Passed ham tests Wed night

[10mm-man]

panty pissing emergency?lol.

I don't have panies and I don't piss em...... I'm hard core!

[losttrail]

Thanks Sroz. BTW, becoming a ham is pretty darn cheap. The exam (however many you are able to pass in one sitting) costs $14. The radio (Baofeng UV-5R) with accessories (antenna upgrade, additional high capacity battery pack, rainproof speaker mic with cord, USB programming cable) cost $114. Then this morning bought an up-to-date sheet with all of the state of CO repeaters on it ($3). Thats $131 for everything, including tax and shipping.

Russ at Ham Radio outlet said that he would be happy to talk to any of you guys looking to get into ham and walk you through what you need to do. Although I went the cheap route on the radio, Russ does recommend some better Yaesu models that they carry at the store. I wanted to go cheap, since I didn't want a lot invested if for some reason it wasn't for me.

One thing he suggested was starting a COAR-15 radio net and prepare to use it if SHTF. Might be useful to find out who is interested, and maybe schedule a meeting to figure out how involved people want to get and what the net should be used for.

I've got 2 brothers that are HAM's, one in UT the other in ID. They both recommended HRO in Denver.

I like the idea of getting a group of like minded users together just in case. And by 'just in case' I mean when the SHTF, not if.

[Great-Kazoo]

Thanks Sroz. BTW, becoming a ham is pretty darn cheap. The exam (however many you are able to pass in one sitting) costs $14. The radio (Baofeng UV-5R) with accessories (antenna upgrade, additional high capacity battery pack, rainproof speaker mic with cord, USB programming cable) cost $114. Then this morning bought an up-to-date sheet with all of the state of CO repeaters on it ($3). Thats $131 for everything, including tax and shipping.

Russ at Ham Radio outlet said that he would be happy to talk to any of you guys looking to get into ham and walk you through what you need to do. Although I went the cheap route on the radio, Russ does recommend some better Yaesu models that they carry at the store. I wanted to go cheap, since I didn't want a lot invested if for some reason it wasn't for me.

One thing he suggested was starting a COAR-15 radio net and prepare to use it if SHTF. Might be useful to find out who is interested, and maybe schedule a meeting to figure out how involved people want to get and what the net should be used for.

Just received my UV-5r as a fathers day present from our daughter. She got me the extra battery, usb cord / cd, taller antenna and ear piece for $60. The usb and antenna is in transit. Not to get reading and learning.

[rbeau30]

Just received my UV-5r as a fathers day present from our daughter. She got me the extra battery, usb cord / cd, taller antenna and ear piece for $60. The usb and antenna is in transit. Not to get reading and learning.

Jim, if you haven't already gotten a bunch of stuff, what worked for me was to read the book by Gordon West. It was short, to the point, and did not have any extra information in the book to confuse me, plus I am easily bored when I am reading something, so the book was real short and I thought that was good. It started off with a few pages of background, then it got right into each question. Gave the question, 4 possible answers, a brief very brief description along with key words, and finally the answer, then on to the next.

Whenever I had free time in my phone I would take the practive test over and over again at: http://www.eham.net/exams/

I also had flash cards I got from the Ham Store off of Iliff for 20 dollars, and I would carry 20-30 of them around with me. I passed the test pretty easily.



The best upgrade for my Baofeng (I have two and tested all the 'upgrades' side by side) is the 14" antenna which is the best, the extra capacity battery, and the external microphone.

Ohh! And I got a radio belt clip cup holder mount for in the truck. Works really nice.

[streetglideok]

One thing he suggested was starting a COAR-15 radio net and prepare to use it if SHTF. Might be useful to find out who is interested, and maybe schedule a meeting to figure out how involved people want to get and what the net should be used for.

This is probably a really good idea if you ask me. There are some nets on HF with the arfcom people, that you'd need a general or higher to do. I myself have a pair of 2m mobiles, one of which is mounted in my jeep, and then I have a yaesu ft60r handheld. Once you start using the radios, you'll realize the benefits of having a handheld, and the disadvantages as well. There are several linked repeaters in the area as well, the colorado connection group has a bunch of linked sites. The only bad thing is, and this has come up in ares, they rely on internet service to link the sites. What happens if or when the net goes down? Food for thought.

[streetglideok]

Also, the FCC can use the same directional finding as well, its pretty basic stuff, and in a shtf situation, something you'd want to know how to do as well. I wouldn't be worried about hams hunting you down, unless you're on the air causing mayhem.

[Ah Pook]

Interesting.

I just got a Yaesu VX-170 HT, off another list, earlier this week. No ticket yet.

Not really into the ham culture/society. I had some friends get into 2 meter radios a few years back. I was interested at the time because there was no cell coverage up here. That has changed a little. There is better repeater coverage.

Yaesu definitely isn't the most user friendly radio for a newb.

[zteknik]

Congrats!
Sooner or later I'll take the test.come this summer I want to be able to have my ticket.
Being a former commo chief it shouldn't be all that hard for me.Just have to jar my memory a bit.
I allready have a couple of 2m rigs and a few handhelds(prc 127's ) I would love to get my hands on an Icom 700 series but that'll come later on.

[streetglideok]

qsl.fm has a database of repeaters that you can look up by state, and then by frequency bands. Denver has a 10m repeater, and three 6m repeaters, as well as the 2m and 440 repeaters. 10m repeaters require a general license to use, but when conditions are right, you can get alot of range with it. I'm no expert, but if we want to put together a net, we'd need permission of the repeater I would guess, perhaps Russ at HRO can help arrange something. Some of us who aren't in range of Denver's repeaters would likely want to participate. Granted, I can hear one of the Denver repeaters in the am here in the springs, but its weak, there's no way I can hit it from here reasonably. If you haven't already, try and get some of the local repeaters programmed in, and see if you can get it to work.

[gnihcraes]

Great to hear you passed, someday I'll upgrade.

My TIP for the radio setup: Program all local repeater frequencies into the radio that it will hold, and put them in frequency order. Makes it easy to move up or down to different repeaters as needed. Even if you pass into other areas of the state or other states, the repeater frequencies are usually duplicated, only differences would be a PL Tone to access. Include in the frequency list, all the simplex (non repeater) frequencies.

example order:

145.430
145.490- 100PL (denver radio club)
146.520 simplex
146.550 simplex
145.580 simplex
145.625

TIP #2: don't post your callsign on the internet anywhere. Once you do, anyone can find your name, address etc. Once posted on here, they will also have that associated with your user id. (they being = criminals or whoever)

TIP #3: buy a radio that will allow computer programming capability. Much easier to hook the radio to a laptop and download your custom database list of frequencies. Also can use to program a friends radio of the same make/model.

gnihcraes / KB0***