Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Cool stuff. I like listening to old dudes talk about something other than their hospital visits. You ever listen in on the Sinbad system?

 

Get that Extra Rating... wont have to worry where you privileges end/start anymore. I worked a pile up from Europe in the 80m DX window right after i got Extra.

 

The lunchtime net check-ins about Dr visits and if they did yard work or sat on the porch. Good on ya with a plan to move on up! I don't think I have the motivation currently or just have to many other projects/hobbies..

 

that’s my though I just got my tech but will probably start doing some clubs and stuff to actually learn what’s going on, and then I’ll just take the tests and get my extra. It’s just learning and memorization it’s not like there’s a hardware commitment for the license. Then I’m not worried about bands and all that. But at the same time my tech is enough for what I intend to do. Other than if I wanted to volunteer with scouts or something it might help to have it. We’ll see I need something to do in the winters. Shits cold up here.

 

I wasnt aware of the sinbad system. UsuallynI kinitor the local repeater and the intermountain intertie.

KD7TRD if you ever wanna try and reach me

 

The Intermountain Intertie doesn't reach me down in Moab but I will try you when I head back home. Check https://sdarc.us/ I'm not sure which repeaters are in your area but they hit Provo and SLC. The link reaches all the way down to Blanding.

 

I really hope that you do!

my VE's were super grumpy,each and every one of them. There was this energy about them that they all had, and it felt like they were all put-off by the very fact that we were all there for the exam. And it was hosted by a fairly large ARC for the Los Angeles Area, go figure.. It was a very large group there to take the exam, I would say at least 15 of us. Including an individual who was from the UK that was trying to get their license here for the States. Upon completion of my exam, the VE's wouldn't tell me what my score was for the exam. Only that I had passed...wtf? I wanted to know if I missed any questions so that I can go back and figure it out when I got home. And the person from the UK failed, the VE's didn't tell him squat. Told him only that he failed and to come back to the next testing session in a month if he wanted. My opinion on that is maybe extend a little courtesy and help him figure out what was missed and let him retake the exam. I'm not saying just give it away to him.

 

What antenna were you using for that 80m pileup?

 

80m dipole fed with 100' 450ohm ladder line 100w and a wire..
My ONLY antenna at the moment

 

For me, HAM will be a tool. I have no interest in making it a hobby. Not interested in a home based "shack", strictly vehicle/mobile. I am not certain I see the fascination with talking to a stranger in New Zealand although I guess it could be interesting. I fell in love with 70 series Cruisers with those massive CODAN antennas on the bumpers when I was in Kenya, but you could be in the middle of NOWHERE Africa and see an old guy walking down the road talking on a cell phone. The towers are everywhere. The internet and cell phones have made this largely a moot point, but recently we had a massive tornado and didn't have cell service for days, and HAM would have been good to have.

 

I won a prize for being the youngest ham radio operator at the Dayton Contest banquet, 1999, I think. At 46, I'm still one of the youngest people in the ham radio room, eligible for QCWA this year.

 

pretty much the same here. We had MySpace when I was in 6th grade so that wonder of talking to foreign people is gone, unlike in the 80s and 90s where even talking to someone a few towns away wasn’t the easiest thing to deal with. So that wonder for me is gone unlike the older generations

 

Talking to near by countries is easy, Ol Canada, Mexico and the such.... im after DX Europe, Asia, Africa. Places like that. And it all depends what bands are playing well...... During the winter time lower Freq play better for DX. Less noise.

EDIT:

I hear Brazil on 80m

 

Yah Pv8al has been all over the place. Wonder if it's him you're hearing. He's been on 10/17/20/40 so far

 

You'd be surprised. It's like dialing in a scope on a riffle. Have the battle is getting your equipment to run the way you lke, and testing it.




I suggest to everyone that does any remote caping or wheeling to at least get a general license and have a roll up 40/80 nvis antenna. There's no replacement for something like an inreach device when it's a real emergency, but HF is the way to go when it's not a life or limb situation. It's not like cb. There's always someone on

 

@taco-houla you can come up and run my hf rig if you'd like sometime. We can make a day of wheeling out of it.

 

Ham is extremely helpful for emergency situations, we got hit by hurricane Zeta and we’ve been without power for 2 days, spotty cell service, and limited mobility but during the storm I was able to listen to the Biloxi repeater and get weather updates even though NOAA had stopped transmitting.
I don’t have my HAM license but I do have my gmrs and capability to TX on GMRS, FRS, or ham in case of emergency.
At some point when I have time/funds I’ll get my ham and a decent truck radio instead of just the handheld.

 

One thing I don't get about HAM is best for emergency is that if 'TSHTF' it still works. It still needs power to work, cell towers have backup systems, do ham towers? Or is it more that the HAM repeater towers are in/out not needing additional infrastructure (fiber lines, fiber converters, amplifiers, connections to other towers/substations, etc) to work?

 

All of our repeaters here are on battery backups or generators.

 

Most large coverage ones have backup power.



And HF for emergencies needs no repeater. 80m gets me at least a 300 mile radius, as an extremely conservative number