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DocWard

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Hey, Doc. Calam asked... okay, ordered... me to give you the benefit of my nonexistent hamster experience.  

Got into Hams at the request of my company's emergency response team.  They had a nice amateur radio set-up - and no one to run it. So, I earned my Technician's ticket. Then, life got... complicated.  Five moves in three years later, we're settled in God's Country, Florida.  

Which is a long way of saying: I'm way out of date. However, I received some great advice from Gordon (Gordo) West that I'm still following: Start slow and learn. Get a good 2 meter handheld from a reputable company (Baofeng ain't one), put a magnetic antenna on your truck (again, name brand), download the CHIRP utility to program your handheld with local repeaters,  and get on the air.  Ham Radio clubs are also a GREAT resource.  There's always someone willing to be an "Elmer" (mentor).  The Community Disaster Preparedness orgs like ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) are very strong in community service and ham radio.

It goes without saying that I should be following my own advice.

73

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For a voice only rig the Alinco DR-735T is hard to beat. Dual VFO's, intuitive to operate, and easy to program.

 

The Icom 2730 is also a nice voice only rig but the cooling fan is annoying and Icom nickle and dimes you to death because no accessories come with the radio.

 

Consensus on Yaesu rigs is that while very high quality they are not very intuitive to program and use.

 

A great source of equipment reviews from other HAMs is www.eham.net

 

If your interested in D-Star / DMR capable rigs I'll need to talk to a couple of guys at our Friday Lunch get together.

 

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1 hour ago, Uno Mas SASS #80082 said:

Hey, Doc. Calam asked... okay, ordered... me to give you the benefit of my nonexistent hamster experience.  

Got into Hams at the request of my company's emergency response team.  They had a nice amateur radio set-up - and no one to run it. So, I earned my Technician's ticket. Then, life got... complicated.  Five moves in three years later, we're settled in God's Country, Florida.  

Which is a long way of saying: I'm way out of date. However, I received some great advice from Gordon (Gordo) West that I'm still following: Start slow and learn. Get a good 2 meter handheld from a reputable company (Baofeng ain't one), put a magnetic antenna on your truck (again, name brand), download the CHIRP utility to program your handheld with local repeaters,  and get on the air.  Ham Radio clubs are also a GREAT resource.  There's always someone willing to be an "Elmer" (mentor).  The Community Disaster Preparedness orgs like ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) are very strong in community service and ham radio.

It goes without saying that I should be following my own advice.

73

 

I've joined our local ham radio club, it's just been hard to connect with the pandemic and all. There is an in person meeting scheduled for next Monday, however. By then, I may have a radio. I hinted that might be a great Father's Day gift, and I was talking about getting a radio and was told to "hold off." So, we'll see, then I need to figure out the antenna aspect.

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26 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

For a voice only rig the Alinco DR-735T is hard to beat. Dual VFO's, intuitive to operate, and easy to program.

 

The Icom 2730 is also a nice voice only rig but the cooling fan is annoying and Icom nickle and dimes you to death because no accessories come with the radio.

 

Consensus on Yaesu rigs is that while very high quality they are not very intuitive to program and use.

 

A great source of equipment reviews from other HAMs is www.eham.net

 

If your interested in D-Star / DMR capable rigs I'll need to talk to a couple of guys at our Friday Lunch get together.

 

 

Like I mentioned above, I might have something by then, I just don't know what. I belong to QRZ.com, and someone else suggested eham.net, so I will give them a look. I need to dive in and ask questions, but I've been researching to see if the answer has already been given out. In reading threads, I'm often  more confused than I usually am.

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Uno Mas spoke of Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and the like ... he's right.

Our Burning River Traffic Net has regular, multiple times a week, evening nets.

We practice formal message handling, and when severe weather hits, we activate Severe Weather nets to keep track of what the conditions actually are.

I'm Skywarn certified (Storm spotter.  NOT STORM CHASER!!) -- we report boots on the ground conditions, because as the National Weather Service taught us, "We have radar but radar looks at clouds. People don't live in clouds, people live on the ground and that's where we need your eyes and your reports!"

The national traffic net passes practice and emergency messages, and I've handled them out of hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, along with other disasters, mostly west of here.

My favorite of them all was out of an Iowa tornado strike.

Stripped of the addressing header, it read, and I quote:

"It's a Boy!"

Disasters aren't always painted with a broad brush in a remote location.

I had my Yaesu talkie in my uniform shirt pocket on midnight shift more than a decade ago.

A voice came over our local repeater:  "I NEED HELP!"
He described uncontrolled bleeding and gave a location.

I called 911, they referred me to Cuyahoga County 911, we had a three way conversation, the cavalry was dispatched.

I called jurisdictional PD half an hour later, identified myself and said "I know there's a great deal you can't tell me, but can you advise if this was a legit call or did I send the forces of Good and Light in pursuit of the wild waterfowl?"

The dispatcher chuckled and said "Oh, no, that one was legit. Patrol said it looked like someone squirted the inside of his car with red paint."

Come to find out it was a dialysis patient -- his graft blew its clot and he had a fine stream of arterial blood geysering all over the inside of his car -- under stress, fine motor control and rational thought join hands and jump out the nearest window, and we're left with gross motor skills and training.

He had not the coordination in that moment to manipulate the little bitty buttons on his cell phone.

He saw that nice friendly 2-meter mic hanging on his dash.

He picked it up, pressed the button and said, "Help."

One week later, at our regular club meeting, he came on-air and thanked the unknown ham who saved his life.

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10 hours ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

Uno Mas spoke of Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and the like ... he's right.

Our Burning River Traffic Net has regular, multiple times a week, evening nets.

We practice formal message handling, and when severe weather hits, we activate Severe Weather nets to keep track of what the conditions actually are.

I'm Skywarn certified (Storm spotter.  NOT STORM CHASER!!) -- we report boots on the ground conditions, because as the National Weather Service taught us, "We have radar but radar looks at clouds. People don't live in clouds, people live on the ground and that's where we need your eyes and your reports!"

The national traffic net passes practice and emergency messages, and I've handled them out of hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, along with other disasters, mostly west of here.

My favorite of them all was out of an Iowa tornado strike.

Stripped of the addressing header, it read, and I quote:

"It's a Boy!"

Disasters aren't always painted with a broad brush in a remote location.

I had my Yaesu talkie in my uniform shirt pocket on midnight shift more than a decade ago.

A voice came over our local repeater:  "I NEED HELP!"
He described uncontrolled bleeding and gave a location.

I called 911, they referred me to Cuyahoga County 911, we had a three way conversation, the cavalry was dispatched.

I called jurisdictional PD half an hour later, identified myself and said "I know there's a great deal you can't tell me, but can you advise if this was a legit call or did I send the forces of Good and Light in pursuit of the wild waterfowl?"

The dispatcher chuckled and said "Oh, no, that one was legit. Patrol said it looked like someone squirted the inside of his car with red paint."

Come to find out it was a dialysis patient -- his graft blew its clot and he had a fine stream of arterial blood geysering all over the inside of his car -- under stress, fine motor control and rational thought join hands and jump out the nearest window, and we're left with gross motor skills and training.

He had not the coordination in that moment to manipulate the little bitty buttons on his cell phone.

He saw that nice friendly 2-meter mic hanging on his dash.

He picked it up, pressed the button and said, "Help."

One week later, at our regular club meeting, he came on-air and thanked the unknown ham who saved his life.

 

I am planning on both ARES and Skywarn once I become a bit more proficient. I would certainly like to be of help and service where possible. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get my brother to seek his license, yet. If he does, I would like to make use of them on camping trips. Heck, even if he doesn't, I would like to make use on camping trips!

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On 6/15/2021 at 11:24 AM, DocWard said:


Nah, I decided after sixty-some views to a question l posed about ham radio with no responses, I would be a little more creative with my delete.

 

Good Lord!

Don't you know how to elicit a response properly????
OK, Here's the secret!

In the title of your thread, include the word SEX 

You'll be overwhelmed with views and someone will know the answers.

See?

Easy Peasy

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Like the gun forums, the Amateur radio forums are filled with people that have no clue, yet they want to be the center of attention so that parrot information without a true understanding of what they are talking about. 

 

I learned more about HF communication and antennas by reading books written in the late 40s and through out the 50s than I ever have reading current articles. 

 

Amateur radio magazines suffer the same issues as the gun magazines. Product reviews as mostly fluff and gloss over or fail to point out the short comings of the equipment they review.

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Well, here is my Father's Day gift:
IMG_1358.thumb.jpg.c965feae219b0feb5ec4f1ac022721b6.jpg
 

IMG_1359.jpg

 

Now, the hard / fun work begins. Figuring out where to mount it, how to mount it, etc... The face plate is detachable, so I may mount it under a seat and run an external speaker. As for antenna, I'm considering a COMPACtenna for the truck, as it seems to get good reviews and is less susceptible to getting smacked going through drive throughs. Here is possibly the best side by side review I have ever seen of anything.
 

 

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6 am Monday and the weather radio just went off.

Severe thunder storm warning this county.

Raining, I hear thunder, HF antenna is unplugged.

Extensive discussion of ham radio antenna grounding omitted.

(Lightning hit my station once, extensive damage, precautions taken)

Brewing coffee and going downstairs to get on the VHF/UHF radio.

Emergency weather net will be on the 2-meter band, on the Amherst repeater.

Talkies are charged and ready to go.

Ham radio emergency weather net activation is generally automatic upon weather warning.

More later.

KD8NGE/sksk

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41 minutes ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

6 am Monday and the weather radio just went off.

Severe thunder storm warning this county.

Raining, I hear thunder, HF antenna is unplugged.

Extensive discussion of ham radio antenna grounding omitted.

(Lightning hit my station once, extensive damage, precautions taken)

Brewing coffee and going downstairs to get on the VHF/UHF radio.

Emergency weather net will be on the 2-meter band, on the Amherst repeater.

Talkies are charged and ready to go.

Ham radio emergency weather net activation is generally automatic upon weather warning.

More later.

KD8NGE/sksk

 

Stay safe, my friend

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Warning and watch are expired now.
Brief intense rainfall, now past.

Remaining watchful.

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I spent months getting my Novice. WB0ZDP. I could not afford a REAL unit so I spent months scavenging parts to construct very low power ?(QRP)? unit. It functioned perfectly for about 3 seconds, then a puff of magic smoke was released from one of the WWII parts.  Again I dugg ing my heels and finished the QRP again.  Large application of magic smoke.  I started again and accidentally found a CB.

 

Roger God Buddy.  This the old Muskrat in the 2 door yellow banana.  I'll be here in the rocking chair and let you haul me to Sptingtown.  That rolling junkyard just said it was clean and green to OK state line.  Just a setting here with my ears flapping in the breeze.

Muskrat out!

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2 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Nice rig Doc.


Evidently my family does like me. Now to get everything I need to get it up and running. There’s a meeting of our county amateur radio club tonight, so hoping for pointers.

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Today is Saturday 26th, and right now I feel as sharp as a bowling ball.

Should have made mention of this well before now, my apologies.

It's Ham Radio's Field Day Weekend.

Clubs are set up in remote locations under field conditions, passing messages to simulate communication in a situation.

Generator, battery or solar power (or bicycle generator, or whatever ya got) and make contacts as best as you can.

I'll be at the Indian Hollow Reservation today with our group.

I plan to take a close look at my buddy's solar system, he found a controller that does not produce radio interference.

Doc, if your ham radio club is participating, it's a great way to see the system in action, and just like Cowboy Action, guys love to show off their stuff!

 

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7 hours ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

Today is Saturday 26th, and right now I feel as sharp as a bowling ball.

Should have made mention of this well before now, my apologies.

It's Ham Radio's Field Day Weekend.

Clubs are set up in remote locations under field conditions, passing messages to simulate communication in a situation.

Generator, battery or solar power (or bicycle generator, or whatever ya got) and make contacts as best as you can.

I'll be at the Indian Hollow Reservation today with our group.

I plan to take a close look at my buddy's solar system, he found a controller that does not produce radio interference.

Doc, if your ham radio club is participating, it's a great way to see the system in action, and just like Cowboy Action, guys love to show off their stuff!

 


As we speak! Right now I feel like I did when I took a karate seminar with a guy by the name of Joe Lewis as a lowly purple belt. WAAAYYYY over my head, but having fun.

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Saturday night --

Sun burnt, tired and happy!

Did not get on the radio at all.

Ended up as setup technician and emergency repair specialist.

My friend Bruce brought his telescoping flagpole he's used in past Field Days -- each section extends, then twists to friction lock -- but the top two sections are worn enough, the friction lock feels like it's secure ... and then it collapses with a BANG and knocks the section down into the section below.

He's replacing it for next year's Field Day so I suggested extending the two top sections, drilling a quarter inch hole and inserting a peg.

We did, it's standing, something tells me it might be that way next year.

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Did a little radio time on a club member's rig. Made contacts with Ohio, NH and NC. Daughter made one with VA and NC. I would call it a success. I'm looking forward to next year.

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WB6RHR

 

On my radar is a Yaesu FT-2980R with a frequency upgrade to use public service channels when working on wildfires as a backup to my issue radio.  

 

Caveat:  Transmitting on public service channels is forbidden unless employed by the agency or under current contract. 

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12 hours ago, Jailhouse Jim, SASS #13104 said:

WB6RHR

 

On my radar is a Yaesu FT-2980R with a frequency upgrade to use public service channels when working on wildfires as a backup to my issue radio.  

 

Caveat:  Transmitting on public service channels is forbidden unless employed by the agency or under current contract. 

 

Simple solid radio by the sound of it. Since it is a 2 meter only radio, do the public service channels work on 2 meter?

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7 hours ago, DocWard said:

 

Simple solid radio by the sound of it. Since it is a 2 meter only radio, do the public service channels work on 2 meter?

There is a frequency mod to transmit wider to include the 134-178 fr range.  It already receives those frequencies.

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1 hour ago, Jailhouse Jim, SASS #13104 said:

There is a frequency mod to transmit wider to include the 134-178 fr range.  It already receives those frequencies.


I guess I didn’t read deep enough into the specs.

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