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Any fellow hams out there? I'm Frank W4RAV in Hillsboro.

Used to be K2NCC, but changed my vanity call a few years ago. Been a ham since 2005, which is a newbie to many of y'all! My MOS in the Army was 05D. Waaaay back in the 80s. :)

I mostly monitor. I haven't transmitted in about forever, as I feel as if I've done about all I care to TX in the hobby. Really don't even need a license for what I do, but it's a ticket easy to maintain.

I've owned at least a dozen radios in that time, finally coming to the conclusion that SDRs (software-define-radios) is not only WAY superior, but the future of radio.

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KG7IXT here.

My grandfather was a ham back in the 50s-60s, and started the Royal Order of Hoot Owls on the AM 10 meter band.

Got my novice ticket in 70's, but let it lapse as other interests came up. Then about 6 years ago got back into it.

Got my Extra ticket and became a VE (Volunteer Examiner).

Got into tube radios after I had a mentor help me refurbish a Heathkit amplifier.

I moved about 1 1/2 ago...got the local dual-band antenna up, haven't put up the HF yet. Still working on the radio room...hope to be running this year some time .

Pic of my setup before I moved...with battery backup and solar charging.

20170517_003551.jpg
 
Got my General last summer. Don't have an HF radio yet, but I have a couple of HT's. A Kenwood TH-D74A and a Yaesu VX-7R. I bought the Kenwood for the GPS, Bluetooth mainly. I can text my wife when I don't have any cell service.
 
I don't like giving out call signs for privacy reasons. I've had my technician license a couple of years now. My 13 year old daughter got hers the same day I got mine, which was pretty cool. Also have my GMRS. We stick to mostly dual band and use the WORC repeater system, which is strong and frequently quiet. My daughter has a nice president 10M which we are still playing with.
I was a 19D in charge of our M557 commo track when I was in Ft Hood (ETS'd in the late 80's). Lots of radios, lots of antennas! Good times.
 
Have been licensed since 87. Just recently became active on the HF bands again and check into a few WAS nets once a week or so. Finally got mysrlf an amplifier and usually run about 600 watts. Makes a big difference during the marginal conditions we've been having.
 
I have been licensed since 2005 (Technician Class). I also have a GMRS license for family communication as my wife does not have a ham ticket at the present.
Same here, both tickets. I love GMRS. I don't know why it's scoffed at by everyone. No, you won't be talking skip with it but it fills a niche. These days there's a lot of really nice GMRS radios to choose from and pretty decent repeater options. Having one license to cover the family is also pretty convenient. myGMRS.com - GMRS Repeater Directory will keep you updated on repeaters.
Midland makes some nice mobile units. I picked up one of their 40 watt versions. Baofeng/B-tech also has an HT that's repeater capable.
 
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Have been licensed since 87. Just recently became active on the HF bands again and check into a few WAS nets once a week or so. Finally got mysrlf an amplifier and usually run about 600 watts. Makes a big difference during the marginal conditions we've been having.

Had the same problem, going barefoot with 100 watts I found early on wasn't cutting it.

Got a Heathkit SB-200 and that made a world of difference...pun intended.

Seems 400-600 watts is the magic power area...more than that and I don't seem to notice much of a difference from others using 1kw or more
 
You are correct. Even most of the experts agree that 600 is plenty. I think some just like to say they are running "legal limit". I found a used AL80b for my station. It tops out at about 1kw, but The 600 or so is fine.
 
Licensed in 2004 as a Technician, did the 5 wpm Code to get Technician Plus and just stayed there for awhile even after the code requirement was dropped.

The only reason I got my General class was to honor my friend, David, who became a SK at the age of 45 from a heart attack. He'd given me the gift of a study manual for General class. Seemed the thing to do. (CQ CQ CQ Whisky AMERICA Six Tango Papa Juliette... :( Still miss you, bud.)

Went ahead and got the Extra class some time later just to see if I could do it. 1x2 Vanity callsign and everything.

Never really had a decent HF rig. Played around with an old Yaesu FT-101E for a bit when I first got started, but it was out of tune to the point of frustration and I sold it. Scratch-built a few antennas for the 2-meter band that worked quite well from a 40' tower, including a 3-element J-pole beam and a 10-element Cubical Quad.

Meh.

Lost interest at some point and haven't done much since. Try to rekindle the interest a few times without result.

All I've got at the moment is a Kenwood TM-D710A and a GEOSAT APRS GPS unit, both gathering dust around here somewhere. Probably sell it all soon. Got a Butternut HF6VX antenna that's got to go, also.

Mike - N7somethingsomething
 
Got my Novice back in 1956 (KN5MPJ) Let it lapse and later got my Tech (WB6PBQ) in about 1971. It also lapsed and I was re-issued my present license (N6GHG)... much easier for CW.. which I love. Loved chasing DX and was reasonably successful. Upgraded to Advanced and wanted to pursue Extra.. but the extra bandwidth wasn't worth it to me. However, I'm thinking of exploring changing the call sign again to a 7 cuz I now live, and will likely die, in Idaho.
73 to all... Bill
 
Licensed in 2004 as a Technician, did the 5 wpm Code to get Technician Plus and just stayed there for awhile even after the code requirement was dropped.

The only reason I got my General class was to honor my friend, David, who became a SK at the age of 45 from a heart attack. He'd given me the gift of a study manual for General class. Seemed the thing to do. (CQ CQ CQ Whisky AMERICA Six Tango Papa Juliette... :( Still miss you, bud.)

Went ahead and got the Extra class some time later just to see if I could do it. 1x2 Vanity callsign and everything.

Never really had a decent HF rig. Played around with an old Yaesu FT-101E for a bit when I first got started, but it was out of tune to the point of frustration and I sold it. Scratch-built a few antennas for the 2-meter band that worked quite well from a 40' tower, including a 3-element J-pole beam and a 10-element Cubical Quad.

Meh.

Lost interest at some point and haven't done much since. Try to rekindle the interest a few times without result.

All I've got at the moment is a Kenwood TM-D710A and a GEOSAT APRS GPS unit, both gathering dust around here somewhere. Probably sell it all soon. Got a Butternut HF6VX antenna that's got to go, also.

Mike - N7somethingsomething
With a 40' tower you could throw a bent paper clip up
there, fart, key up the mic and still hit Idaho. Well, sort of... :rolleyes:
Sorry about your friend.
 
Hey guys, is there any info y'all could share with me?!?! I'm a total noobie, but have developed and interest, but not sure how/where to start.... I'm in Washington county...
 
Go to hamexam.org and study for your ticket. They have all of the up to date pool questions in test and flash card form. It's also FREE! It's not hard to pass.
Miklor.com does a lot of honest, unbiased reviews on radios. So if you hear us yakking about this or that, go there and get a bit of clarity. Start out slow, set a budget for yourself. No need to jump in and dump a ton of money into radio gear that you may not like.
Ask any questions. There are tremendous brains here (excluding mine) to pick knowledge from. Most of all, have fun. :)
 

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