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As best I know they aren't really countermeasures unless you're with a group and someone spots a trap before you; but this is the HAM section, and I was thinking I'm about ready to go take the test for my Tech. cert in the next few weeks, so I was curious how many others here are already HAMs
Not a HAM but it sounds pretty cool. It can also be very useful during times of crisis (Swine flu anyone:D).
Do you have to memorize morse code for the first cert?
Not anymore, that's what the Tech cert is. And you can even pre-test yourself on line several times so when you show up you'll have a good idea of what your score will be.Quote:
Originally Posted by srtga
I've had the book and studied for a good year and a half now, and took 2 NWS weather spotter classes recently which sorta pushed me over the edge on just getting it done (basically I just needed to pick a test date and do it for a while now), plus it lets me have the scanners in more places and will set me up with a mobile GMRS legally putting out 45W which will be helpful when I go on car club runs.
W4NJ
Cliff - LI-USA/LI-UK
So what exactly are you tested on? Electronics, frequencies, allowable output...?
Just wondering. I know that back in the day HAMs were serious electronic geeks.
Electrical theory (if you took HS physics and got the basic concepts, this is pretty easy) then the majority of the pretesting that I've done it's been heavy in the radio safety, rules (ID requirements (and understanding the structure of it), vocab, band plan, to just how certain key points are worded) and fixing/preventing interference issues.Quote:
Originally Posted by srtga
The book they've got out has a self test at the end of each chapter and all those exact same questions are in the mix for the test, then they pull out certain quantities from each pool to make the test, so theoretically you go into it having already seen it all before.
Yes. Heavy on those three, plus rules.Quote:
Originally Posted by srtga
These days, over 90 percent of new hams are people who only memorised the test answers and actually know dick about electronics. It's really lame and pointless anymore.Quote:
Just wondering. I know that back in the day HAMs were serious electronic geeks.
I became a Ham around 1980, but expired several years back. I was Advanced class (no longer exists) N5ETG. Been inactive long enough that I will have to re-test to re-license. I need to do that soon since the peak storm season is almost here.
Yea, I grew up in Warner Robins Ga. so some of my friends dads were active duty or retired AF. These guys had regular electronic shops with O-scopes and commercial soldering stations in their garages.
Of course this was back in the heath kit days. I always thought the big banks of radios with the FCC deal hanging on the wall was pretty neat.
On a sort of OT...
I'm a liberterian but I drive through a few areas that have idiots running super hot CB base stations. These guys just transmit pure GARBAGE mostly just repeating the same phrase OVER AND OVER! It's really a PITA and impedes useful radio traffic.
Now I better understand why powerful transmitters are regulated...
I am as well. Advanced class.
I have my general, I mainly did it so I could carry a scanner in the car in places that otherwise it would not be legal.
Add me to the list! Just passed the technician exam. :D:cool:
Congrats!Quote:
Originally Posted by Motor On
Not being a smart a$$, but what can you do with it?
Sorta crazy weekend sorry for the delay...
Thanks:)Quote:
Originally Posted by srtga
ARRL saysSo I can talk to the space station, put my NOAA weather spotter training to a little better use, converse with other HAMs, have communication when storms hit and phones and power lines come down, participate more advanced level with my area Emergency Management Agency, participate in various HAM events (transmitter searches, conests for longest contacts or most conacts in a given time, etc), and scanner use is now allowed/expanded in FL, KY, MN, possibly NY, and theoretically in SD.Quote:
Technician Class operators are authorized to use all amateur VHF and UHF frequencies (all frequencies above 50 MHz). Technicians also may operate on the 80, 40, and 15 meter HF bands using Morse code, and on the 10 meter band using Morse code, voice, and digital modes. No Morse code test is required.
You are also authorized to utilize the amateur radio satellite network.:D
Actually sounds pretty cool! 10 meter is CB right?
Close, there's 12 meter and 10 meter and CB splits the two. But there's a common illegal expanded CB mod that I think ends up falling onto/over the 10 meter.Quote:
Originally Posted by srtga
Here's what's on that from a CB forum
Quote:
"Illegal Frequencies"
- 28.000Mhz+ = Morse Code Ham Radio
- Note: If you own a Modified Export "Cb Radio" like a Galaxy or simular, "19 HIGH" is 28.085. Truckers change band selector while on channel 19 cb to "high" or "Band D" ? This causes them to talk in the "Ham Bands". Very Bad. What is worse, these truckers are speaking in the "morse code only" area of this "Ham Band". Ham operators are not legally able to use voice to tell the truckers "hey, you are talking in the Amateur Radio CW section of 10 meters".
Warning: Mobile Ham operators all over the U.S. are observing and reporting truckers talking above 28mhz (28.000+). These Hams will report the truck and it's company to the FCC. They often include video and audio evidence with their complaints. The FCC contacts the trucking company warning them of potential fines. Truckers have been fired. Companies have been fined. It is best to stay within the common 1-40. The irony being, what truckers might think are added privacy channels are actually drawing national attention.
Former AMR here. I held my license before I could drive a car legally. Kind of lost interests later on in life. I can still be found on 10/11 meters though. my CB rig is a necessity when wheeling off-road with the club.
I used to frequent 2meters and 440cm but quickly grew tired of all the old timers on there rag chewing about their latest antenna farm and new radio gear all the time.
I may one day get licensed again. I support any Amateur Radio Operator (HAM) that provides public service in a time of crisis.
73's.
officially KC9xxx as of yesterday!:D
still waiting for my printout though. :D:D i guess i could print out the reference copy from online.
anyway, already have an HT (yaesu ft-60r), and already the mobile bug is starting to hit. debating between the yaesu 817nd and the yaesu 857d. both go all the way down to 160 meter!
i'll probably realistically get down to only 10 meter though since my maxrad mlb2700 is tunable to 10/11 meter.:D
Congrats Cell!!!!!
FYI I know you blur your plates, may want to blur your call cause its even easeir to find you that way, than looking up the plates.
I'm looking to pick up a yeasu fT-7800 or 7900 in the next few weeks and then a handheld down the road from that.
And of course there's echolink so you can jump on a local net from the internet.
yeah you're right. but i figured most people don't even know how to look up callsigns. ill fix it anyway.
i went right for the general exam once i passed the tech exam. but i failed:p anyway, i got 12 wrong with max 9 wrong to pass. so i was kind of close. did better than i thought. oh well, next time. anything longer than 10 meters won't really fit on the car anyway
My dad had his license at 14. I've grown up with being "persuaded" into helping him throw "just one more" crazy homebrew wire-setup antenna in the back-yard. This new DTV is great though - he put up a new verticle and a big wire and told the annoying old people next door it was "for better reception" or some bull****.
I've run the station for a few contests, on voice and the new digital-waterfall thing. Can't get the code down quite like him, though.
I'd like to get certified at some point, but he always makes fun of people who pass after the code test went away, so I'm not even sure if it's worth it for me.
Most people don't know how to look up licence plates either. Callsigns are a lot easier to look up. That's why I would never get Ham plates.Quote:
Originally Posted by cell21633
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickr
the whole PSK31 thing? or a different digital modulation? i've wanted to get into digital for a little bit, but those radios are EXPENSIVE! plus, i think only icom makes them..
Me too, but I'm semi partial to the sound and growing popularity among HAMs of having a P25 repeater in the area. But basically Moto means big $$$ and for how small a group it still is it's nowhere near worth it.Quote:
Originally Posted by cell21633
Yup! It's actually a lot of fun once you figure it out, and we've got two monitors hooked up to an old dell laptop running a couple of different programs (I don't really understand it completely, but my dad reads books and articles on HAM stuff constantly, and he does). It hooks up the radio through, basically, an external USB soundcard that is specifically designed for it. The new radio we have for it is pretty expensive, but the amount you can do on it is just ridiculous. Before we got the radio ("took out of storage", if you ask my mom) we had an old kit my dad had built back in Cedar Rapids, and it worked really well - the new radio just opened up some new possibilities.Quote:
Originally Posted by cell21633
The radio is one of the few things we've actually bought for the whole set-up, though. My dad got some old coax from a bank he used to work at, the monitors and laptop from his current job, and books from the library. It's kinda cool to see how much he can build in the basement...
Got a ham here in NYC. Dropped out of the hobby somewhat because of the assholes and BS you have to deal with and the drama that goes on here in NYC. When I find some cool people to talk too, maybe I'll start back up like I use too. 73....
LOL! That's a common story. Ham gets boring pretty quickly. The same old people talking about the same old stuff all day, every day. It was great back before cellphones, but I have little use for it anymore.
I'm an Extra and a VE
Awesome, John! I wish I were near you. I let my ticket expire long enough ago that I have to re-test now to re-enter the hobby. I'll be doing that soon. No shortage of VEs around here, but it'd be nice to connect with a fellow enthusiast like yourself!Quote:
Originally Posted by John_in_NC
I'm just glad I don't have to re-learn 20 wpm code, because it wasn't easy the first time. I doubt I could do it again, lol.
KF4IVP