Looking into ham radio

[LDB]

There's been a little interest in ham radio. It's a very interesting hobby. There's a great website, Hello Radio that gives lots of information on ham radio and it's history. Each of the tabs near the top give you good information. I hope it's interesting and useful for some of you.

[TCT]

Thanks LDB. I book marked the site and will check it out when I get a chance. That guy on the main page could pass for Al Gore's brother, poor guy.

When you get time, maybe you could tell us a little about your experience with Ham Radio like, who do you usually talk to (what cities), how often, and what type of equipment you run.

I saw a guy going down the road the other day with a huge antenna strapped to his car, and his call numbers (?) on his license pate, and I told my self that I'm gonna get set up like that one day.

[Dreamer]

Great site Leo! I skimmed thru it, and I'll be going thru it in more detail later. I can already tell tho, it's got a lot of answers to my questions. Guess I might have to start looking to sell some of my cbs and look toward a basic ham unit

Not all of 'em tho..LOL.. I will always have that nostagia for CB.. been doing it toooooo long! But it would be nice to talk further, on a quieter freq!

[LDB]

I've been licensed since Aug 2005. I passed my technician exam then. That got me privileges on the vhf and uhf bands. The primary ones are 2 meter and 440. I have several HT's and a couple of mobile radios. Some of the websites I like for radio shopping are Hamcity.com - Ham City and Universal Radio shortwave, amateur, scanner and CB radio since 1942 because they show all the radios in each broad category at the same time. Also, eHam.net Home - Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Community Site for the product review section that gives reviews on almost everything available now and in the past.

With my mobile radio and a magnet mount antenna on the roof I get excellent coverage of about a 45 mile radius of my local repeaters at home. On simplex, which is direct radio to radio, about 15-20 miles with 50 watts is the limit for full quieting and reliability.

I've just gotten my upgrade to general class so I'm authorized in certain segments of the HF bands now. I've got an Icom 706 Mk2 G that covers all the HF bands plus 6 meters, 2 meters and 440 in the vhf/uhf bands. I'll eventually get it set up in the truck. There are other options for mobile that knowing what I know now I might consider like Yaesu FT857D or maybe the new Icom 7000 if I really wanted to get spendy. Once I have the 706 or alternative set up in the truck I'll be able to talk anywhere in the world at the right times and bands.

Besides the hello radio website for general info the Gordon West books and CD's are great for learning the test material. Besides eham there's QRZ Ham Radio for more radio info and free online practice tests.

[tjmuddslinger]

Originally Posted by LDB

I've been licensed since Aug 2005. I passed my technician exam then. That got me privileges on the vhf and uhf bands. The primary ones are 2 meter and 440. I have several HT's and a couple of mobile radios. Some of the websites I like for radio shopping are Hamcity.com - Ham City and Universal Radio shortwave, amateur, scanner and CB radio since 1942 because they show all the radios in each broad category at the same time. Also, eHam.net Home - Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Community Site for the product review section that gives reviews on almost everything available now and in the past.

With my mobile radio and a magnet mount antenna on the roof I get excellent coverage of about a 45 mile radius of my local repeaters at home. On simplex, which is direct radio to radio, about 15-20 miles with 50 watts is the limit for full quieting and reliability.

I've just gotten my upgrade to general class so I'm authorized in certain segments of the HF bands now. I've got an Icom 706 Mk2 G that covers all the HF bands plus 6 meters, 2 meters and 440 in the vhf/uhf bands. I'll eventually get it set up in the truck. There are other options for mobile that knowing what I know now I might consider like Yaesu FT857D or maybe the new Icom 7000 if I really wanted to get spendy. Once I have the 706 or alternative set up in the truck I'll be able to talk anywhere in the world at the right times and bands.

Besides the hello radio website for general info the Gordon West books and CD's are great for learning the test material. Besides eham there's QRZ Ham Radio for more radio info and free online practice tests.

Congrats LDB..I have often thought about getting my ticket but thats about as far as it goes...

I think I still like being a rebel (I now own a Galaxy 98VHP)