[OT] HAM Radio Folks?

[LBussy]

Without being helpful at all [...] to be even less helpful.

Now that was funny!

7300 has a tuner.

I wonder what I was thinking about ... was there another newer one from them with no tuner?

I've got a mobile HF rig here that I don't use. One day maybe, who knows. HF Yaseu radio, 500W solid state amp, tuner. I hope to mount it in my truck one day.

You can make your morning contacts AND cook your bacon at the same time.

I'm thinking I can do a lot if I get 20/40, just not sure how to pull it off. A 2/20/40 in the RV might be a good thing. Throw in weather band with an alert and I can actually replace a piece I have in here now. "Honey, it doesn't take any more room!"

 

[passedpawn]

I wonder what I was thinking about ... was there another newer one from them with no tuner?

Maybe their 9700 (VHF) does not have an internal antenna tuner. Don't know.

 

[Lalo_uy]

Seems funny to have an Extra and never have made a contact on Ham.

That’s funny. We here need to spend a year in each category and prove at least 80 contacts for each exam.

 

[LBussy]

That’s funny. We here need to spend a year in each category and prove at least 80 contacts for each exam.

There's value there of course. 80 contacts seems arbitrary though. Like, what kind? WSPR? FT8? CW? Phone? Should you have to show proficiency in each type to move on? I get it, but I think the licenses are there to allow you to prove you know the books, then go on and learn what you want in the hobby. It made sense for me to spend time studying/learning books so I can do whatever I choose (within the rules of course) when I do get a rig. If I want to do something REALLY esoteric, just let me take the exam and go do it.

I think there's a lot of very arbitrary questions in the US exam pool for that matter. There's no way the average operator memorizes a lot of this stuff for anything but the exam. It's written by people who want to play "stump the chump" which I fee does nothing to assure the competence of the applicant..

If we really want to assure ourselves of proficiency, we have technology now that allows better testing. How about connecting an applicant to a real SDR (you can do this on the Internet now) and watch them "make a contact in the 20m band." That's a lot more useful than remembering which way the trick question is written about USB vs LSB and the band edges. The test is a representation in some areas of "I had to learn this, you do too." Sort of like shaving the head of a recruit in the military. We don't have to worry about lice in the barracks anymore, so why do it?

I'm no newcomer to radio comms, having used it to do everything from order coffee to call in an air strike. It's just a few differences here and there, and the rust will flake right off. If not, some grumpy person will be there to correct me, there always is.

 

[estricklin]

Congrats. I'm on the air all the time, I'll listen for your sign (update with vanity when you get it). I'm almost exclusively on HF, mostly 40/20/10m so our paths might not cross. I've been spending a ton of time on FT8, a digital mode. You can see my Icom ic-7300 below.

BTW, here's a great place to find your vanity: AE7Q's Amateur Radio Database Query Tools

73s N3VG

View attachment 810420

Very nice setup. I used a vanilla 742 for a long time. I should get back on the air, but geez too many hobbies.

 

[Beerstein]

7300 has a tuner. It will bring in any antenna that is within an SWR of 3:1. Outside of that, you'd need an external tuner if your antenna isn't matched to the frequency. I don't need a tuner at all with my antennas as they are 1/2 wavelength (and I tuned them manually by adjusting the length). Mobile, probably hard to put up a 40m antenna (~ 65').

I've got a mobile HF rig here that I don't use. One day maybe, who knows. HF Yaseu radio, 500W solid state amp, tuner. I hope to mount it in my truck one day.

I've tried using HF in a car and decided I didn't like it. Too many small contributing factors. I want to spread out.

The 7300 is a solid first rig. I have one (and an Elecraft). The 7300 is super easy to learn and has a lot of features for the money.

 

[LBussy]

The 7300 is super easy to learn and has a lot of features for the money.

I have not yet gotten to the "I can make beer and save money" -> "I just want to make better beer" stage with Ham radio yet.

 

[passedpawn]

I've tried using HF in a car and decided I didn't like it. Too many small contributing factors. I want to spread out.

The 7300 is a solid first rig. I have one (and an Elecraft). The 7300 is super easy to learn and has a lot of features for the money.

I wouldn't want to do it from inside the truck. I'd like to have a rig set up in the bed so I could back up to the ocean, plant an antenna in the sand with radials in the water, sit in a lawn chair and do some DX that way.

 

[LBussy]

I'd like to have a rig set up in the bed so I could back up to the ocean, plant an antenna in the sand with radials in the water, sit in a lawn chair and do some DX that way.

You throw in a fishing pole and a cooler, and that sounds about perfect.

 

[Beerstein]

I wouldn't want to do it from inside the truck. I'd like to have a rig set up in the bed so I could back up to the ocean, plant an antenna in the sand with radials in the water, sit in a lawn chair and do some DX that way.

I get you. Yeah, I kind of do something similar. I have a super antenna that can clamp the rail of my truck, then I put my kx3 on the gate or a camping table.

I really like the super antenna. So much so I sold my complete buddipole kit.

BTW, kx3+raspberry pi for FT8 is the bomb! I use an ipad as the interface. I can be dozens or more feet away.

 

[Beerstein]

I have not yet gotten to the "I can make beer and save money" -> "I just want to make better beer" stage with Ham radio yet.

When you get there, consider this rig. I have a FT857, kx3, and Elecraft K3. The 7300 is the easiest to use, setup, wire, etc.

 

[LBussy]

I did order a 20m WWoT from TAPR (WISPR hat for a Pi). I figure I can use the quonset hut as an antenna if nothing else.

 

[day_trippr]

Nah - put a mast on top with a big steerable beam. Use that hut as an epic ground plane. Plus it will double as a lightning collector for the vicinity

 

[passedpawn]

One of my BIG goals is to make a contact with the ISS. I've got a buddy that did so - I saw the video to prove it. I've got some more VHF equipment to put together this year to get to that point (Icom ic9700, az-el rotor). Then I'll be hammering the space station every pass

 

[LBussy]

Nah - put a mast on top with a big steerable beam. Use that hut as an epic ground plane. Plus it will double as a lightning collector for the vicinity

I have a big copper J-Pole on the back now. It's for my weather radio but the irony of possibly getting hit by lightning because I need a weather radio antenna is not lost on me.

One of my BIG goals is to make a contact with the ISS. I've got a buddy that did so - I saw the video to prove it. I've got some more VHF equipment to put together this year to get to that point (Icom ic9700, az-el rotor). Then I'll be hammering the space station every pass

Some dude on YouTube did it with a homebrew handheld Yagi. Or I guess he hit the repeater, and you want to actually get them as a contact? Yeah that's a short list I am sure. Can you imagine the pileup when they start working?

 

[passedpawn]

Some dude on YouTube did it with a homebrew handheld Yagi. Or I guess he hit the repeater, and you want to actually get them as a contact? Yeah that's a short list I am sure. Can you imagine the pileup when they start working?

Yea it's a pileup.

BTW, regarding HF goals, there's an island near antarctica that is the white whale for many hams - Bouvet Island. There's a ship headed there right now, loaded with ham equipment, and when it lands they will set up and start transmitting over all bands, digital and phone. I'll be on FT8 with my antennas headed south.

Here's some info, lots more available.


Boat is on the way right now...
https://share.garmin.com/3y0j?fbclid=IwAR1sidCR_36Mhr3lfB_BgQih2WHczKn6cy9aTdFF9uZZOl5Dcwqrro4f-Dg

 

[LBussy]

BTW, regarding HF goals, there's an island near antarctica that is the white whale for many hams - Bouvet Island. There's a ship headed there right now, loaded with ham equipment, and when it lands they will set up and start transmitting over all bands, digital and phone. I'll be on FT8 with my antennas headed south.

"But honey, I NEED this now!"

 

[passedpawn]

"But honey, I NEED this now!"

One day, someone will sneak into North Korea and start transmitting. That is the one country that is the hardest to get a QSO. So if you miss bouvet, maybe you'll be ready when the NK event occurs.

 

[LBussy]

I hope it's HF and not EMP we get from NK.

 

[LBussy]

Maybe their 9700 (VHF) does not have an internal antenna tuner. Don't know.

I re-found it: It was the IC-705 I was thinking about.

 

[LBussy]

I guess I'm surprised/not surprised that there are so many hams on here. We all seem to run in the same hobby circles. I;ve seen many of you in this thread on other forums for other things.

That brings me to my next question: What's a good ham forum? I found qrz.com which seems to have a pretty brisk participation level. There are a LOT of grumpy old coots who think the only way to learn is to build a Heathkit with hand-wrapped torroids and fight your way through learning CW the hard way. Once I figured those people out, so far anyway, I've found some good people there.

 

[passedpawn]

QRZ is the best one. eHam.net is alright, but I think the forum is a little klunky. My local club has a Slack chat that is very active. Most of the members are within a mile or two of me.

Ham is definitely full of a lot of old retired dudes. I'm ok with that - mostly, they are not the grumpy variety. There's an 11-yr old girl in my club that just got her Extra (!), so there's still hope for the future of the hobby.

 

[LBussy]

Ham is definitely full of a lot of old retired dudes. I'm ok with that - mostly, they are not the grumpy variety.

As you know, there's always an extremely vocal minority online that can ruin the experience for a lot of folks. I read a thread where one guy was going on and on about "no-code extras." I mean come on, man, that was 32 years ago, let it go. Sooner or later that guy is going to look around at his "peers" and realize he's the only one left.

I would not have taken my tests if I had to do CW. That said, having my license now has exposed me to more of the hobby and I want to learn CW. Just like some folks may never do RTTY or FT8 but be very accomplished hams, we need to treat CW just like any other mode - optional.

I am signed up for CW Academy for a class starting in May (assuming they slot me where I need to be.)

There's an 11-yr old girl in my club that just got her Extra (!), so there's still hope for the future of the hobby.

That makes my heart warm - and it sounds like she has people around her who are a great influence.

My local club has a Slack chat that is very active. Most of the members are within a mile or two of me.

I wish there was a club local. I actually got my first VHF contact yesterday! I was driving through a town and I had the foresight to program in the repeater there. First contact sounded like a scratchy record through a torn kazoo. The second gentleman answered me back, told me that the first was indeed scratchy (made me feel better) and that the local repeater was having a bit of trouble. He was nice enough to tell me my audio was good even though I know it's not (I'm on a Baofeng with a decent mag mount.) I forgot to ask if there was a club there.

When the snow melts I am going to see if I can access the DC line, I think there's a power-pole looking thing down by the inverter. If so I can put one of those distribution blocks down there and be in pretty good shape. Grounding will be issue #2, but one insurmountable obstacle at a time. By the way, if you search for "power pole" [NSFW] on Amazon, be careful what you click on.

 

[passedpawn]

Congratulations Lee, 73 & DX when you get HF.
Lalo CX7AAB

Uruguay contact tonight. Not you (was CX1FK) - I'll keep an eye out for you

 

[passedpawn]

I am signed up for CW Academy for a class starting in May (assuming they slot me where I need to be.)

On the iPhone, try Morse Mania. I'm working on it now.

 

[passedpawn]

 

[LBussy]

On the iPhone, try Morse Mania. I'm working on it now.

I do have an iPhone and I was looking at that. CW Academy wants me to learn on a paddle though so I was going to wait to get one before I start learning any bad habits.

 

[passedpawn]

I do have an iPhone and I was looking at that. CW Academy wants me to learn on a paddle though so I was going to wait to get one before I start learning any bad habits.

I'm not morse-capable (yet), but it seems to me that being able to copy first, before sending, is necessary. I think the human brain is wired this way - it's how we learn to speak. Maybe we compare notes in a year and see how it went.

It's true about not learning bad habits. If you read threads online about it, most of them say to avoid gimmicks and dit-dah tables. In my research, most of them encouraged learning to recognize the general sound of a letter without explicitly breaking it down into dits and dahs. Morse Mania definitely operates this way.

 

[passedpawn]

I do have an iPhone and I was looking at that. CW Academy wants me to learn on a paddle though so I was going to wait to get one before I start learning any bad habits.

Re-reading this... I only use MM to recognize the sounds of the letters. I don't use MM to send them - not sure the free version even does that.

 

[passedpawn]

I do have an iPhone and I was looking at that. CW Academy wants me to learn on a paddle though so I was going to wait to get one before I start learning any bad habits.

Have you picked out a paddle? The bencher is popular. And there are some paddles with magnetic returns that I looked at seriously. I ended up with a Vibroplex. So shiney!

 

[LBussy]

I only use MM to recognize the sounds of the letters. I don't use MM to send them - not sure the free version even does that.

Part of it is my excuse not to get sidetracked (yet.) I am taking some new courses @ work, so I need the concentration time for the part that pays the bills. Stop tempting me!

Have you picked out a paddle? The bencher is popular. And there are some paddles with magnetic returns that I looked at seriously. I ended up with a Vibroplex. So shiney!

I was looking for a lower-priced yet decent paddle, and I came across this one from CW Morse.

Seems decent, the folks on QRZ had nice things to say. I wanted to stay under $100 since I have no idea if I'll stick with it.

 

[passedpawn]

Part of it is my excuse not to get sidetracked (yet.) I am taking some new courses @ work, so I need the concentration time for the part that pays the bills. Stop tempting me!


I was looking for a lower-priced yet decent paddle, and I came across this one from CW Morse.
View attachment 811397
Seems decent, the folks on QRZ had nice things to say. I wanted to stay under $100 since I have no idea if I'll stick with it.

Lightweight sounds like a bad idea. I suppose you should trust the QRZ reviews, but if it moves around on you while using it, not good. Also, that's a dual (iambic) paddle. It offers a third position, both paddles engaged. I forget what that does, but I figured it added unnecessary complexity that I certainly don't need at this time. I wonder if this third state can be disabled? The paddle I chose is just one moving arm, one way for dit, other way for dah.

 

[LBussy]

Lightweight sounds like a bad idea. I suppose you should trust the QRZ reviews, but if it moves around on you while using it, not good.

I was just going to use some of these little tack spots I have and tack it to the table I have in here. Remember I am in an RV and every inch and ever ounce counts.

Also, that's a dual (iambic) paddle. It offers a third position, both paddles engaged. I forget what that does, but I figured it added unnecessary complexity that I certainly don't need at this time. I wonder if this third state can be disabled?

I am 98% sure the owner (who was very nice and emailed me back right away) told me that it works for both.

 

[Lalo_uy]

Uruguay contact tonight. Not you (was CX1FK) - I'll keep an eye out for you

View attachment 810911

I need to re up my inverted V for 40m. In the seaside house only have home build 40m QRP.
I do cw on and off over the years, but always on vertical key. That paddels look hard to master.

 

[LBussy]

I do cw on and off over the years, but always on vertical key. That paddels look hard to master.

It seems they would be, but this is also why I am not trying one of the trainers (yet.) I want to learn from the start with the paddles and then I won't know any different.

 

[LBussy]

Hey! Since we don't have a Ham forum I guess we have a ham thread for a while.

I did get my vanity callsign: AA0NT It's not a 1x2 but I like it just fine. I wanted one of the legacy "Army" signs, since I'm former Army.

And ... I got my CW stuff:

CW Morse Pro Keyer Powered By The Legendary K1EL K16!​

Red Lightweight Double Paddle With Steel Base​

Someone in this thread mentioned a lightweight keyer maybe not being the best. Well, this does have a steel base, so it's pretty steady. Now I can annoy my wife with beeping that means absolutely nothing. Still waiting for the CW class to start.

 

[estricklin]

One of my BIG goals is to make a contact with the ISS. I've got a buddy that did so - I saw the video to prove it. I've got some more VHF equipment to put together this year to get to that point (Icom ic9700, az-el rotor). Then I'll be hammering the space station every pass

I tried for about 2 years. I guess I should blow the dust off of that dream and start trying again. Yes it's technically challenging, but what I found so difficult is a lot of times when ISS is going to be over head, the astronauts aren't on the radio. I would say a hand held yagi is the way to go, you can make one out of a tape measure cheap.

 

[LBussy]

I tried for about 2 years.

"I was thinking" ... if a person had a circularly polarized Yagi and one of those fancy satellite trackers, it would take a lot of the guesswork out. At least you'd know it was really there and not a government conspiracy.

 

[day_trippr]

I thought you were joking. Now I'm wondering what a circularly polarized transmission looks like

[edit] Asked Google. I get it now...

 

[passedpawn]

"I was thinking" ... if a person had a circularly polarized Yagi and one of those fancy satellite trackers, it would take a lot of the guesswork out. At least you'd know it was really there and not a government conspiracy.

They say you can hold the antenna in your hand and make the contact, but what's the fun in that!

I've got the fancy tracker (S.A.T. Satellite Rotator & Rig Control), but not the antenna and az-el rotor (yet). The latter two things are shown below (two circularly-polarized VHF yagi antennas, for both common satellite bands). A guy in my club has this setup sitting on his porch flat roof.

https://www.m2inc.com/FGLEOPACKhttps://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ysu-g-5500dc