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Anyone else here a Ham (amateur radio ) operator and carry ?

The_Pennsylvanian

The_Pennsylvanian

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2011
Messages
65
Location
Marshfield, WI
Quote Originally Posted by ccwinstructor View Post
I have been wanting to get a HAM license for decades...

Now is the time to do it, I guess.
protias said:
Getting your Technician's license is pretty easy. There is no CW (Morse code) requirement anymore.
Click to expand...

The first time I took my Tech test was blind and on a whim ; I only missed some of the "History" questions of amateur radio . I studied for twenty minutes, saw what I did wrong , retook the test and aced it .

I would recommend amateur radio to anyone reasonably intelligent that wants to try new things. It's a great hobby ; and some aspects cross over with being a shooter , especially if one is a reloader . We ( hams ) hombrew much of our equipment ( antennas mostly , for me ) . There's also hams that would rather shell out uber cash for the latest greatest gadgety do it all for ya radio , and hams that take what we have available and improvise . Great way to meet people , too .

A pretty tight knight group we are , and yes , people DO stare . . . LOL
 
Last edited:
G

GlockRDH

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2010
Messages
626
Location
north of the Peoples Republic of Madison
The_Pennsylvanian said:
Quote Originally Posted by ccwinstructor View Post
I have been wanting to get a HAM license for decades...

Now is the time to do it, I guess.

The first time I took my Tech test was blind and on a whim ; I only missed some of the "History" questions of amateur radio . I studied for twenty minutes, saw what I did wrong , retook the test and aced it .

I would recommend amateur radio to anyone reasonably intelligent that wants to try new things. It's a great hobby ; and some aspects cross over with being a shooter , especially if one is a reloader . We ( hams ) hombrew much of our equipment ( antennas mostly , for me ) . There's also hams that would rather shell out uber cash for the latest greatest gadgety do it all for ya radio , and hams that take what we have available and improvise . Great way to meet people , too .

A pretty tight knight group we are , and yes , people DO stare . . . LOL
Click to expand...

what bands and modes are you most active on? Ive not been on HF much the past few years...gonna get more into it this winter...i like CW on 30m and hopefully will catch some band openings on 10 also..
 
The_Pennsylvanian

The_Pennsylvanian

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2011
Messages
65
Location
Marshfield, WI
At home, HF . . . 20 and 40 ssb mostly .Been wanting to play with some PSK but need the computer to rig thingy , Signal-Link box . Got an OCF Dipole strung out in the back yard , but it's too short to effectively radiate on anything below 40 meters . Yaesu FT-1000MP for hf-10M , Icom V-8000 for VHF work with an Isopole about fifteen feet up. DIsplay lamp on the ft1000 went kaput so now my hf is mobile , Icom 706 .

At work , strictly VHF ( use to do 440 but my EDC rig , a Yaesu ft-60 bit the dust .) Now I'm rocking an ancient Kenwood TR-2600 in a Bianchi Gunleather holster made for it. The FT-60 either lived on its belt clip or in a holster for a Vertex Standard commercial rig . THe Bianchi holster is superior in every way .

I have WAAAAY more radios than that , but these are just the ones currently in service.
 
G

GlockRDH

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2010
Messages
626
Location
north of the Peoples Republic of Madison
The_Pennsylvanian said:
At home, HF . . . 20 and 40 ssb mostly .Been wanting to play with some PSK but need the computer to rig thingy , Signal-Link box . Got an OCF Dipole strung out in the back yard , but it's too short to effectively radiate on anything below 40 meters . Yaesu FT-1000MP for hf-10M , Icom V-8000 for VHF work with an Isopole about fifteen feet up. DIsplay lamp on the ft1000 went kaput so now my hf is mobile , Icom 706 .

At work , strictly VHF ( use to do 440 but my EDC rig , a Yaesu ft-60 bit the dust .) Now I'm rocking an ancient Kenwood TR-2600 in a Bianchi Gunleather holster made for it. The FT-60 either lived on its belt clip or in a holster for a Vertex Standard commercial rig . THe Bianchi holster is superior in every way .

I have WAAAAY more radios than that , but these are just the ones currently in service.
Click to expand...

I have an Alinco Dx70 with a dipole strung up on my back porch (for now anyway)...Picked up a RigBlaster a while back to help with PSK...works great! Running that into a laptop... (also used for packet) have a Yaesu ft1500 in the car and usually carry around an alinco DJG5 u/v ht.
 
D

dmworken

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
41
Location
Greendale, Wisconsin, USA
General class license and work with ARES/RACES at the state level.

I am a retired military LEO and currently work as a Security Specialist (technical and physical) with a large corporation. I do have many antenna's on my car and my local police department knows who I am and what I do. Working with Emergency Management on some projects also helps indentify me. Most Milwuakee Co. Police departments know who I am or recognize my name. I guess you can say I have an advantage.

The Search and Rescue group I belong too also have a few members who are hams and come from a variety of professions. Ham radio has two faces; as a hobby and as a public service entity. It all depends what you make of it.



Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk
 
SovereignAxe

SovereignAxe

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
791
Location
Elizabethton, TN
I really wish I could get back into it but it's such an expensive hobby. So is firearms but the difference is that I actually know people that own firearms. I know exactly one other person with their ham license, and he lives in Oklahoma. I would talk to him but all I have is a mobile VHF unit I used to keep in my car, and don't have the money to upgrade to HF. I have it hooked up to a power supply at my desk and do turn it on to listen on occasion, but I haven't held a conversation in months. My mag mount doesn't pick up very well mounted to a filing cabinet and somewhere along the line I'm getting some RFI (most likely the ancient power supply) that's creates a VERY loud buzz in my computer speakers, so I have to switch them off to talk.

Sigh. I want on the HF bands. Why can't I have more money?
 
Yetiman

Yetiman

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2011
Messages
98
Location
SE Wi
OK, I admit it...

I got my Novice license when I was in seventh grade and my tech a year or two later in the late 1970's when you still had to go to the FCC office in Chicago to take tests beyond Novice.

My Dad and I took the train down and went up the Sears Tower after the test.

I am not very active any more but still have a Drake TR7 set up as well as hopping on 2 meters now and then.

A lot of the people I met through Amateur Radio were into shooting, and I have to say they were also the people who encouraged me the most to become active in competition shooting.

I made a lot of friends over the years through radio, and many of them are still pretty close friends.
 
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