Communications:

[redtailhawk]

Another good contact last night with Seniortech in Newcastle, HardwareHank in Meteetse, and myself in Yelm, WA.  A couple of bugs to work out, but nothing major, and soon we should be able to cover most of the Western US.

Thanks, guys!

73,
redtailhawk

[Boston]

Hey, what fun!
Nice to see this going.
Y'all make me wanna get a ham radio.

Boston

[Seniortech]

You try it, you'll like it.
Not that hard to do.  Any old codger can do it, as evidenced by yours truly.  Help available from any ham, in any town.
Not that expensive.  Basic setup for about the cost of one rifle, or much less depending on the rifle.
A future necessity, might as well get started now.


Hawk, Hank: additions to the list?

[HardwareHank]

Like they say "Two years ago, I couldn't even spell 'H A M'.. now I are one."

I put off getting into HAM radio for a lot of years... When I finally made the move, I was surprised at how easy it was. Studied a bit, passed the tests, got my license and bought some used equipment.

Hard to explain it, but what a rush to make radio contact... no matter if it's the other side of Wyoming or down in South America.

I figure it gives me a little bit more of an edge if/when things really go to Hades in a handbasket. I know now that I can at least get hold of two other FSW'ers even if the internet is down and the cell towers are all dead.

[redtailhawk]

Only things I'd add to Seniortech and HardwareHank's post is get a couple of people who might be interested together and we'll get them on the radio as "third parties", especially kids.  ARRL Field Day comes up in June and its a great time to get as many people on the air as possible and see how emergency comms work in the civilian world.  We're already planning to set up a station or two during the FSW Campout.

And, go to a Hamfest!  Sort of like a gun show for radio geeks and most of the same people show up.

Hank's right...its like the first time shooting 45-70 or .50cal; a little nervous, definitely gonna flinch, but after you do it, big smiles!

[alexspartan]

ok, you guys have piqued my interest.  I'm definitely gonna have to look into this.

[HardwareHank]

Yep,

When I was in the military, aboard ship... I had a buddy who was a radioman. I found it fascinating to sit in the radio room and listen to those voices coming from the great unknown. That's where I got the bug.

[bear0u812]

After listening to this thread, my intrest is piqued. What is the avg cost to get started; equipment, liscences, etc; and where would one go for the "stuff"?

Kirbey

[HardwareHank]

After listening to this thread, my intrest is piqued. What is the avg cost to get started; equipment, liscences, etc; and where would one go for the "stuff"?

Kirbey

1. Getting licensed: http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/ is the best place to buy your "training manual". Get #9639 "HAM Radio License Manual" for $24.95. The test for your entry level license (Technician) consists of 35 questions, taken from a "pool" of questions. The fastest way to ace the test is to use the Manual in conjunction with FREE on-line tests at http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl. Take the on-line test repeatedly (there are 100 versions of the test to select... you'll quickly learn that the question pool isn't very large and soon, you're aceing the tests.

When you're ready to sit for the test, just ask where and when the closest test site is. I took my Tech test in Billings and my General test in Rapid City. The test is administered by three volunteers. Don't recall the cost... $15 or therebouts.

My suggestion - Once you get your Technician, immediately go for the General level.. it's not difficult and greatly expands your choice of frequencies.

2. Equipment: If you shop wisely, you can be on the air for well under $500. Nice thing is, radios are like guns.. they don't lose their value. When you're ready to trade-up, you'll get your money back from that first set. I started out with a Yaesu VX-6 handy-talky. Sitting in Meeteetse, I can hit the repeater over in Cody or Greybull... about 30 miles. The VX-6 is selling on eBay these days for as low as $250, brand new. 

How I use my HAM radios: I get a fair amount of windshield time. Between now and May, I'll be driving to Milwaukee, Atlantic City, Orlando and Reno... having made a trip to Phoenix in January. In my Suburban, I have a Yaesu 857-D radio which has both VHF/UHF and HF capability. I have just the VHF/UHF antenna mounted and connected, and that suits me fine. I guess I'd call VHF/UHF the HAM equivalent of the CB, except that there's very little traffic and the range is much greater. I generally tune to 146.52 (the universal 'calling frequency') and no matter how remote an area, can generally strike up a nice conversation with some local HAM situated out there in the boonies. Every HAM is different... maybe you'll be more interested in inter-continental rather than inter-county.

[Seniortech]

Find a ham.  It is the best way to get info.

Most hams will be gladly willing to show you their radio station setup.  They will have a bunch of gear: transceivers, antennas, amplifiers, coax switches, and all kinds of esoteric junk.  They will also tell you that most of this stuff is not needed for a basic ham station, and they will point out the essentials, give you an idea of costs, etc.  They will be happy to answer questions and give you technical advice, and tell you where you can take the tests.  Find a ham in your locality at QRZ.com.  Type in your town in the search block and you will get a list of all hams in the area.  Call one up and tell him you are interested in learning about ham radio and you will have made a friend.  He will be glad, glad I say, to help you out.  He will have catalogs lying around.  He will probably tune up the rig and listen in or talk to some other ham.  You will enjoy it.

If you make it to the hoe-down in June we will have a ham radio station set up with an HF (high frequency) transceiver with 50' or so of coax cable connected to a simple home-made wire antenna strung up between a couple of pine trees; a working ham radio station.  Also VHF (very high frequency) mobile radios set up on the table, in pickups and on a four-wheeler ATV.  We will demonstrate the station, show you how to make wire antennas, easy and cheap, and answer questions of all types until we run out of answers from our limited mental capacities.   And, like almost all hams everywhere, we'll be glad to see you.

[idahobob]

The memsahib and I are currently studying up for our Technician and General ticket.

We are using Gordon West's study materials through the W5YI group.
LOL.....should have done this years ago. Even old fogy's like us can do it.

A good part of our reasoning for finally going after the "ticket" is that we have grown children, literally, all over the world. Communications in this day and age are vital, especially when the lame stream media cannot be trusted to report the truth. Who knows how long we will have the internet?

Where we live, there is a push to get like minded people licensed and on the air, so as we can mutually support one another. As most are geographically spread out, comm's are of the absolute importance.
As the saying goes, "If you don't have comm, you don't have jack".

I'll let y'all know when we get our call signs.

Bob
III

[redtailhawk]

Memsahib!!  I haven't heard that in a while!

Welcome, Bob.  If you have questions or need help, let us know.  We all started out the same and had lots of questions, but we also had a local "ham" who helped us along and we're always looking to do the same.
73,
AA4VB
redtailhawk

[MichaelNotMike]

There was a kindly smart old guy in our neighborhood when I was about 9. The guy with the 70-foot antenna jutting over his modest house. I spent several years hanging around him in his "radio shack", I learned a lot about science from him. He really helped start my interest in "not just doing what all the other kids are doing." That guy was great.

I must say, seeing his wall full of postcards from places I hadn't even heard of really made me realize there was more to life than our little town. It made want to communicate with the world. He was a wonderful early influence on me.

After he died, I took a ham operator's license class at the local community college night school, when I was 13. Passed the written test, but my A.D.D. was too bad to get the Morse Code part well. (When the FCC removed the Morse Code requirement from the test a couple years ago, I considered brushing up and taking the written test again just to satisfy an old goal. But decided not to, since with the Internet, Ham radio is no long the only to "reach the world from your bedroom." But this thread is re-piquing my thoughts on re-learning that forgotten knowledge, and getting more.

A lot of people think "well, we could just use the Internet in an emergency", but that's dependent on telecom fiber backbone, so it depends on the type and the extent of the emergency. And something I don't see mentioned often is that the US Gov controls ICANN, which controls allocation and routing of domain names. So they could theoretically make any domain not work just by hitting a virtual switch. People could still reach the site, but would have to type the I.P. number into their browser. I think a lot of people who haven't done that before might not be able to figure it out quickly enough. And even those who could, wouldn't know to do it, they would just think "the site is down." This info is just one of a few million things I can think of that could be shared by ham radio if needed.

Also, there is a way to get Internet via Ham. Debra Jean knows a retired couple who sail the world in a boat, and get their e-mail through a Ham hookup. It's slow, they have a "no sending pictures" rule when they're out in the ocean, but they do send and receive e-mail over a Ham signal somehow.

MWD

[wyprairielady]

You can take a test for a technician in Gillette on April 11.  A class is held on Sunday at 1:30-3:30 at the rec center in the Powder River room.  It is on the north side of the building.  There are two more classes to be held. The folks are very helpful and explain some of the more abstract ideas.

They also GIVE you the manual!

[redtailhawk]

Bravo!!  And thanks wyprairielady for checking into the exams!  Believe me, if a radio club or VE (Volunteer Examiner) knows they've got a group of interested parties, they'll make it happen for you!

Some facts:
1.  Morse is no longer a requirement for any of the Amateur Licenses.
2.  The Technician License will get you legal for the VHF and UHF bands which are local areas and for some, this is as far as they want to go.  To get on the long distance bands, HF and LF, you need a General License or better.  The test for General isn't much different than the Technician just a little more on international laws, antennas and propagation, radio courtesies, and radios in "general".  A General License will get you on all the HF frequencies with some limitations reserved for the Extra Class License.
3.  All questions for all the classes of exams are made public and open for study BEFORE taking the exams, so the questions you see on the exam are the same questions you studied.
4.  Your call sign carries over when you upgrade your license unless you request a change.
5.  The best part...there are no expectations beyond what you want to do with radio...if you just want emergency communications with your neighbors and friends then no problem, if you want to bounce signals off the moon, do digital RTTY or packet, or do Slow-Scan/Fast-Scan Television broadcasts, then again, no problem.

Most of us got into radio for the emergency communications or for the science of radio.  In all my years with radio, and I think Seniortech and HardwareHank would say the same, I've been blessed with having some fine old geezers help me along and develop my skills and knowledge to the point that today, if all Hades busts open, I can find someone, somewhere, and either get help or lend help. 

Communicating is one of my least worries...large rifle primers and good brass worry me more.

Our goal is to get a regular, scheduled net established, both for local and long distance.  No long commitments required, just check in every so often and make sure the radios and antennas are working and get more people involved.  We're almost there and after a couple more test shots, we should be able to cover the US and beyond.

Again, Bravo to all!

73,redtailhawk, AA4VB