NES Amateur Radio (HAM) Club

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one-eyed Jack said:
The problem, as I see it, is that we could have a club but no repeaters. Also, I personally like to join/contribute to repeaters that I use on a regular basis. It may be possible, given enough of us, and a frequency pair being available, that we could have our own repeater. However, the member coverage will be limited. Just my humble opinion. Jack W1FKG.
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These days a lot of 2M machines are often underutilized... might
be able to coordinate an informal net or something on a wide area
machine, if we can get a trustee of some club or (private) repeater
to let us use it for a window of time, especially if its later in a given evening.
Or even just an informal roundtable at off peak useage times...

-Mike
 
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Great information, thanks!

What's a good resource to purchase these radios? Is there a place around here, an online store, or is ebay good?
 
I've bought my gear either used or from Ham Radio Outlet in Salem, NH. HRO also sells online. Other online vendors I've heard good things about are Texas Towers and Gigaparts.
 
How knowledgeable are the people at Ham Radio Outlet? Is it worth driving up there to pick their brains as I shop, or is it like Dick's where I may get a clerk who isn't at all familiar with what they're selling.
 
Martlet said:
How knowledgeable are the people at Ham Radio Outlet? Is it worth driving up there to pick their brains as I shop, or is it like Dick's where I may get a clerk who isn't at all familiar with what they're selling.
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If you go up there try to get a hold of Peter. IIRC he's the
manager now, he's been there for what seems like forever.

The other guys that are working there now seem okay, but I'm
not that familiar with their personalities or knowledge bases. In
the past there were a few guys up there that kinda reminded me of
gun shop grumps, but haven't seen that recently!

One thing going for HRO is I've never met a non-ham working
there, so at least the staff has some inkling of whats going
on. Most of them know about at least ham radio in general but
some of them may or may not know a lot about a specific model
of radio.

Another good resource:

http://www.eham.net/reviews/ < gear reviews.
Sometimes there is good info in these; other times you have to take them with a grain of salt. Like anything else on the internet, keep in mind that most people are more apt to gripe than praise a product. [laugh]

-Mike
 
>>If you go up there try to get a hold of Peter. IIRC he's the
manager now<<

Really.. what happened to Chuck?? (shows you how long it's been since i was there last)
 
Martlet said:
We should start a ham radio section. I'm freaking lost. I'm so far over my head I don't know where to begin. I have the tech license and I'm going to take the general license as soon as there is a test near me. However, I have no idea what to buy, where to buy it, or what I do with it after it's purchased.

What a complicated hobby. I guess I felt the same way when I started reloading, only that was a thousand times simpler.
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Hey man, dont get discouraged. Just take your time before you buy. I see that you live on the Northshore. If you get a handheld radio (HT=Handy talkie) you will be fine because there are a ton of repeaters up here (I live in Peabody). The largest ham radio club in MA happens to be in Danvers. Its called the North Shore Radio Association. They alone have 5 repeaters that have great coverage of the area.

http://www.nsradio.org/

I would not suggest getting most of the HT's talked about above such as the VX6, VX7, F6A and others. These radios ARE top of the line but they are also VERY complicated. IMHO the Yeasu FT-60 has the best user interface of any HT. It is EASY to use, is dual band (144 and 440 MHz) and has a full 5W output. I HIGHLY recomend this radio for new hams. I realy dont think that you can go wrong with it. I have lots of radio time on most of the HTs on the market and I think that the FT-60 is a great dual bander for the beginner (and even advanced users). Also, the price is real good!

Here is the HRO url:
http://www.hamradio.com/

Universal radio is another retailer (but I get all my stuff from HRO in Salem, NH). BUT, universal radio has a great website. Its a great place to look at different radios to help figure out what you want.

http://www.rffun.com/


/John
 
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Martlet said:
Would you suggest an HT instead of a mobile?
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I would not say get an HT "instead", I would say get one "First". An HT is an essential piece of radio gear IMHO. It is self contained, cheap, and can be taken with you anywhere (someone else’s vehicle for example). I guarantee that if you don’t get an HT as your first radio, you will get an HT at some point. So, it might as well be your first rig.


Once on the air, you can talk to other hams about what other gear they have and talk about what mobile or base radio you are interseted in. Most will even demo their gear to you in person.

IF I HAD to choose between an HT, mobile or base radio, I would choose an HT because it has ultra portability and gives you the most options (options for what you can do, not "on board" options/features).
 
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It depends on how this weekend goes. I'm in the field all weekend, but I plan on going. I also plan on taking my General test with them on the 22nd.
 
I bought a VX-7 as my first piece of HAM radio gear, and although I haven't added anything else since then, I think getting a super-complex HT as a first radio is the wrong move. It might be able to do everything in the world, (3(ish) bands, wide receive, etc), but its a compete pain in the ass to use. KISS really seems to be an important concept when it comes to this stuff!

Now that I'm reading the General book, and starting to look into HF gear, I've been specifically looking at SIMPLE rigs like low end Icom's and the Elecraft K2. I'm going for the General license due to a complete and utter lack of traffic on 2m near me.

As far as doing a NES net, I thing that would be way cool... MMRA seems to have repeaters that cover most of eastern MA, and are linked.

--EasyD
 
EasyD said:
I bought a VX-7 as my first piece of HAM radio gear, and although I haven't added anything else since then, I think getting a super-complex HT as a first radio is the wrong move. It might be able to do everything in the world, (3(ish) bands, wide receive, etc), but its a compete pain in the ass to use. KISS really seems to be an important concept when it comes to this stuff!

As far as doing a NES net, I thing that would be way cool... MMRA seems to have repeaters that cover most of eastern MA, and are linked.

--EasyD
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Roger that! [smile]
 
RUT said:
>>If you go up there try to get a hold of Peter. IIRC he's the
manager now<<

Really.. what happened to Chuck?? (shows you how long it's been since i was there last)
Click to expand...

I'm trying to jog my memory but I can't place him. There was a
window of about 2 years where I was kind of out of the hobby
and I didn't even visit HRO once. Years ago I remember Barry,
Chris, Manuel, and Peter were there... and a couple of other
guys coming and going.

I miss dealing with Manuel the most though. He helped me out
on numerous occasions, even with stuff outside the store.

-Mike
 
Yeah, at least you only have to wait for ULS. In the olden days you had to wait for the actual license to come in the mail. In the really old days, you had to take the test at an FCC office.
 
jar said:
Yeah, at least you only have to wait for ULS. In the olden days you had to wait for the actual license to come in the mail. In the really old days, you had to take the test at an FCC office.
Click to expand...

Even in 1994 it was almost as bad as waiting for an LTC... it took about the better part of a month or more for mine to come in the mail.

-Mike
 
jar said:
Yeah, at least you only have to wait for ULS. In the olden days you had to wait for the actual license to come in the mail. In the really old days, you had to take the test at an FCC office.
Click to expand...

Oh great, I'm from the really old days now. Come to think of it, I'm now eligible for the Quarter Century Wireless Club, plus some, now. I remember being a 15 year old kid just getting my license, thinking how long I'd have to wait for that. Now I don't want it.....
 
I just got hooked up with this tonight, Thanks easyD

51THvP8WG4L._AA240_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Arrl-Ham-Radi...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205375642&sr=1-1
 
As another resource to Martlet, and other soon to be licensed hams to find gear, here's a list of New England area ham radio flea markets for 2008.

TheFlea at MIT runs the 3rd Sunday of each month from April through November.

A big Hamvention is coming up in Boxboro in August. I work 1 minute from there, I'll definitely be going. Perhaps we can get an NES get together organized for all the new hams -- beginning or ending with a shoot at Harvard, 10 minutes away!
 
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