There's another newbie loose on the airwaves:
Why, you might ask? For me it was a convergence of several things:
1. I'm a member of my local CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), and amateur radio has long played a significant role in emergency communications.
2. One of the local CERT guys offered to put on a 3-session training class in preparation for the Technician license exam.
3. A few months ago I bought yet another Trimble GPS receiver on ebay. It came with a Trimmark IIe RTK data radio, in which I had no interest because the FCC narrowbanding requirements had rendered it illegal to operate as a data radio. So when it arrived, the only logical thing to do with it was to take it apart (thus is the fate of most unusable tech stuff that finds it way into my garage). Much to my surprise, inside the yellow case with its cast aluminum endcaps and big rubber bumpers was an entire Motorola GM300 mobile radio, still in its consumer housing. Trimble had epoxied the radio's heatsink into the rear endcap (a weird way of attaching something like this, since it's basically a non-reversible operation) and covered all the Motorola black with Trimble yellow, and added a custom board and wiring, allowing only a small port in the front endcap to show the Motorola display and provide really stingy access to the front panel controls. The presence of this mobile radio in mint condition (if you can overlook the epoxy thing) was what tipped the balance for me in deciding to go for the license.
I don't yet know if the GM300 can be resurrected for any legal use, though I'm assuming that I'll be able to receive if not legally transmit. But there's a wealth of information available on them, so when I get time...
Welcome Jim! (I'm KD7NKY)
The problem with bothering with the old cool stuff is the great new stuff:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007H4VT7A
$26 delivered.
Off the record (of course) I have found that having a license takes all the fun out of it. On the other hand, at this point in my life I don't need the drama of enforcement actions.
WB0TXY here. Very inactive, but I do monitor the storm watch net and would contribute if I had needed info at my location.
Jim Frame, post: 327827, member: 10 wrote: I don't yet know if the GM300 can be resurrected for any legal use, though I'm assuming that I'll be able to receive if not legally transmit. But there's a wealth of information available on them, so when I get time...
A little digging reveals that the FCC narrowbanding mandate only applies to the 150-512 MHz part of the spectrum. Since I'm interested in the 2-meter band (144.1-148.0 MHz in my license class), I won't have to worry about that. Now, I still have to determine if I can program the radio into that band...
Jim,
Where do you find the time? With your Parani stuff, Javad stuff and you're running a viable land surveying business and you are probably a soccer coach, mountain biker, gourmet chef and plus you got a great big smile. Just threw that last one in there.
My hat is off to you, my man.
Have you ever heard of anyone being caught using non narrowband equipment? My small circle of associates all say no. Just curious.
JA, PLS SoCal
Jerry Attrick, post: 327846, member: 1585 wrote: Jim,
Where do you find the time? With your Parani stuff, Javad stuff and you're running a viable land surveying business and you are probably a soccer coach, mountain biker, gourmet chef and plus you got a great big smile. Just threw that last one in there.
My hat is off to you, my man.
Have you ever heard of anyone being caught using non narrowband equipment? My small circle of associates all say no. Just curious.
JA, PLS SoCal
I have not heard of anyone around here getting caught for narrowband or even unlicensed base radio use.o.O however I have seen a white FCC van with many antennas on occasion.:-X
Jerry Attrick, post: 327846, member: 1585 wrote: Have you ever heard of anyone being caught using non narrowband equipment? My small circle of associates all say no.
I don't know of anyone who's gotten caught, but Mark Silver's article in American Surveyor lays out some good reasons (think $$$) not to run rogue.
P.S. No soccer for me, though I do spend a lot of time at high school baseball games, as my son's on the team. And while I do have a big smile much of the time, it has a very prominent gap in it these days as a result of a broken tooth and a failed implant. I regret to say that I have an ongoing relationship with an oral surgeon.
I would like to get into short wave radio, but I don't know where to begin. Where does one start at?
I will look at Mark's Amazon link first, I guess.
I don't really have the time either, but one just has to take time.
I assume you all are talking about HAM operators.
Closest I got was KAAF6681 on simple CB stuff.
I've longed to have a HAM operator license but that hobby might just be more expensive than my train hobby.
Maybe not. Antennae and base station should be about it.... well except for licensure(s).
I do know some morse code so that's a plus.
Last I heard, they don't really care about that anymore.
E.
J. T. Strickland, post: 327886, member: 246 wrote: Where does one start at?
I suggest starting by surfing over to ARRL and finding a local affiliate. There's probably a group nearby that holds periodic licensing classes.
The bar for getting a Technician license is very low by design, in order to encourage more people to get active. Someone with enough determination could pass the test by pure memorization alone, without understanding a lick of the information presented, if that's what they really wanted to do. The questions are all available online, and think there are only about 400 of them.
BigE, post: 327928, member: 435 wrote: that hobby might just be more expensive than my train hobby
As Mark pointed out, an entry-level handheld with features undreamt of 30 years ago can be had for very little. A base antenna will add a bit, and more transmit power even more yet, but it's pretty scalable.
I may be biting off more than I can chew -- and almost certainly than it's worth in terms of dollars -- by trying to resurrect my GM300, but that's part of the fun for me.
As Jim said, you can get a no-code starter license quite easily, and a handheld radio for under $100 that will let you chit-chat, and participate in storm watch and other public service activities.
The code and bigger $ come with the stations that can talk around the world. Besides chit-chat with other countries, those stations allow you (if you find it interesting) to earn certificates for "worked all states", "100 countries" etc. or run up a score in a weekend contest to contact the most countries or US counties.
Jim Frame, post: 327827, member: 10 wrote: There's another newbie loose on the airwaves:
WB2AYP here. Boy, does that bring back memories! I had a wall full of QSL cards before I was 10 years old. Built my first rotating 10 meter beam using a bicycle wheel and windshield wiper motor, lol. That was well before they did away with the Morse Code requirement...WELL before, lol.
rfc, post: 327944, member: 8882 wrote: WB2AYP here. Boy, does that bring back memories! I had a wall full of QSL cards before I was 10 years old. Built my first rotating 10 meter beam using a bicycle wheel and windshield wiper motor, lol. That was well before they did away with the Morse Code requirement...WELL before, lol.
I had my novice license, WN5ICN for a year...way back in 1963. My father was a dyed-in-the-wool ham and I sought the accomplishment at his urging. By the time a year rolled past I had become more interested in the girls in the neighborhood than a 1kW linear amplifier or our full length 40 meter dipole that stretched all the way across the property...my career as a ham radio operator slipped into oblivion...
Enforcement Action:
Here is an example of a dealer getting nicked:
https://ashgps.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/recent-fcc-warning-survey-dealers-are-responsible-for-their-radio-programming-actions/
Glad it was not me!
