I've decided to get my Ham Radio Tech License-2 meter and 440mhz .Ordered handheld from Amazon .Books from Kindle - and studying ..Many years ago I did the Tech. class license for flying my R/C airplanes on 6 meters.

182 STOL driver wrote:I've decided to get my Ham Radio Tech License-2 meter and 440mhz .Ordered handheld from Amazon .Books from Kindle - and studying ..Many years ago I did the Tech. class license for flying my R/C airplanes on 6 meters.

I'm pretty much a novice at it. I've had my Tech License for about a year now. Elko's Radio Club is fairly active with a repeater network which allows us to talk from Twin Falls Idaho all the way past Lovelock along I-80 and about 50 miles either side of the Interstate. My interest was really peaked with APRS reporting and for a while thought I'd use that from the plane. SPOT is just so much simpler to use and works every where so that's what I use now for breadcrumbs. I bought a hand held transceiver and installed a transceiver in the truck which allows me to listen to the CTAF while running around town. That's a handy feature.

Rose is expressing some interest in getting her Tech license and if she does that will be really good when traveling in separate vehicles, hiking, etc. Even just around town, it can be a good way to reach each other.

For me, the ARRL Exam Review tests on my PC were the most helpful tool for passing the test. It is included with this Manual which I found to be the best thing going to get licensed:

http://www.arrl.org/shop/Ham-Radio-License-Manual-Revised-2nd-Edition/?page=1

Also see: http://www.arrl.org/home for a lot more information to help find a club in your area and other really good information. You've probably already used this site, but wanted to post it here so others, if interested, would be aware of it.

I ordered a Baofeng UV 5RA 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band DTMF CTCSS DCS FM 5W Amateur Two Way Radio (Black) about 35 bucks from Amazon.

AL7RU here. Advanced class call. They've dropped the advanced class license now so it goes Tech, Novice, General, Expert. We used to fit between General and Expert and get 2 by 2 calls. In my case the AL means that I lived and operated in Alaska at one time. I was very active on 75 meter AM band for a long time running a former broadcast transmitter that I retuned to 3870KC from 870KC where it was built for a station in Seattle. I haven't been on the bands for years but right now is the solar peak and I'll bet it's fun on 10 meters. I once talked to a guy in Port Moresby New Guinea just like he was next door on that band. Get on HF if you can. That's the most fun for me.

EB

KB7WHG here. Inactive at this time.

lc

KD7CMO here, only technician class, don't use it much except for APRS tracking. Works exceptionally well for tracking aircraft.

been that since around 1980. N4ISF Advanced class. That's one thing I'll have to do when I get started flying. Install HF and VHF ham band radios. now I just have a old TS820 that I get on 80 with occasionally, and it's starting to malfunction. Also have a Yaesu 4 band HT My brother is KI4WRW, Tech class he got just a few years ago.

WF0Z, licensed since about 1985. 185+ countries.

Not knowing a damn thing about Ham Radio... Who do you guys talk to? And for what reason?

Gump

GumpAir wrote:Not knowing a damn thing about Ham Radio... Who do you guys talk to? And for what reason?

Gump

Id say it's for the same reason people talk here. To reach out to others and share interests.

The main appeal to HAM that I can see is having a means of long range communication in the event of a disaster that takes out phone lines, cell towers, Internet routing equipment, etc. If you have a generator and your equipment hasn't been fried, you can communicate.

Main reason is communication between small group of pilots I know up the Canyon.Cellphones don't get signal over 5 miles -were talking 90-100 miles. Most aircraft radios are 50 or so miles . Antenna's ?? -there's a 60ft tower on at ranch with repeater / machine set up. 2 meters . Several of the residents have 2 meter antennas on there airplanes . I'll still use the SPOT and Cell Phone mostly.

182 STOL driver wrote:I ordered a Baofeng UV 5RA 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band DTMF CTCSS DCS FM 5W Amateur Two Way Radio (Black) about 35 bucks from Amazon.

I have three of these radios. You can find more information about them here: http://www.miklor.com/uv5r/
Make sure you order the programming cable and download the CHIRP programming software. http://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_CHIRP.php
I use one of these in the plane for APRS ( a free spot like service for you non hams)
Pete N1AGV (EXTRA)

GumpAir wrote:Not knowing a damn thing about Ham Radio... Who do you guys talk to? And for what reason?

Gump

While most people's iconic image of a ham operator is of an old fat guy sitting in front of a bank glowing radios talking to someone on the other side of the world (some of us fit that profile to be sure), ham radio is more varied than that.

I'm in it for the technological challenges.
In my ham career I've talked to the Space Shuttle and Space station astronauts, bounced signals through satellites ( hams now have in excess of 40 satellites in orbit), bounced signals off the moon, built and installed mountain top digital radio systems, build homemade TV stations, launched weather balloons and experimental payloads to the edge of space, taught radio & GPS theory classes. And yes sat in front of a bank of glowing radios (rarely) and talked around the world.The list goes on. I've learned a helluva lot and met some good people along the way. Much like the aviation community, hams go out of their way to help one another.

Right now a friend and I are experimenting with a $10 SDR radio dongle (software defined radio) that we have managed to configure to receive and display ADS-B transmissions. This one chip radio will receive and display any signal, any mode, from about 50MHZ up to about 2 gigahertz. .Amazing, but it took a ham to develop the open source software and freely distribute it.
My wife, also a ham , one time set up a schedule( NASA does this for classrooms) with the space shuttle to have her students talk to the astronauts. We set up a 2 meter radio, small directional antenna and had the kids operating the free tracking software. Quite cool.
Its amazing how much Ham Radio and Aviation intersect.
PeteO

PeteO,

I'm interested in the radio dongle project you guys are working on. Are you guys documenting any of this on a blog or website somewhere? What OS is the open source software available for? Can it scan a given frequency range? Where do you get the dongle?

Brian
KF7TG

topgun260 wrote:PeteO,

I'm interested in the radio dongle project you guys are working on. Are you guys documenting any of this on a blog or website somewhere? What OS is the open source software available for? Can it scan a given frequency range? Where do you get the dongle?

Brian
KF7TG

This should get you started:
http://www.sdrsharp.com/
Dongle here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/140850674682?ss ... 1439.l2649

Got my Baofeng UV 5 ra yesterday courtesy of the ups truck - it's really little but packs a punch . Had one of my neiboors (ham) try it out and he was so impressed we ordered 2 more ,one for him and another for my wife .I'm not planning a full blow" ham shack" but for a back country radio communication should be great . External antenna on the way .Think I'll take the tech. Test when I go to L.A. next month - they give the test almost daily according to my buddy .

I have always wondered what would keep a person from using one without a license, other than the obvious that its against the rules. Would one be somehow tracked down and penalized in some way?

Not advocating breaking the law. Just always wondered about it. I have been involved with ships carrying SSB radios. The ship was licensed but I don't recall requirement for the operator being so.

FCC has equipment and time. There have been notable cases in the past where there was willful interference with law enforcement for example and the perp was caught quite easily. For routine communication using a dead guy's call sigh and obeying the rules I doubt they would spend the resources. But if they got a tip or somebody was irritated catching you would be pretty easy.

EB
AL7RU

Saw this on a "Best of Amazon" deals list this morning. Looks like it could be a cheap Chinese POS, but that price...

http://amzn.to/GWO2lF