CQ Are there any HAMS here?

Started by Princeton_Man, April 20, 2023, 07:40:58 AM

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Princeton_Man

I've scheduled my Technician exam a few weeks from now!


As a child I used to play with Dad's Hallicrafters shortwave receiver for hours. I'd sometimes tune in Morse code and listen, never understanding a single letter. I'd listen to conversations from around the world for hours on days when it was too nasty to go outside. It was kind of like evesdropping on a party line. I even built a dipole antenna between two oak trees outside my bedroom window to help improve the signals. Sadly, before I really knew anything, I pulled it all apart to see how everything worked and never put it back together. I'd sure love to find another one. I do have a Zenith Trans0ceanic that's in very fine working condition, but it's not the same. I've fiddled with and worked with two-way radios for a very long time. CB was the cell phone back when I was growing up. Just about every farm had one, all the hunters, truckers of course, and eventually just about everyone. My early days were spent at a Radio Shack Franchise store that eventually became a second home. The owners became family and are to this day. While I had already been fixing and modifying things before then, my second dad and my brother from another mother taught me a hell of a lot during those days. I've believe I've installed virtually everything related to two way communications. Tuned and troubleshot, modified, & installed toys. Eventually personal computers changed the business and lead me down a different career path. More education, more training and some 40+ years later, I'm going to try to pick up where I left off.


I picked up a few VHF/UHF radios over the past three or four years, mostly to have for the day when SHTF. I've played around with programming and can do lots of things I'm not supposed to, but if S ever does HTF, rules are the least of our worries. However, having radios I can't really legally use for much other than GMRS is kind of senseless. I've been looking at cheap DMR radios and gave my wife a couple to choose from for future gift ideas. Ultimately, I'd like to get a 20 watt mobile, a handheld, and a decent 10 meter rig to start. Depending on my confidence level, I may take the exam for my General at the same time, since there's no additional cost. 
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Mike Cork

Like you my father was deep into HAM Radio. He used to talk to my uncles and grandfather for hours. That was back when phones cost a fortune to talk long distance. I don't remember when he stopped... probably after a change of station (he was in the A.F.) I'd love to get set up, not sure how much it would cost me from the start like this but I could get with my uncles and see if they have any left over equipment to help me get started. On pulse and communication as we know it today goes away...

What kind of hand helds are you looking at for the family?

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Princeton_Man

Quote from: Mike Cork on April 20, 2023, 08:50:13 AM
Like you my father was deep into HAM Radio. He used to talk to my uncles and grandfather for hours. That was back when phones cost a fortune to talk long distance. I don't remember when he stopped... probably after a change of station (he was in the A.F.) I'd love to get set up, not sure how much it would cost me from the start like this but I could get with my uncles and see if they have any left over equipment to help me get started. On pulse and communication as we know it today goes away...

What kind of hand helds are you looking at for the family?
You'd have no problem with the tests. HamStudy.org makes it easy. The Technician Class give you a lot in both 2 and 10 Meter. Each exam is comprised out 35 questions out of a pool of 100. If you study the questions and answers long enough, you can probably breeze through all them, but General and Extra are a little harder.

Heck, mobile GMRS radios go up to 50 watts and there are repeaters for them too, although I don't think their volume is anywhere near HAM. Family members aren't permitted to operate on another family member's license. So unless anyone wants to study and test for an amateur license, they're stuck using GMRS, which still requires a license, but no test.

Right now I have DMR and VHF/UHF handhelds capable of working off repeaters. Very cool that there's a repeater tower right across from us on East River Mountain. The handhelds are capable of transmitting/receiving GMRS.
Stratos 285 XL Pro 150 Evinrude ETEC

Dobyns Rods - LSCR Club