Any other Amateur radio operators?

Hi,

If you mean the Motorola flavor of DMR, not yet. One of the commercial outfits around here, which is owned by a ham, has put up a system so probably in the near future for me.

In my professional work as a developer, I have worked on several digital modulation schemes. The one most applicable being APCO Project 25.

73s,

Stan

DMR (MotoTrbo) is wildly popular along the Colorado front range. Big Denver tech group has numerous repeaters throughout the state. Not too sure I'm sold on it, but since you can get decent DMR radios for ~$150, figured why not. Is kind of fun talking to someone in Germany on an HT driving to work. Not as fun as the HF rig into my small dipole though...

N6TEA good on QRZ, LoTW, and HRDLOG

I'm a former Advanced Class HAM but my license lapsed and expired over 10 years ago..

Where do I have to go to get it renewed? Do I have to take a test? Can I keep my old call-sign?

KB9ZSO

I got my license as a kid (c. 2000) to placate my dad and to participate in weather nets. Now I have a cheapo Baofeng 2m/440 handheld for the occasional weather net. For me, it's just insurance in case something happens that knocks out traditional communication lines.

My dad is much more heavy into HAM now that he's an empty nester. He's got 4 or 5 antennae strung across his attic, and he's thinking about moving out somewhere where he can put up a decent mast. He used to be an EE (works in the business side now), so he tinkers with the equipment a lot. He's always got some project going on. I certainly understand, but I prefer to tinker with robotics rather than antennae.

Now that I'll have a house instead of a condo, I plan on getting back in to radio.

First order of business will be buying a new rig. I sold off all my gear during a bout of unemployment.

Kilroy08 said:

Now that I'll have a house instead of a condo, I plan on getting back in to radio.

First order of business will be buying a new rig. I sold off all my gear during a bout of unemployment.

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If I were you,
if you are serious about getting back into radio,
build an antenna farm first before you buy a rig.
The radios will come when you need them,
but if you can't get them on the air they'll just be dead-weaight and needless expense up-front.

KG6IOC here. In saying that, I got that just to see if I could. I did, although I have hardly used it at all. As a youngster in Hawaii my dad had an old tube radio and it happened to have a couple shortwave bands. Started listening to that during the start of the Vietnam conflict listening to Radio Moscow propaganda broadcasts. I now have a Drake R8B receiver that I listened too before moving to Texas recently. Gotta go get it soon. 73's all.


Mike

mglindo said:

KG6IOC here. In saying that, I got that just to see if I could. I did, although I have hardly used it at all. As a youngster in Hawaii my dad had an old tube radio and it happened to have a couple shortwave bands. Started listening to that during the start of the Vietnam conflict listening to Radio Moscow propaganda broadcasts. I now have a Drake R8B receiver that I listened too before moving to Texas recently. Gotta go get it soon. 73's all.


Mike

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I got my intro into SWL about that same time ... Vietnam war, Watergate, etc. ... ...
comparing notes between VoA and Moscow and Havana and London and sort out the truth.

My first rig was a Hallicrafters S-38, longwire antenna in the attic.
I went through a lot of other world-band radios, but they got stolen a few years ago.
Only thing I have left is a Telefunken tube radio that belonged to my father, but its not hooked up.

My next SWL rig will likely be a Tecsun 880.

dpm802 said:

I'm a former Advanced Class HAM but my license lapsed and expired over 10 years ago..

Where do I have to go to get it renewed? Do I have to take a test? Can I keep my old call-sign?

Click to expand...

Hi,

You have been gone too long, so you get to start all over again. Grace period is only 2 years. You will get a new call, but your old call may be unassigned and if so you could get it back as a vanity call. Most clubs offer VE sessions. These days, there are only three classes: Technician, General and Extra.

Stan

Yesterday AM. A little Scotch, a little PSK. 20 meters was so open it was almost impossible to separate anyone out. Switched to JT65 and worked a little DX on 15.

KQY61 said:

Hi,

You have been gone too long, so you get to start all over again. Grace period is only 2 years. You will get a new call, but your old call may be unassigned and if so you could get it back as a vanity call. Most clubs offer VE sessions. These days, there are only three classes: Technician, General and Extra.

Stan

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I'm pretty sure its still available.
When I look it up online it comes back as either unregistered or my old info.
Its a KA2xxx that I first got around`1977.

dpm802 said:

If I were you,
if you are serious about getting back into radio,
build an antenna farm first before you buy a rig.
The radios will come when you need them,
but if you can't get them on the air they'll just be dead-weaight and needless expense up-front.

Click to expand...

The antennas were about the only things I kept from my previous station. I've got a nice two element quad still sealed up in the box along with a big ol' roll of stranded copper wire.

Maybe, or MAYBE someday I would like to get into this Ham Radio stuff. However, I do enjoy surfing around on my shortwave. Now, here's an antenna question for ya'll. I use a Grundig S350DL, I'll drop a picture, and I run about 70 or 80 feet-ish of 18 gauge wire from the back of the radio in my basement, out the dryer vent escape, up to the eaves trough, down to the corner of the roof and then it's attached to a 2 foot telescopic antenna from another radio. Is this a waste? Improper? Better way? Anyway, thanks ahead, and here's the pics:

Cash_Stronomer said:

Maybe, or MAYBE someday I would like to get into this Ham Radio stuff. However, I do enjoy surfing around on my shortwave. Now, here's an antenna question for ya'll. I use a Grundig S350DL, I'll drop a picture, and I run about 70 or 80 feet-ish of 18 gauge wire from the back of the radio in my basement, out the dryer vent escape, up to the eaves trough, down to the corner of the roof and then it's attached to a 2 foot telescopic antenna from another radio. Is this a waste? Improper? Better way? Anyway, thanks ahead, and here's the pics:

Click to expand...

The 2-foot tel-whip at the end is a waste. The rest of it is OK, but could be improved upon.

The best thing you can do to improve your rig is to connect it to an Earth-ground ... drive a copper rod into the ground and connect your rig to that.

Also, get a long-wire antenna tuner from MFJ or other brand.

Excellent, thanks. I have seen these tuner's at work where we have a radio station. Somebody, haven't figured out who yet, runs an amateur radio club out of there, I'll be figuring who he is soon.

This is an interesting thread! Somewhere I have a Grundig YB 400 that I might try playing with. If I do, what kind of antenna should I use? I live in an urban environment but might be able to run something onto my roof deck.

de KB1JCY. Not active due to antenna issues.

Tralfaz said:

This is an interesting thread! Somewhere I have a Grundig YB 400 that I might try playing with. If I do, what kind of antenna should I use? I live in an urban environment but might be able to run something onto my roof deck.

Click to expand...

I had a YB-400 ... come to think of it, I had 2 or 3 of them down through the years. Its a great little radio. One of the best portables I've ever owned. The built-in tel-whip is decent enough for solid listening to the Big Guns on World Band, and with even the simplest of long-wires you can pull in some pretty amazing DX.

Hi,

On the SWL receivers, a random wire will do pretty well. That meaning whatever length wire fits your space. The key is to keep the wire in a straight line. Yes, longer is better but even 6 feet would function pretty well.

To be a longwire, you need it to be on the order of a full wavelength or more for the band you want to listen to. I live on a farm and so have space and have a 450 foot long receiving antenna, which is a full wavelength for 160 meters and a true longwire for all the shorter bands.

73s

Stan