|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
1-3 of 3 messages
|
Page 1 of 1
|
|
First contact
|
Reply
|
|
by HEADSHOT119 on July 15, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Got my foundation license through and got my first QSO yesterday on my local 70cms repeater.
Very nice to finally be on the air.
|
| |
|
RE: First contact
|
Reply
|
|
by KD8ERE on July 17, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Congratulations! Ham radio can be as fun as you want it to be. Whether it be a membership to a local ham club, or upgrading your license to expand your operating privilages, there's always something fun to do in ham radio! Of course, there is a lot of fun in constructing your station just the way you want it. The only thing to worry about there is when the money will run out. Hope you enjoy ham radio for years to come!!
73,
Ryan KD8ERE
|
| |
|
RE: First contact
|
Reply
|
|
by AC8EE on July 31, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Welcome to Amateur Radio!
I have always loved electronics, radios, anything that plugged into the wall.
I got my license in 1988 and was mainly a VHF/ UHF Operator. I loved repeaters, and even bought and maintained my own for a while during my years out in Mountain Home, Idaho.
I never had any "Real" HF radio equipment, unless you want to call a modified Cobra 148GTL modified for 10 Meter operation, which in itself was pretty neat, considering that I took a radio that was designed for CB, tied 1 pin of an IC to a different voltage, retuned a few coils, and Voila!, like magic, I was talking to stations in Japan with less than 12 Watts!
Just this year, I finally found an HF rig I could afford. Bought it off of a guy in my local Amateur Radio club. Borrowed a 20 Meter dipole off of another guy in the club, and I was up and running. But then, I was only a Technician. But having that HF rig gave me the bug. I studied and got my General class. Then, I started listening to how the HF guys did it. Next step was to build my own antenna. I decided I liked how the Double Bazookas were claimed to perform. So I built one. It performs. Not really how I expected, but it does work. Then I went and got my Extra class.
Now, the exciting part. My first contact. K7MX down in Florida. He turned me green. He has one of those Flex radios. He played back my transmission. I was actually able to hear how I sounded on the air! Pretty neat stuff. But my favorite contact is when I talked to the pilot of a 767 flying 40,000 feet over Cuba! Now that was really cool!
Anyways, the best part of Amateur Radio for me is the challenge of building it myself. Anybody can buy a radio and put it on the air. Anybody can talk on a cell phone. But, how many people do you know that can modify a radio, build an antenna and talk halfway around the world?! Give it a try. I bet you can do it if you really want to!
73 and Good Luck!
Jon, AC8EE
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
Forum, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Forum Manager.
|
|
|
