Amateur Radio

[Jerry]

All good advice, Alan, you hit the nail on the head with every point you made. I especially appreciated the subject of RF radiation. We have two rigs with 144/440 dual-band antennas mounted on the front fenders and after reading your comments I turned the power down from 50w to 25w on both of them. It still might be too high, but I'll try them out this way first. It's an issue that's easy to forget. Thank you very much for the reminder!

How is that motorized roof-top antenna mount working? Have you run through any heavy brush with it yet? Any overhanging branches, etc? Is there an indicator light to show you if the antenna is in the up position? I am thinking that setup might be the way to go with our Bronco II, i.e. move the antenna from the front fender to the roof where it belongs, cut down on RF radiation and have the ability lower the antenna from inside the vehicle before getting into brushy areas or entering the garage. Neat. Assuming, of course, that the motor assembly will hold up to branches sliding across the roof.

Thanks again, Alan. I look forward to any other advice you can offer and hope to see you on upcoming road trips.
Jerry

[Jerry]

While on our Slide Ridge Tour yesterday I had the Yaesu 7800R scanning 144 and 440 repeater and simplex freqs with hopes that I might make contact with someone from Stehekin. Unfortunately when we reached higher elevations the scanner went bonkers and began stopping at several open frequencies. It was picking up clear signals, nothing there, not even static and I couldn't squelch it out. One of the guys with us, Dave from Edmonds, is an Extra Class Amateur so I asked him what he thought might be causing it. He suggested it might be a form of intermod caused by distant high powered transmitters that hit my radio when we reached those 6,000 foot elevations. I don't know what it was, but it sure put the scanner mode out of business. At the same time my CB went on the fritz (nothing related) so I never got back to trying for a Stehekin contact on 2m or 70cm. Heh, heh...I always did have trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time!
Jerry

[hutchman]

One of these days I will use my license. Right now I am a general with no radio. I may test for an Extra License just for the challenge.........

Sound like you are having fun with yours.

[Jerry]

Hey, Hutch, I'm just the opposite. I have only a Technician license, but own an all-band radio that acts mostly as a receiver until I get my General ticket. It's an Icom IC-706MKIIG I bought used. I also have a multi-band base antenna, still in the package, that MIGHT get installed sometime this summer or fall. All I need is a backhoe, a jack hammer, a bunch of pipe and $$$$$. I plan on studying for the General test this fall or winter when things calm down a little, but I have no desire to go any further.

I am really surprised at how many repeaters my 2m rig hits from between steep hills and mountains. There are plenty of dead spots, but I thought there would have been a lot more. I am pleasantly surprised and I think VHF is an excellent emergency communications tool on the backroads.
Jerry

[Binford]

Thanks to inspiration garnered from you folks here, I have studied the ARRL Technician's book and am now scheduled to take the exam next Wednesday! I'm passing the practice tests, but still have a few parts to brush up on.

I've been wanting to do this for decades now. This is going to be a hoot! And now I'll have to scratch up another few hundred bucks for a radio....

Wish me well!

[Jerry]

Wonderful. The real thing is virtually identical to the practice tests so you will do just fine. Good for you!

[RidgeRunner]

Originally Posted by Binford

Thanks to inspiration garnered from you folks here, I have studied the ARRL Technician's book and am now scheduled to take the exam next Wednesday! I'm passing the practice tests, but still have a few parts to brush up on.

I've been wanting to do this for decades now. This is going to be a hoot! And now I'll have to scratch up another few hundred bucks for a radio....

Wish me well!

Good Luck!! Let us know how you do.

Mick

[Binford]

I'll be taking the test in about one hour from now. I've been getting mid- to upper-80% in the practice tests, so I think I'll do just fine.

I'll be checking in with y'all shortly....

[hutchman]

Hope the exam went good for you!

[Binford]

Thanks!

Well, I passed, missing 4 out of the 35. A little worse than I usually did with the practice exams. I then took a shot at the General. Nothing to lose, so why not?! I had my 7-year-old with me, patiently reading his library book and playing games on my PDA while I took the tests. I think he would have done almost as well on the General as I did! Heh, heh, heh.... Yep. Pretty much crashed and burned on that one. Got 18 right and 17 wrong!

Now I just have to wait a week or so. That won't be a problem since I haven't any radio anyway!

I've still been eying that IC-V8000.... Any of you "Elmers" think that would be a good one for a complete noob? I just want a mobile set for use in my truck, at least to get me started. What do you think about the V8000?