Any Amateur Radio Operators in the group?

Gasman

Gasman

Forum GOD!
Ive been a Ham in the states for 9 years. Really enjoy when i get time to get on the air. But with the conditions being as they are ive not turned on my rig in a few months. And then it was just to check out the conditions. I havent worked anyone in about a year so im a big slacker. I have a pretty nice shack. Did it up right from the beginning.

Im an Extra Class. I know its different in other countries but im as high up the lic i can go. Learned CW because it was the first way to comunicate. I have to admit my fist is lacking now days since i have not had any practise.

Anyone else out there?

I dont want to bore the group with pics if nobody else is a Ham so i will hold off on that for now.

Guess i should post my call...
K1ING
 
D

Deleted member 30

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Gasman said:
Ive been a Ham in the states for 9 years. Really enjoy when i get time to get on the air. But with the conditions being as they are ive not turned on my rig in a few months. And then it was just to check out the conditions. I havent worked anyone in about a year so im a big slacker. I have a pretty nice shack. Did it up right from the beginning.

Im an Extra Class. I know its different in other countries but im as high up the lic i can go. Learned CW because it was the first way to comunicate. I have to admit my fist is lacking now days since i have not had any practise.

Anyone else out there?

I dont want to bore the group with pics if nobody else is a Ham so i will hold off on that for now.

Guess i should post my call...
K1ING
Click to expand...

I'm not HAM gasman but I do find the whole lot interesting, especially the equipment. I follow a few people on YT that repair electrical equipment, two of which repair a lot of HAM, (radio) equipment. Links below for anyone interested.

https://www.youtube.com/user/TRXBench/featured
https://www.youtube.com/user/MrCarlsonsLab

How far does your equipment reach @Gasman? Is it possible to reach the UK from the US? What is lic? You said you are as high up the lic as you can go.

I would be interested to see pictures of your setup too. :)
 
Gasman

Gasman

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@Fox My license is as high as i can go. In the states there is 3 levels of licences. First step is to get you to learn basic rules and understanding of antenna math so you can get started without breaking the bank. But it also limits the areas you can go as in frequencies you are allow to transmit on.

Second step is where most people stop. As it opens up a very large area of frequencys you can be on. Also teaches you a little theory of how communications and radios work.

3rd level gives you a tiny bit more frequency but you have to understand a lot about radio. Know how to do the math to figure out details of signal strength and waves and lots of stuff that goes way over what regular folks need to know. Including trig math and such.

To get to the third level "extra" is more bragging points and allows you to go to an area only other extras can be so the frequencies are not as crowded. People follow all the rules and its easier to operate.

This is just in the states. Other countries dont limit communications as much. Some dont allow it at all (north Korea). Distance is limited to the conditions of the atmosphere, time of day, power levels you use and frequency.

When things are right i personnally can communicate anywhere in the world. Lots of times i cant get Japan to shut up. Lol.

Being a truck driver i repair CB radios as most truck drivers use them. I will work on my radios but not other peoples HF radios as if i make a mistake i cant afford to replace them.

Thats enough for now. Pics to follow laterr.
 
Gasman

Gasman

Forum GOD!
I guess since the weekend is over and no other radio operators jumped in, I'm standing alone. OH well, I had to ask. You just never know. BTW, I made contact with Sovinia tonight plus Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
 
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Rufusdog

Forum GOD!
I was in my younger days. It totally fascinated me for many years so much so that I built some of my own equipment. I was living in South Africa at the time (1950s-1960s) so I was able to talk to and listen to people I’d normally not be able to. I packed in when I left to attend university in Canada and never got back into it, regrettably.
I can’t even remember my cal sign; it started ZS followed by a number, followed by a letter, but I’m drawing a blank.
 
JayGee

JayGee

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Yes, although I'm not active currently as we've been renovating a shell of a house for the last 5 years, G4RRH is my call-sign which is quite old now as
I became interested in electronics & radio at ~9 years old, building some simple radio receivers from kits, my local youth club in London ran an ARC every weds night.

This wonderful hobby sparked an interest in electronics and comms that turned into a career.
In storage I have an ICOM IC-7200.

I love cw too & have a really, really nice paddle from Piero Begali;
www.i2rtf.com

73 de g4rrh
 
Gasman

Gasman

Forum GOD!
Nice. A couple folks come out of the woodwork. Ha. Yep, ZS is South Africa. My call is a vanity and it pisses the old timers off. I have a 1 call and I'm in Colorado, not the N.W. corner of the states. So they hear the 1 and start turning there antennas.

BTW, I run a SteppIR 3el with a 40M loop. Its nice to always be resonant. Spin the VFO and the antenna tunes itself! I also have an old Drake L-4B Amp thatsbeen rebuilt.My station consists of a Yeasu FT1000MP and two Icom 706 MK2G Transcievers. With a 10/11M vertical and a 2M/440 vertical I can do most all bands besides 75/80. I've got 250 confirmed Entitys and over 200 of them with QSL cards. I love CW but never did like the Bug.

Glad to know I'm not totally alone here.

Dit Dit
 
Paper Plane

Paper Plane

Forum GOD!
Never got as far as taking it (Ham) up but was into CB when it was popular over here in 1980s. I have long been fascinated by radio listening. Prefer it to TV to be honest. For years I wanted one of those radios that had loads of different wavebands, knobs and dials, actually that's a receiver isn't it? One old valve set I had in my teens did have short wave on it and the stuff I heard on there was wonderful.

steve
 
R

Rufusdog

Forum GOD!
Gasman said:
I've got 250 confirmed Entitys and over 200 of them with QSL cards. I love CW but never did like the Bug.

Glad to know I'm not totally alone here.

Dit Dit
Click to expand...
I too had a stack of QSL cards from the four corners of the earth. Unfortunately I don’t know what happened to them. They probably got tossed out at some point as I don’t have them and I didn’t come across them in my parents’ belongings after they died.
 
Gasman

Gasman

Forum GOD!
My wife says the QSO cards are worthless and take up space. I agree to a point. They are valuable but only to me. Reciever only recieves. Transceiver does both. In the old days you bought two componants. A transmitter and a reciever. Not days its one unit.

I also have a shortwave radio that was a kit from the 50s. Ive went thru it and it works just like it should now. Had to fix some ugly soldering and relace all the caps. Its cool and fun for listening. Too bad it dont have FM. I could use it for music too.

Fixing CB radios keeps my Razor hobby a little less spendy and gives me something to do.
 
R

Rufusdog

Forum GOD!
This thread has stimulated my little grey cells and I’m starting to remember my first foray into ham radio nearly 60 years ago; unfortunately it all ended in 1966 when I went off to university. If I recall correctly I built a Heathkit amateur receiver in 1962 and a transmitter in 1963. Both worked surprisingly well given that I built them. Some of the other equipment I had was from Hallicrafter and Collins Radio.
 
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Gasman

Gasman

Forum GOD!
Hallicrafter, collins, heathkit...

Boy you must be old. :laugh:

Those were great kits. U wish they still made them.
Here is my Knight Shortwave Radio that was also a kit. This one came with all the extras you could buy so it was the primo kit. Too bad it was made before i was born. (1963). Brush added for size referance.
This one evan has the matching speaker.

15549197231745860079139980846598.jpg
 
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