1st liscened Jan 1978 as KL7JIU while Uncle Sam was my U S Army travel agent while stationed in Alaska. Still active with a vanity re-issue of 1st call sign which use to mean that I was physically living in Alaska but with the now relaxed call sign program of not having to mandate call sign change when you moved into a different call sign district area which was numbered 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/0/ .. Also stations outside of the continential US borders had special prefix designations. ............................. drill sgt....aka..KL7jiu

quote:

Originally posted by drill sgt:
1st liscened Jan 1978 as KL7JIU while Uncle Sam was my U S Army travel agent while stationed in Alaska. Still active with a vanity re-issue of 1st call sign which use to mean that I was physically living in Alaska but with the now relaxed call sign program of not having to mandate call sign change when you moved into a different call sign district area which was numbered 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/0/ .. Also stations outside of the continential US borders had special prefix designations. ............................. drill sgt....aka..KL7jiu

And now you get to talk to me everyday.

KA4PWT. From circa ~1980s.
General class with 13 WPM code.
Inactive...

Another Tech here!

Extra here. It really started when I was serving in Viet Nam and the military along with stateside operators allowed me to speak to my parents on Christmas. It made a really good impression on me.

Extra since 1983. Inactive at the current time.

Studying for Tech as we speak.

I'm a EE so I almost have to. Been dragging my feet studying because of work and being a dad. I'm almost perfect on the technical questions, just falling on my face with regulations and procedures...

quote:

Originally posted by DoctorSolo:
I'm a EE so I almost have to. Been dragging my feet studying because of work and being a dad. I'm almost perfect on the technical questions, just falling on my face with regulations and procedures...

That describes me perfectly when I got my license, with the exception of the Dad part.

General here.HF is where its at.Have worked the world.73 de W5UZI

Passed the General way back when the 10wpm code was still required. Sorry I missed the chance to build a Heathkit which piqued my interest as a teen.


But I've been inactive for many years. Not going to buy a expensive hf rig only to hear a bunch of idiots cursing back and forth.

Back when I started, that type of conduct was unheard of.

AE4CH. Enjoy local repeater conversations on 2m. Participate in emergency communications NETS and related. Saving money for HF radio and antenna, suitable for hiking to summits and in parks (SOTA / POTA). Have three handheld transceivers.

Amateur radio has many enjoyable aspects. One concern I have is the most trafficked forum, www.qrz.com. It is, as best I can tell, filled with people who enjoy and practice the art of character attack. There are many who insist on dispensing ham justice, when a person posts a question. This justice involves questioning the mental abilities, emotional stability, and financial sensibility of the original poster.

As an example, on that forum, in the “news” subforum, a ham posted a review of a very expensive handheld transceiver. In the several pages that follow, the typical responses were “my Chinese radio does everything this one does, for 10% of the cost” and similar disparagement. Page after page questioned the veracity of the review, as the reviewer might not have paid for the radio himself. Which he did. And stated in the review. Which no one listened to. I get tired of such behavior.

It is important, to me, to participate in person. Here in Richmond VA we have several nets and clubs that offer true social dialog, guidance, and friendship. Just having a radio and a license will not meet most people’s needs. So, if you jump in, do so in person.

Long time General ... John

quote:

Originally posted by DoctorSolo:
I'm a EE so I almost have to. Been dragging my feet studying because of work and being a dad. I'm almost perfect on the technical questions, just falling on my face with regulations and procedures...

I've been around EE's for forty years and none of them were HAM's . Why do you say you almost have to ?

K5LTG. Tech ticket, studying for General but keep getting distracted. Use VHF, UHF FM mostly through local repeaters and Fusion Wires X. Still lots of fun. Dad was a HAM for 70+ years. W9CPJ.

Only negative with the Ham hobby (like most) is cost of gear and space for antennas once you get into HF. If you stay with VHF/UHF and lower end of 10 meter, SSB and CW and CW only on a few other bands you're good. Learning code is rewarding and really not that difficult if you put your mind to it. Go for it.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:

quote:

Originally posted by DoctorSolo:
I'm a EE so I almost have to. Been dragging my feet studying because of work and being a dad. I'm almost perfect on the technical questions, just falling on my face with regulations and procedures...

I've been around EE's for forty years and none of them were HAM's . Why do you say you almost have to ?

Unlike many EEs, my tech focus in school was RF. Agreed, EE is a broad dicipline. I know EEs that only know how to code. Im quite the opposite, HAM has so much overlap with my specific areas of study it's almost a waste not to do it for a guy with my background.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:

quote:

Originally posted by DoctorSolo:
I'm a EE so I almost have to. Been dragging my feet studying because of work and being a dad. I'm almost perfect on the technical questions, just falling on my face with regulations and procedures...

I've been around EE's for forty years and none of them were HAM's . Why do you say you almost have to ?

I'm an EE and spent most of my working life around EEs and I'd say 3/4 of them were Hams.

Brand new Tech here, as of late December.
Take a look here for another option.

quote:

Originally posted by DoctorSolo:

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:

quote:

Originally posted by DoctorSolo:
I'm a EE so I almost have to. Been dragging my feet studying because of work and being a dad. I'm almost perfect on the technical questions, just falling on my face with regulations and procedures...

I've been around EE's for forty years and none of them were HAM's . Why do you say you almost have to ?

Unlike many EEs, my tech focus in school was RF. Agreed, EE is a broad dicipline. I know EEs that only know how to code. Im quite the opposite, HAM has so much overlap with my specific areas of study it's almost a waste not to do it for a guy with my background.

I have degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science.

Just from the required intro EE courses from my ME degree and messing around with personal projects, I already knew most of the technical stuff and the bits I didn’t (mainly the finer details of atmospheric propagation) took maybe an hour of study to pick up.

I do want to specifically emphasize that I don’t mean I know all the technical stuff a good ham ought to know - just that the stuff they actually test is pretty basic.

I did spend a fair amount of time on procedures and regulations.

I took the technician, general, and extra exams all in one session a few years ago and passed all three easily.

This was long after the CW requirement went away. After getting licensed, I spent some time learning CW. I got to where I could do it very slowly, but then I got busy and didn’t do anything with it for years and have forgotten it all.

Newly minted Technician here. The recent activity in this thread motivated me to get my ham license. One week from opening this thread to passing the test yesterday. Received my callsign today, KK7DND. Thanks for the motivation and 73 to each of you.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LBTRS,