Posted on 11/24/2011 8:07:46 PM PST by SpaceBar
I will be looking into the ICom as I own one of their portable transceivers that I use for another application and I like it a lot.
Yeah, it’s a lot like the old “third phone” test. You’d even recognize some of the questions.
I made a good living on the waterfront fixing tuna boat electronics with the 1st class license. Acted as the owner’s rep for annual FCC inspections of radio safety gear in addition to maintaining radar, sonar, fax, telephone, direction finders, navigation computers and TV sets.
Code’s gone, General and Extra are code-free.
“OTOH, I realized soon after getting my license and listening to all the jabbering, that I was just not the talking sort, and never got into much beyond packet radio for a short bit.”
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My operations were pretty much limited to chasing DX, but after working every possible country, that became slow.
I had to sit around waiting for a new country to be added.
I was in a group of old DX chasers that met for a net each night on 75.
When an old friend and the top DXer in the world died in the 90s, his widow asked if I would like to pick up his call (W4EX). I was quite honored and carry it proudly today, even though I am no longer active.
I was also in Army MARS and a bit of RTTY.
Now it is all “gone with the wind”, since I have been out of the country since 2004.
Thanks for the info & link!
One of the easiest debates to find on the air is Yaesu vs. Icom. Far as I’m concerned, they’re both fine products.
they WANT to learn Morse Code. I guess it’s the curiosity factor.
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Now that it isn’t required, it becomes a ‘one-upmanship’ issue.
I was USN code copier, never got my FCC ticket for one reason or another — of course I ‘have’ to tell ‘ham CW ops’ that they are amateurs and I was a ‘professional’.
I was really reluctant getting into these here computers when one day I found a book called “The Victorian Internet” and it basically said the Internet was designed along the lines of Morse Operations, with an emphasis on USN Communications.
I figure ‘what the hell’, I have a leg up on the ‘nerds’ and I can copy Morse so I should be able to ‘master’ this computer/internet.
Or another thing—the Civil War caused by Obama canceling all elections because of a “crisis” he manufactures. CW II would be a terrible thing—a new Confederacy with Herman Cane as President and Newt as VP with Sarah Palin as Sec. of Defense and John Bolton as Sec. of State.
It’s pathetic compared to, e.g. a droid, which is smaller than one cigarette pack, can call people across the globe also, except that you can choose who in particular you wish to speak to (but not necessarily for free) if you have their number, which incidentally you can look up, and with which you can also surf the web, get GPS info as to your location, and as shown on satellite images or maps, store zillions of photos, music, videos, and also have games, drawing programs, and get real-time news, translation services, tweets, emails, and perhaps even the real-time location of your acquaintances in your vicinity, etc. Lest you think I’m knocking ham radio, I’m not - I’m a ham, have a radio, and do so for a good reason.
But it’s very limited in comparison, incidentally in no small part because the FCC prohibits many kinds of utility and innovation in those bands. Still, I wouldn’t want to be without one. As a matter of fact, I have ham radio and don’t have a droid, at least not yet.
Morse code still has its place. In some weak signal situations, it can get through when nothing else can.
Thanks for that. Do you have any recommendations on minimum equipment and cost/ I wouldnt mind having a backup in worst case scenario
Some of the locals here in CN85 are doing 6M EME with single yagis via digital mode. Made some 2M EME contacts at NN7J’s QTH back in the earlier EME days with his 8-yagi array. That was when you needed a good ear to hear those weak signals.
All right, good to know. I guess I should log on to ARRL more frequently:), been a while. KI6JH here BTW. I will never surrender my advanced class license unless forced to do so, which might happen. Since you seem to know, tell me this, when code was still required the advanced class and extra class written test were the same, the only difference was the 21 WPM code requirement for extra. So, do they have a tougher test now for Extra or could I just grandfather my license to Extra if I so desired?
Up date on the info I gave you. No code is required now for the General or Extra class exams for HF either. Written test only, which I think is a shame but that’s the way it goes. If I were starting out I would go for my technician’s license(easier test)and then get a hand held dual band in 2 meter and 440 to start with. They are cheap and will give you an idea of what you might like to branch out in before hitting the really(really!)expensive equipment.
You want to talk nation wide, or world wide, without calling into some AM station, only to have them cut ya off...
Want to voice an opinion coast to coast? Ham radio is where it's at.
You can have your own radio station!
And it's very entertaining too!
I think your grandfather was slightly exaggerating at 40 wpm. I joined the Communications branch in of the Royal Navy in 1946 and was doing Morse and cryptography for ten years.
RN area broadcasts were transmitted at 22wpm and a reasonable operator could sit all day reading that - at week-ends the Reuters football scores used to be transmitted at 30wpm but that was OK as we had the team names in front of so only had to catch the score.
We were professionals reading Morse day in and day out 1000s of messages daily as we dealt with both civilian and military traffic - the only military branch in the world that actually made a profit.
The fact that we ran both civilian and military traffic came about because of WWII. During the war the Navy took over all external civilian traffic. When the war ended it seemed rather ridiculous to hand back the civilian traffic to the Post Office when we had a world wide infrastructure already in place.
So, it was agreed that we would continue as we were and the Post Office would bill and service the customers and pay the navy a fixed sum each year.
No unions no strikes - what’s not to love.
Wound my heart with monotonous languor.
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