Any Ham Radio Guys Here?

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Thanks Robbie! I've been studying for a couple weeks and I'm pretty sure I got it down. I've been testing myself on www.qrz.com and am averaging one wrong every 105 questions or so.
 
I got my license in the 70's, I'm not on much right now. I'm thinking about putting up a long wire and feeding it with a tuner and playing. Again, good luck and let us know how you made out!
 
HEMI-ITIS said:
Is this what happens when ya tired of CB & sideband???????????:toothy3:
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'Zactly! I hooked up my old Cobra with a dipole about 3-4 months ago just for the halibut and it was nothing but potty talk. :cwm10: I realized I could get good mil-spec professional equipment (Icom or Yeasu) for less than some junky harmonic inducing Connex. :p

This is the 2m rig I'm looking at:
 

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Robbie2734 said:
I got my license in the 70's, I'm not on much right now. I'm thinking about putting up a long wire and feeding it with a tuner and playing. Again, good luck and let us know how you made out!
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Do it! I'll let you know how it pans out. :thumrigh:
 
Good luck,keep at it and work on your cw the bands are more fun where the average low iq guy can not sit there and qrm everything you say. '73 Bruce K9RO
 
BARNEY'S CAR said:
Good luck,keep at it and work on your cw the bands are more fun where the average low iq guy can not sit there and qrm everything you say. '73 Bruce K9RO
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Lol! I plan on working the 2m/70cm bands until I get comfortable (lots of open mountain top repeaters here), then I'd like to move up to 6m. I have a practice key sitting on my desk that I bought about 12 years ago, I suppose I should put it to use. I'd really like to QSO around the country and from what I've read, 6m should do it with a decent beam and a rotator. I'm already GMRS licensed, WQNH201. Handy for trips with friends but I can get out WAY further than they can with the equipment I have.
 
Time to but one in Victoria:thumrigh:
And mybe a tower up or beams up so we can talk, catch some skip and say howdy late at night. I have one in storage, Dirt Dobber is me here in Arkansas :glasses2:
 
I really don't know that much about hamster radio,but know that that you know alot about CB's.I want to get a rig for my truck sooooooooooo,I was looking for rec's on a mobil with SSB,maybe some power,and an antenna.Hope this don't make me a HIJACKER:eek:fftheai:
 
I'm using the same 2m rig here but just use it to talk to a couple long time friends. 6m will only be good lomg haul at times although we are are on a upswing in the solar cycle so 6 will get better and 10m is going to get better. I think with a tech licence you can use a small part of 10m and that will give you world wide during the day as the cycle picks up.The longer you stay on vhf the less likely you will be to upgrade, at least a general gives you all vhf and 10 thru 160. The low bands is where you can test your patience and skill. Best of luck and post how you do. '73
 
I'm about 50-60 miles north of you. Maybe I'll blow the dust of my 2m and see if we can't hook up when you pass.
 
ramcharger, I'd like to encourage you to make an honest effort to head towards at LEAST your General class ticket. Try not to get too hung up on two meters. Depending on the local "click", you can learn some very bad habits on 2

("Do ya gotta good copy" and "whuts yer personal" are NOT legitimate terminology)

Six can be fun but is very fickle

It is unfortunate that the current cycle seems to be so slow on the upswing.
 
WN0MBG Is what I used to be. My license expired years ago. toolman
 
Taking off for the test right now. Thanks for all the responses and i'll be sure to respond when I get back. Leadfoot, with the base antenna I'm looking at, I'll bet we'll have no problem shooting the breeze.
 
Still waiting to see how you did on the test. I did not know that they had stretched these tests out for 3/4 days,no wonder people hate studing for them.........Hope you did well and I hear you on 144.125 ssb or 144.090 cw whith the summer openings on 2m.
 
BARNEY'S CAR said:
I did not know that they had stretched these tests out for 3/4 days,no wonder people hate studing for them.
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Where did you get this? You can take whatever test you need at one sitting.


Frankly, studying and testing has never been easier. There is scads of info on the net, at least a couple of easy study guides (Buy W5WI or ARRL depending on the local group test association)

And, there are at least three, maybe more "online practice tests." No more CW tests

When I took my General in '66, I had to engineer a trip to Spokane, about 160 miles round trip, and no small undertaking in those days. I didn't even have a car good enough to "survive" a trip, had to ride in with my Mom.

You had to send and receive CW at 13 wpm (General) The FCC guys used to practice dirty looks in the mirror.

Back then the study guides didn't give you the answers, there was no internet to draw from, and so no online practice stuff.

We had to copy CW in a huge cafeteria which echoed from end to end. Hell you couldn't tell whether you were really hearing "it" or the echo.

Then, (I passed) if you came home FAILED, you had to face your father's wrath about "what a wasted trip."

Oh, and yeah, this was during a blizzard, you had to walk 10 miles one way and 15 the other, through three feet deep snow, and it was UPHILL both ways!!!

Nowadays, you go in with a bunch of other hams, doughnuts, coffee, slaps on the back.
 
I use to play around on the air waves. Back in the 70's I bought a Siltronix 1011D and center tapped it to get on the hi frecs. Hung out on .605 a lot talking world-wide. Just spotted it on the overhead storage in the garage (in the original box) along with the frec counter and ext. speaker. Maybe I'll break it out this summer and see if I can make the old 8950 sing again.
 
67DART273 I was kidding, Ramcharger said he would let us know if he passed and that was back on Saturday. I was just wondering how he did. I took my tests in Chicago 40 years ago and walked uphill 15 miles to get there and uphill 20 miles to get home :) Do you still have a licence and are you active? I'm will awhere of no cw and the new test procedures. Almost all operating here is cw and almost all low bands. '73 Bruce
 
I'm nowhere near as active as I used to be, partly due to the poor HF propagation this cycle, "other things" and the neighborhood noise. Noise floor due to switching devices has increased tremendously in the last few years.

I have an old Wilson "System one" up around 50', a six meter Cushcraft 5? 6? elements with a matching problem, and a REAL poor wire antenna. Yaesu MK "Field" and Ameritron Al80B. Old IC-735 for mobile and an IC-706MK, along with a stack of commercial 450 radios used to use for link/ base remote stuff. (I still have a hamlink setup for the IC-735, completely controllable through a remote.

In a previous life, I've repaired and modified countless homebrew amplifiers. Still have some "after the house fire." Adapted the old Halliscratchers HT-41 for a pair of 813's, rebuild a little -known Delcon T210, which uses 3 4cx-250B's and will output 900W just about anywhere from 2-30 mhz. Also have a homebrew tabletop 8877 amplifer which suffered some smoke damage in the fire. And, a couple of unfinished ones, too, a homebrew 4-1000 in a big rack, and a REAL beat to sh$$ Heath Warrior with a hacked up (some CBer) tank and a blowed up choke filter. It may get converted to 813/ 572's or even a single 3-500Z With no filter choke the B+ will be a lot higher.

I've got some property (long story, poor market) that if I live long enough to get it sold, I hope to move out of town to a "quieter" (and larger) neighborhood. More room for wire!!

I used to have fun mobile. In the last cycle, I was commuting about 50 miles one way, and used to work typically 15m on a completely homebrew antenna system. I've worked all over the world, just "casually" mobiling homeward. Italy, German, England, ZL's, down into South America and the Carribean. This was typically with about 35-50W output, back in those days was a HORRID "Tempo 2020". But hey, it worked.

Later, I upgraded to a Kenwood TS-50, then an Alinco ??, and finally, the Icom 706 MK, and LATER UPGRADED ??!! to an IC-735 because of it's easy of operability, a screwdriver tuned antenna, and a Metron (no not Ameritron) RF amplifier. This was in my 86 Ranger, now gone, done on a stock battery/ alternator, mostly SSB With this setup one memorable night, I worked Hawaii on 75M!!


I still have a considerable amount of test gear in various states of "workableness". Tektronix 100mhz scope, couple of old CT Systems service monitors, a Motorola R200XXD series monitor, and an HP spec. analyzer and tracking generator. I've also got a counter that goes up to ?? ghz, couple of little Wavetek sweepers, and some other misc Wavetek stuff, along with some old HP sig generators..

I don't do anywhere near the amount of stuff I used to. My arthritis prevents me from hiking very far, so no more hilltop stuff

Back around '99 when I was still working, part of my job was climbing occasional towers. I sure cannot do that anymore, although I was up mine briefly a little while back. I climb now VERY carefully, with a lanyard around the tower, and lock off with a Gorilla hook every few steps.

Frankly, (around here) I've gotten completely turned off with the CB lingo used on 2 and even 450. Lots and lots of 2 meter repeaters taking up "the band" with no real purpose, and no real use. Worse, there's a faction who believe the calling freqs (6.52, 'xample) are for gabbing endlessly I don't even monitor 2 as a rule, anymore.
 
Last weekend there was a 160m contest. I worked 39 states with a 100 watts and a wire antenna. Ham radio is a lot of fun. Good luck and do not stop now. Get your Extra Class. Just so you can say you did.

73

de KF8ZF
 
KB9VXQ here. Joe when you get ready to do some 6m work let me know. I've got a pretty decent 6 meter setup. It is a fickle band as noted but to me it's just another challenge. I'm pretty well setup on all the vhf bands as well as 432. My HF setup is basic but gets the job done. I too used to do a lot of work on amps, antenna's, and some on radio's. I only use one store bought antenna (432, got it so cheap I couldn't resist). All my beams are my own home brew's. 6 elements on 6, 13 on 2, 11 on 222, and 29 on 432. Getting ready to put up a new 70' Rohn 45 with some new antenna's and heliax this spring.

As far as the 2 meters, yes a lot of that is true but a lot of crap happens on 75 meters too. Also remember there is 2 meters sideband and CW, not just FM, so 2 meters has it's place. Plus there are a lot of weather spotters on 2 meters that do a good work.
 
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