O.T. Any amateur radio nuts here?

[PaMtbRider]

Since I am off the bike for several weeks I decided to finally get my amateur radio license. I take my test next Tuesday. I have been taking the practice exams on QRZ.com and feel pretty confident of passing the technician exam. I also picked up a book by Gordon West that gives brief explanations of the answers. I am an electrician by trade so a lot of the material is very familiar.

Is there a Paceline equivalent forum for Ham radio operators? How about places to buy equipment?

I plan on buying a Baofang hand held to get my feet wet. After that, who knows. I am a gadget freak and the ham radio world looks like a place you can spend lots of money on fancy equipment that is way more than you need. Hmmm, that sounds suspiciously like cycling.

[speedevil]

I've had my Extra class license for a long time now, and there are several forums for amateur radio interests. qrz.com is popular and has a swapmeet section as well. As good a place as any to start.

Good luck on your test.

[Peter P.]

I'm a Motorola two-way radio technician.

Not a ham, but I know some of the lingo.

[Peter P.]

I'm a Motorola two-way radio technician.

My FCC license is not a ham license but a Radiotelephone Operator's license.

Not a ham, but I know some of the lingo.

[merckxman]

What you definitely need are good antennas.

[11.4]

I'm an Extra Class licensee, plus General Radiotelephone and Marine Radiotelephone licenses. I use them extensively in my work and live on them in SAR and emergency management applications.

Amateur radio has a pretty high average user age -- it has its uses but for most people, especially younger ones, there are other ways to communicate. It's got a bit of a prepper/survivalist crowd that gives it a bit of an extreme right flavor these days. Just sayin'.

As for equipment, try www.hamradio.com and www.amateurradiosupplies.com.

Try www.eHam.com for reviews (this area is full of pretty good quantitative reviews).

Going to a small handheld is a way to talk to people nearby, but it'll be about like getting a CB radio. Until you're trying to reach a greater distance there isn't much interest in the technical aspects. When you try to DX to Europe or wherever, you'll find yourself in a world of people who are fanatics about antennae, solar spots, signal ratios of various kinds, and so on. It becomes quite technical with people understanding the electronics technology and more often building at least part of their own equipment (though building your own is a bit of a dying art; it's facilitated these days with some kits made for some really superlative pieces of equipment -- check the ARRL magazine, QST, for examples of some of this).

Get a membership at www.arrl.org and get a couple of their books. And read QST. There's a big contingent involved in emergency response, providing radio services in emergencies, in search and rescue efforts, and so on. I work in that field and the amateur radio operators who help there are amazing and dedicated. If that strikes your interest, I'd connect into that crowd and see what you can do. Since you're fit as a cyclist already, you might want to get trained by your local sheriff's department or whoever manages search and rescue efforts and get engaged in one. In some places there's a MTB wing that uses mountain bikes to cover territory fast when searching for lost people; there's often horseback groups, very often off-roaders (lots of jeeps and the like that get sophisticated amateur radio setups and all kinds of harsh off-road equipment such as snorkels and emergency equipment), and so on.

Hope that helps.

[monkeybanana86]

I've put together a fox hole radio before for AM...

[monkeybanana86]

double post (internal error page came up so I submitted a second time)

[Peter P.]

I almost forgot, and it's bike related!

A local ham club used to participate in a "field day" exercise, using a bicycle driven generator to power their ham radios while they attempted to make as many contacts as possible.

[PaMtbRider]

Thanks for the good info so far. I'm not really sure how far I will take this but I enjoy the technical side of it. My wife tells me I need an indoor hobby for the winter so this might be it.

A new friend is into it, and is what rekindled my interest. He is coming from the prepper / survivalist end of things which isn't really for me.

The local ham club supports the local mountain bike race series so I can see getting involved in that. I also like the idea of long distance communication.

[William]

CQ, CQ, this is W9GFO. Is anybody out there?







William

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by PaMtbRider

Since I am off the bike for several weeks I decided to finally get my amateur radio license. I take my test next Tuesday. I have been taking the practice exams on QRZ.com and feel pretty confident of passing the technician exam. I also picked up a book by Gordon West that gives brief explanations of the answers. I am an electrician by trade so a lot of the material is very familiar.

Is there a Paceline equivalent forum for Ham radio operators? How about places to buy equipment?

I plan on buying a Baofang hand held to get my feet wet. After that, who knows. I am a gadget freak and the ham radio world looks like a place you can spend lots of money on fancy equipment that is way more than you need. Hmmm, that sounds suspiciously like cycling.

There's a test? Had no idea..I did have an FCC 'license' when in the USN..

[cp43]

The only thing I know about HAM radios is not to ask a HAM radio guy about HAM radio, unless you have a lot of time to kill. Although, I think this applies to just about any hobby people are passionate about.

I've asked twice, and had two interesting and informative conversations, but both were rather long.

[11.4]

Originally Posted by PaMtbRider

A new friend is into it, and is what rekindled my interest. He is coming from the prepper / survivalist end of things which isn't really for me.

The local ham club supports the local mountain bike race series so I can see getting involved in that. I also like the idea of long distance communication.

Don't take my survivalist/prepper comment too far. When you go to amateur radio meetings you see mostly either guys/couples in their sixties or guys in their forties with big beards, big bellies, lots of camo, and pickups with 10-12 inches of lift, brushwhackers, and festooned with antennas. They still do a good thing for events like your MTB racing and search and rescue.

The distance and tech thing merge in a great area with ultra-low-power communications. The equipment is inexpensive because you're only working with power ranging from less than a watt to perhaps ten watts. You can make most of it yourself. It's more often still key rather than voice, so you can have fun with some of the amazing keys and keyers out there. And the whole point is to learn atmospherics and optimum transmission and reception so you can reach someone in Europe with a watt. Sometimes you can go days without reaching your next door neighbor, but tweaking your system and sometimes going to hilltops at night and stringing a long wire (or just hunkering down at home on a winter night) will give you a cluster of conversations with people all over Europe, Africa, wherever. With your background, you might look into it. It's not the stuff of most typical amateur radio meetings, but there are always people around who are into it and you get the most respect out of anything you can do in amateur radio.

[11.4]

Originally Posted by william

cq, cq, this is w9gfo. Is anybody out there?







william

ke9o.