Ham Radio - other communications

[CoastRange57]

Anybody into ham radio ? I have had a Technician level license for a while now. I have 3 radio set ups, one in my shop / office, one in my house and one in my primary vehicle. I have good effective comms on simplex operation for about a 50 mile radius. If I use repeaters, I can cover over 300 miles on linked repeaters.

I have met some great people all over the state, and will never be more than 20 miles at the most from someone I know. A lot of hams are into prepping and guns, some hard core, some not, but a pretty common theme.

Technician license is easy to get, I am planning on upgrading to General Class to get HF operating capabilities. I have less than $ 400 into my set up. I can have communications in areas with no cell coverage, and if I get some altitude I can easily get 250 miles. I can operate off 12 volt with a portable antenna that I can hoist up into a tree, or just stick in in the ground on top of a hill.

Getting an HF receiver is a great way to hear what is happening around the world straight form the source.

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[usmc3529]

The more I hear about it, the more I want to get in to it. I never imagined being able to get a system for $400 though. Any good recommendations for educating myself on the basics so I can determine what to buy?

 

[CoastRange57]

The more I hear about it, the more I want to get in to it. I never imagined being able to get a system for $400 though. Any good recommendations for educating myself on the basics so I can determine what to buy?

Start studying for the Technician license. Got to qrz.com. Set up an account with your name and a pass word,and click on the resources tab and find the exams. Eham.net has them also.

I am working on a starter guide for beginning hams at the Technician Level. I hope to have it done soon. I will put some other ideas together and can PM them to you.

I bought a used mobile unit off E Bay for $ 75. Antenna off ebay for $ 35. Coax for another $ 25. Power supply at HRO for $ 90.00 I have this in my shop / office.

I bought another hand held unit at HRO for $ 140. Antenna and coax for my house for $ 60. I keep this in the house and stick it in my pocket when in the field. I can hit repeaters easily with this unit. Hitting a linked repeater gets me into Medford, the coast, NoCal, and Bend areas.

I just bought another mobile unit for $ 80 for my vehicle. Antenna and coax at a garage sale for $ 8. I am in the field a lot fishing, hunting an shooting, and want comms there as well. I can set up an antenna on a hill top and run it off 12v of my vehicle. I have a 12 volt battery with a solar trickle charger out side my shop in case AC is out.

You could buy a HF receiver and listen to what goes on HF and learn a lot. I intend to learn Morse code soon.

Good luck and ask away.

Semper Fi.

Ham Radio Outlet - World's Largest Supplier of Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Equipment. Sales, Supplies, and Service.

Callsign Database by QRZ.COM

eHam.net Home - Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Community Site

 

[Spray-n-pray]

Got my tech ticket a few years ago. I have a couple of radios, a HT that sits on my desk, and a 2m that I need to install in my truck at some point.

 

[Both Eyes Open]

Great idea! I was gifted an old Kenwood TS440S with manual tuner. Just need to set up the antenna and get the wire. Oh... and a license! Ha ha ha!!!

 

[Kevinkris]

how much do you really needs to know to get good use out of one of these? i was peeking through some of them and they seem pretty straight forward. am i missing something here as far as proper use? all the same it does seem like something good to have in an emergency.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

PM Sent for Ham info

I stay on CB27 unless there is a sign posted for a different freq.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

how much do you really needs to know to get good use out of one of these? i was peeking through some of them and they seem pretty straight forward. am i missing something here as far as proper use? all the same it does seem like something good to have in an emergency.

The beauty of a Ham radio is a non-ham is always allowed to monitor radio traffic, and even transmit in case of an emergency when no other means of communication is available. That's better than an Obama phone!

The digi-peaters are all on the same frequency and with certain equipment, a ham can send digital-messaging (even to non-hams to their email). Lots of digi-peaters transmit weather and other emergency info. They are all over the place and do not depend on the internet.

I can catch the MT Hood repeater which is tied to the entire Pacific Crest Trail (south of the Columbia River).

 

[CoastRange57]

There is the linked repeaters that reach the whole state and up into WA. 145.13 - with a tone I think 100, on Marys Peak, I hit the 146.980 - tone 100 on the KGW tower. Good into Medford, Bend, Chehalis, Pendelton.

 

[9MilMan]

My wife recently got her license and I intend to follow suit. We bought a couple of handhelds, car antennas and a whip for the house, but we haven't done much with it yet. So, I need all the info I can get!

 

[alphapygmy]

Got my Tech license a few years back. I switched rigs about 9 months ago and haven't put my radio in it yet. My old rig was an ex-fed Tahoe and had NMO antenna mounts factory installed. Installing my 2M and CB were super easy. Now I've got an Xterra and it's so small I'm having a hard time finding room to put the radios. All the current craziness wants to make me get off my but and get it done though.

 

[Modeler]

I've had my license for almost 4 years now, had my General for 3. Sold my HF rig to finance gun purchases but have a portable in my truck, an HT in the house and two old Kenwoods (2M and 440) in the shop. I'd like for my wife to get her Technician and put a radio in her car, but there's little motivation at the moment.

I honestly don't spend any real time on the radio, as I've become anti-social the last two years but it's good to know it's there!

 

[drew]

I've got a tech license. Need to look at getting a general. I. keep forgetting to get a car radio.

 

[TDH]

picked up a cheap radio on amazon (baofeng 5r?) a couple of months back and an 'upgraded' antenna for less than $50 shipped. I don't have a license so I just listen, but it's got me interested. Amazing what that little pos can pick up. I live in a very hilly area and I hear people in Alaska talking to people in Australia and beyond. Pretty crazy. I can listen to the Target and Home Depot people too.

 

[19 Adam]

The beauty of a Ham radio is a non-ham is always allowed to monitor radio traffic, and even transmit in case of an emergency when no other means of communication is available.

I'm not paranoid (yet) but if you do not need to register with the government, and there is no active enforcement of non-licensed use, why not just study up and get equipped without the "Imperial entanglements?"

Do any of you know if there is a lot of unregistered Ham owners?

 

[kamaaina1]

General Ham here-W7TRD
Been in the hobby CB & Ham since the 80's. Love to shoot DX and listen to local repeater chatter..
73

 

[kamaaina1]

"Do any of you know if there is a lot of unregistered Ham owners?"

Nope!
Must be licensed by the FCC (I know, another government agency) to transmit on the Amateur frequencies. You can listen/monitor all you want without a license.
Great info here:
http://www.arrl.org/new-to-ham-radio

 

[Modeler]

picked up a cheap radio on amazon (baofeng 5r?) a couple of months back and an 'upgraded' antenna for less than $50 shipped. I don't have a license so I just listen, but it's got me interested. Amazing what that little pos can pick up. I live in a very hilly area and I hear people in Alaska talking to people in Australia and beyond. Pretty crazy. I can listen to the Target and Home Depot people too.

You're probably hearing IRLP, which are local repeaters linked via the internet. The person in Alaska transmits to a local repeater which receives the transmission and sends it to Australia via the internet to the local repeater there which transmits locally in Australia for the guy there to hear via his radio. Then it goes back via the same route, Australia to Alaska.

There are thousands of IRLP nodes worldwide that can be controlled and connected together using the keypad on your little handheld radio. It's an amazing world we live in.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

I'm not paranoid (yet) but if you do not need to register with the government, and there is no active enforcement of non-licensed use, why not just study up and get equipped without the "Imperial entanglements?"

Do any of you know if there is a lot of unregistered Ham owners?

I wondered about the same thing, here is what I came up with.

1. Because its happens to be the law.
2. Its easy & cheaper than cell-phones, plus, no "universal fees" paying for the Obama
phones and used by his super pac to tweet political messages.
3. The license is good for years, years and more years.
4. No Morris code, the test is easy (35 questions) I took 150 free pre-tests on-line at
hamexam.com.

5. And there is an active program in place; once you start listening to the local repeaters, you will realize that people get to know "who is who". Sure the blackhawks probably won't swoop down upon you if you make an unauthorized radio transmission. But somebody (overzealous FCC Volunteers) will confront you over the radio; wooo!

When/if you dive into HF for the General license, you will really enjoy what you can learn, as it goes hand in hand with Survival & Prepping; especially where solar energy collection, storage and usage meets sustained radio usage requirements.

Antenna matching and using the various "spheres" is also mind blowing.

A technician can send data (CW) via HF under the most recent rules. I send emails from my 2 meter radio via APRS & the digi-peaters.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

I honestly don't spend any real time on the radio, as I've become anti-social the last two years but it's good to know it's there!

Anti-social since 2008.