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I am, but not entirely for the benefits. If I get the EC appointment, it's a requirement for that.
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Jun 27, 2008 06:14
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McRib Sandwich posted:$500 Close Call on Unidens is pretty hot, it works great. While you have it on you get a little 'blip' of cut-out audio every five seconds if you are scanning, that is the scanner checking Close Call. It is annoying for about five minutes, then you block it out. There's a little beeper that goes off when Close Call grabs something, so you are aware. Tangent - my 396 has a further feature where it will beep one of ten little codes when a specific channel or talkgroup gets a transmission, it is great to hear DEEDLEE DEEDLEE when the hazardous materials or DEA talkgroups fire up.
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Jun 27, 2008 19:51
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Can't justify that at all right now. How does the "close call" feature work for homing in on nearby signals? That sounds like one of the nicest upsells to the unit, being able to pick out transmissions as they're happening in front of you.
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McRib Sandwich posted:That is extremely awesome. Good luck on the tests! Given that it's going to be Field Day in the US, and because the session's so large, I wonder if they'll be bringing out some rigs to listen to the added activity on the bands... could be a fun time. quote:The General isn't a great deal harder than the Tech, and I know you've probably picked up a fair bit of knowledge about propagation and stuff from SWLing, so I would give it a shot. You might surprise yourself. Maybe look at a couple practice exams and see how you do, but not before you're confident that you can nail down the Tech exam, of course. Speaking of which, since Taiwan's not part of the ITU and has no agreement with the US, I can't start operating even after I've got my call, but I have a question - if you're on Echolink at your computer (not via any transceiver), where does that sit in terms of being able to operate? If I connect to a DX repeater somewhere where there is reciprocation with the US, am I good? I mean, I'm not using radio until that point, so....
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Jun 28, 2008 12:46
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So I thought the bands would be packed for Field Day, but in the limited time I've had to scan around, I haven't heard much of anything outside of the usual repeater activity. What gives? Are you guys hearing anything in your areas?
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Jun 29, 2008 19:11
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McRib Sandwich posted:So I thought the bands would be packed for Field Day, but in the limited time I've had to scan around, I haven't heard much of anything outside of the usual repeater activity. What gives? Are you guys hearing anything in your areas? There were a lot of guys on the repeaters talking about getting set up for the day on my way to work. I spent all day inside work which has got to be the absolute worst building I've ever been in as far as RFI, so I didn't get to listen to anything all day. I did tune around a little on HF after work and 40 meters was so packed I could barely make out any one signal over all the others crowded around it on my old Yaesu. Someone in Florida was the farthest station I picked out (I'm in Washington).
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Jun 30, 2008 00:52
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Dog Case posted:There were a lot of guys on the repeaters talking about getting set up for the day on my way to work. I spent all day inside work which has got to be the absolute worst building I've ever been in as far as RFI, so I didn't get to listen to anything all day. We had a pretty bad storm threaten us with some lightning so most of the field day activities had to get pulled...Something about 'safety'.
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Jun 30, 2008 01:20
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blugu64 posted:We had a pretty bad storm threaten us with some lightning so most of the field day activities had to get pulled...Something about 'safety'. Pff. If Mountain Dew has taught me anything, it's that Ham Radio and lightning are a perfectly safe combination.
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Jun 30, 2008 01:28
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I'm looking for a means to transmit and receive text and small pictures from low power laptop to low power laptop. Could radio do this for me?
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Jun 30, 2008 02:24
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McRib Sandwich posted:So I thought the bands would be packed for Field Day, but in the limited time I've had to scan around, I haven't heard much of anything outside of the usual repeater activity. What gives? Are you guys hearing anything in your areas? Was this for the entire event, or just after your post? Since you posted after FD was over. Our club made 300+ phone contacts 200+ digital contacts and 500+ CW contacts. While I was on yesterday, everything sounded jam packed on phone, but due to wind and some other factors we werent able to get our beam up high enough, or rotatable, until about 6 hours into it, so we weren't getting out as well as we should have for some time.
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Jun 30, 2008 02:40
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McRib Sandwich posted:$500 I rented a 396 a few weeks ago and the Close Call was great. I was lazy and only programmed it with the frequencies for the county I live in, but I work one county over so if I had it with me while driving I didn't get much until I got close to home. Third or fourth day, I was heading in to work and got behind a county sheriff car, and after about 5 minutes I had a few of their frequencies.
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Jun 30, 2008 02:40
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mwdan posted:Was this for the entire event, or just after your post? Since you posted after FD was over. Nah, I had checked on Saturday afternoon but was surprised not to hear anything. Even checked 2-meter SSB but I couldn't pull anything out. There were a lot of thunderstorms through this area, so I wouldn't be surprised if local activity had to cease, but I was expecting to hear at least a few voice QSOs on HF.
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Jun 30, 2008 18:16
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McRib Sandwich posted:Nah, I had checked on Saturday afternoon but was surprised not to hear anything. Even checked 2-meter SSB but I couldn't pull anything out. There were a lot of thunderstorms through this area, so I wouldn't be surprised if local activity had to cease, but I was expecting to hear at least a few voice QSOs on HF. Dunno... there were quite a few. I worked a 1D station by myself for FD. I wanted to make it a 1E station (100% emergency power) and I did try for the first 3 hours running 5W into either my PAC-12 Vertical or my W5GI colinear, and did not make one single contact. I finally gave that up and went to 100W with my FT-840 and made contacts hand over fist... I worked 20M from about 9pm EDT to 1AM EDT, when 20m finally gave out completely, then worked 40M after changing coils on my PAC-12 until about 5:30 EDT sunday morning. Then back on 20 unitl about 10AM when I finally just had to go to sleep... I woke up at 4pm, just in time for it to be over. I only made about 100 contacts overall though, which was a bit disappointing for all that time, but considering I did them on my own, and I had fun working the contest atmosphere... I realized that I need to get a REAL vertical antenna... wire just ain't cutting it at 100 watts. I can work most of the east coast and Central/South America with my wire, but the vertical gets more punch when trying to work anything farther west than Texas (Im in North Carolina)... I tried 2m SSB too, but heard absolutely nothing. I didn't bother with anything beyond 40 and 20 though...
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Jun 30, 2008 20:06
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We only worked 20m on our voice station, and for about the first 4 hours we had our beam pointed directly into a metal building, since the wind was too bad to crank it up any higher, but we were getting a lot of west coast stuff then, mostly western washington. Not too shabby for eastern ND, but they must have gotten something figured out after I left around 9:30 CDT, because when I came back around 12:00 sunday, they were over 300. I suppose it just depends on where you were I guess.
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Jul 1, 2008 03:59
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Wow, no posts in almost a week. Anyone been up to anything interesting in the world of ham radio lately? Maybe some public safety events over the holiday weekend?
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Jul 7, 2008 22:42
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Well, I just dumped a bunch of dollars on Mouser for tools and components so I can build this SWR meter. I made one already but it wasn't accurate at 146 MHz, so I decided to make everything a little tighter: homemade PCB, surface mount components, BNC connectors. We'll see how it goes. Any thought how I can use the fancy network analyzer at work to tell if it's working right? I keep forgetting to check into the local nets because I am a dork.
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Jul 7, 2008 22:57
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McRib Sandwich posted:Wow, no posts in almost a week. Anyone been up to anything interesting in the world of ham radio lately? Maybe some public safety events over the holiday weekend? It's not terribly interesting, but I heard people on 2m simplex that isn't a friend of mine calling me for the first time recently!. One guy yesterday calling on simplex was really close. my buddy lives a mile away, and this guy was coming in clearer than he does most of the time. I was not in a position to answer, though. 
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Jul 7, 2008 23:11
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I was out of town for the weekend but I don't have a handheld. I told my friend and he was like "well poo poo, why didn't you ring me up? you could've borrowed one of mine!" The whole five hour trip down and back I was wishing I had a handheld to pass the time. Florida highways are so boring! This weekend I'm actually gonna break the fear of transmitting and I'm going to just go on the repeater and announce to the world (err, the north Florida area anyways. 2-meter rig here) that I'm listening. Maybe even join in on a conversation. The only time I've been really transmitting has been to participate in nets (read: check in and stay quiet) and to participate in a practice radiogram session.
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Jul 7, 2008 23:26
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Theres been some weather things going on up here as of late. I did 2.5 hours at Natl weather today, and 2 hours on Saturday. I think everyone was just worn out from FD. I know I needed some time away from comms after that.
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Jul 8, 2008 04:16
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Yeah, everybody takes a break after FD for a week or three. It's standard. Plus you have to rerun all the coax patches and 12v cabling that you ripped out of your shack late Thursday before FD started.... Weather nets are fired up on the regular here in NW Arkansas, it's storm season. Waiting on a paycheck so I can go buy 6 10.5 foot pieces of chainlink top rail, for two 30 foot masts - one grounded and used for the satellite antennas and verticals, the other insulated from ground and fed as a 1/4 wave 40m vertical. The Hy-Gain AV-18VS is getting a foldover mount for the back of the truck - 18 feet should make for a decent camping vertical.
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Jul 8, 2008 21:23
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Jul 9, 2008 05:59
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It sure is great to have your elmer be someone with a ton of disposable income and cool radio equipment! We managed to set up a system where using his equipment where I connect to his computer over Skype. Then using my Rock Band usb mic, I can key up his awesome Kenwood rig over at his house. Right now, I'm on 10-meters calling CQ over Skype. Now if only there was someone out there...
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Jul 13, 2008 23:23
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Another goon ham checking in with a General class license. I ordered a Yaesu FTM-10R last week.  I'll be mounting it on my motorcycle for all the PSEs I do. A little XT225 dual-sport. A handheld just won't cut it for output for some of these distant events anymore. I'm even going to be putting a small solar panel on the back of the bike to help keep the radio battery charged.
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Jul 14, 2008 02:50
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PirateDentist posted:Another goon ham checking in with a General class license. I ordered a Yaesu FTM-10R last week. Ya, I'm gonna have to ask you to post a bunch of pictures once you get that setup. EDIT: That's awesome.
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Jul 14, 2008 03:07
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PirateDentist posted:Another goon ham checking in with a General class license. I ordered a Yaesu FTM-10R last week. I gotta second Blugu's request. I have a Miata, so I could easily drop the top and let sunlight hit solar panels mounted on the rear of the interior (it's a nearly flay surface. Perfect for solar).
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Jul 14, 2008 03:18
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I'll post lotsa pictures once I get everything together. I found a 5w solar panel for $66 at a place locally. It's this one: http://www.powerupco.com/panels/oem/bsp512.php It's only 9 inches across. It's not going to keep the radio going if the battery is dead, but a slow trickle charge all day will make a difference. The biggest challenge for this setup is getting a headset in a helmet connected to the radio. There is no pre-made solution, and I don't want to spend upwards of $500 for the bluetooth setup that seems fairly spotty from reports. (The FTM-10R has optional bluetooth add-on for wireless control head and headset)
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Jul 14, 2008 03:29
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Well, after a couple of weeks' wait, KC9NYK checking in 
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Jul 15, 2008 15:33
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Jul 15, 2008 15:45
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TetsuoTW posted:Well, after a couple of weeks' wait, KC9NYK checking in Awesome man! I know how much you've been wanting to get on the air! I only had to wait a week and a half for the FCC to get my callsign to me. I couldn't imagine waiting several weeks!
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Jul 15, 2008 16:06
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PirateDentist posted:I'll post lotsa pictures once I get everything together. I found a 5w solar panel for $66 at a place locally. It's this one: http://www.powerupco.com/panels/oem/bsp512.php It's only 9 inches across. It's not going to keep the radio going if the battery is dead, but a slow trickle charge all day will make a difference. I can't find the post nor thread, but someone in AI modified a proprietary in helmet setup to work with his GMRS radios, or something to that effect. Probably warranty voiding, but I can't see it being too difficult. TetsuoTW posted:Well, after a couple of weeks' wait, KC9NYK checking in Congrats!
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Jul 15, 2008 16:24
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So my friend tells me there some contests going this weekend. Anyone plan to work some stations while everyone is coming out of the woodwork? I'm only borrowing my friend's 2-meter rig, but he tells me there's a 2-meter contest going on this weekend. I'm pretty excited for that! Maybe I can hear some people other than the locals. I can't wait until I graduate from college and I can afford my own gear. After hopping on my friend's gear and having a taste of DXing on bands that can reach the world, I seriously gotta get some all-band gear!
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Jul 19, 2008 03:34
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Well, I just got General here at The Last HOPE but only got 19/50 for Extra so I'm good for HF now so what would be good as a portable ham radio? I see Icom and Kenwood around here but I just would want a second opinion.
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Jul 20, 2008 16:32
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NYIslander posted:Well, I just got General here at The Last HOPE but only got 19/50 for Extra so I'm good for HF now so what would be good as a portable ham radio? I see Icom and Kenwood around here but I just would want a second opinion.
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Jul 21, 2008 05:00
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nmfree posted:Portable as in H/T or as in the Icom IC-703 or Yaesu FT-817? probably H/T since the 2 models you mentioned look to be worn on the body and I meant in hand like the IC-V82.
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Jul 22, 2008 02:20
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I got my tech license at the Last HOPE (failed the general with around a 50%). How long does it take the FCC to put a new license in their database?
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Jul 22, 2008 04:21
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Hartman posted:I got my tech license at the Last HOPE (failed the general with around a 50%). How long does it take the FCC to put a new license in their database? I have a friend who tested on a Saturday and had his issued on Wedsneday. So, in essence, faster than any other government function I've ever dealt with, ever.
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Jul 22, 2008 04:39
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Hartman posted:I got my tech license at the Last HOPE (failed the general with around a 50%). How long does it take the FCC to put a new license in their database? It sounds like it can vary a bit. Like sklnd said, some get them within the week, some have to wait a week or so. Generally, unless you're doing it from abroad, they seem to be pretty quick off the mark with it. The waiting loving blows though, doesn't it?
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Jul 22, 2008 04:53
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TetsuoTW posted:It sounds like it can vary a bit. Like sklnd said, some get them within the week, some have to wait a week or so. Generally, unless you're doing it from abroad, they seem to be pretty quick off the mark with it. Yeah, the waiting sucks. I'm re-searching the FCC site about every other hour today. I am getting a bunch of stuff around the house done to waste time between searches.
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Jul 24, 2008 21:02
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Hartman posted:Yeah, the waiting sucks. I'm re-searching the FCC site about every other hour today. I am getting a bunch of stuff around the house done to waste time between searches.
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Jul 25, 2008 03:09
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Yeah, once a day. It took almost exactly a week for mine to go through counting from the day I took the test a couple of months ago. I finally got on the radio this week - checked into a couple of local FM nets. My homemade J-pole hung up in the living room is working a charm, I'm hitting a repeater 60 miles away with no trouble at 5W.
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Jul 25, 2008 05:02
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nmfree posted:FYI the page only gets updated once a day, in the afternoon IIRC. Good to know, I guess I can go back to bed now. 
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Jul 25, 2008 12:46
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