Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Spain EA3JE
calling CQ DX North America 3.8Mhz

 

Oof. That's a reach on 80 for me

 

Good time for DX 80m, 40m 20m
Get you some contacts.
Heard an Advanced class make contact with him an hour ago

He is still looking for North Americal contacts est 23:48 UTC

 

I have hard copies of the local repeaters and programmed them into the radio. I had a licensed ham friend verify them and handle the radio and operate it and show me what to do in the event of an emergency.


plus I've been doing a few practice tests and the "transmit when life and property are in danger" is a question

 

Right. But there's more to using the ham bands than just having repeater frequencies programed in.

Just things you pick up from using it. It's a great tool and if you get the chance to take the test and become licensed, I bet you'll really enjoy it.

 

I'm in the works of redoing my 40m ocf. It did well. Got me almost all of Europe, South America and eastern Africa. But the transformer was just breaking down. I'm hoping this balun designs balun lasts a long time. Build quality looks really nice.

 

I look forward to being licensed and attempting to make contact with anyone here.. just need to not go overboard into another hobby.....again

 

Good thing about ham radio is you can make it what you want.

 

Balun Designs is an excellent product. Worth every penny.

 

I've had great experience with hamsticks. It sucks changing bands, but they do work well on their specified band.

I currently run a 102" whip on an SGC Tuna. I still leave the 80m ham stick in the truck. I'll swap it out with the 102" whip, as it's much more effective on 80m. The 102" whip works well on 20m and 40m. The SGC Tuna will tune it on 80m, but it doesn't work well.

 

There are some interpretations that this wording only applies to licensed stations. It's in part 97, and all of part 97 applies to persons that are licensed. Once licensed, you may use any frequency necessary when a life is at stake. These interpretations do not include unlicensed persons.

I'm not an armchair lawyer. Just sharing some interpretations I've read posted by armchair lawyers on the internet. I generally subscribe to the theory I'd rather be tried by 12 then carried by 6.

I hope you get your license and use the radio. Even using repeaters effectively takes some practice. Knowing how to listen. You'll learn to really pay attention to the repeater tail. So much information in the tail!! It comes from practice and lots of listening and some talking too. My wife and I are both licensed and repeater ragchew often. As a result, we both know the repeater coverage well. The soft spots, the dead spots, the edge of the repeater coverage circle, etc. It all comes with practice.

 

Most VEs from multiple organizations that I've talked to also have the same interpretation. I looked into that a lot myself because I was unsure about the answer after being presented with that info as well, mainly because legal terminology is an art of its own at times.

 

I am really jealous of the FCC Technician class exam, USA has a much lower barrier to entry than Canada. Canadian "Basic" exam is no joke! I'm writing it next week.

 

You always bring the best "affordable" toys to the table. I'm not sure if I'm going to build a dipole or OCF dipole next but something will be built soon.

As was said, you choose how much you invest. Anywhere from $35 to $35,000. It's a great hobby where people with $35 invested can talk with a guy that has $35,000 sunk into the hobby

You seem to be the exception. I think I've heard one other person say hamsticks worked well for them. A 102" whip sounds ridiculous though; ridiculous in a good way. I'll keep watching ebay and find something affordable, I think.

 

To be clear: hamsticks suck. They just suck a little less then every other mobile antenna. Many people try to use them off a balcony or apartment window and expect performance similar to a wire dipole. Not gonna happen. Every mobile install is an enormous compromise.

How is the 102" whip rediculous? The 102" whip is shorter then my hamsticks.

I suggest everyone start out HF mobile with a 40m hamstick. Get all the bugs worked out before you drop the cheddar on a screwdriver. Performance is approximately equivalent. Youre just locked to one band with the hamstick.

 

Hamsticks work great on a vehicle when you install them correctly. I've made 2000+ mobile Qs in a weekend with a 20m and 40m. Hamsticks are cheap. Some HF screwdriver antennas are $1000!! That's enough for 50 hamsticks.

Using hamsticks in a fixed station is dumb, pretty much any wire will work better.

 

More actionin 80m DX window F5USK 3799.0

 

I say ridiculous because I never see that length of a whip running around here. All I've seen are CB antennas and screwdrivers with 60" whips.

 

80m DX window is moving like normal... get your filters set, turn up that volume to a comfortable level and dial down that RF gain

LY4A Lithuania 3795.0