Any other Amateur radio operators?

[BubblesTGB]

To me it's the law of diminishing returns. $1500 for a receiver is nothing compared to paying technicians 24/7 to sit and listen to hams talk about the weather and their latest antenna project. I bet that in this day and age, these guys are focusing all their efforts on cell phones.

Also, if you're a terrorist or spy organization, HF communications comes with certain problems: antenna farms are difficult to hide and it takes a fair amount of training to create a competent radio operator.

I doubt they are listening to licensed hams having rag chews. But a lot of communication still happens via HF and some of that communication can be carried out by some rather unsavory folks. That's why when you look at the higher end receivers, you often see two models. One for consumers and one for government use that needs proper documentation for purchase.

The NSA may not be listening to hams talking about weather, but HF communication monitoring is where they got their start.

 

[n2hql]

says it all, xtra class op, ve, etc.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

wa2kqy here. Been continually active since 1976. I am also a professional radio engineer. Yes, you can blame me for the cell phones.

Stan

 

[Lesmore]

Over the years I've thought about getting into Ham Radio. Never have though. As the years have passed, I've wondered if there is as much need for Ham Radios ?

Still, I think it would be an interesting...communicating with other operators throughout the world.

I wonder if the number of ham radio operators are going down ?

I know you have to study to take a test. Not sure of the details of this aspect.

I also wonder what the cost would be to get equipment, what equipment would be needed, what brands would be recommended and the amount of work to set up...for examples such as aerials ?

 

[SyntheticEvil13]

This thread reminds me of those long nights in the middle of nowhere talking radio operators in my rig. Good times.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

The main need for ham radio is any sort of a disaster, natural or man made. Our modern comm systems are easily taken out. Cell networks die very easily. The modern public safety systems have been redesigned to allow easy interagency interconnect, and put more comm in fewer channels with only one radio in a rig, but are nowhere near as robust as they used to be.

Plus, they are all easily jammed to boot, so if the disaster is man-made and malicious, then we have a real problem. On top of that, just simple failures are beyond any repairs by the users. Ham, otoh, has user reconfigurable radios operated by people that, for the most part, can manage to deal with most faults and keep on the air. The biggest risk is jamming, and with the loss of the Morse requirement, I wondered about that part. Morse, or CW as we call it, is really good at blasting a hole through jamming. But enough hams learn it anyway, so we are probably OK on that point.

In a pinch, I can make a pretty powerful CW transmitter out of a battery, an old tractor coil and an electric fence and push a signal halfway around the world. That is not legal, of course, but when the manure impacts the air circulator, anything is legal.

73s

Stan

Edit: oh, and I have dozens of radios, many packed away, that I can go a long while before I start eyeing the tractor parts. Most hams have shelves of stuff, too. We're good.

 

[Icecold Dan]

Kj4jjb

 

[jamesspo]

Kb9nuj

 

[vaplanman]

Three pages of check-ins. Not too shabby!

 

[Trenton]

My stepfather is a ham, now 90, I remember him checking in on the net as they called it in the 60's and 70's. I have always though it would be interesting to take up but figured I would never learn code. From reading the posts it sounds like that is not needed anymore, is that just in the States or is that world wide? The interest is there but code? He did use a thing called a bug sort of one side dots the other side dashes. I to would like to know where to start. Electronics is my down fall, but I can do pretty much anything I put my mind to. Someday I will have a garage full of radios and tubes.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

The code requirement was gone everywhere else in the world well before the US dropped it. Lots of hams still learn it, but it has not been a requirement for quite a while. So, you are good to go!

73s

Stan

 

[Klopstick]

For those in the USA:
If you are looking to get started, the best online course I know of is http://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/index.html It's not particularly expensive, and the format is excellent. Self-paced and you can take as many practice exams (using real exam questions) as you like. You will find the areas where you have the material down cold and the places where you need work. Well worth the investment, IMHO.

For those in other countries, you will have to do some Google searching to see what's out there. For example, in Canada http://www.canadianamateurradio.ca/becomeaham.html

 

[Trenton]

Thanks for the info, I'm going to see if there is a local club. Echolink sounds interesting, maybe I can get a 90 year old on a computer yet.

 

[mretzloff]

Do you need a Ham radio to listen to Ham radio, or can that be done online?

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

Usually, you need some sort of receiver and antenna to just listen. Just which receiver would be determined by what you want to listen to (worldwide HF vs. Local repeaters for example). Receive only antennas are not as critical as transmit ones are.

There is an internet service, Echolink, but you have to have a license to get a login to the service. And, EL is station specific, so I do not think they have a tunable receiver function.

73s

Stan

Edit:

I probably ought to clarify. Ham Licenses are split into two pieces. One is operator, which means the person. The other is Station, which means a collection of transmitters and transmit antennas in a given spot (home, work, mobile, etc).

For example, I can operate my own station or someone else's, and someone else could operate one of mine. It is a fine point, but an important one.

For Echolink, one uses their operator license to transmit with someone else's station via a secure link via the internet. Even if someone attaches a receive only station to EL, the service intends both transmit and receive, so an operator license is required.

Note that neither form of license is required for receiving with your own radios and antennas.

73s again

Stan

 

[mretzloff]

Thank you, Stan. That is too bad.

 

[PatDreadful]

I’ve always been interested in Ham radio but never pulledthe trigger. After reading some of thematerial provided here, I may just start thinking about it a bit moreseriously.

Is there a good resource for starter kits? Also, how much is the “all in” cost for anovice who just wants some basic equipment to get a feel for it?

 

[Klopstick]

You can listen all day and night without a license (at least in the US) Transmitting requires a license.

There are a number of "Software Defined Radio" (SDR) stations that you can listen in on via the web. Here's a site to get you started http://websdr.org/ . You can use this to help you learn about the different bands ans how they behave during the day and night, as well as during sunspot activity. No guarantees on how well these online stations work.

Equipment? Well, it all depends on if you want to go new or used, concentrate on HF, VHF, or UHF (or any of the above).

Used? Get hooked up with your local club and ask around. You can try hamfests, but you have to know what you are looking for and how to make sure it's all working. For new, try places like Ham Radio Outlet (HRO). Alinco makes a decent HF rig (DX-SR9T - also works very well as an all-band general coverage receiver), as do Icom (718) and Yaesu (857D- also has VHF/UHF and is a very popular rig). You can get out the door new for $600-1200 for a good HF rig depending on what you want. If you want to go vintage, there are plenty of choices, and thousands of enthusiasts out there to learn from. Vintage might better be left for later, unless you have a local ham who can help you out, say, one who sells you his old rig.

This of course does not include a good antenna or the coax cable for it. You may also need an antenna tuner. A good antenna makes ALL the difference, so don't scrimp there. Wire antennas work fine, you don't have to put up a huge tower, just pay close attention to design and construction. HF takes larger antennas, so might not be optimal for apartment dwellers, although many find ways to overcome that! Don't limit yourself.

VHF/UHF is a very different beast from HF. HF is used for long distance, whereas VHF/UHF is more line of sight/local. Both have their adherents, and each has a particular culture that goes with it. You can do more than talk too. You can use code (CW), Radio Teletype (RTTY - all done by computers these days), other digital modes, some good for very low power (imagine talking to Europe on under 1 watt of power), and even Slow scan television (SSTV - again, your computer does the hard part).

VHF/UHF has it's own merits. Antennas are smaller, but so is range. There are (very) cheap handhelds, portable/mobile radios with more power, and some larger rigs.

There are a million niches you can play with, all the moreso now that computing technology is a big part of radio. And there's more coming out every minute!

 

[Trenton]

Well I'm going to check in with VE5AA turns out they meet where another club I belong to meets. I doubt I will get real active for a while, but I would kind of like to explore it a bit more. I see they offer courses. You never know I might drop back in hear with a call sign.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

Exactly! Go test the waves out. Get to know some local hams. Pretty soon, you will be listening to 2 meters. Then, it will be wanting to chat back. Then, a license so you can.

73s, future ham!

Stan