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GauzeGuy

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jul 12, 2012
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GauzeGuy
A few days ago, I decided that aviation and firearms weren't putting enough of a dent in my bank account. So, time to start this ham radio thing. I studied the material for technician and the practice tests were up to 32-33 of 35 within about 24 hours of studying. So yesterday I started studying for general. My practice tests were, ahhh... less than spectacular.

The soonest (and most convenient) exam date was this morning at 9 AM. I got through the technician exam with 34/35. Since it wouldn't cost any more, I gave the general level exam a try... 30/35. I was asked if I wanted to try for extra, but figured I would quit while I was ahead.

On the way home, I dropped by Ham Radio Outlet and dropped just under an AMU on a FT 857D with a power supply.

I need to get an antenna yet. I'm in a second floor apartment with a balcony -- what are some good options? Ideally I'd like to be able to play on the HF bands.

I'd also like to get an antenna for portable use. I'm going to grab a battery so I can take it with on hikes, etc. Any suggestions on a good portable antenna?
 
Flying, shooting AND ham radio? You better re-think your life, buddy. You're running with a bad crowd.

Right, Nate? :D


73 es congrats on your license.
Dale - N0XAS
 
If you're in an apartment, there's nothing like using the drain pipe as an antenna... :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Seriously, you need to be careful about RF Interference from your rig on the lower bands. That's going to be a challenge from a second floor apartment that can't provide a good ground. I personally like unobtrusive long wire antennas with tuners for multi-band operation in that kind of situation, but the unbalanced nature of such a rig can pretty readily cause your SSB/CW signals to come blaring from neighbor's electronics if you're not careful.

For vehicular & portable use, there are a number of mobile antenna solutions - they assume something like a car body for a ground plane. Fixed-portable you can get away with a vertical rig & ground plane using wires.

Enjoy - and welcome to the club. de KC2DA
 
Congrats... nice choice on a first rig as well, I've owned two of them myself (sold the first one, ended up with another because I liked it and just didn't realize it!)

I've BTDT with the apartment antennas. The truth of the matter is in most cases it really limits you. If you don't have lease restrictions, you may well be able to get away with a vertical of some kind, and if you can get away with it running a wire dipole style antenna to nearby trees or outbuildings may work as well. It really depends on the particular setup of where you live, what you can and can't do, etc.

There are a couple of dedicated apartment/balcony antennas out there, just google it. They're a bit pricey.

Another option is to run a "temporary" setup where you throw your wires out under the cover of darkness when you want to operate and pull them in when you're done. I did this in a rental house I lived in even though I had no restrictions - didn't know how long I was going to live there and didn't want to spend a bunch of money on coax/wire that may not be able to be moved.

Yet another option is operating from your car, even if you're in the driveway. You already have a 14VDC power supply built in, just mount an HF mobile antenna (you can make it a quick detach so you don't have to ride around with it when not in use) and operate from there.

The last option is something you've hinted at - operating portable. There are a LOT of antennas devoted to this style of operating, some more expensive than others. Of course, you can go the simple DIY route with a few homemade wire antennas as well.

One last item you should purchase is an antenna tuner. I've had good luck with LDG antenna tuners, and you can usually pick them up for $100-$200 used.

Check out the following sites:
www.eham.net for equipment reviews and classifieds
www.QRZ.com forum and classifieds
http://swap.qth.com classifieds

Don't even bother with ebay, people there are insane when it comes to prices.
 
Welcome to the Ham Radio World. You will have a lot of fun. For operating from your apartment just drop an insulated wire to the closest tree and connect the feed end to an SG237 tuner and the input end to your FT-857. With 15 ft of wire it will tune down to 3MHz.

I have an Icom 706MKIIG connected to an SG237 at a palm tree base. A wire running along the palm tree connects to the SG237. I also have a 6ft ground rod next to the palm tree. It works down to 1.8MHz. It is also hurricane proof.

On my Mooney I have another Icom 706/SG237 that works better than my home rig (probably due to altitude). The Icom 706 audio is compatible with aviation microphones. Which takes away the background noise when using the Icom microphone. I mostly use it on long trips when heading to San Juan or Santa Maria. Mine is modified to transmit on all frequencies.

73 de KP4DAC

José
 

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I got my Novice in 1974 and my Extra in about 1987. Most of the time in between was as a Technician until I finally got off my rear and got my morse code up to the higher speeds.

I used to work mobile HF with an "Outbacker" which works well enough on the upper bands. I easily worked Europe on 20m with the thing. I worked Japan on an aluminum extension ladder we loaded up in preparation for field day one year. I had a 20m antenna in the attic that I'd work things like Diego Garcia, etc... Don't let anybody tell you that you need a 100' tower.
 
DaleB said:
Flying, shooting AND ham radio? You better re-think your life, buddy. You're running with a bad crowd.

Right, Nate? :D


73 es congrats on your license.
Dale - N0XAS
Click to expand...

Welcome to the hobby.

N6TPT
 
My dad had the Extra rating. He had 40 acres, all sorts of antennas all over the place. I never saw the fun of talking to others on the radio. Then again, he didn't see the fun in flying planes around.
 
The prevalence of the Internet and cell phones kind of took the punch out of ham radio. It was neat talking to people around the world, but now I can just get on a chat room or send them an email. (Indeed, having been around the internet and it's predecessors since the early 80's, there were a couple of key moments to me that it mainstream, one was when I found the nearest server for something I was using was in Slovenia). We used to use VHF/UHF walky talkies to communicate between me and my wife (she also has her Advanced ticket, never got around to upgrading after they nixed the 20WPM code). Now I just call or text her cell.
 
flyingron said:
The prevalence of the Internet and cell phones kind of took the punch out of ham radio. It was neat talking to people around the world, but now I can just get on a chat room or send them an email. (Indeed, having been around the internet and it's predecessors since the early 80's, there were a couple of key moments to me that it mainstream, one was when I found the nearest server for something I was using was in Slovenia). We used to use VHF/UHF walky talkies to communicate between me and my wife (she also has her Advanced ticket, never got around to upgrading after they nixed the 20WPM code). Now I just call or text her cell.
Click to expand...


Those that just wanted to chat may have left for that reason, but it's still a stronghold for those that like to experiment with RF/electronics and those into emergency communications/preparedness. In fact, there's been a large influx of the "prepper" guys in recent years.
 
VA Aviator said:
Those that just wanted to chat may have left for that reason, but it's still a stronghold for those that like to experiment with RF/electronics and those into emergency communications/preparedness. In fact, there's been a large influx of the "prepper" guys in recent years.
Click to expand...

As I get older & time becomes less available, I have less time to experiment.
 
flyingron said:
The prevalence of the Internet and cell phones kind of took the punch out of ham radio. It was neat talking to people around the world, but now I can just get on a chat room or send them an email.
Click to expand...

Still works pretty good when all those toys quit...

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingn...crew-amateur-radio-operators-help-emergencies

They flew some Ham volunteers up via Blackhawk this morning to an area that won't have infrastructure for a long long time.

That said, there's definitely not much point to it when the infrastructure is working. :)

Anyway congrats on the new ticket. FT-857D I'd say is the Swiss Army knife of modern Ham Radio. I have two.

Kinda like a 182, they'll do just about anything but nothing perfectly. :)

Agreed that HF and apartment dwelling is rough. Have seen some interesting lash-ups for that. Russians used to form radio clubs and hang Sterba Curtains between the ten story apartment buildings, but not too many American places would appreciate that. ;)

Whatever you do, when you visit the local ham club, don't volunteer for an Officer position! LOL. Don't say I didn't warn you!!! LOL. Not even "Secretary... All you have to do is keep the minutes!" It'll take about ten years to extract yourself.

- Colorado Repeater Assn., former President and current Board Member, Technical Crew member.
- IRLP Technical Support crew member, former ticket system sysadmin.
- Civil Air Patrol, Colorado Wing Engineering Officer and Squadron Communications Officer
- Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs, former Secretary, current backup Delegate for CRA.
- Mountain Top Associates of Colorado, Rocky Mtn Ham Radio, founding member.
- Rocky Mountain Division 1st Place Unlimited Rover, June VHF Contest 2006 & 2007.
- Colorado D-STAR, former Gateway server sysadmin.

And who knows what else. Been trying to slow down. Enjoy the radio more. LOL! I heard myself say it yesterday on the phone before I realized it... "Sorry this year has been so crazy. Haven't been able to join you guys on any site trips!" This was right after a friend said he and another friend were working on a repeater site (Squaw Mountain, 11,440' MSL, almost. 6000' Height Above Average Terrain... Wonderful site!) last weekend when lightning hit the tower.

They spent the next 1.5 hours looking at what blew up and why the generator wasn't actually feeding the site power to all legs.

It's an illness. We don't talk about it much. ;) ;) ;)

Welcome to the fun!
 
Been licensed since '79 (I was 14) my interest seems to come and go there have been years where I haven't done much at all if anything and one streak of almost a decade. Most recently I have been playing with home built CW QRP radios. I have an old Ten Tec Triton II that I fire up now and then usually for field day or other special events.
 
Have to ask, why do you need a license for HAM radio operation? I know nothing about this subject but it is interesting to read what you all post about it.

David


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
flhrci said:
Have to ask, why do you need a license for HAM radio operation? I know nothing about this subject but it is interesting to read what you all post about it.
Click to expand...

Why do you need a license to fly an airplane...it's the law.
 
Why is it "HAM" radio and not "AMM" radio for amature radio?
 
Hi, congrats.
Denny here (on SSB)
Doc (on cw)

K8DO is the call. Been bangin' around the ham bands since long before there was an internet, before there were consumer electronics with transistors - and REAL radios glowed in the dark :D (and were heavy enough to buckle your teenage knees)

For a quick antenna fix consider the Buddipole.
http://www.buddipole.com/
It will work out a window at your apartment or on the balcony railing (hint hint)
It will also travel well, clamp to a car or boat or metal fence rail, etc.
I'm adding one to the boat for this winter because the marina we are at most of our time in Florida has asked me to kindly stop stringing wires from my boat to the top mast of the sailboat two slips away :)
Floating on salt water ( a great reflector for RF energy) it worked like gangbusters (sigh). Ah well, time for something new.

Now, there is nothing wrong with a piece of wire and an antenna tuner. It's cheap and effective. Does help if you spend a few minutes perusing the ARRL Antenna Handbook, or some such, to understand (better) what it is you are doing. But a chunk of fine gauge insulated wire with a lead weight (or a 3/4' nut) on one end to toss one end into a tree will get you the whole world on the radio.

Will be happy to try and hook up with you. Do some research on the net here on propagation and which bands are best at what times of day.
Figure the 20 meters (and 15 and 10) are daytime bands.
And that 40 and 80 meters are night time bands.
30 meters is a kind of hybrid that has features of both day and night.
There are also the WARC bands (read).

And you are lagging behind. I'm now playing with RC helicopters - not the toy type from Radio Shack - big screaming machines. Lots of fun.
Then to partially catch up you need to swing through competitive handgun (steel and IDPA) and boating.
I have shut down my B&W darkroom (probably for good). Was into 35mm up through 8X10 inch cameras since I was 12 years old

73

nnnn
(look it up - autostart teletype command)
 
flhrci said:
I knew that one but why is it the law? Try to answer that one with an obvious answer! LOL

David
Click to expand...

The FCC requires a license to transmit on certain frequencies. Depending on which level of license you have (technician, general, extra) determines which bands you can use. At least I THINK that is the way it works. i am not a Ham guy so I apologize in advance if that is wrong;)
 
flhrci said:
I knew that one but why is it the law? Try to answer that one with an obvious answer! LOL

David
Click to expand...

Because with little exception, back in the day *ALL* radio was licensed. Even CB before it became the lawless wasteland it is today required licensing. Part of it was just government regulation, but in the case of Amateur Radio, it was sort of like hombuilt aircraft. Where nearly every other radio discipline be it police or commercial business or broadcast or whatever requires the use of type accepted (think about parts for certified aircraft), hams were give the authority to by and large buy or build anything that can operate within the band/power/emission authority of their license. Hence they require a knowledge test.

Part of it is to not cause "harmful" interference with other services, not the least of which was the over-the-air (analog) TV signals that was the primary serivce back in the day those regs were written.
 
flyingron said:
Because with little exception, back in the day *ALL* radio was licensed. Even CB before it became the lawless wasteland it is today required licensing. Part of it was just government regulation, but in the case of Amateur Radio, it was sort of like hombuilt aircraft. Where nearly every other radio discipline be it police or commercial business or broadcast or whatever requires the use of type accepted (think about parts for certified aircraft), hams were give the authority to by and large buy or build anything that can operate within the band/power/emission authority of their license. Hence they require a knowledge test.

Part of it is to not cause "harmful" interference with other services, not the least of which was the over-the-air (analog) TV signals that was the primary serivce back in the day those regs were written.
Click to expand...

There's also international treaties in the mix. SOLAS, WARC, ITU... I served for a time as a US Rep to a couple of ITU working groups.

The US codified it in the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Until the deregulation occurred in the '80s and '90's, it was very, very similar to aviation regulation. Some parts still are. Even field inspectors.
 
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