Ham / Amateur Radio Ops?

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. May. 08, 2020 3:31 pm

Hoytman wrote:
Wed. May. 06, 2020 3:15 pm
I used to run a mobile rig. Sold almost new in the box. Wished I'd have kept it. Kenwood TM-631A I believe it was. It was a 2M, 220hz dual band radio. I know where it's at and I may try to buy it back from the old boy.
That is a very good transceiver. Might be due for a memory battery replacement, but otherwise should be ready to get you on the air. Is your license still active?


 
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Post by Hoytman » Fri. May. 08, 2020 4:32 pm

Rob R. wrote:
Fri. May. 08, 2020 3:31 pm
That is a very good transceiver. Might be due for a memory battery replacement, but otherwise should be ready to get you on the air. Is your license still active?
Yes, but I sold the radio a few years ago, practically unused for $100. Sold to an old hammer friend of mine. I hadn't used it in years. He's been using it and I've been trying to buy it back from him. If I could find another online cheap, in really good condition I'd probably buy it...and wait on my original. I'm sure he'll sell it back to me at some point.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. May. 08, 2020 5:33 pm

I was going to tell you that I would not go out of your way to find another rig that supports 1.25 meters because it is totally dead in most areas...but then I looked up the repeaters in Butler and Warren County. Between the two counties there are five 1.25 meter repeaters online. Small number compared to 2M/70cm, but still 5 more than I expected.

See what frequencies the locals hang out on and go from there.

 
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Post by Rick73 » Sat. May. 09, 2020 10:00 am

6 meters has been off to an early start to the summer eskip season.. I have talked to several South American and Caribbean stations on 6meters the past two weeks. Heard 3 European stations so far on 6meters.... remember 6 meters is a frequency band that used to be near the old TV stations... so Imagine turning on TV and watching live TV from South America via the radio waves..not internet.

I am new member of coal pail ..but have been a lurker for many years. A coal burner my entire life.
Got my first Amateur Radio license at age 12 in 1966. And have been very active in the hobby since then.
Sounds like there are some other hams here in coal pail.
I have spoken with Rob R on 75m ssb a couple weeks ago.
73,
Rick K3OO

 
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Post by johnjoseph » Sat. May. 09, 2020 11:23 am

I've contacted my local group and they are unsure of when things will come back together so I can work on my license. I wish there was an online live program that was offered to obtain your license. But, I understand that you need to be in person to demonstrate ability to utilize the system appropriately. I will wait it out and see what becomes available following a full open up in our area.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. May. 09, 2020 12:00 pm

johnjoseph wrote:
Sat. May. 09, 2020 11:23 am
I've contacted my local group and they are unsure of when things will come back together so I can work on my license. I wish there was an online live program that was offered to obtain your license. But, I understand that you need to be in person to demonstrate ability to utilize the system appropriately. I will wait it out and see what becomes available following a full open up in our area.
It is just a paper exam, you don't have to operate any equipment. Your club may not support it yet, but others have started doing remote testing sessions. It requires multiple camera to be setup, but it can be done. Go ahead and get yourself some study materials so you will be ready when local testing resumes. I suggest the ARRL study guide, but there are many others that are good, and some good classes on Youtube as well.

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

 
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Post by Rick73 » Sun. May. 10, 2020 11:44 am

Johnjoseph, there used to be practice exams on line as well.
Once you get through the study manual that Rob indicated.
You can take several practice exams to prepare for the actual test.
The questions that are used for the exam come from a pool of questions...The questions in the practice exams are actual questions from that pool. As you continue to take the practice tests it will really help you once you take the official exam.

My daughter Sara got her first license at age 8.. and upgraded to the Extra class around age 11 as I recall. She went to the local classes at our club.. plus we did the on line pretests several times. Her call is K3OOO mine is K3OO. we have had a lot of fun with that over the years. BTW, she is now 30 years old with 2 very young children.. We will get the grand kids started when they are old enough..

Best of luck on the endeavor..


It is much better if you can actually get to classes from the radio club nearest to you. Lets hope that all resumes in the near future..


 
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. May. 14, 2020 7:35 pm

New antenna on the air this week - I setup a Comet GP-3 antenna on a fence post in the flowerbed. Wife does not like it, but the ease of installation was tough to beat. I can access repeaters I previously could not with my mobile setup, and overall I am very happy with it. If I can ever get it mounted 30-40 ft in the air it would really be impressive, but for now it is working well.

 
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Post by johnjoseph » Thu. May. 14, 2020 8:01 pm

Rob...I could FedEx you a 60 to 70 foot tamarac tree. 🙂

 
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. May. 15, 2020 11:00 am

I have 3 spruce trees about 70' high. The issue is that I don't want to run long lengths of cable (the longer the cable, the more signal loss) and I would prefer not to bury the cable.

 
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Post by johnjoseph » Fri. May. 15, 2020 3:17 pm

Rob R. wrote:
Fri. May. 15, 2020 11:00 am
I have 3 spruce trees about 70' high. The issue is that I don't want to run long lengths of cable (the longer the cable, the more signal loss) and I would prefer not to bury the cable.
Probability of cutting one down, limbing, debarkind and having someone come in with a large post hole digger to place it close to the source isn't an option I guess. Fortunately, I have many trees that height between 20 to 40 feet from my house.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Aug. 13, 2020 12:09 pm

I ran across a video that shows the usefulness of radio communications in emergency situations. These folks are using GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) rather than Ham, but many of the concepts are the same. Biggest difference is GMRS is limited to pretty narrow range of the UHF band, and you do not need to take a test to get a license - just pay the $70 fee and you and your immediate family have a license for 10 years.

Those of us in the Northeast don't normally have the same issues with natural disasters, but I thought I would share anyway in case some of you are interested in emergency communications and see the ham exams as an obstacle.


 
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Post by Hoytman » Mon. Dec. 04, 2023 10:44 am

Lightning wrote:
Tue. Mar. 31, 2020 9:38 pm
I've kicked around the idea for a while.. My uncle has been a ham operator for several years. Just lookin to see what the costs might entail at the moment :)

It'd be a good idea, especially where I live. If the internet and power goes down we have no communication here since the cell towers are too far. I have a generator for power if we were to lose both..
Any progress on kicking it around, Lee?

I would echo Rob's suggestion of going ahead and getting your General license. Wish I'd have gotten my General years ago.
Last edited by Hoytman on Mon. Dec. 04, 2023 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Post by Hoytman » Mon. Dec. 04, 2023 11:32 am

Hey Freetown...I take you're a HAM also?
Hoytman wrote:
Wed. May. 06, 2020 3:15 pm
I used to run a mobile rig. Sold almost new in the box. Wished I'd have kept it. Kenwood TM-631A I believe it was. It was a 2M, 220hz dual band radio. I know where it's at and I may try to buy it back from the old boy.
Hoytman wrote:
Fri. May. 08, 2020 4:32 pm
Yes, but I sold the radio a few years ago, practically unused for $100. Sold to an old hammer friend of mine. I hadn't used it in years. He's been using it and I've been trying to buy it back from him. If I could find another online cheap, in really good condition I'd probably buy it...and wait on my original. I'm sure he'll sell it back to me at some point.
I renewed my license (Tech) in June of this year (2023) after finding out it had expired two days prior. Got it renewed before the grace period expired, thank goodness.

Give me a minute and I'll address the two quotes above. Keep in mind I sold that Kenwood a long time ago, at least 15 years ago and maybe 20 years ago. I had got my novice license in 1993 and later received my tech license. My "Elmer" died in March of 1997 and that is when I basically got out of HAM radio. To be honest, I didn't even use my radio much, mostly talked on 1.25 CM.

So I renewed my technician license (6/2023) and a week later a friend walks into the office and gifts me an Icom dual band mobile rig with two mag mount antenna's and a 30 amp power supply. :o BAM! Just like that I'm back into HAM radio. All I ever did for this friend (before I knew he was a HAM) was call him several times to check on him while he was in the hospital with some heart problems.

Two weeks later he comes to my house and has 100Ft of 9913 and Jet Stream dual band antenna to mount on my roof. :o

A few weeks go by and I drop by at my friends (my old HAM buddy) house and tell him I'm back into HAM radio and if he still had my old Kenwood rig then I'd like to buy it back if he was willing to sell. He wasn't willing to sell, which indicated he did still have the radio. Time was on my side and I thought maybe there was a chance I could buy it back.

In the meantime I ran across a bargain I couldn't pass up on a very nice 741A tri-bander (2m/220/440) and I had always wanted one of those, so I bought it. Except for one light being dim it was perfect. Box, manuals, no scratches, dents, or dings, and the paint was perfect, and it works. I highly doubt this radio has been used much. Fella said he changed the battery out about 3 years ago.

So my buddy who gave me the Icom dual bander paid me a visit a few more weeks later and this time gifted me with another Icom dual bander...this time a very nice HT, and it's not that old. Charger, manuals, programming software and cables, 3 antennas for it and a speaker-mic. :o BAM! Just like that I'm 3 radios deep.

A few more weeks go by and my old HAM buddy calls me to come up to his house. He asks me what I plan on doing with my new HT. I told that I planned on getting a jumper for it so I could use in the house in case the power went out and I could also use the jumper in my truck with the mobile antenna...and the speaker-mic would really make that handy. I was using the Icom mobile rig in the house and the tri-bander was still in its box for use at a later date. My buddy grinned, reached in his coat pocket and handed me a small package. Inside of the package was the jumper I needed to use my HT with my other antennas. :o

Then he goes back into the house and comes back out carrying a plastic bag that looked very familiar, but I just couldn't put my finger on where I'd seen that bag. We talked awhile and then he opened this huge back and that's when I realized what was in it, and out came the box...the box with my original Kenwood TM-631A. I said to him, "No way!", and he just grinned. Said he'd been waiting for this moment for a long time. You have to remember that there were 3 of us that were big radio buddies and when my Elmer past away I lost interest and so did my other friend although he stayed with it a little while longer than I did. I asked him if was just showing it to me or going to sell it back to me. He looked at me and said, "do you remember what I paid you for this radio?", to which I did remember. I sold it to him for $100. He nodded and I reached into my pocket (I rarely have money on me as I'm usually broke LOL) and handed him a nice new $100 bill. Before he took it he wanted me to examine it closely. Honestly, it looked brand new...just like it looked when I packed it away and sold it to him. Still hand all the receipts in the box, the price hang tag from R&L Electronics, and the radio and mic was still in the plastic it came in, mounting hardware, wrench and all. I couldn't believe my eyes. I just couldn't believe it. It had been 27 years since I packed that radio back in its original box. My buddy looked at and said, "now it looks like I'm going to have to buy another mobile radio and another HF rig and get back into myself". He told me he had two radios left before...the one he just sold back to me and another single band mobile rig plus a new Boefeng HT I had given him the week prior.

I've had my original radio back now for about a month and a half. So last week my new radio buddy calls me to help him winterize his camper. Naturally I'm going to help him after he gave me two radios and three antennas. We get his camper winterized and we're riding back to the office and he says here...take this, and he hands me another icom dual band mobile rig (all 3 he's given me are D-Star units) and says here put this in your other car. :o

I don't know what else I could write to make this story any more believable, because it's almost, to me, unbelievable, but it's also true. Wow! Wait...there is one more thing to make this even more exciting...he's working on getting me a nice 590 HF rig for cheap. I just can't believe what this these guys have done for me. All I can say is I have been blessed and God is good. Been a long time since I've been on the receiving end of such generosity and I've always lived my life to help people in the same manner.

It's good to be back on the air waves. Studying for my General license as we speak.

"We'll be clear and going that way!" 73's

 
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Post by Lightning » Mon. Dec. 04, 2023 6:07 pm

Hoytman wrote:
Mon. Dec. 04, 2023 10:44 am
Any progress on kicking it around, Lee?
I haven't, but that along with other things I'd like to do at some point are on my list.. I enjoyed your story! Perhaps someday a few of us coal guys can chat on the Hams :D


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