Ham radio directory - NEW FEATURE - PLEASE READ POST #16 EVEN IF YOU ARE IN IT!

Is this where I go for a pat on the back for passing my Tech exam? [wink]

I just got home from the test, trying to find out what's next. I have radios because I am retard when it comes to hobbies, I just need to figure out how to use them beyond basic programming and listening.

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Do you have an idea of what you want to do in the hobby? It's really 99 hobbies in one.

I am a GMDSS operator for work, so I really should have just gone for the HAM ticket after completing that class and getting that license. I bought a VX-7r like 4 years ago because I had more money then I new what to do with and a friend that told me I should, because SHTF! [rolleyes]. After moving up here and getting on the FD, I started talking with one of the guys in town that is big into it, and he kind of dragged me along and sold me some gear he grew out of.

I also have a few UV5r's and a TM-281 with a Blackbird J pole that I have been using to listen to the repeaters all over the place. One of these days I will actually figure out how to use that VX-7r. For now I am just looking to be able to talk and get smart on this stuff.

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Sorry to disappoint but despite my name I would have to use the app on my phone to read that. [laugh]
 
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Sorry to disappoint, but despite my name I would have to use the app on my phone to read that. [laugh]
If you ever get inclined, Morse is really cool. It litterly needs about 100x less power than voice and there's a whole sub-culture of hams into tiny CW radios for camping, portable ops, or just because we think they're cool. With 3 watts, a simple wire antenna and good cooperation from the ionosphere gods, I've made a Morse contact with a Russian Antarctic station (10,700 miles) and routinely get deep into Europe and Russia. My camping rig fits in a Tupperware box, has a 3-band rig, 3-band wire antenna, ear buds, morse key and enough battery for 5 hrs; the whole thing weighs 15oz.
BTW, it says "welcome to the hobby"
 
If you ever get inclined, Morse is really cool. It litterly needs about 100x less power than voice and there's a whole sub-culture of hams into tiny CW radios for camping, portable ops, or just because we think they're cool. With 3 watts, a simple wire antenna and good cooperation from the ionosphere gods, I've made a Morse contact with a Russian Antarctic station (10,700 miles) and routinely get deep into Europe and Russia. My camping rig fits in a Tupperware box, has a 3-band rig, 3-band wire antenna, ear buds, morse key and enough battery for 5 hrs; the whole thing weighs 15oz.

Morse is something I will probably get into once I have everything else situated. My buddy in town is working on CW now and talks about it all the time.

BTW, it says "welcome to the hobby"

Ah! Thanks!
 
If you ever get inclined, Morse is really cool. It litterly needs about 100x less power than voice and there's a whole sub-culture of hams into tiny CW radios for camping, portable ops, or just because we think they're cool. With 3 watts, a simple wire antenna and good cooperation from the ionosphere gods, I've made a Morse contact with a Russian Antarctic station (10,700 miles) and routinely get deep into Europe and Russia. My camping rig fits in a Tupperware box, has a 3-band rig, 3-band wire antenna, ear buds, morse key and enough battery for 5 hrs; the whole thing weighs 15oz.
BTW, it says "welcome to the hobby"

Got me an Elecraft KX1 and built their AF1 audio filter too. Im also re-learning the code using MorseFusion. I learned it years ago as a Boy Scout and in NROTC, but it left me. MorseFusion is an online app that reads you a book letter-by-letter and you have it substitute code for letters, gradually adding letters and/or increasing the % of time code is played rather than the letter read. Works for me!
 
Got me an Elecraft KX1 and built their AF1 audio filter too. Im also re-learning the code using MorseFusion. I learned it years ago as a Boy Scout and in NROTC, but it left me. MorseFusion is an online app that reads you a book letter-by-letter and you have it substitute code for letters, gradually adding letters and/or increasing the % of time code is played rather than the letter read. Works for me!
MorseFusion sounds good.

I made the mistake of learning it the way you probably did in the Scouts. "Visually". I memorized the alphabet table which is a huge mistake. You want to learn it purely by sound, like learning a language or musical piece without sheet music. Ideally if someone asked you what the letter W was, you would have to whistle the notes to figure out the dots and dashes. The reason for this is, when you learn it "visually" you have to count dots and dashes then go to a look-up table in your head to figure out what 1 dot and 2 dashes is. The look-up table can't go any faster than about 10wpm. This is why the FCC used to have the 2nd level Morse test at 13WM. In short, each letter should be like a syllable or a drum riff you recognize, not a number of dots and dashes you count. On a few letters, it took me years to un-do the damage and stop counting and using the mental look-up table.
 
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