So I figured there are lots of other HAM's here.

Back when woolly mammoths roamed the earth, I took two years of electronics in HS. Our teacher tried to get all of us to take the HAM exam but I had zero desire to learn code. So i never took the test.

Fast forward to earlier this year when I heard about a HAM in a Day class where they basically teach the test in a half day study session and then you write the exam. As I've gotten into working at ARA races where we use HAM radios for net control, it seemed like a good reason to invest the time. So in August, I took the class, passed with a 96% on the Tech and attempted the General (HS electronics was a LONG time ago) and got 50%. So I'll study and go back for the higher ticket.

Bought a little TIDradio H4 so I could get on the air. Joined the local to me HAM club. looking at used mobile radios as here in rural America, I can't hit the repeaters with my handheld from home. Just what I needed, another hobby to spend money on right?

Who knows, maybe I'll bump into some of you all on the air sometime.

Brad
KF8ESZ

Congratulations!

Does that little handheld by chance have an external antenna jack? Removable antenna?

A homemade J Pole antenna would do wonders run up on the roof!

KA4PWT

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
Congratulations!

Does that little handheld by chance have an external antenna jack? Removable antenna?

A homemade J Pole antenna would do wonders run up on the roof!

KA4PWT

Thanks!

Yes my radio does. And I've thought about adding a magnetic antenna fro the truck.

Congratulations!
That's quite an accomplishment.

Congrats!!!

KQ4PKI

Well done! Keep going and get your General license. It (HF) will, quite literally, open up the world.

Even in a day when you can pick up your iPhone and talk with anyone anywhere anytime. It still fascinates me that I can turn on my radio and meet new friends all over the world by running some electricity through a wire nailed to a tree in my yard.

I couldn't sleep last night and turned on my big rig to see if the bands were open at all. Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Hawaii, ...Svalsbard (I bet you need to look that one up. I never even knew the place existed!).

I tried for, literally, decades to learn code but never could, so I gave up on the whole idea. Then in `07 I learned they had dropped the code requirement. I had my Tech license 2 months later, and General 4 months after that. Now? Now I'm working on the code thing again. Go figure. HF is where it's at.

KE7NVY

Yeah, I had a thread awhile back about learning code. I, too, struggle(d) with it. For me, it kind of depends on the day, whether there are any distractions, etc.... I'm just not sure that my brain is wired to think that fast a lot of times. I'm good at 12-13WPM. 15 gets sketchy and 20 is about every third word if I know it's coming. The guys that can "speak" it fluently and fast just amaze me. For the life of me, I don't know how they do it.

Not sure if you know, but W1AW puts out a practice broadcast I think several times a day (I've only caught it in the evenings) at around 7.048 and 14.048 (ish), where they'll send a five or so minute code at increasing speeds. It's good practice for training your ear and building speed. Then, just listen around and find someone calling CQ fairly slowly and give 'em a holler.

The POTA guys are the ones I focused on for a long time because you really don't have to ragchew. So, your brain kind of knows what's coming and you get good at recognizing those "words". (Callsign, 5-9-9, MT, etc...)

Anyway, keep at it! CW is a lot of fun and there's some cool folks out there to chat with.

I've listened to W1AW a handful of times, but it's mostly gibberish because I'm still working on learning all of the letters and symbols. I'm about 2/3 of the way through them now. With the ones I have learned, I can actually send faster than copy, so I need to work on copying more. I think learning the rest of it and making at least a few contacts is going to be my winter project.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
I can actually send faster than copy,

VERY common. I could easily send at 20-25+. I'm a "handsy" kind of guy, and that tactile kind of thing comes pretty easy for me (from my brain to my hands, but not so much from outside to my brain...if that makes sense). Like you, me, and everyone else I've met, copying is completely different.

One thing you'll find, and forgive me if I'm saying what you already know, is that it is difficult to slow down your sending to the same speed as your copying, but you need to do that because the guy on the other end doesn't know that you can only copy at 12-15 when you're sending at 25. So, you get a response at blazing speed and have to QRS QRS QRS.

Not sure how far along you are, but one bit of advice I could pass along is to learn the characters fast (20+ speed). That way you're not trying to think that .-.. is L, but rather you're just learning the sound of the whole letter quickly.

Anyway, keep it up! Maybe I'll catch on the air one day.

You might also look into CW Academy as well. I did their beginner course and it helped me alot.

Congratulations on your ticket.

A useful forum is www.qrz.com

Try a better 2m antenna for reaching the repeater.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Congratulations on your ticket.

A useful forum is www.qrz.com

Try a better 2m antenna for reaching the repeater.

Thanks you! Have a few contacts in my log now. Joined a localish HAM club.

Got a better antenna coming this week. That should help.

And a friend already turned me on to QRZ. Makes you appreciate the total lack of ads here and they have classifieds which probably is going to cost me money.

Congrats and 73. I have my General license.

In the mid-1960's a friend tried to help me get into HAM, but I couldn't memorize the Morse code, like Expert308. No further interest on my part to try, but the friend who tried helping me is still current. His call-sign (is that what it's called?) is still listed as active after 60 years. It must be really addictive!

QRZ has a paid tier for ad-free, and I resisted for years. Now that I have a need to software integrate my MacLoggerDX and QRZ log, I paid the $35. The absence of ads for $35 makes QRZ tolerable.

What still differentiates SF from others is moderation. We treat each other well, and when we don't, we are disciplined.

QRZ, for whatever reason, allows bad behavior and the "dialog" battles between two so-called and self-appointed experts can be both baffling and beyond belief. It's like a contest without rules, points, referees, and boundaries. Men who fail to have self-confidence seem to want affirmation from invisible friends that they are intellectually superior and indispensable to the masses of hams.

When I was in about 8th grade, my neighbor two houses up was a HAM expert. He prodded me into taking a course at the nearby college and then testing for the novice class. I succeeded somehow, though I remember feeling WAY overwhelmed by it all. My license certificate is around here somewhere...

I got my Technician license but I haven't done anything since I got it.

Congrats. I’m a general license holder studying for my extra.

I’ve been buying gear and re-wiring antennas. Got rid of all my old coax and re-did everything in LMR400.

I enjoying the Tenadyne T6 - was making great contacts in Mobile Alabama, turned 180 degrees and Hawaii was clear as a bell.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I got my Technician license but I haven't done anything since I got it.

You can buy a radio so cheap now that if nothing else the bar is low to come play

Friend showed me how to use Chirp and programming is easy peasy

Greg, that’s cool. Good luck on the extra. I’m going to put the time in to study for General over the winter