What to do after you get your HAM radio license

[Flyingvan911]

Find a 6 meter USB rig and start working some DX. It's summer and you'll have a ton of fun. From my house in Kansas City I usually pick up East coast stations during the day and some of Canada when the sun starts to go down.

 

[kubotaman]

That is always fun, sometimes 6 meters is more fun than HF

 

[steelandcanvas]

Anyone have trouble with the local building department with installing an antenna tower? I asked about a permit fee to erect and did I open a can of worms I can't the lid back down on.

 

[swbradley1]

I used this site:

http://ars.nc4fb.org/online-flashcards-1.html



But I don't know if it was upgraded after the last exam change. I used it in early 2014.

I realize that it doesn't "teach" you anything except to take the test but after two years of formal RF and communications training and months of training in the Navy and a First Class Radiotelephone License all I wanted was to familiarize myself with the FCC regs for amateur radio, not be taught Ohms Law (again).

 

[swbradley1]

Anyone have trouble with the local building department with installing an antenna tower? I asked about a permit fee to erect and did I open a can of worms I can't the lid back down on.

There are options. A temporary tower like I have on my M101A2 made out of an Aluminium flagpole. They sell antenna kits that work in attics. I'm sure there are others in the ARRL Antenna Book but it's at work right now.

 

[kubotaman]

There are options. A temporary tower like I have on my M101A2 made out of an Aluminium flagpole. They sell antenna kits that work in attics. I'm sure there are others in the ARRL Antenna Book but it's at work right now.

Do you have any pictures of your m101a2 with the flagpole tower?

 

[swbradley1]

Do you have any pictures of your m101a2 with the flagpole tower?

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...ltimedia-SSGR14-thread&highlight=georgia+2014


Very first post. I put Schedule 40 PVC in u-bolts on the side of the 101 and then recovered the 20 foot aluminum flagpole from our rental house next door that we had torn down. I put a Diamond antenna on the top. Everything mounted perfectly. Have not painted the PVC as of yet and I got a full set of camo tent poles to use to get even higher.

It worked from the base camp at the rally to everywhere JP went in his M37 with a small mag mount and I think ICOM. I have a Yaesu FT2900R.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamants/6236.html


It also works as flagpole for flying either the US Flag or the Berundi Flag.


(You'd have to be at the Georgia Rally to know.)

 

[steelandcanvas]

There are options. A temporary tower like I have on my M101A2 made out of an Aluminium flagpole. They sell antenna kits that work in attics. I'm sure there are others in the ARRL Antenna Book but it's at work right now.

Great idea, but I already have the tower, rotor and a horizontal beam, I would really like to use it. Looking for ideas on negotiating with the building department. They want stamped engineered drawings for the 30' tower at $300 a sheet, stamped drawings of the foundation and engineered drawings on how I'm going to attach it to my shop building. This doesn't include any permit fee. Anybody else been through this gauntlet?

 

[turnkey]

I have fun at the 6-23 Mhz area at night.....Have 2, 32 footers...Miltary surplus.....work great in the HF and VHZ range....I am using a AN/URT-23G 1500 watt xmitter...lots of range to play with.

 

[turnkey]

Also using AN/WSC-3 (V6) Uhf/Vhf rig for the upper bands...great stuff.

 

[kubotaman]

I have fun at the 6-23 Mhz area at night.....Have 2, 32 footers...Miltary surplus.....work great in the HF and VHZ range....I am using a AN/URT-23G 1500 watt xmitter...lots of range to play with.

HF at night is amazing. Do you ever use 60 meters?

 

[patracy]

I made a super j pole 2m/70cm antenna recently. SWR is 1.2 need to tune it a little, but man it's increased my range greatly.

 

[kubotaman]

I made a super j pole 2m/70cm antenna recently. SWR is 1.2 need to tune it a little, but man it's increased my range greatly.

View attachment 565954

Looks great. 1:2 isn't bad at all. What do you use for a rig?

 

[patracy]

Right now, a alinco Dr605. But that's going mobile soon I hope. I have a vertex standard 6000 radio on vhf that I'm going to hack the lower frequency limit on to get into 2m. Then load up the 14 or so repeaters I can hit with 40w. Then experiment on hitting more. Since the vertex has 120w.

 

[kubotaman]

WOW, 120 watts, that's a lot of power for a 2 meter rig. Are you planning on getting a general class license?

 

[patracy]

The 6K radio is actually a commercial/LE/EMS type radio. Sucker pulls like 26amps. So since I can't do VFO with it and the amperage draw, I thought I'd use it for a base radio since I can program repeaters into it. It can hold 250 channels. So I figure I'll program in every repeater I can hit here, maybe the SS rally frequencies, and then just fill up the rest of the channels with simplex frequencies.

Yeah I'm studying for general when I can. Really need it to take advantage of the FT-450 I bought. (I can talk on 6m and very very limited in 10m. I'm going to do some CW on a few other bands I can do.) Plus that's what lets me in the door for the stuff that interests me really. (Packet, PSK31, RTTY, SSTV) At least in the "room" where it happens the most.

 

[kubotaman]

I've played with SSTV on 220mhz, our local club has a SSTV night every month. Has anyone played with APRS yet?

 

[patracy]

Right now, a alinco Dr605. But that's going mobile soon I hope. I have a vertex standard 6000 radio on vhf that I'm going to hack the lower frequency limit on to get into 2m. Then load up the 14 or so repeaters I can hit with 40w. Then experiment on hitting more. Since the vertex has 120w.

Test succeeded!

My cable came in today. Took a read of the radio. Then opened the file in a hex editor. Found two references to 148000000 (08D24D00 in hex) that I changed to 144000000 (08954400). I was then able to plug away the local repeater frequency and PL. Was able to key and confirm from my other radio.

Tomorrow I'll start editing my file for all the local repeaters I can find. Then roll through them to confirm. Anything I can't key I'll remove. Then I'll use the remainder for simplex frequencies and the ISS.

I've got a UHF radio to do the same to as well. And a "lo band" that I'm going to put into 6m for simplex. I think I'll also rig up some cables to do packet on. That should be swappable among all these VX-6000s.

 

[hypertex]

You don't need much of an antenna when 6m is open; but more than an HT. Follow the grey-line from sunset until about 11 at night; starts more eastward and then swings North into Canada. The 4th of July is historically a good night for sporadic-E on 6m

 

[kubotaman]

Test succeeded!

My cable came in today. Took a read of the radio. Then opened the file in a hex editor. Found two references to 148000000 (08D24D00 in hex) that I changed to 144000000 (08954400). I was then able to plug away the local repeater frequency and PL. Was able to key and confirm from my other radio.

Tomorrow I'll start editing my file for all the local repeaters I can find. Then roll through them to confirm. Anything I can't key I'll remove. Then I'll use the remainder for simplex frequencies and the ISS.

I've got a UHF radio to do the same to as well. And a "lo band" that I'm going to put into 6m for simplex. I think I'll also rig up some cables to do packet on. That should be swappable among all these VX-6000s.

Sounds like you have everything for VHF and UHF and plus you have your ft450d for HF