TWISTEDWILLOW Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 I took a fun little 3 hour intro class at the local votech this morning for ham radio, it was really interesting what all you can do! you can talk to people in other countries and even the international space station! we got to talk on one of the radios real quick to someone over in Arizona and made contact with someone in Spain! we tried to make digital contact with someone in England and in Belgium but we couldn’t get a good lock on em from what I understood, it sounds fun! im thinking about maybe goin a little deeper and studying to take the tech license exam and maybe put a small radio setup in my shop, Are any of y’all here on the forum amateur radio operators here in the USA or anywhere else In the world? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 My Father was; one of my earliest memories was attending a Field Day with him and how impressed I was that the Emergency units were so small---integrated circuits vs the tube ones everyone else used. When we moved to the D.C. area his friends bought him the largest power tube usable by a non-commercial station as a going away present. Which was never put into use; but was moved in it's custom made box a half dozen times till he finally gave in and sold off his OLD equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 That was prolly back in the days when some folks still built the radio they were using! I dunno that imma get that far into it but I thought it’d be cool to go ahead an get the basic license and see if there’s any smiths on here that have a station I could try an contact from peavine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shainarue Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 I had one as a teenager, as did a few of my friends. Ya know back then we didn't have texting or cell phones, lol My handle was "Baby moon" so named because I really liked the Baby moon hubcaps on my friend's Nova. The new kind of babymoon didn't exist yet, lol I would spend hours sitting in my car chatting with people. I didn't know much about it though and now you've got me curious. I had no idea it had the reach you're stating! I probably would have needed a much bigger antenna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 I have never been a ham but a fair number of my past and current friends have been into it as was Madelynn's late husband. It may be one of those overlap geekish things that craftspeople will be attracted to. BTW, in my universe "geek" or "geekish" is a hign compliment. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 1 hour ago, Shainarue said: had one as a teenager, as did a few of my friends. Ya know back then we didn't have texting or cell phones, lol I never had a ham radio setup but I remember messing around with CB radios Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shainarue Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 Oh wait, it's not the same thing? I guess I did CB then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 No, CB is Citizen's Band and though you're supposed to have a permit I've only ever heard of fines levied to people who really abused the bands. Mostly over powered units. My handle was "Iron Pony." There were already a bunch of Frosty handles in use, my older Brother's handle was recorded as "Frosty" and his first wife as "Frostio." 1&2 on the registry, Dad was "Prospector." I haven't modulated the bands in decades, since before single sideband was something you didn't have to install illegal amplifiers and tuners to use. Now I think a digital station to station tuner thing is in use but I was out of it long before that. Sure you can build your own HAM station Billy, you can buy the chassis and use the tubes you want or bread board from scratch, tube, transistor, printed, integrated circuit or the whatchacallit circuitry in thumb drives. There's a market for vintage look or antique radio cabinets too. Were I to put one in the living room (with permission from SWMBO of course) I'd have to find an early rummage cabinet to match the décor. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 2 hours ago, Shainarue said: Oh wait, it's not the same thing Nah they’re different, you got to get a federally issued license from the fcc to operate a ham radio, lots a of studying on electronics, radio waves, compliance ect… Jerry I think it’s hey dropped the permit requirement for Citizens band in the late 70s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 10 hours ago, Frosty said: rummage cabinet to match the décor. We have whats called Early Salvation Army. My old 82 Chevy 4x4 pickup has a low band radio with crystals to control the channels. I thought about seeing if I could convert it to ham frequencies. Back in the day '70s-'80s my neighbor in Florida was into ham radio big time. We would talk with folks all over the world, if I remember there was an operator in West Germany that we could connect with (good thing he spoke English along with 7 other languages). We kept up with the USSR falling apart and the unification movement with East Germany through him, interesting times for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 Back in 1957 Russia launched Sputnik I. It emitted a pulsing "beep, beep". I was so enthralled with trying to listen for it, that my brother loaned me his Hallicrafters S38 SW receiver. I put up a dipole antenna tuned to the 20MHz signal to try to received the Sputnik signal. Shazam!!! I got the "beep, beep, beep..." and was so excited that rushed to awaken my parents to come listen! I didn't wait to listen long enough.....turns out the beeping I heard was the National Bureau of Standards time broadcast out of Ft. Collins Colorado, WWV, which broadcasts time signals on 20MHz!!! Needless to say my folks weren't exactly enthused about my "discovery". I did, later on, manage to acquire the Sputnik signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 WWV has a big antenna farm north of Ft. Collins. It is very visible at night from I-25. Years ago I had a friend who lived acreoss the road from the antenna farm. He hooked up an antenna to a battery charger and the signal was strong enough to recharge AA, C, and D batteries. That made me wonder about the health effects living in that constant elecromagnetic radiation field. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 A long time school friend Ralph's Grandfather was an electronics genius, worked on lots of NASA projects. He was teaching Ralph all sorts of cool stuff too and Ralph bread boarded a radio to listen to Sputnik. The window to hear it was pretty close so he built a directional antenna that tracked it while it was above the horizon. Later Ralph used the same breadboard to receive signals from his red laser (ruby) to listen to neighbors and talk to them on their TV. We'd aim the laser at the antenna and send. Did I mention Ralph was scary smart, pushing 200 IQ and wasn't as out of touch as most of the guys I knew that smart. We used to stand in the yard and watch Sputnik go over. Listening to the signal really brings back good memories. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_c Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 I am. I have a small home station and I also have equipment for operating portable — usually at parks, etc., or while I’m out camping with the family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted November 8, 2022 Author Share Posted November 8, 2022 That’s awesome rich_c! what license do you hold? How long you been working with ham? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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