Ham Radio Guys

[BadgeBunny]

Jeremy, you are an absolute godsend. I have read and read and read and still couldn't make a move towards buying a good radio for home. I dunno what the deal is but this technical stuff has me absolutely paralyzed ... You have officially returned the favor you think you owe me! I'm gonna show this thread to GC and we are gonna make a decision and get moving forward on this ... It's absolutely retarded to have gone to all that trouble to get a license and not use it ...

 

[Lightsluvr]

Wow. I just stumbled across this thread.

One of the regrets of my life is that I let both my commercial radiotelephone and extra class amateur radio licenses expire. It was a lot of work to pass those tests back in the day, but Morse code kept many people away from the service. My wife and I were licensed back in the 80's and traveled the Pacific islands operating from many islands (Operated "portable" from KH1, KH2, KH3, KH5, KH6, KH8, plus held licenses as H44GA, T32AS, KC6WS, KX6OS and V73DP). I participated in several "DXpeditions" to the Pacific (do they still do DXpeditions?) I was on the ARRL Honor Roll. My last call sign was AD1S, which was reassigned to a nice guy in Florida after it had been expired for a few years.
I remember the days here in Oklahoma storm chasing for Gary England when hams were integral to the storm spotting network. Ham radio operators as a group have always been a generous bunch, but don't tread on their allotted frequencies, or they can become very "assertive".
In my life, technology and sunspots caught up with amateur radio. People around the world could be contacted by internet 24/7 and without QRM or QRN. It was a personal decision, but one that I regret from time to time.
One legacy I have from ham radio: I can still copy morse code in my head between 30-40 words per minute. With that and $2.00, I can get a cup of coffee almost anywhere...

LL

 

[Harley1953]

I have just recently gotten my Technician license and am using a handheld Yaesu FT-60R primarily on the 2meter band. I really regret not getting my license years ago as my wife had an uncle who had been a ham for decades being an electrical engineer since the 1920s. He offered to help me get my license and this was way back in the 70s. I have to admit, I really believe having to learn morse code was quite intimidating to me back then. Just wish I had done it then.

I do think I will try to learn morse code now. I am going to try and study up and upgrade to general license sometime this year.


Still VERY new to amateur radio operating but having a good time with it.


KF5RPM

 

[MyMonkey]

Jeremy, you are an absolute godsend. I have read and read and read and still couldn't make a move towards buying a good radio for home. I dunno what the deal is but this technical stuff has me absolutely paralyzed ... You have officially returned the favor you think you owe me! I'm gonna show this thread to GC and we are gonna make a decision and get moving forward on this ... It's absolutely retarded to have gone to all that trouble to get a license and not use it ...

Gal I can help! Woohoo! I rock! Lmao. Now before you make any decisions I have adjusted my plan. I am looking at the quad band yaesu now. I believe it is the 859 or something close. At the courthouse and can't pull it up but I want to have a small package that will cover as many signals as possible. It is quite spendy though. This far I have no contacts on 10 meters but I need to tune my antenna. I have found inexpensive 10 meter dipoles on eBay for aroun $25 which I will soon order. That with a dual band diamond 500 antenna in my attic and a channel switch will be a great start I hope.

On the cb route I find it troublesome because of all the interference. En route to Purcell this am I can hear thing but every single sound is muffled by some other sound. Odd. However, a better antenna may help that. I will try one I found later this afternoon!

 

[wasatch]

Just a reminder that there's a hamfest in Claremore tonight and tomorrow.

http://www.greencountryhamfest.org/

I haven't been to a hamfest in about a decade. Guess I'll check this one out and see if they've gotten as bad as gunshows.

KG0XP

 

[MyMonkey]

Just a reminder that there's a hamfest in Claremore tonight and tomorrow.

http://www.greencountryhamfest.org/

I haven't been to a hamfest in about a decade. Guess I'll check this one out and see if they've gotten as bad as gunshows.

KG0XP

I wanted to make that one but alas we are going to the car show. Should be fun. Claremore was a bit of a stretch for me anyway. There is one out west next month I believe. Weatherford if im not mistaken.

Update time. As referenced above this morning the CB thing is fun but should not be relied on for emergency coms. If one were to setup a nice rig with great antenna as the link above shows the CB can be a fun toy though. Crazy stuff on those bands! Now on to the meaty bits!

Introducing the MyMonkey holy grail of radios (For the moment anyway) The Yaesu FT 857D
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/1857.html

I figure this thing will suffice as a base unit and can be taken along for mobile as well! The 817 is smaller and lighter but it does not meet the needs of the base unit that I need.

So, until I can afford one of the big units such as this: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/0355.html I am thinking the 857D will suffice.

Love to see all the posts above btw. Exciting hobby this is.