Ham radio hobby

[georgelesley]

My interests and abilities are changing with age so I am seeking another hobby. I am considering Ham radio at the moment. Anyone here knowledgeable on that subject?

[wa8yxm]

If I may let me "Advertise" a few friends of mine..

First Bob Heil. and associatesHam Nation all over the country

This is a weekly Internet TV show. LIVE at 9pm Eastern on Wed's (usually featuring Bob Heil, owner and founder of Heil Sound, They make Microphones and the like, for hams, also professional audio gear such as folks like Joe Walsh uses on stage (Eagles and other groups) Joe wrote the theme song (HI).

Other "Stars" include George Thomas who along with others founded

Amateur Logic TV

One of the big events every year for Ham Radios is the Dayton Radio Club Hamvention, Formerly held in Dayton Ohio, now it is Xenia Ohio a few miles distant and 17 miles from a place I can park.> FOR FREE.

So I did.

George won an award from Dayton a few years back.

(OK so I had something to do with that too).

But you might find a bunch of information, some useful, Some funny, Some joking around, But some real.. About the wide world of ham radio by visiting these links.

And as I mentioned in a prior post.. www.arrl.org.

[Chuck_thehammer]

I fired up both of my Kenwood 2 meter radios last summer .. pre 2000....

first one had degraded receiving..

second one works fine...
same with my Kenwood 2400 handy talkie...but its batteries are Dead.
my Heathkit low band receiver still works also.. pre 1980.. but I did have to repair it in the late 1990's..

73's... N8BSJ.

[georgelesley]

Whew! I passed the technician exam yesterday! I was talked into taking the General since I got 100% on the first one and there would be no extra charge. I have not seen let alone looked at a general study guide, but I finally relented just so I could see what it wa like. Scored 17 right out of 35. Good guesser I guess.

Now on to getting the equipment I was given operational. I was given a Yaesu FT-221R and a Kenwood TR 7400A. Both apppear to be ‘70s vintage and likely not turned on since the early 2000’s when the owner passed away.I have tracked down manuals for both radios and have made a local friend who is an extra class ham and has agreed to be my “Elmer”. He and I will be slowly warming my equipment up and see if it will come out of it’s deep sleep and still work or will need new capacitors, etc. the adventure begins.

[neal10a]

Pace makers operate at higher frequencies than generally used Ham radio. Also pace makers are encrypted making them relatively immune to spurious RF and hackers. Also many newer models are MRI certified. MRI operate with RF that can get much high power than Ham Transmitters with frequency ranging near most Ham radio and general broad cast bands depending on the gyro magnetic ratio-- not to mention the high magnetic field. It is best to check with the pace maker mfg referencing the model number on your Pace maker ID card to set your mind at ease. I doubt they will be a problem with Ham transmitters. However some are not MRI certified-- depending on the mfg and date.

[Wadcutter]

georgelesley wrote:
Wadcutter, sounds like ipropagation is tied to sun spot activity. Not surprising. Astronomy was a childhood passion so I have some knowledge in that area. And thanks for the pacemaker interference info. Sounds. Like I can do it, just be aware.

Correct. The sun conditions make all the differences. The sun can get you signals from around the world, or turn the bands off where you won't hear anything.

[georgelesley]

DallasSteve wrote:
Do they still require you to pass a Morse code test to get the license? That's how old I am. When I was a kid I built a Heathkit ham radio. That's how old I am. I was never able to pass the test and get licensed.

No code requirement anymore.

Wadcutter, sounds like ipropagation is tied to sun spot activity. Not surprising. Astronomy was a childhood passion so I have some knowledge in that area. And thanks for the pacemaker interference info. Sounds. Like I can do it, just be aware.

[DallasSteve]

Do they still require you to pass a Morse code test to get the license? That's how old I am. When I was a kid I built a Heathkit ham radio. That's how old I am. I was never able to pass the test and get licensed.

[Chuck_thehammer]

as Wadcutter said...

follow the doctors orders... keep the radio power down for now.

North and South Pole.... Russia (HF) ....
and the space shuttle on VHF... back in the day... only allowed 2 watt... yes I have the "QSL" cards...

[Wadcutter]

georgelesley wrote:

Our planned two month trip is cancelled because I got a pacemaker implanted two weeks ago and will not be doing much for the next month or two.

With a pacemaker you should talk to your doctor about being around ham radio. There generally isn't a lot of concern but it could be a problem. Best to ask the questions and get your doctor's advice before getting around any RF. Here's a link to the ARRL on pacemakers. Ham radio and pacemaker

Hopefully I will be talking to you good folks next year.

Work for at least the General class license. If you get only a Technician class license and you're not working CW (morse code) then the frequencies available to you for voice is fairly short range. General class will open up the world to you with voice communication.
Also, once you get licensed and start working high frequency (HF) don't be too disappointed and discouraged if your range is fairly limited. We're in the worse of the cycle for another year or 2 until the propagation picks up. Cycles run about every 11 years. When in the peak communications are usually great. When at the bottom not so much. We're at/near the bottom now.
Depending on a lot of factors (antenna set up, radio, terrain, etc) even in this low period you could work all states over a period of time when the bands open and cooperate. That won't be an everyday, all the time experience tho. World wide communication is possible now, just have to be on the bands at the right time when they open and usually it's a short window of time, maybe minutes. You may be able to hit one small piece of the world at a given time but it won't be anywhere and everywhere at anytime. May be days and weeks between some places and some places not at all. For example, in the last 2 months I've worked Mongolia, the South Pole, and a Canadian station about 700 miles from the North Pole. They took a lot of luck, the right conditions, and good timing to be there when those locations were on the air. I was using 100 watt radio and a wire antenna. A buddy 15 miles from me runs about 1200 watts and a directional antenna (beam) was never able to reach any of them. Luck, right conditions, different terrain, and timing. That's what makes HF fun.
Now is not a bad time to get into ham radio even tho the propagation is bad. You can play with the radio, work stations you can hear, and get familiar with how things work. By the time the cycle starts improving you'll be familiar with your radio and how to work it to its best advantage.
Good luck.

[hl_remington]

Good luck on test N5tfx

[georgelesley]

Time for an update I guess. I have met the local club members and one lives about 1/2 mile from me, so that will be very helpful indeed. His wife and mine got along very well also.

I have received my test study guide a few days ago and am reading it now. I did do a practice test before I got the guide just to get an idea of what it is all about and see what areas I need to work on. Basic electronics I know a bit about and did well there. I scored 57% a few of which were sheer guessing and so the score does not reflect my knowledge of the subject. Now that I have the study guide I can spot the questions I missed and will home in on them.

A medical surprise has created a lot of idle time I did not expect. Our planned two month trip is cancelled because I got a pacemaker implanted two weeks ago and will not be doing much for the next month or two. The good news is that no blockages were found with the catherization so the pacemaker was implanted the same day. Since then my energy level has risen and color improved according to DW and MIL.

So, starting the study book it appears to me that in a month or so I should be ready to test. DW and MIL really want me to get on with it (maybe to get me out of their kitchen), so I plan to go ahead at a good but not frantic, pace.

Hopefully I will be talking to you good folks next year.
__________________

[w8lpn]

Welcome to the hobby. As said a lot of info out there. arrl is a good start. When I started into it I read a lot of articles and watched several videos before I took my first test. Also a good show to watch is Ham Nation it is weekly on Wednesdays at 9PM EST on www.twit.tv really good info there and after the show they have nets that you can check into and talk with the hosts and what not. Good luck, BTW it is addicting. I run HF voice, VHF, UHF, digital voice, SSTV, psk, and other digital modes. Always a good time. 73

[Chuck_thehammer]

I hope you enjoy the new Hobby... N8BSJ,,, 73's

[kd7kbk]

The fun part of Rving and ham radio is figuring out how and where to put up HF antennas and finding out what what works and what doesn’t and sometimes just finding out that conditions are so bad that even 1500w will not get to the next county. Solar panels, batteries, inverters, vertical StepperIR, DC to DC converters. Going places that it is so quiet that QRP 160m operations are possible. Crossband repeat with my VX-3 and a TS-2000 is always a conversation starter around a campfire. 73’s KD7KBK