Author Topic: Ham operators (Read 1112 times)

Scibaer · « **on:** December 12, 2006, 02:32:33 AM »

hi, i have recently discovered ham radios. i usually make post in the NEF shotgun and rifle forums, and wondered if anyone here is a amature radio operator ?
glenn

30-30man · « **Reply #1 on:** December 12, 2006, 03:42:01 AM »

I have an old Ham radio that belonged to my father but I don't have a license. I think it is a Realistic. It sits in the garage and I listen ocassionally. I have several cb radios that were modified for freeband (Connex), my dad was nuts for radio. These things are more valuable than many people believe. During Katrina, Ham/CB was the only way to communicate. Cell phones can't work if there is a power shortage. The problem with all of them is the chatter from Mexico. Everyone over there must be running a 500 watt linear.

Scibaer · « **Reply #2 on:** December 12, 2006, 03:58:53 AM »

yeah, my pops was in the Navy during the mid sixties and he was a ship to shore radio operator, been into them ever since. he finally retired from the fire dp and got back into ham pretty heavy, 5 diff radios i guss. he's giving me one of his 2 meter units and im studing for the tech quiz. guess i'll get a new hobby too, lol ..
i thought that maybe there would be some handi owners that were operators too.. it seems that handi's, being self sufficient, having a bug out bag, and that sort all fit pretty well with being able to communicate wiht the out side world, if need be. its a mind set, life style thing i guess..
glenn

Nixter · « **Reply #3 on:** December 12, 2006, 08:08:26 AM »

I'm licensed but have never been on the air. No cash for a radio.

Spend it all on silly stuff like guns and food and the Mortgage.

There is an old Ham that is a member at my home range, I should ask if he would be interested in being an Elmer...

I studied the books and on-line exams just enough to get my Tech license and that's as far as I have gotten short of attending two Field-Days.

I have been eyeing the Yaesu Vx-7 though. Might be a bit much for a Newbie... I guess I need an Elmer...

As a truck driver one would think that I would run a CB. NOT. Too much trash for me.

Radio fascinates me even though I am not a talker for the most part. Wind me up though and I'll talk your ear off. Guess I just need someone to show me the deep end of the pool as it were...

Hmm, great post.

Thanks for posting it Scibaer

Nixter

Scibaer · « **Reply #4 on:** December 12, 2006, 08:39:54 AM »

yeah all those pesky bills, feeding the kids and whatnot really do eat into the big boys toys fund, lol...
the Yaesu's are nice rigs.. i have a 1988 heath HW25 now, looking to upgrade to a Kenwood dual bander when i can ( read: the wife lets me )
yep i drove truck too, cb's will ruin it for anyone thats a bit serious about radios.. way to much trash and illegal radios out there..
maybe we need a thread folder for ham radios here ??
glenn

Nixter · « **Reply #5 on:** December 12, 2006, 09:12:27 AM »

Re: new forum. My guess is that any Ham Radio topics could be put under the outdoor electronics/GPS forum.

That is until/if it gets too big.

APRS equipped radios and just getting in touch with your hunting buddies fall in that area. Lost and injured and need help? That's another use for Ham Radios in the outdoors.

Perhaps a Moderator could link this post to that forum AND leave this here as well?

30/30 man, 500 watt linear? Won't even get you on the air in some areas of the country on the CB bands. Try that stateside and you might get a knock on the door from the FCC, note I said might. A local CB'er was busted a few years ago running almost 10K on the CB bands....

Torn between the freedom of CB and the no trash nature of the Ham bands....

Nixter

Scibaer · « **Reply #6 on:** December 12, 2006, 03:17:08 PM »

right, the small walkie- talkie type radios would be a handy life saver if you or a buddy were injured, usually they run at 5 watts. under good conditions they will transmit quite a distance. most dual band mobile units can run 50 watts, and that is alot more power then you'd first think, a repeater isnt usually to far off. on the other hand with the right liscense and on the right freq ,you can transmit with 1500 watts.. with that you can really reach out.. cb ( 11 meter) band and the lower ham bands ( 23 cm 70 cm or 2 meter ) act alot different with higher watt radios.. but remember its all about the antenna.. 1500 or 10,000 watts dont mean a thing if you cant get that signal out there .. i have a 3 element J pole on a 50 foot tall pole.. it does the trick
glenn

30-30man · « **Reply #7 on:** December 13, 2006, 04:22:03 AM »

The FCC is just a scare tactic used to try to keep everyone in check. They could never catch everyone using illegal equipment. They bust several a year but the people they bust know well ahead of time that they are getting busted. They might be a real agency but they do very little to control two-way radio communication. Most of the time, the person who gets caught using power has been warned several times by their neighbors, the police, and then the FCC to turn the power down. Most truck drivers use linears as well as most regular CBers. Shoot, the little walkie-talkie they sell at Walmart requires an FCC license. Most people are not going to buy a 55$ a year license to talk on a $10 radio. I hear people on the Ham bands all the time who don't have call signs and probably have no license. I guess you can chalk it up to everyone viewing two way radio as a dying dinosaur of the past. Now, everyone has a cellphone strapped to their hear instead of a mic taped to their mouth.

Nixter · « **Reply #8 on:** December 13, 2006, 09:05:17 AM »

Not a big fan of the FCC here 30/30 but I do try to keep my hobbies within limits whether they are set by my finances or Big Brother.

FCC dropped the ball on GMRS if you ask me. $80 for a license? Heck, if each of my buddies got a license and a radio, it would be a few hundred bucks. Ham radio tech license is $14, 2Meter HT $100. So we need to id with a call sign instead of our names when we talk, big deal.

Frs usually works in our limited area of operations but finding an FRS only radio is next impossible these days.

Oh yeah, a cell phone is just a radio that works on frequecies BOUGHT from the FCC by big corporations. Another topic for another day/forum.

I wouldn't mind a nice Galaxy 959 with a good tune and a foot warmer but being the law abiding drone that I am, I let others have that kind of fun.

All in all, legal Ham stuff or high-power illegal CB or even the simple FRS radios I am still fascinated by radio communications.

Nixter

30-30man · « **Reply #9 on:** December 13, 2006, 12:32:06 PM »

Yeah, I try to obey the law and I don't use most of the illegal equipment I inherited. Will I give them up? No, I just love owning what most don't have. I have a legal GE CB in the truck right now as it is dog season. You can't run dogs without one here in SC. What I don't understand is they make export/cb radios with 400 channels and ain't but two have anyone on them that speak English. I remember my dad wanting this radio for Christmas. He thought is was the best thing and when I look at it I just have to laugh as I remember him. He always wanted toys. That is the biggest reason I took the old Connex out of the truck. I would hate it if it were stolen. Good luck to and yours......It's nice to know someone else love's this old and dying hobby..Merry Christmas!

Scibaer · « **Reply #10 on:** December 14, 2006, 09:55:23 AM »

setting aside the illegal stuff or how the FCC drops the ball,i think there is still a place for amature radio. i cant say the same for cb's
hams work well with civil disasters and they certainly arent outdated..when the power is out hams can still get out and talk with the outside world..
there is a demand, albeit a small one, for antique and older ham radios, cant say that for cell fones , lol ..
glenn

Nixter · « **Reply #11 on:** December 15, 2006, 07:07:36 AM »

No doubt Glenn, there is a place for Hams, whether they run new shack in a box radios or boat anchors. There is also a place for Cb operators and the folks that use FRS/GMRs as well. Seems like a use it or lose it policy might be in the under-current of FCC policy...

Cb users as well as FRS/GMRS users could be mobliized just as effectively as Hams given some motivation and direction. Some neighborhood watch groups are using FRS/GMRS as a tool for their purpose.

Hams have the advantage in networking though, getting the word out to the masses as to how to keep their hobby alive. Cb users just wanna' get OUT AND BE HEARD (it doesn't matter the message). They (CB'ers) could be just as useful in an emergency with the high power they are (illegally) running and such (like beam antennas) to get important comms out of the emergency area. Don't tell me an avid CB'er hasn't thought of a way to stay on the air when the power goes out...

I guess what I am saying is that the Radio Community as whole should be woring together to protect what bands and privledges we have to gauruntee our hobby. Be it Hams, CB'ers or the FRS/GMRS crowd. All three services have a hobbyist aspect and an outdoors aspect as well as public service use.

The above might not be relevant to your post Glenn, but they are my ramblings on the "hobby" of Radio.

Nixter

Scibaer · « **Reply #12 on:** December 15, 2006, 07:43:44 AM »

Nixter,
your post is ofcourse revelant, and right on the money. i argee with what you've said and will concure about the use it or lose it attitude of the FCC.
but, i believe that what hams have over cb'ers is bandwidth and the ability to use repeaters. and your right, legal a legal cb'er can certainly find ways to keep thier rigs running when the local power grid fails. thanks for pointing out to me a lesson i should already know, that cb'ers are fellow radiomen too.

i opened this thread, just looking to see if there are any active ham radio users here, but the ethics and legality stream this thread has taken is a good discussion too. my local club just got the go ahead for amature tv, the tower is being build and 'we' just maybe on the 'air' soon. my current interest in satellite tracking and talking to the International Space Station.

glenn

Nixter · « **Reply #13 on:** December 15, 2006, 05:42:26 PM »

Glenn, earlier in this thread you mentioned you were studying for your Tech test.

It's a breeze. All I did was take pactice tests on-line and read the ARRL book. Take a practice test, read the section about the questions I missed and repeat. Did this once or twice a week for a few months and passed the exam first shot. Not a great score but it was a passing score.

Funny you should mention Handis and bug-out bags and radios. In the H&R shotgun section, Swampman has a pic of his bag. I could see myself with that pack and a Vx-7 and my Handi in 22 Hornet wandering around Montana or Wyoming...Or more realisticly, the squirel woods not to far from the house.

Hunting gets slow? Set up on a hill and try to hit a distant repeater for a chat. I know, sounds corny but that's the way my head works.

Good luck on the test.

When I get a radio, I'll set up on the lake shore and point a hand-held beam East and see if I can make the trip...

Nixter

Scibaer · « **Reply #14 on:** December 16, 2006, 02:34:20 AM »

nixter,
thats exactly how im studying for the test, but as of the 16th ( today) the FCC has changes the rules a bit, to get a general liscense, you no longer need to know morse code at 5 wpm. they have effectivly dropped cw from the test.
your view about packing along a vx-7 is right on target.. i'll post my call sign on here and when you get that radio, set up a beam and on a clear nite, well you know how to do it , lol ..
this ,bye the way its an old mans game, the public relations officer for our club is 25, seems there are a few out there who find radio's and low power tv interesting still. at 38 im not as young as i once was, feel older then i look at times, act like a kid and dont want to get any older
glenn

HuntCast · « **Reply #15 on:** December 17, 2006, 03:37:03 PM »

Quote from: Scibaer on December 16, 2006, 02:34:20 AM

this ,bye the way its an old mans game, the public relations officer for our club is 25, seems there are a few out there who find radio's and low power tv interesting still. at 38 im not as young as i once was, feel older then i look at times, act like a kid and dont want to get any older
glenn

Hey Glenn......
You are right on there. It IS an old mans game, lol. Trying to get my kid into it........ he's been to a few field days and contests and likes the atmosphere and competition, but he doesn't seem to like the idea of rag chewing much.
Different strokes I guess.

Catch ya around,
73, DE K8NMU

ihuntbucks · « **Reply #16 on:** December 17, 2006, 06:35:49 PM »

I have been a ham since 1984.My past calls were:KB4KKB,KJ4TB,AA4UF,and Iam present NS4M.Been Extra class since 85.........73 de NS4M.....Rick

GregP42 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 17, 2006, 06:48:56 PM »

Yes, there are a few of us out here, I read the new rule making from the FCC, we will see if it helps out to get new people on the air. I have only had my ticket for about 12 years, and unless they redo the classes again I am part of the dieing class of Advance class hams. Never could crack the 20, and when they dropped it, well I didn't want it that way if that makes any sense.

73,
Greg
ke4ooo

Nixter · « **Reply #18 on:** December 18, 2006, 07:19:47 AM »

Hey, looky there, more Hams!!

All this talk of radios and such makes me want get in touch with the other Ham at the gun club I am a member of. Maybe if I pester him enough, he'll let me play radio at his place. We shoot trap in a Toughman league that starts in January. If I "adjust " his score maybe he'll even become my Elmer.

I know, why would someone with a license need an Elmer? Well, it's a monkey see monkey do situation. I need to know etiquette and all the nuances to being a good operator. I learn by doing and would feel more comfortable with someone holding my hand as it were. No need to piss off the local 2m net right off the bat, let them get to know me first.

Perhaps this topic could be continued here or in the GPS and outdoor electronics forum down the way a bit.

Now, where is that piggy bank?

Nixter

DWTim · « **Reply #19 on:** December 18, 2006, 08:40:31 AM »

Still a licensed ham, but I have no longer a desire to be a practicing one.

Scibaer · « **Reply #20 on:** December 18, 2006, 11:17:41 AM »

DWTim, why dont you have the interest anymore ?

Nixter, maybe if this thread keeps going ( i'll do my part,lol ) we can get our own tab ( whatever you call it, on the main page )

73 ! glenn

victorcharlie · « **Reply #21 on:** December 18, 2006, 12:23:51 PM »

I've always wanted a license.....to work the low bands.......never got one.....5 wpm and novice just wouldn't do it.....needed 13 or better for general and phone and that takes practice.......personally, that's what's always held me back.....

I've either been up on the test, or up on the code, but never both at once......so I never took the test.

I see a general and possible an extra in my future.......Did they drop the advanced ticket?

Dropping the code should help a bunch IMO........I haven't listened lately, but at one time the bands seemed fairly crowded......

Scibaer · « **Reply #22 on:** December 18, 2006, 01:44:43 PM »

well forget the CW, and go get the tech liscense and work on the general .. as far as i know they have dropped the advanced .. in my area the 70cm is so quiet i may be the only one there, lol ..
glenn

DWTim · « **Reply #23 on:** December 18, 2006, 05:22:18 PM »

Quote from: Scibaer on December 18, 2006, 11:17:41 AM

DWTim, why dont you have the interest anymore ?

Without going into too much detail, I will say that it has lost its utility to unlicensed devices. It has also become highly commercialized, and unfortunately, it cannot compete.

No, that's just one aspect. Let me try again... The hobby has been pulled in opposite directions by (at least) two factions. I think that the original spirit of the hobby has been lost in the process.

Sorry, I really don't want to get more specific, because I'll probably end up offending someone.

Also: I have a Yaesu FT-101 rusting in the basement - It sort of symbolizes the whole issue for me.

Scibaer · « **Reply #24 on:** December 19, 2006, 01:25:16 AM »

DWTim,
i do think i understand what your saying. in any event thanks for your input.
glenn