HAM Technician.....Why do the nerds have to be in charge?

hp468 said:
Wow that was fast!

EchoLink would be good for you to play with.

Carolina 440 network has linked repeaters all over NC so you can talk to most of the state.

Edit: you can go check out radioqth.net/vanity/available if you want to pick a call sign more to your liking.

N4MOD is available 😂
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Funny thing is that the assigned call sign is only 1 latter off my name….LAU. Considering KQ4LAU
 
Tim said:
Funny thing is that the assigned call sign is only 1 latter off my name….LAU. Considering KQ4LAU
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It’ll be assigned soon alphabetically.

There’s other LAU suffix calls available in 2x3 format if you didn’t line the phonetics of “KQ.”
 
I opted to keep my assigned callsign, even after upgrading to extra. Part of the decision was because the next available 2x2 was KN4BM. I noticed a lot of BM suffix signs were available.
 
noway2 said:
I opted to keep my assigned callsign, even after upgrading to extra. Part of the decision was because the next available 2x2 was KN4BM. I noticed a lot of BM suffix signs were available.
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My original was a pure train wreck of a tongue twister, it had to be changed.

I may shoot for a 1x2 again at some point.
 
hp468 said:
My original was a pure train wreck of a tongue twister, it had to be changed.
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I never used my originally assigned call sign and don't remember it. I applied for a 1x3 vanity the first day my OG call was active. I changed call sign again about 8 years ago to a 1x3 using my initials. At the time I changed to my second vanity, the FCC extended my expiration date to be 10 years from that reassignment. This was all before there was a charge for call sign changes or renewal.
 
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Congrats on the (quick) new call sign. That is amazingly fast and a nice call that is clear and easy to copy (as opposed to something like KQ4YXQ) "Lima Alpha Alpha " stands out nicely. (If you get on HF as a DXer, you'll hear " Alpha Alpha station, go ahead..."

I used a trick (which was legit by the rules at the time, but has since been invalidated by the FCC) to change my WBxyyy format call to an old goat 1x2 call which is optimized for CW. I don't know who figured out the ruse at the time, but it worked.
 
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JohnFreeman said:
I used a trick (which was legit by the rules at the time, but has since been invalidated by the FCC) to change my WBxyyy format call to an old goat 1x2 call which is optimized for CW. I don't know who figured out the ruse at the time, but it worked
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??? Trick that was invalidated ???
 
noway2 said:
??? Trick that was invalidated ???
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Right, do tell…

I’d be happy if FCC would alter the rules a bit to get abandoned calls back available quicker. I hear there’s a number of people that cycle through 1x2s and 2x1s to keep them unavailable. Not sure if the new $35 deal will stop that or not.
 
georgel said:
I believe getting a GMRS license gets you more power and repeater capability. Somewhere around here I have a Motorola handheld that does repeater offset and tone, just like regular UHF/VHF. Looks just like a modern FRS/GMRS radio. And someone in Charlotte has/had an active GMRS repeater running.

What the OP @Tim should look at is MURS business class radios. No license, 2watt 5 channel. Just stay off channel 5, because that's the channel Walmart uses in their stores. But, if your more than a couple miles away from a store, it doesn't matter. I'll post my specific radio recommendation after I look up a link. FRS/GMRS is inundated with kids and jerks who will interfere with comms.

Technically, you can configure Baofengs for these bands, at least the old ones. I hear new ones are restricted. But, Baofengs are outside the legal specs for the band, due to power and antenna.
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Curious does WalMart have an exclusive right to 5, or do they just complain is anyone else uses it?

Or am I way off base and it’s just no fun being on a Walmart channel?
 
Tak said:
Curious does WalMart have an exclusive right to 5, or do they just complain is anyone else uses it?

Or am I way off base and it’s just no fun being on a Walmart channel?
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If they are using MURS they have no exclusive right to those frequencies. However, FCC states that operators should take reasonable precautions to avoid causing harmful interference.

Basicly if you know they are actively using channel 5, you should not talk over them or cause interference in their communications.

If there are no active communications going on, there is no reason you cannot use that channel, if THEY interfered with your communications at that point they would be in violation.

It’d be a dick thing to do IMO but thems the rules stated in part 95 subpart j.

If they wanted exclusive frequencies they could acquire a business band/LMR license. I’d wager to say they don’t do that due to the added expense of equipment and headache of keeping up with licenses.
 
I was just genuinely curious, thank you for taking the time to respond!

An operator license is one of those things that has been forever ‘I’ll get around to it’. MURS seems like a nice alternative for small group coordination.
 
Tak said:
I was just genuinely curious, thank you for taking the time to respond!

An operator license is one of those things that has been forever ‘I’ll get around to it’. MURS seems like a nice alternative for small group coordination.
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Might as well do it, the operator license, it was a lot easier than I expected.

Of course, I have made exactly 0 calls since getting mine.
 
Tak said:
I was just genuinely curious, thank you for taking the time to respond!

An operator license is one of those things that has been forever ‘I’ll get around to it’. MURS seems like a nice alternative for small group coordination.
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As hp468 explained, MURS is generally open to use. And it is bad form to knowingly interfere with others communications especially business. I think the FCC can still come after you for that.
But, that's one reason the rules on the radio configuration for that band are so strict. Limitations on power, antenna configuration, width of band, etc. limit their range and therefore their interference with each other. Outside of about a mile you won't know they're there and they won't know you're there. There are advantages to that tactically as well.
 
Tim said:
Might as well do it, the operator license, it was a lot easier than I expected.

Of course, I have made exactly 0 calls since getting mine.
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I know that feeling. I hop on the local net like twice a year to try and drum up interest for rally radio operators and I only use the radio 2-3 weekends a year
 
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noway2 said:
??? Trick that was invalidated ???
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I was doing a fair amount of CW DX. My original call was terrible for that.

I had my extra so I requested a xx#x call which was better (NN5J) I believe. Out of the blue about a week later, a ham wrote me (having seen my request in the FCC queue) an email out of the blue and said "do you want that, or do you want an old-style call?".

Of course I answered , yeah, I'd like K#xx or W#xx.

So he shared that someone had mined the call data base for "original calls (the first time issued indicating that the owners were pretty old) and compared names/addresses...town,state.... to the Social Security list of people who had recently died. (who does this?!?!?!). They had created a list of several hundred available calls for which the operator had died but the ham callsign they held had not yet been called or expired . These calls just needed to be submitted to the FCC with a death notice for them to be invalidated and again available for issue. The SS death list was accepted

I found a great call on the list that was provided to me, that was simple and distinctive on CW and submitted the death notice to the FCC.

The game was , to then monitor the FCC's daily action list for that specific call. This would show (among other things) if that specific call had been cancelled and put back into the pool of available calls. You had to look for actions against a specific call and do this every day for weeks.

At some point, that lookup would show that during the day, that call had been cancelled . The trick was, you had to submit your application for that newly available call THAT NIGHT, before everyone else in the world found out that it was available, because if more than one person applied there was a "lottery" for the callsign.

I finally saw they had cancelled the call, and submitted my request for it. This worked exactly as instructed , and I got my x#xx old school - great on CW call.

They've since figured out they were being gamed by their own system and put an end to this by making the call only available after publication that it was released for reassignment.

I didn't save the info on who shared that trick with me, but I'd like to buy them a beer..
 
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JohnFreeman said:
I was doing a fair amount of CW DX. My original call was terrible for that.

I had my extra so I requested a xx#x call which was better (NN5J) I believe. Out of the blue about a week later, a ham wrote me (having seen my request in the FCC queue) an email out of the blue and said "do you want that, or do you want an old-style call?".

Of course I answered , yeah, I'd like K#xx or W#xx.

So he shared that someone had mined the call data base for "original calls (the first time issued indicating that the owners were pretty old) and compared names/addresses...town,state.... to the Social Security list of people who had recently died. (who does this?!?!?!). They had created a list of several hundred available calls for which the operator had died but the ham callsign they held had not yet been called or expired . These calls just needed to be submitted to the FCC with a death notice for them to be invalidated and again available for issue. The SS death list was accepted

I found a great call on the list that was provided to me, that was simple and distinctive on CW and submitted the death notice to the FCC.

The game was , to then monitor the FCC's daily action list for that specific call. This would show (among other things) if that specific call had been cancelled and put back into the pool of available calls. You had to look for actions against a specific call and do this every day for weeks.

At some point, that lookup would show that during the day, that call had been cancelled . The trick was, you had to submit your application for that newly available call THAT NIGHT, before everyone else in the world found out that it was available, because if more than one person applied there was a "lottery" for the callsign.

I finally saw they had cancelled the call, and submitted my request for it. This worked exactly as instructed , and I got my x#xx old school - great on CW call.

They've since figured out they were being gamed by their own system and put an end to this by making the call only available after publication that it was released for reassignment.

I didn't save the info on who shared that trick with me, but I'd like to buy them a beer..
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Interesting so back then there was no 2 year (or whatever it is now) period where the call cannot be issued after cancel/expiration?
 
One of these days I'll get my technician's license. Of course, I've been saying that for a loooooong time.

I've skimmed through their exam bank and it's not difficult. If I were to sit down with it, I'd imediately cross off everything I didn't know the answer to right off the top of my head. No sense cluttering up everything with what I already know.

Then I'd review all the stuff that's really familiar until it's second nature again. Then cross those off the list.

What's left wouldn't be much I'd have to review.
 
JohnFreeman said:
I was doing a fair amount of CW DX. My original call was terrible for that.

I had my extra so I requested a xx#x call which was better (NN5J) I believe. Out of the blue about a week later, a ham wrote me (having seen my request in the FCC queue) an email out of the blue and said "do you want that, or do you want an old-style call?".

Of course I answered , yeah, I'd like K#xx or W#xx.

So he shared that someone had mined the call data base for "original calls (the first time issued indicating that the owners were pretty old) and compared names/addresses...town,state.... to the Social Security list of people who had recently died. (who does this?!?!?!). They had created a list of several hundred available calls for which the operator had died but the ham callsign they held had not yet been called or expired . These calls just needed to be submitted to the FCC with a death notice for them to be invalidated and again available for issue. The SS death list was accepted

I found a great call on the list that was provided to me, that was simple and distinctive on CW and submitted the death notice to the FCC.

The game was , to then monitor the FCC's daily action list for that specific call. This would show (among other things) if that specific call had been cancelled and put back into the pool of available calls. You had to look for actions against a specific call and do this every day for weeks.

At some point, that lookup would show that during the day, that call had been cancelled . The trick was, you had to submit your application for that newly available call THAT NIGHT, before everyone else in the world found out that it was available, because if more than one person applied there was a "lottery" for the callsign.

I finally saw they had cancelled the call, and submitted my request for it. This worked exactly as instructed , and I got my x#xx old school - great on CW call.

They've since figured out they were being gamed by their own system and put an end to this by making the call only available after publication that it was released for reassignment.

I didn't save the info on who shared that trick with me, but I'd like to buy them a beer..
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I got my vanity call, by deciding on which calls I wanted. Then just looking up each of the calls to see if it was available on one of the commercial sites. Mostly no luck. Then I went on the official database. My first choice showed expired and outside the two year wait period, but had not been listed as available. After more research, I found it was a silent key. I submitted and got it fairly easily and quickly.
 
I've grown attached to my 2x3 and decided to keep it. It's not great for CW in terms of brevity, but sound is distinct. I was going to get a 2x2 when I upgraded to extra but the next logical one was KN4BM and I opted to keep mine.
 
Lots of good used equipment out there.

Heck, I even have fun with the little MFJ mono-banders. Well, I did when I was more radio-active anyway.
 
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Cocked & Locked said:
Icom-7300 perhaps?
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Talking earlier, that was one of the first recommendations from @hp468 in my 1k price range. I like it but I'm thinking I might play the patience game for a bit and see what might come my way on the used market before I jump on a 7300.

I might be able to expand my budget a bit by the end of January so staying in the research phase for a while might be a good way to go. I'm fairly squared away in vhf/uhf knowledge wise but I know next to nothing about hf.
 
Nothing wrong with used gear from a vetted source. It just sucks when your new into the hobby and buy a used radio that winds up having a personality. I been there.

My biggest complaint about most of these newer rigs are the touch screens and (to my eye) busy displays.

I like buttons and knobs, which is one reason a ts590sg sits on the desk. I was bummed when kenwood discontinued the ts480sat, I liked those rigs as well.
 
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