New ham!

1
Much to my surprise, I passed the Tech test! Waiting on my call sign.

Now to decide what kind of antenna to put up.
"There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion."
The Right Reverend John England, first Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston SC, 1825.

Re: New ham!

2
Congrats SwampGrouch! Welcome to the hobby! Glad to have you as one of us!
Just a simple 2m/440 meter vertical antenna will get you on the air. Not expensive.
(I have a nice little J-pole antenna you can have. It’s just sitting on a shelf...)
If you want to go to right to HF you can get a 10 meter monoband transceiver off eBay for cheap.
(10 meters is pretty dead now at the bottom of the solar cycle, but there are nets)
Or find a 70s or 80s vintage radio on eBay or at a hamfest.

You aren’t that far from me. Msg me if you want any pointers. Glad to help a fellow ham.
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Re: New ham!

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http://www.amateurradio.bz/4_dollar_sat ... tenna.html
Regular price, 4 bucks, 4 bucks, 4 bucks. :)

2m and 440
The $4.00 Ham Radio Satellite Antenna

Simple, inexpensive and lots of fun! Here is an easy to make home brew antenna that can get you on the air working satellites or be built for use as a portable hand held antenna to extend the range of your HT.

It's a dual band 2m/70 cm yagi antenna made with common materials and cost very little to make. Also, the antenna is fed with only one coaxial cable and does not use a duplexer.
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Re: New ham!

12
Thanks to all for the kind welcome. Picked up a new-in-box Yaesu FT2980R and a couple of elderly Icom bricks at a hamfest a couple weeks ago, so it's just a matter of getting an antenna up, ground rod driven down, and cable run. Oh, and license in hand, or at least on hard drive.

I may take you up on that J-pole, Huck. I've been involved in radio in one form or another for years and have put together enough systems for Civil Air Patrol to know to know that the antenna, not the radio, is the heart of the whole thing.
"There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion."
The Right Reverend John England, first Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston SC, 1825.

Re: New ham!

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SwampGrouch wrote: Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:06 am Thanks to all for the kind welcome.
Ping Shin to get a pass to the super secret squirrel ham section. ;)

Also... http://wb0tge.com/?page_id=33
WBØTGE “Mighty Woof” 2m/440 Dual Band Fan Dipole (DBFD)

I call this the “Mighty Woof” antenna. It reminds me of two “Wouff Hong” (created by Hiram Percy Maxim) joined together at the base creating an awesome signal.
Plumbing for the win!

Re: New ham!

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That looks like a fun build! All the fun of soldering copper pipe without having to put up with attaching it to the house plumbing!

The squirrels have a ham section? ;)
AndyH wrote: Tue Oct 23, 2018 6:03 pm Ping Shin to get a pass to the super secret squirrel ham section. ;)

Also... http://wb0tge.com/?page_id=33
WBØTGE “Mighty Woof” 2m/440 Dual Band Fan Dipole (DBFD)

I call this the “Mighty Woof” antenna. It reminds me of two “Wouff Hong” (created by Hiram Percy Maxim) joined together at the base creating an awesome signal.
Plumbing for the win!
"There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion."
The Right Reverend John England, first Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston SC, 1825.

Re: New ham!

17
SwampGrouch wrote: Thu Oct 25, 2018 4:10 pm That looks like a fun build! All the fun of soldering copper pipe without having to put up with attaching it to the house plumbing!

The squirrels have a ham section? ;)
I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a secret ham section, or that anyone might or might not have asked a member of our professional staff to allow you access. ;)

Re: New ham!

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HuckleberryFun wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 1:23 pm
Eris wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 1:15 pm OK. I *think* I got him added. First thing I've ever done as a mod. Let me know if it didn't work right!
Oh oh! Best behavior, guys. There’s a new Sheriff in town.
Congratulations on your new level of awesomeness. :bow:
I promise that I will only ban people for heinous offenses like disagreeing with me, or it being Tuesday.
106+ recreational uses of firearms
1 defensive use
0 people injured
0 people killed

Re: New ham!

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Eris wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 1:26 pm
HuckleberryFun wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 1:23 pm
Eris wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 1:15 pm OK. I *think* I got him added. First thing I've ever done as a mod. Let me know if it didn't work right!
Oh oh! Best behavior, guys. There’s a new Sheriff in town.
Congratulations on your new level of awesomeness. :bow:
I promise that I will only ban people for heinous offenses like disagreeing with me, or it being Tuesday.
Congrats, Eris!

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