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Ham Radios

SamsDad1911SamsDad1911 Member Posts: 103 ✭✭
edited February 2011 in General Discussion
back in the 70's I had a nice radio.
who out there still has a radio?
I am looking out for a new one. Think it might
be handy to have, anyone have a good idea for my next?
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Comments

  • SamsDad1911SamsDad1911 Member Posts: 103 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'm looking at different things that I might try and Ham Radios came to mind, ( not mine, I must have heard something ). I had an Uncle who worked with them back in the 60s-70s and they were neat. All HELP needed to get ME started is app?, needed. Thanks.
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  • SamsDad1911SamsDad1911 Member Posts: 103 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I am interested in getting into ham radios. Any advice on equiptment or websites to learn on would be appreciated.
    Thanks
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  • SamsDad1911SamsDad1911 Member Posts: 103 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    What kind do you have? I am looking for a handheld that is small in size. I plan on taking the test on OCT 3rd to get my license. and have no idea what to look for.
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  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998 ✭
    edited November -1
    Go and Poke around the website, QRZ.com - it will hasve lots to tell ya! Welcome to another Drain on yer wallet!

    Fun to be had!
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  • fordsixfordsix Member Posts: 8,554 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    the best part is you can pull off the antenna and eat it[:p]
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  • woodshed87woodshed87 Member Posts: 23,478 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Get An Older Yeasu ft 101ee or Eqiv Kenwood Do about all You need to Do On HF FREQs
    Most important Take the tests...........
    Do it Right..
    Enjoy !!!!!!!!

    KE2DY -.- . ..--- -.. -.-- Since Early 1980s[;)]
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  • KEVD18KEVD18 Member Posts: 15,037
    edited November -1
    get the book, get your license and join a club. they will be able to not just give you information, but to guide and mentor your growth(to use a soft, sort of hippy word) as an amateur radio operator.

    anybody can throw brand names and models at you, but most of that is just passing on brand loyalty. without a full and complete understanding of what you want to get out of your radio room, you're level of interest, your budget, your available other resources(ability to erect a tower for example); any reccomendations are going to be short of real substance.

    /73

    K1KWD
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  • ltcdotyltcdoty Member Posts: 4,183 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    May be a stupid question, but what do ham radio operators do? Can you talk to anyone with a similar radio any where in the world?
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  • KEVD18KEVD18 Member Posts: 15,037
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by ltcdoty
    May be a stupid question, but what do ham radio operators do? Can you talk to anyone with a similar radio any where in the world?


    with the right gear($$$$$) under the right atmospheric conditions, yes you can talk around the world.

    most hams that i know are involved in some way or another with public safety/disaster communications. either with skywarn, emergency management comms, or other safety/disaster. the others just do it for fun.

    its kind of fun to be able to work up a system that can talk to people many miles away. its far from free(a high end dx rig all in can be thousands of dollars), but it presents a challenge that in and of itself in entertaining.
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  • RtWngExtrmstRtWngExtrmst Member Posts: 7,456
    edited November -1
    Not as much now as in the old days when you had to design and build your own stuff to get ultimate Dx. Now state-of-the-art high tech stuff is off the shelf. But still a good hobby.
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  • andrewsw16andrewsw16 Member Posts: 10,728 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I remember as a kid, watching my father spend hours chatting on his ham radio when we were stationed in France in the early 60's (before DeGaulle kicked out the NATO bases). He put together a system that was putting out 7500 watts. He said that was considered a bit on the high side but he liked the extra power. He never seemed to have trouble reaching almost anywhere in the world. He collected postcards with call signs from everyone he talked to (I think he called them QSL cards or something like that) and used them to paper the wall of his radio shack. He really PO'ed the French FCC with all that power, but they couldn't get to his equipment because he put it in a shack on a part of the airbase the French weren't allowed. His old call sign in Europe was F7BP. I guess that means something to some of you. I never got into the hobby myself. If the SHTF for a short or even long term, and the phones go out, ham operators may be the only comms your neighborhood has with the outside world. [:D]
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