Thanks to you prolific posters in this sub-forum
- Thread starter Cape Fear
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Cape Fear;n42342 said:
Damn, I just checked as I was going to put you in contact with him as a backup. It doesn't look like they're doing any Greensboro this year, just Salisbury and Asheboro. On second thought, Asheboro might not be bad, it looks like it too would be an hour for you per Google maps and traffic would be far easier. In any case, his contact is AJ4TF at ARRL dot net. If your event is cancelled send him an email and feel free to mention that I suggested contacting him if you like.
OP
Ha that's right. My daddy always chewed Bull of the Woods plug but that stuff was a little strong for me. It was Red Man or Levi Garrett all the way.trcubed said:
I studied pretty hard for mine for a month or so, got good with tech and touched a bit on general. was scheduled to take the exam on the day that Matthew decided to turn Cumberland County into Atlantis. Had to wait another month almost to test, barely missed my general, only 3 answers away from having it. Makes it tough to keep things fresh.Cape Fear said:
Chris, JARS tests once a month from what the VE that administered my test told me.
Per the JARS website..
http://jars.net/veteam.html
So possibly the 24th?
Per the JARS website..
http://jars.net/veteam.html
So possibly the 24th?
I tend to get involved in many hobbies rather than being dedicated to just one. I have no other reason than it being something I had limited knowledge of and wanted to learn. Antenna building and learning code also have peaked my interest.
Well, I think there are a couple of different things and I'm sure that others can add more. First, I think it appeals to people who are in to electronics because it's still one of the few areas where you can still "do it yourself". For example, I built an antenna out of a piece of copper plumbing pipe and from my back deck with a walker talkie woke up a radio repeater about 75-80 mikes away and received its response (nobody seemed to be on at that early hour on Christmas morning). if building isn't your thing, there is plenty of used and new equipment to buy.JBoyette;n43460 said:
Another area is that it's fun to socialize, even with folks all over the world. Last night I was driving down the road on my way home talking to a guy in Tasmania who was also driving down the road. A few minutes later a guy from New Zealand and then a guy in upstate New York called out to me to ask about the storm we have coming. In my case I was operating a digital mode that utilizes the internet but it was plain old analog FM radio on the ends.
For thst hat matter in the morning and evening I tend to chat or "rag chew" with a group of regulars on s couple of local repeaters. It makes my LONG commute (1h 15 min) go a lot faster. It is also nice having real time "tactical" information on the ground about storms and traffic incidents from other radio operators long before the "official" announcements are made.
A lot lot of folks like to operate on the lower frequency radio bands, called HF or high frequency (named way back in the day when a few MHz was pretty high) which can propagate around the world as radio. They like to make contact with others in different countries and then exchange post cards, either real or virtual. There are even official contests to see how many contacts you can make. Some folks like to talk voice, others use any number of the old school digital modes, much like the old modem days.
One area that interests me is in the prepper mindset. When all else goes down the plain old radio will still work. With good hardware and the right setup, some of which can be very simple and cheap (my plumbing pipe for ex) you can communicate for over 100 miles. So when the cell phones and internet go down you can still listen and talk or call home. There are two official groups called MARS and ARES (acronyms) thst are actual official emergency communications groups that back up the official (government) ones as well as weather spotters that call in sudden weather events like storms. A lot of people have gotten to radios and even gotten licensed for when SHTF, but if you don't know what your doing now, that Baofeng radio in your faraday cage won't help you later, so it's important to get on the air not spouts squirrel it away.
Last but not least, some like to get into the old Morse Code and can communicate around the planet with it sing very low power signals. It is kind of an art learning the letters and numbers via a sound pattern.
i do know that a lot of retired guys, especially those that aren't as mobile or have gone blind like to,operstevthe radio as a way to still get out in the world when they can't physically. I've also noticed that the art develops a real community, including around the clubs that form, but that the members get to know each other and often times meet up and even help each other out when there is a need, which can be as simple as helping hang an antenna or helping out when someone falls sick.
Well, that's my brief explanation, and I've only had a ham license since Sept.
T
trcubed
Guest
Comms.JBoyette said:
OP
noway2's answer below lays it all out pretty well. And the biggest initial draw for me was trcubed's answer above - comms are another tool I want in my toolbox. Now that I'm in, it's pretty cool because of my electronics background.JBoyette said:
Cape Fear i spoke to the local VEC this morning and he said the reason the Greensboro test dates aren't showing up on ARRL is thst he hadn't submitten them yet. He said to go to W4VEC.org and if you click on the yellow details button above the guy on the page it has the list. If your session is canceled, give him a heads up but i believe he is testing on the 14th.
georgel
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JBoyette;n43460 said:
Primarily, for many, it's the idea of being able to communicate independently of other systems. Other systems are out side our control and can fail during man-made or natural disasters or be shut off or simply overloaded. This communication allows one to check on the health and status of others and share information about current conditions if other forms of information become unavailable or corrupted.
T
trcubed
Guest
Are you assuming that isn't Mrs. Perry?htperry said:
L
Lawless
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I have seen Mrs. Perry and she is much hotter than that slut.htperry said:
L
Lawless
Guest
For me it all has to do with a continuation of prepping. Without comms you aint got shiz -Some Forward Observer sometime somewhere....JBoyette said:
JBoyette;n43460 said:
For me several...
* There's a certain amount of magic being able to talk to people around the world without the internet or the phone company
* Being able to build something and use it to talk/communicate world wide.
* Being able to learn something by doing it rather than reading about it
* The feeling of accomplishment of accomplishing as opposed to just "purchasing" ( building a fast street car vs buying one is a similar distinction)
* I'm competitive...and beating a pileup by skill is fun.
* I really REALLY like to learn new things...and ham radio has an endless supply of such.
OP
noway2;n43747 said:
So they ended up cancelling my exam session. I just sent [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]AJ4TF an email asking for registration for the Greensboro exam session 1/14.[/FONT]
Les White
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I passed the technician exam this evening. They encouraged me to go ahead and take the general but I don't even know the freq assignments for that license. Maybe later.
T
trcubed
Guest
Brian K;n51183 said:
Congratulations!
L
Lawless
Guest
Brian K;n51183 said:
That is GREAT Brian! Welcome to VHF/UHF!
Email and registration are appreciated, but walkins are welcome too. I recall him saying he already had a registrant for the 14th so he will be testing.Cape Fear said:
Nice work Brian!
It doesn't get any heavier than 40m CW at midnight in the first night of the CQ WWDX contest.! Gentlemen, screw down your 250 hz IF filters and lets get ready to test your receiver dynamic range!JohnFreeman said:
Cape Fear When the snow stops blocking your testing and you're all general and all, I've got an IC-718 and tuner gathering dust in the closet, you're welcome to take it home and setup an HF station. You let me almost kill us in your boat so I figure it's time for payback!
I've got a spare dipole and some feed line too (I think) so all you would need to supply is power. I ran off a car battery and a trickle charger before I got a power supply for the rig, so I know it can be done that way.
I've got a spare dipole and some feed line too (I think) so all you would need to supply is power. I ran off a car battery and a trickle charger before I got a power supply for the rig, so I know it can be done that way.
Cape Fear;n53288 said:
I may not be a real prepper, but I still enjoy the gear.
With my ears so bad I don't do a lot of HF phone, but I did screw around with the digital modes a bit. PSK/31 is pretty easy when you get the hang of it and lets you make crazy contacts that you could never make on phone and would normally be in the realm of only the morse code guys. There is also a lot of internet based propagation reporting so you can easily test antenna setups and whatnot without having to wonder if anyone is actually listening live.
APRS is also fun. I used to run a little APRS rig on my motorcycle so the wife could keep track of me when I was out touring around. No need to call and check in all the time, she could just pull the APRS tracking web site and follow my progress semi-realtime.
OP
Alright I passed the general! Blew it on the extra, 26 correct out of 50. But I didn't study for it so yeah. I should have my call sign Tuesday, Monday is a federal holiday.