5 years abuses like running transmitted power in excess of 1000 watts became more and more common on the CB band.

Eventually the FCC had to acquiesce and suspend CB licenses. Very little enforcement was done with a few exceptions where people just wouldn't stop the illegal behavior. The vast majority did what they wanted to and call signs gave way to handles, or nick names. You may remember a popular movie of the time that show cased the CB craze, "Smokey and the Bandit".

Only about a year into my CB hobby it became quite clear to me that CB was fine if you were 13, but I needed a more challenging radio hobby. I looked back and Amateur Radio.

Again my friendly Radio Shack store providing me with reading material on the subject. I found that Amateur Radio Operator (HAM) could talk anywhere in the world, and use up to 2000 watts of power to do so. Some HAMS used huge antenna arrays to bounce radio signals off the Moon and back to Earth. A HAM half way around the world with his huge array of antennas also pointed at the Moon would receive the weak signal (500,000 mile trip) and respond! That's 1 million miles for a 2 way conversation folks!

Later I read about HAMs doing the same thing, only using the highly reflective surface of Venus. HAMs were mention on the evening news any time the area was hit by a tropical storm. HAMs were there providing emergency communications while phone lines were down, or putting communications where there were no phones.

Where CB'rs had 1 band, an a very small one at that, HAMs had 10, 15, or more bands to communicate on. From above AM broadcast band all the way into the microwave region! Who were these people!?!?! How did they get so much preferential treatment!?!? Namely from Congress. Even Senators have been HAMs. Senator Barry Goldwater was a HAM much of his life.

Many of our Astronauts are HAM radio operators. In fact there is a HAM station on the International space station (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/radio/). Schedules for the ISS are available on the Internet, and if you are patient enough you can "work" or talk to an American Astronaut as the ISS passes above your head. Talk quick, because it's about a 7 minute window.

HAMs have build and placed satellites (http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php)in orbit. Some countries have larger HAM populations that others. Several years ago I heard that Japan had a very high number of HAMs. In fact if you ever leave the key in the ignition of your Honda and open the door, you'll hear four beeps. In Morse code (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/morsecode.htm)four beeps, or dits, is an "H". ;)

More to come...

pLEXX
06-05-2009, 09:55 PM
cool thing :]

N1TZU
06-06-2009, 04:03 PM
Hello Folks, Tony has a very good wright up going here on amateur radio, I've enjoyed the hobby for many years now, and have only scratched the surface of all the types of communications that can be used.....Bob...

Mudderoy
06-06-2009, 05:37 PM
By the time I was 15 I had been studying the electronic theory and felt I would have my license fairly soon. I thought it would be fun to have a real HAM radio, but they were so expensive. One of the other catalogs (Radio Shack being the primary) I enjoyed was the one from Heathkit. In fact my parents had bought me a AM radio kit a couple of years later. We knew nothing about electronic construction so I used my Mom's "Weller" 300 watt soldering iron and some solder she had left over from making stain glass windows. :smiley-laughing021:

I read the instructions and put it all together. It worked, sort of.

I saw a Heathkit HW-101 Amateur radio transceiver. 80 meters through 10 meters. CW, and SSB. Here is a good number of things to explain. :D

80 meters is the length needed for a full sized antenna for a specific frequency. The HW-101 was capable of tuning five bands. 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. This meant to be able to transmit on all five bands I would need 5 different antennas!

CW is the two letter designator for Morse Code. Those beeps that you may associate with old World War II movies, and most recently in "Independence Day". It is basically just turning the transmitter on or off. SSB is a form of AM audio processing, or modulation. SSB takes 1/2 of the power that a AM signal would use. Again, a popular movie that used this type of audio modulation was "Star Wars". They used it to simulate communications between the Rebel fighters and base during the Death Star attack sequence. Since the audio processing is very narrow it often distorts the voice of the person transmitting. You can still understand them the just sounds funny.

After saving up 1/2 of the money for the HW-101 kit, we drove into Houston to the Heathkit store and picked it up. I had made friends with a guy that was going to college studying electronics. I took the kit to his house and I spent the next four months building this radio. He was able to answer questions and check my work.

http://www.rigpix.com/heathkit/hw101.jpg

By the time I finished the kit I had my learners permit and I was driving my Mom's Gremlin the short distance to his house. He did some basic checks of my work so we powered up the radio, and it came on, nothing caught fire, but it didn't work either.

I didn't some checking, but I was so SICK of working on it by now my parents were nice enough to send it to Heathkit and let them figure it out. Turned out it was a few minor mistakes, the the final power output section required more work. That was the last part of the construct, and my patients were wearing thin.

I receive the radio back from Heathkit in a fully operational state.

Now I had a radio but no license. I really didn't have anyway of getting a license since at that time to obtain your first HAM license, Novice class, you needed to find a HAM with a General class license or above to administer a multiple choice test, and a Morse code test of 5 words per minute.

http://image.highperformancepontiac.com/f/shootout/9073692+pinline_medium/hppp_0701_4_z+pavement_pounders_shootout_norwalk+1 973_pontiac_ventura_burnout.jpg

By now I had my own car, 1973 Pontiac Ventura, and had been talking on the CB for years. I knew enough about radio and HAM radio to be able to spot a CB antenna installation, and a HAM antenna installation.

I drove around the neighborhood, and then the nearby neighborhoods searching. Finally I saw one. Lots of wire antenna, and a tower with a antenna that you could rotate to point it at the person you were talking to.

I got the name from the mailbox, and looked it up in the phone book. I called the number and explained what I was doing. The HAM was more than happy to assist me in obtaining my first license.

I had studied from a Radio Shack book and a Radio Shack audio tape for the Morse code. So at age 16 I went to this guys house met him for the first time, and he administered the test. It was all over in under an hour, I pasted! It was very simple. He signed the proper forms and told me he would send it off (mail) to the FCC.

What seemed like another lifetime my Novice Class license finally arrived in the mail. It was something like three to four months of waiting. I was assigned the call of WN5ZDD. N for Novice.

Now as a Novice classed Amateur radio operator I was only allowed to transmit CW, or Morse Code. So for the next year, or so, all my conversations on the HAM radio were in Morse Code. It was fun building antennas, trying them out and seeing how far I could communicate. I also found it very interesting how each band "acted". They all behaved differently. Daytime, nighttime, Winter, Summer, Fall, even the Sun effected how the bands would act.

I had noticed some of this when I was talking on the CB. Skip, or signals coming from long distances, happened more during the day and almost always faded away by 9pm to Midnight.

More to come...

Mudderoy
06-07-2009, 08:45 PM
As you can imagine at 16 I was more interested in girls that anything else, including school. I was very shy so I pretty well kept to myself. I enjoyed looking at the girls, but talking was really out. :rotfl2:

I also focused a fair amount of my attention on my car. I had to start working on it to keep it going, plus adding L60s and custom wheels (American Racing aluminum slot mags!) I even outlined a "Starsky and Hutch" stripe on the side of my Ventura out of white pin stripe. My intention was to pain it in, someday. I know, it was pretty lame, but I liked it at the time.

During all this (including high school) I found time to study for my Technician Class license. It didn't require any additional More code tests, just a written exam. With this license I could actually TALK on the radio. I would be limited to talking on VHF and UHF.

I mention 80 through 10 meters earlier. This grouping of bands is called HF, or HIGH FREQUENCY. VHF is for VERY HIGH FREQUENCY, and UHF ULTRA HIGH FREQUENCY. HF was the first band that radio used. Marconi for example, although I think he used a SPARK GAP transmitter initially which is basically a lightning machine!

As the frequency goes up the antenna gets shorter! At 2 meters, VHF a mobile antenna is only about 1.75 feet long. Contrast that to a 80 meter mobile antenna would have to be 62 feet long! More on this later.

2 meter is very interesting. You are limited to 1000 watts, but most people had radios that transmitted about 10 to 20 watts. The distance you could talk with someone was a little better than CB, but this was largely due to the band being so quiet. There is no "skip" like there is on the CB band, in fact when you transmit on 2 meters the signal leaves the Earth completely! 2 meters is one of the bands that HAM radio operators use to transmit signals to satellites and bounce signals off the Moon and Venus (as mention earlier).

The really cool thing about 2 meters was that HAM radio operators have set up something called "repeaters". A repeater, listens on one frequency for a signal, and when it hears one, it transmits what it hears on a different frequency. If you have a radio that can have different send and receive frequencies, you can use a repeater to boost your send and receive!

How? Well say you are driving around in your Jeep and you tune your 2 meter radio "rig" to a repeater. You set your receive frequency for say 146.66 MHz and you set your transmit frequency to 146.06 MHz. Now when you send you transmit 600 KHz lower than the receive frequency. The repeater is set up just the opposite, it receives on 146.06 MHz and transmits on 146.66 MHz. The repeater's antenna is over 300 feet in the air. This means it can receive, clearly, weak signals from mobiles transmitting only 10 or 20 watts from miles away. The repeater's transmitter has a 100 watt output, so not only does it transmit much farther than a mobile station, it is also stronger by a factor of 5 to 10 times!

The effect of this is that your mobile can now communicate with someone not 5 or 10 miles away, but between 30 and 50 miles away! And since the communications mode is FM there is little noise, if any and the voice of the person you are listening to is reproduced in beautiful "mono" FM sound!

I was blown away with this mode of communications. It was very fun being able to talk to local HAMs. In the Houston area there were 20+ repeaters to choose from, and that was back in the late 70's.

You may be somewhat familiar with this type of "repeater" communications. They use the same basic approach with cell phones! The cell site "repeater" and the cell phone you have is a miracle of communications electronics. Not only can the cell phone automatically switch transmit and receive frequencies it can also switch from one cell site to another while you are traveling at 80 miles per hour down a highway. All the cell sites "talk" to each other, and your cell phone. Commands are sent to your phone telling it what to do next.

Police, Fire and Rescue services have used repeaters for years as well.

Some satellites have repeaters built into them that HAMs can use, only instead of being able to talk to someone 30 to 50 miles away you can talk to them thousands of miles away.

Truly amazing and really simple when you understand how it is done.

I went back to Heathkit and purchased a mobile 2 meter radio. I build it (older and wiser now) took my time, checked everything. It didn't work! :rotfl2:

Off to Heathkit it went. It was a really simple fix and I had it back quickly. I'll say this, 2 meters is probably the most fun I have ever had on HAM radio. No static, no noise. Just just turn up the squelch and listen to the good time radio until someone starts talking on 2 meters. Turn down the music and have a conversation.

http://www.eham.net/data/classifieds/images/287736.t.jpg

In fact because of the repeater installations it made a very old wish of mine come true. A walky talky that you could actually talk to people further away that shouting distance! I purchased a ICOM 2AT "handy talky" and with 1.5 watts I was able to talk to people through the local repeater from work, from my home, or from my car.

http://www.2ub.org/n1mu/ic-2at_museum/index_files/image015.jpg

I neglected to mention that a Novice class license expires after 1 (maybe 2) years. So I had to upgrade or lose my HAM license. I was a Novice class HAM for maybe 6 to 9 months, then I decided I needed to upgrade. After I had studied for the Technician class enough, maybe 2 weeks, I made the drive into the FCC field office to take my test. I passed the multiple guess test. My call became WB5ZDD.

Since I could now TALK on the HAM radio I had to deal with the use of phonetics. It is sometimes difficult for people to make out the letters and number in your call sign. Some HAMs would come up with clever words to make it easy, and funny, for other HAMs to remember their call.

I would say my call sign is Willy Baker number FIVE Zulu Delta Delta, or W-B-5 Zebras Don't Doit!

When I upgraded to my next class license and requested a new call sign, I have an even better series of words that I use now! :rotfl2:

More to come...

pLEXX
06-07-2009, 08:55 PM
I enjoy reading your dairy

BlueXJ
06-08-2009, 01:13 AM
When is the next installment? This is facinating stuff Muddy. Keep it coming please!!

Melissa
06-08-2009, 02:52 AM
When is the next installment? This is facinating stuff Muddy. Keep it coming please!!

:dito:

I'm enjoying this!!

kryptonitexj
06-08-2009, 07:34 AM
I enjoy reading this story!!!

Mudderoy
06-08-2009, 08:45 AM
Truly guys, I figured everyone would find it quite boring. I find HAM radio fascinating, but I really didn't think most other people would. Thanks.

BlueXJ
06-08-2009, 11:25 AM
Truly guys, I figured everyone would find it quite boring. I find HAM radio fascinating, but I really didn't think most other people would. Thanks.

So when is the next instalment. You can't just leave us hangin' for days!:eek:

Mudderoy
06-08-2009, 11:30 AM
So when is the next instalment. You can't just leave us hangin' for days!:eek:

I think I've been doing one a day, days?!?!? :smiley-laughing021:

Oh I forgot to mention, you have Spanky to blame/thank for this. It was his suggestion. He said he was curious about HAM radio and I should write up something in this area. lol, as you can tell he was looking for more meat and less bread in the story.

whowey
06-08-2009, 09:12 PM
I'm also enjoying reading your trip through your early Ham Radio days...

It also is very interesting reading the thoughts of a guy who had to pass the code test..

I've had my liscense now for about 15 years or so.. but my early experiences weren't nearly as positive as yours.

Mudderoy
06-08-2009, 11:46 PM
Well now I was pretty fat dumb and happy. I was having so much fun talking with the local HAMs on 2 meters, and in the evening I would talk to HAMs over HF Morse code, usually on 40 meters.

At one point I was doing so much Morse code that while driving I could "see" the stop signs in Morse code, or hear, hell I don't know it was strange.

I'll tell you this, I am no great fan of Morse code. In fact I hate it. If God had intended us to converse in Morse code he would have made us birds.

My ultimate goal was to be able to "talk" vocally, on HF. That magical set of bands that allowed you to communicate all over the world. You could literally send a signal one direction, and under the right set of circumstances you could hear yourself as the signal came around.

I've mentioned "skip" and I've mentioned how some bands, like 2 meters, go off into space. Let me explain this.

There is a layer (several actually) of ionized particles surrounding the Earth. Strangely it is called the Ionosphere - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The sun causes this upper most portion of the atmosphere to become "reflective" to a wide range of radio signals. Depending on how active the sun is determines how low the atmosphere becomes reflective. The sun has a 11 year cycle where it causes the ionosphere more or less reflective. We have hit the bottom, or least active portion of the 11 year cycle, and we are waiting for the upswing.

At the peak of a 11 year solar cycle the HAM radio bands are very crowded with people all over the world able to communicate with one another with modest antennas, and power output. Just by chance I happened to get into radios (CB then HAM) during the peak of a 11 solar cycle.

Even though I was having fun with HF and VHF I refocused my attention and bought a 13 wpm (word per minute) Morse Code instructional tape from Radio Shack. As a Novice wannabe all I needed to learn was 5 wpm. But as a General class wannabe I need to learn 13 wpm! General class has all the lower class privileges, PLUS you can TALK on all of the HF bands, but only within certain frequency ranges. Above General class, there was Advanced class, and Extra class. The Advanced class had a little more of the frequency range and Extra class had it all!

Advanced class was just another written multiple guess test, but the Extra class license was another written, but you had to be able to receive Morse code at 20 wpm!

I studied my 13 wpm for 3 weeks. Usually about 30 minutes a day after school. I was able to practice it on HF. I felt I was ready, so I drove the 25 miles from Baytown to Houston. Downtown to the FCC office on Rusk. Downtown driving was much different that the driving I was used to in the relative open Baytown.

I went up to the 10th(?) floor of the office building and sat down to take my written test. Piece of cake. Then the Morse code test. Horrible! I failed it.
I can't remember now, but it wasn't a situation where you could just come back the next week and take the Morse code test again, you had to wait like 30 days or something. Anyway I made that drive from Baytown to Houston 6 times before I passed that stinking test!

To celebrate I marked on my application that I wanted a new call-sign to go with my new General class license. I had a 2x3 call (I think that is correct) and I wanted a 1x3 call. 1 letter, 1 number, followed by 3 letters. So basically 1 letter shorter. Oh! The number in the call-signs. One really cool thing about call-signs was the only NUMBER in the call-sign. This allowed you to know where in the country a HAM was by his call-sign. People in the South central United States were classified as being in the "5" region. Something like Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico (I think!) Area 1 was in the North East, Area 6 was California, etc... All good HAMs had a map of the United States with the areas colored in with different colors, and a big 5, or 4, etc... in the middle of those areas.

Well the FCC changed all that! Now anyone can be anywhere and have any single digit number in their call, but anyway...

After a short wait I received my General class license in the mail. I was given the call-sign of N5FNH. I was happy and still am. Most people have a difficult time understanding some of those letters though when spoken over a radio. N5 no really problem. HAMs know that calls usually start with W, WA, WB, or N. The 5 was easy to understand, but "F"! Sounds like "S", N sounds like "N" or "M", they usually got the "H" correctly.

See back then the rules were you must say the call-sign of the person you are talking to followed by your own call-sign. So it was important to understand the person's call. You also had to keep a log of each contact you made, again important to know the call-sign of the person you were speaking to over the radio.

This meant extensive use of phonetics. My new phonetics were November 5 Foxtrot November Hotel. After a little bit I came up with WORDS that would help other HAMs understand my call, and remember it. November 5 Friendly Neighborhood Ham! (N5FNH)

Later, and while talking to the local HAMs on the 2 meter repeater I came up with a series of words that made most male HAMs cringe in horror!

November 5 Fried Nose Hairs! :smiley-scared002: :headshake:

I just laughed a little.

Now that I had my General class license I had achieved my stated goal to get a HAM license that allowed me to TALK on HF bands. I accomplished this by age 18 and I haven't upgraded since!

More to come...

BlueXJ
06-09-2009, 06:59 AM
You need to write a book. Are the rules still the same and can you still remember all the Morse code you worked so hard to learn? Do you still have to use it on occasion?

Mudderoy
06-09-2009, 08:47 AM
You need to write a book. Are the rules still the same and can you still remember all the Morse code you worked so hard to learn? Do you still have to use it on occasion?

No the rules have changed quite drastically. They've removed the Morse code requirements so everything is just written exams (multiple choice). They have removed the Advanced class license and I think the Novice, but I'll have to check that. Max power is down from 2000 watts to 1500 watts (I'll have to check that). I'm getting to this information, so I haven't researched it all yet.

Morse code? Sure you never forget it completely. I really didn't work all that hard to learn it and that was the problem. :rotfl2:
I didn't like it, still don't. It has it's uses, but as electronics gets more complex it is less and less likely that we would ever have to resort to Morse code. Still it is good to know in an emergency.

I'm sure you are familiar with the IM software called ICQ? I was going to write one but call it ICW, CW for Continuous Wave (Morse Code). In stead of chatting to people with text letters, you would chat in Morse Code. You could either type in the letters, and it would convert it to Morse code, or you could use one of the keys on the key board to tap out your message to the person on the other end.

I probably should go ahead and write that, it would be really nerdy and unique.

N1TZU
06-09-2009, 05:05 PM
This has been a very good write up on ham radio Tony. The way you explain things, I believe makes it much easier for people, who are not familiar with ham radio, to understand. Who knows Tony, you may plant the seed for some others to join the hobby. Bob........

whowey
06-09-2009, 05:32 PM
No the rules have changed quite drastically. They've removed the Morse code requirements so everything is just written exams (multiple choice). They have removed the Advanced class license and I think the Novice, but I'll have to check that. Max power is down from 2000 watts to 1500 watts (I'll have to check that). I'm getting to this information, so I haven't researched it all yet.

Morse code? Sure you never forget it completely. I really didn't work all that hard to learn it and that was the problem. :rotfl2:
I didn't like it, still don't. It has it's uses, but as electronics gets more complex it is less and less likely that we would ever have to resort to Morse code. Still it is good to know in an emergency.

I'm sure you are familiar with the IM software called ICQ? I was going to write one but call it ICW, CW for Continuous Wave (Morse Code). In stead of chatting to people with text letters, you would chat in Morse Code. You could either type in the letters, and it would convert it to Morse code, or you could use one of the keys on the key board to tap out your message to the person on the other end.

I probably should go ahead and write that, it would be really nerdy and unique.

Yes, Advanced, Novice, and Tech Plus are all now gone. You can keep renewing as long as you live. But you can't ever get another liscense in that class. Worst part is mine now shows in the FCC D-base as a regular Tech liscense again... I worked to learn that STUPID code.. now it doesn't even show...

BlueXJ
06-09-2009, 06:14 PM
This has been a very good write up on ham radio Tony. The way you explain things, I believe makes it much easier for people, who are not familiar with ham radio, to understand. Who knows Tony, you may plant the seed for some others to join the hobby. Bob........


Bob is right. Now that I read no more Morse Code then I am interested. Do you still have the Radio Crack and Heathkit stuff as your main sourse of radios? If not can you post a couple of links so we guys that are interested may figure out the cost of the radios and antenna plus towers.

N1TZU
06-09-2009, 06:50 PM
Hello Bluexj, The ARRL is a good site for ham radio news. As far as radios and cost of them, check out HRO, AES, Those are two of , I would say major stores, A few great magazine to get is QST , CQ , Electric Radio , There is others of course. If you do a web search just on Ham radio you'll find ton of sites..Have fun and like any thing else, ask questions....Bob....

N1TZU
06-09-2009, 06:54 PM
Also forgot to mention, If you want to see all kinds of different stations check out, amwindow.org Lots of old stuff there.......Bob

BlueXJ
06-09-2009, 06:55 PM
Thanks Bob. If I am not around much tonight it is because of Bob. I am researching HAM Radio and all I can find about it on the web.

N1TZU
06-09-2009, 07:06 PM
I know, its all my fault, just like here at home.

N1TZU
06-09-2009, 07:09 PM
Hey wait, Tony should take some of the blame.

Mudderoy
06-09-2009, 10:58 PM
Yes, Advanced, Novice, and Tech Plus are all now gone. You can keep renewing as long as you live. But you can't ever get another liscense in that class. Worst part is mine now shows in the FCC D-base as a regular Tech liscense again... I worked to learn that STUPID code.. now it doesn't even show...

But you know you learned the Morse Code, and it is your duty as a TRUE HAM to give all the newbies that didn't have to pass a Morse Code test hell for the rest of your life! :smiley-laughing021:

Mudderoy
06-09-2009, 11:01 PM
Bob is right. Now that I read no more Morse Code then I am interested. Do you still have the Radio Crack and Heathkit stuff as your main sourse of radios? If not can you post a couple of links so we guys that are interested may figure out the cost of the radios and antenna plus towers.

Well I haven't got to it yet, but I started buying ICOM radios back in the early 80s. You can only buy a used Heathkit, since they are out of business long ago. And Radio Shack doesn't carry anything but CBs now.

ICOM, Yaesu, Kenwood, are a few. 2 meter mobile rigs sell for about $150, or less, and that is a 50 watt output unit. 2 meter mobile antennas are cheap, $30 and short. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Mudderoy
06-10-2009, 10:22 AM
Now that I had my General class license I was raring to go. I purchased a non-amplified Astatic D104 microphone.

http://www.emcesd.com/D-104s.jpg

I wired it up to a plug and stuck it into the mic jack on the old HOT WATER 101 (HW-101).

Now this was years and years ago, so I don't remember my first HF conversation or QSO (pronounced "Q" - "so") but I do know I felt good that I had accomplished my goal.

CW (Morse code) operation quickly went away. During the day I could talk to people on 10 meters (that's near the CB channels on 11 meters), 15 meters was always good to talk to people in Australia. 20 meters was very crowded, but fun to listen to. I quickly found out that HAMs would set up schedules with one another. Sometimes large groups, called NETS. The schedule was just a preset time that two more more HAMs would get on a predetermined frequency and have a conversation.

These HAMs were thousands of miles apart, yet they could communicate with each other like clockwork. That isn't something you can do on a CB! They would just shoot the breeze, talk about what was going on it their lives, etc... Now you couldn't ALWAYS have a conversation. Sometimes band conditions were so bad that all you could do was hear the other person talking but not really understand them, because of a weak, or fading in and out signal. That was one of the fun things about HAM radio. You never knew for sure if it was all going to work!

You always remember those times when the signal was so strong you just couldn't believe it, and then those times when you had to adjust every knob on the front of your radio "rig" to capture that faint and elusive signal.

I also found out about expeditions! A group of HAMs would get together and travel to places where few, or no HAMs existed. They would then set up one or more radio stations, and get on the air. They would take calls from HAMs all over the world and create what is called a "pile up". The pile up happens when 10, 20, 50, HAMs are all calling the one station. The station has to pick out who he/she wants to talk to. Generally these conversations are very shot. Call sign, signal report and first name is about all the information exchanged. Why? Well the goal here is to get a QSL card (post card) from the station so you can put it on your wall, and use it to obtain awards.

There are several awards you can try for. One of the most common is the WAS (Worked All States). You get QSL cards from HAMs that you have spoken to "worked" in all 50 states. You then provide this proof to the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) and they send you a award that you can frame and hang on your wall. WAC (Worked All Countries) is another popular award, but very difficult to get. Especially for those countries who's government doesn't like free roaming transmitters in the general population.

As I mentioned earlier the various band act different. The HF bands 20, 15, 10 all stop working by 9 pm local time. (This varies with the solar activity) Sure you can talk to people local, but in general HF bands are used to talk to people 500 miles away or farther. Also keep in mind that there are so many bands, and such a wide range of frequencies available to HAM, and couple that with the HAM population being much lower than say the CB population, well it is rare to just happen to FIND a HAM local to you on the air and talking.

There are two "night time" HF bands. 80 and 40 meters. Weird huh? During the day these bands are generally not used because they are sensitive to static noise and signals are general not as strong. In fact if there is a thunderstorm within 500 miles of you the static crashes from the lightning is almost unbearable! Before the days of the Internet this was a good way to know that you might be getting some bad weather soon. At least enough of a warning to watch the news and see what was coming! ;)

As time progressed I replaced the CB beams I had on my tower with a 3 element 10 meter beam. I built a 3 element 15 meter beam. I had the 15 meter beam on the bottom and the 10 meter beam on top. I had a rotor that I used to turn the beams and point them in the direction that I was listening and talking. It was all very cool.

http://users.telenet.be/on5kl/image/ant13.jpg

Looking back on this I remember just how nerdy all this was. Here I was going through Jr. High and High school with this hobby. I made up my mind early on, I wasn't going to be walking around "telling" everyone about HAM radio, but if someone asked I wasn't going to shy away from the subject either. While I was enjoying this hobby I was enjoying other things, that were a little more cool. Like making modifications to my car to make it look better, and go faster. In fact due to such low funds any work that needed to be performed on my car had to be done by me. My Dad who was very good working with his hands never really did much to his cars. Just drove them and had someone fix the brakes when needed. I'm sure he did some repair work, but generally they always took the vehicles to a mechanic to be repaired.

Because of my driving habits I had to change out my clutch disk 12 times! Around the 11th time I found out that you were supposed to replace, resurface the pressure plate and do something about that slick flywheel! Clutch disks were cheap, and so were u-joints. I dropped my drive shaft at least half a dozen times. I was hard on that car, up until the point that I totaled it during a 130+ mph test run. But all this is another story.

More to come...

DETOURS
06-14-2009, 06:20 PM
Wow.....Thats a big time write up, thanks!

I still have intrest, though it seems complicated......Maybe in future years I could share something like this with Owen as he grows up......my luck the antenna would be struck by light'ning the first day it was put up......:smiley-scared002:

As far as CB's go..............I've been saying for years, the internet is the new channel 19. :popcorn:

Mudderoy
06-16-2009, 11:37 AM
So now that I had reached my goal it was time to enjoy the hobby. One of the most "fun" things I did was making my own antennas. The formulas for calculating the antenna are very easy. Finding aluminum tubing wasn't as easy, but I kept an eye out as I visited various hardware stores.

I designed and built a 15 meter 3 element beam. 20 meters is a much more popular band, but I didn't have the room between the trees for a 20 meter beam! A beam "as implied by it's name" is a direction antenna. You can "point" a beam where you want to talk, say in the direction of Europe, but most people like to have the ability to turn the beam at will.

I had a HAM IV rotor mounted on top of my 24' tower, yes that is short. On top of that I had the home brew 15 meter beam and the converted 11 meter "CB" beam that I cut down for 10 meters. On top of that I had a 14 element Crushcraft 2 meter beam.

In addition to those antennas I had a 80 meter dipole (just a horizontal piece of wire split in the middle with coax attached to each wire. I also had a 40 meter dipole. I never talked on 20 meters so no antenna. That was during the peak of the sun spot (solar maximum) cycle so 20 meters was very very crowded. It sounded like channel 19 but with a much more well behaved crowd. That's not always true now.

Many HAMs enjoy contesting. Contesting basically has a goal of working as many other HAMs in a given amount of time. Several HAMs build contesting stations, with multiple antennas and multiple radios. They invite other HAMs to their homes, QTH, and they will work (in shifts) the contest. The group, or individual, that get the most points have that information published in the ARRL magazine QST.

I personally do not care for contests. I enjoy seeing where I can talk to and how good my signal is. It is fun for me just to sit back and have a 15 or 30 minute conversation with someone in another part of the country. I guess that is one reason why I found 2 meters interesting. You could "get to know" people, instead of just randomly speaking to someone in Wisconsin, Idaho, or Florida. Don't get me wrong, you can get to know people in other states, or countries as well, it just takes longer.

All of this took place between 1972 and 1981. So much has changed in the realm of communications, and HAM radio. As mentioned before license classes have been removed, More Code requirement dropped. We now live in a world where communicating with people instantly from as close as 1 room away to as far as 10's of thousands of miles away. Much of HAM radio has lost it's mystique because of this.

Having a FM quality conversation is as easy as picking up the cell phone and calling someone. As is calling for help while stranded on the road. Modern communications technology does what HAM radio did 30 years ago. It has been made as easy as ordering a cell phone online, waiting for it to be delivered, and once received turning on, dialing a number and talking to the other party. No need to understand how it all works, or care.

Due to the design of the cell phone network a natural disaster, hurricane, earthquake, massive power outage, terminates you ability to communicate with the rest of the world so easily. At this point it will be the HAMs that can communicate with the rest of the world. Your cell phone will be of little use, with the exception of the light from the screen so you can see at night.

Before I did anything else to my Jeep I put in a multiband transceiver. I figured if we were evacuating we needed a way to call for help, and be able to listen to hear what was going on.

Prior to my mobile HF/VHF/UHF radio I had a VHF/UHF ICOM 2710h radio.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/fm_txvrs/2710h.jpg

It was a 2 meter 70 centimeter transceiver. One thing that was very cool about this radio was it's ability to act as a repeater. With a special sequence of buttons pressed it would listen and transmit any signal that it received. You just set the 2 meter frequency and the 70 centimeter frequency, press the multi-buttons and boom it was repeating.

I also had a handy talky that was a 2 meter 70 centimeter transceiver. With my handy talky set to one of the two frequencies of my mobile radio I could transmit to my mobile and it would repeat using the mobile antenna and 50 watt output to the other frequency. So now instead of having to use my handy talky 1 to 5 watt output and modest antenna I was able to transmit the short distance to my Jeep and the Jeep would re-transmit my signal using a much better antenna and 10 times more power.

I miss that feature in my current radio, however my current radio allows me a much greater range of frequencies and distance.

http://www.colvicwatson.co.uk/images/icom706sg.jpg

There is so much that I have not covered in HAM radio. The two primary reasons HAM radio was created was for emergency communications and experimentation. Contests are meant to simulate the rapid delivery of small pieces of information as would occur during a disaster.

HAM radio is even used in non emergency events like the local MS 150 (http://www.houstonms150.com/), where people on bicycles ride 150 miles from Houston to Austin to raise money for multiple sclerosis. HAM radio operators are stationed along the way so that all the riders in the event have a way to call for help if needed.

The 8th and final to come...

DETOURS
06-19-2009, 05:50 PM
Is this all possibly where the expression "Your such a ham" came from??......:popcorn:

BlueXJ
06-20-2009, 09:30 AM
I think the origins of that saying are somewhere in vaudeville. Not 100% certain but pretty sure.

Mudderoy
06-20-2009, 01:13 PM
The letter was in response to the editorial in the May 1945 QST (pp 9-10) by Kenneth B. Warner, W1EH. He alludes to the term ham as defined in a book called Dictionary of American Tramp and Underworld Slang. According to that, it says ham meant:
A telegraph operator or radio amateur. Abbreviation for hammer because the key operates with an up and down motion similar to a hammer. Applied in a derogatory sense as an amateur does not have a light and gentle touch, but hammers the key.

:link: (http://www.qsl.net/n7jy/ham_name.html)

.................

DETOURS
06-20-2009, 05:56 PM
HEEHEEE!!! LOVE IT!!! WHAT DO I WIN??????? :cheerleader:

BlueXJ
06-20-2009, 10:51 PM
You win not getting banned today!!

prerunner1982
09-04-2009, 06:59 PM
I have also enjoyed this thread.

I have always been interested in Ham and CB. I grew up around CBs and was interesting to hear someone "skippin". I have had a CB around all my life and have always thought HAM would be fun especially with a mobile unit. However, funds do not allow me to get into either one very extensively and I am stuck with older/used radios..

There is a house in my local town that is covered in antennas, I can only imagine what his neighbors think being in a snobby town.

I have some experiences last year where my TV was picking up a radio transmission. It was only one side of the conversation and only happened rarely. It was weird and scared the wife. I am not sure if it was the "conditions" as it only happened rarely or if someone was pushing more power than they should have been. I thought about reporting it to the FCC but rarity would make it hard to duplicate/locate.


Thanks again for the "write up" but where is the 8th and final installment? It's been MONTHS!

Mudderoy
09-04-2009, 09:28 PM
I have also enjoyed this thread.

I have always been interested in Ham and CB. I grew up around CBs and was interesting to hear someone "skippin". I have had a CB around all my life and have always thought HAM would be fun especially with a mobile unit. However, funds do not allow me to get into either one very extensively and I am stuck with older/used radios..

There is a house in my local town that is covered in antennas, I can only imagine what his neighbors think being in a snobby town.

I have some experiences last year where my TV was picking up a radio transmission. It was only one side of the conversation and only happened rarely. It was weird and scared the wife. I am not sure if it was the "conditions" as it only happened rarely or if someone was pushing more power than they should have been. I thought about reporting it to the FCC but rarity would make it hard to duplicate/locate.


Thanks again for the "write up" but where is the 8th and final installment? It's been MONTHS!

The final write up was going to have to do with getting a HAM license "today". It's been 3 decades since I got my license, so I don't know what the current requirements are. Also I was waiting for someone to ask. ;)

AJ99
09-25-2009, 02:58 AM
Wow man this is really interesting. My wifes grandfather did it also before he passed. We still have all of his stuff put away in our shed except the antennas. I have a question about the CBs. Is it illegal to get a "foot warmer"? I dont plan on keying it around town just in the hills if i ever get in too deep where i need help.

Also do you know how to tune cb antennas? Mine doesnt have the screw in the top and when i get a little bit aways like 100 yards i can hear people but it is staticy but they cant hear me at all.

Mudderoy
09-25-2009, 05:59 AM
Wow man this is really interesting. My wifes grandfather did it also before he passed. We still have all of his stuff put away in our shed except the antennas. I have a question about the CBs. Is it illegal to get a "foot warmer"? I dont plan on keying it around town just in the hills if i ever get in too deep where i need help.

Also do you know how to tune cb antennas? Mine doesnt have the screw in the top and when i get a little bit aways like 100 yards i can hear people but it is staticy but they cant hear me at all.

"foot warmers" are illegal on CB. $10,000 fine and prison I believe. You'd probably just get the fine and all your equipment confiscated, if they choose to do anything. Usually they'll send you a letter first. I personally have never had one, or used one. Antennas are much more important that amplifiers "foot warmer".

You need to be sure you have the antenna installed correctly first. If it is a mobile antenna it MUST have the metal of the car to reflect off of. If it doesn't then it won't work at all, and transmitting on it will cause the transmitter to stop working after a little bit. It may still look like it is working but the power output will be in the milliwatt range instead of watts.

I'd need to know the specific antenna you have to explain to you how to adjust it for best SWR

prerunner1982
09-25-2009, 11:58 AM
Also I was waiting for someone to ask. ;)
Still waiting.... I asked where is it? :popcorn:

AJ99
09-25-2009, 01:33 PM
The antenna i am using is a fire stick. My CB isnt the greatest either but it is a cobra (one of the cheaper ones though) My fire stick doesnt have the adjuster screw in the top though.

Mudderoy
09-25-2009, 02:01 PM
The antenna i am using is a fire stick. My CB isnt the greatest either but it is a cobra (one of the cheaper ones though) My fire stick doesnt have the adjuster screw in the top though.

I'll check but I don't think the firestick needs adjusting. You may have another issue. connectors, coax bad, mounting position. Where is it mounted and what coax are you using? (It will say on the side of the black covering).

prerunner1982
09-25-2009, 03:47 PM
I should be getting a SWR meter and another CB from my father mid October so I can get things set up right. Right now I am running a 102" fiberglass whip.....

AJ99
09-25-2009, 09:26 PM
I'll check but I don't think the firestick needs adjusting. You may have another issue. connectors, coax bad, mounting position. Where is it mounted and what coax are you using? (It will say on the side of the black covering).

Well i had it mounted on my bumper but was getting really bad signal with it so i moved it to the roof of the XJ right behind the rear light and in front of the hatch. I have gotten a better signal with it there but not as good as i think it would be. I can hear and talk about 3/8th to half a mile away.

Mudderoy
09-25-2009, 09:30 PM
Well i had it mounted on my bumper but was getting really bad signal with it so i moved it to the roof of the XJ right behind the rear light and in front of the hatch. I have gotten a better signal with it there but not as good as i think it would be. I can hear and talk about 3/8th to half a mile away.

Can you take a picture and post it? Also what is written on the coax?

AJ99
09-25-2009, 09:30 PM
Ya i will go out right now and see if i can get a good pic

AJ99
09-25-2009, 09:45 PM
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/AJ99/DSCF4053.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/AJ99/DSCF4055.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/AJ99/DSCF4052.jpg

My coax doesnt have anything on it at all

Mudderoy
09-26-2009, 12:01 AM
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/AJ99/DSCF4053.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/AJ99/DSCF4055.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/AJ99/DSCF4052.jpg

My coax doesnt have anything on it at all

Sorry just getting back to the computer. 2nd birthday party tonight.

I see "sort of" how you have it mounted, but I really need a close up of the mount.

I'm guessing you have a 3/8" hole drilled in the sheet metal of the roof?

That isn't right.

They make mounts that you screw that antenna into. The screws on the antenna is the positive "of sorts" and that is what the center conductor of the coax connects to. The shield connects to the ground.

AJ99
09-26-2009, 12:03 AM
well i have one of those things that the antenna screws into and then the coax screws into the other side

Primo
09-26-2009, 12:03 AM
YEAH!!! # 8 bring it on awsome thred man I have loved it!!! Very informative but there is about a million things I could ask. So here is the first, a ham can talk to a plane old cb right?
My step mom used to be a hamer and still has some I think Handy talky's, they look like the pic of what you posted. Maybe I could talk her out of one, I would really like to learn more, befor I buy a CB I might go the ham direction, we'll see. I wonder how long it takes to get a licence now.

Mudderoy
09-26-2009, 12:06 AM
YEAH!!! # 8 bring it on awsome thred man I have loved it!!! Very informative but there is about a million things I could ask. So here is the first, a ham can talk to a plane old cb right?
My step mom used to be a hamer and still has some I think Handy talky's, they look like the pic of what you posted. Maybe I could talk her out of one, I would really like to learn more, befor I buy a CB I might go the ham direction, we'll see. I wonder how long it takes to get a licence now.

A HAM can talk on the CB, but not in the capacity of a HAM, just another CB'r. A HAM cannot use a HAM radio to talk on CB, unless it is an emergency. A HAM must use a CB radio that was created to be used on CB only.

I think that was what you were asking.

Primo
09-26-2009, 12:19 AM
A HAM can talk on the CB, but not in the capacity of a HAM, just another CB'r. A HAM cannot use a HAM radio to talk on CB, unless it is an emergency. A HAM must use a CB radio that was created to be used on CB only.

I think that was what you were asking.

Yup I was just wondering if I could use it to talk to my friends with CB's or not. So if they all get CB's I should to but I should try to talk them to going ham. Or I guess just not plan on using ham to talk to them on the trail. How far did you say moble CB can reach?

Mudderoy
09-26-2009, 12:01 PM
Yup I was just wondering if I could use it to talk to my friends with CB's or not. So if they all get CB's I should to but I should try to talk them to going ham. Or I guess just not plan on using ham to talk to them on the trail. How far did you say moble CB can reach?

It depends. 5 miles should be reliable. If you're in a heavily wooded, wet environment that will be cut down drastically. Buildings, metall, same thing.

For contrast, if you were in SPACE 5 watt transmitter would be good for 5000 miles.

Primo
09-26-2009, 02:33 PM
It depends. 5 miles should be reliable. If you're in a heavily wooded, wet environment that will be cut down drastically. Buildings, metall, same thing.

For contrast, if you were in SPACE 5 watt transmitter would be good for 5000 miles.

I will prolly get a CB radio first with my friends but I think I wan't to get into HAM for sure.
There is a house just around the block with a sh!+ ton of antennas on it, they have one that is prolly like 150 to 200 feet tall, I always wondered wtf I figured it was some kind of radio comunication or he really had a hold of the whole free tv thing!
I think I will take a page out of this storie and go get to know him! He's got to be a hamer, right?

Mudderoy
09-26-2009, 06:17 PM
I will prolly get a CB radio first with my friends but I think I wan't to get into HAM for sure.
There is a house just around the block with a sh!+ ton of antennas on it, they have one that is prolly like 150 to 200 feet tall, I always wondered wtf I figured it was some kind of radio comunication or he really had a hold of the whole free tv thing!
I think I will take a page out of this storie and go get to know him! He's got to be a hamer, right?

Yes, generally if you see antennas next to a nice house it's a HAM, if it's next to a trailer, then it's a CB'r. :smiley-laughing021:

Seriously though you should be able to look the guy up at QRZ.com. I think you can search the database by city state. Just look up the address at that point. Give him a call on the phone and tell him your interest. Chances are good he'll invite you over or at the very least tell you who to contact in the area to get your license.

Primo
09-26-2009, 07:35 PM
Im guna do it!!!

Mudderoy
10-12-2009, 02:36 AM
How do become a HAM, or Amateur Radio Operator?

The ARRL is an excellent resource for information.

http://www.arrl.org/news/images/arrl-c2.gif

Study for your license. Find a Class (http://www.arrl.org/FandES/courses/) or get a book (http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/) to self study.

http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/9647.gif

Find an Exam location (http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml)

Exams are given by HAMs in your local community. There is a fee for the test, but it is a small fee. You can find that information here (http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/fee.html).

There are 3 licenses that you can obtain.

Technician
You can get an entry level Amateur Radio Technician license by passing a 35-question multiple-choice examination. No Morse code test is required. The exam covers basic regulations, operating practices, and electronics theory, with a focus on VHF and UHF applications.

Technician Class operators are authorized to use all amateur VHF and UHF frequencies (all frequencies above 50 MHz). Technicians also may operate on the 80, 40, and 15 meter HF bands using Morse code, and on the 10 meter band using Morse code, voice, and digital modes. No Morse code test is required.

General
The General Class license offers a giant step up in operating privileges. The high-power HF privileges granted to General licensees allow for cross-country and worldwide communication.

Technicians may upgrade to General by passing a 35-question multiple-choice examination. The written exam covers intermediate regulations, operating practices, and electronics theory, with a focus on HF applications. You must successfully pass the Technician exam to be eligible to sit for the General class exam. No Morse code test is required.

In addition to the Technician privileges, General Class operators are authorized to operate on any frequency in the 160, 30, 17, 12, and 10 meter bands. They may also use significant segments of the 80, 40, 20, and 15 meter bands.

Extra
The HF bands can be awfully crowded, particularly at the top of the solar cycle. Once you earn HF privileges, you may quickly yearn for more room. The Extra Class license is the answer. Extra Class licensees are authorized to operate on all frequencies allocated to the Amateur Service.

General licensees may upgrade to Extra Class by passing a 50-question multiple-choice examination. No Morse code test is required. In addition to some of the more obscure regulations, the test covers specialized operating practices, advanced electronics theory, and radio equipment design.

More detailed information about the privileges of each license class and requirements for licensing can be found at www.arrl.org/arrlvec/license-requirements.html.

Practice tests are available online!

www.aa9pw.com (www.aa9pw.com)
www.qrz.com (www.qrz.com)
www.eham.net (www.eham.net)
KB0MGA.net Practice Exams (KB0MGA.net)


Here are a few videos that you may find informative, humorous or both.
YouTube - The Ham Band Video

http://www.youtube.com/user/K7AGE

YouTube - Ham Radio AO-51 Satellite Demonstration

YouTube - Ham Radio AO-51 Satellite, again

YouTube - Field Day 2008

YouTube - "Radio Hams" Film (Pete Smith Specialty)

YouTube - ham radio and hurricane katrina

YouTube - Amateur radio today - hosted by Walter Cronkite, SK.

YouTube - How to Use a Ham Radio : How to Contact People on a Ham Radio

YouTube - SDR 144MHZ & WINRAD

YouTube - Space Station Ham Radio Contact

YouTube - Tri-state Amateur Radio Society Field Day on News 25

YouTube - Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness

YouTube - SkyWarn Recognition Day - Amateur Radio - Charlottesville, VA

tbone
10-27-2009, 08:17 PM
That was a great write-up and really liked the videos. :thumbsup:

Mudderoy
10-28-2009, 02:38 PM
ICOM IC-2100H 50 watt mobile. Current bid is $114.50 and $12 shipping.

http://www.eham.net/data/reviews/images/222.jpeg

ebay auction link (http://cgi.ebay.com/Icom-IC-2100H-2-Meter-Transceiver_W0QQitemZ230390890931QQcmdZViewItemQQp tZLH_DefaultDomain
_0?hash=item35a45e01b3)

ehappy
11-02-2009, 03:30 PM
Awesome write-up! And it comes at a time when my SAR unit is discussing Personal Radios and I'm seriously looking to buy. This is the radio most of us are planning on buying:
http://www.anchorexpress.com/Standard-Horizon-HX370S-Portable-VHF-p/hx370s.htm

We have a "Radio Class" tomorrow night, hopefully they can arrange for us to take our tests too.

Thanks for the information,

Eric

Mudderoy
02-12-2012, 01:43 AM
Long after writing this series we started a ham radio sight. Yes much like the people complained, another Jeep sight?!?! It's another HAM radio sight. Just like any fledgling web sight we need posts. Please come over and get active on http://www.di-dah-dit.com/ :D

machinisttx
06-08-2012, 10:41 PM
Are you involved with Skywarn at all? I need to catch the local guys on 2m sometime and find out about the training....guess I should turn the radio on more than once every few months. :rolleye0012:

Mudderoy
06-08-2012, 10:50 PM
Are you involved with Skywarn at all? I need to catch the local guys on 2m sometime and find out about the training....guess I should turn the radio on more than once every few months. :rolleye0012:

No I'm not. They are online though, and if you want to make it really easy just go to our other sister site http://www.di-dah-dit.com/