Ham Radio

[Molandfreak]

Anyone here a licensed amateur radio operator? I just got finished with a two-session technician class and am hoping to get my license soon.

[6a]

Yep, W4WIS here. I don't really have a home rig right now, just mobile and a HT. I mostly do Skywarn stuff and chat about traffic on the way home from work.

[froggie]

KI4FXU, though I presently lack gear.

[nexus73]

Yes I am a ham, Extra class too!  ARRL Diamond Club, ARES/RACES with both county and state certifications, accredited as a VE through the ARRL, V-P of the county's radio club and a member of a local repeater association. 

You'll find more radios in my apartment than in a Radio Shack store...LOL!

73,

Rick
WA7SGS

[Dr Frankenstein]

I'm considering getting certified eventually, once I can afford some gear.

[roadman]

N1PMD here.  Been a licensed ham since 1993.  Technician class, currently studying for General.  Presently running an older HT (Alinco 580) and a portable (Yaesu FT-817).  Have a mobile rig (Alinco 610 - 2m/70cm) I used in my old car, but I haven't gotten around to installing it in my present car yet.

[maplestar]

KK4NZP. Made the new ham mistake of buying a handheld that won't hit the local repeaters. Haven't used it since the first couple of weeks. Hampered by the fact that I learned on my own and didn't get connected to any of the local groups.

[nexus73]

KK4NZP. Made the new ham mistake of buying a handheld that won't hit the local repeaters. Haven't used it since the first couple of weeks. Hampered by the fact that I learned on my own and didn't get connected to any of the local groups.

Either you don't have the right PL's or a decent antenna.  If you got a cheap Chinese HT, you'll soon find out their rubber duck antennas are junk.  Here is the best antenna for them:

http://www.radiogearpro.com/main/product_info.php?products_id=1308

You also can go with a better HT.  I run an ICOM IC-V-80 and it outclasses the Chinese HT's in both capability and durability.

Here's a pix of my shack from my QRZ profile:  http://www.qrz.com/db/WA7SGS

Here's a funny look at ham radio from a Sixties TV show:

Herman Munster calling CQ: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=herman+munster+calling+cq+youtube&ei=utf-8&fr=chr-yie8

73,

Rick

[hbelkins]

Rich Carlson, founder of the Roadgeek Yahoo group, is one.

[SSOWorld]

As is GeekJedi (Chris Tarr)

I have it on the list but low priority.

[Laura]

I've looked into getting my license, but doing so is a lower priority right now because of grad school.

Mike is N3KEV and has had his license since 1991 or so?
http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=675045

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

I am thinking about setting my car up as a mobile ham station. I plan to first get my technicians license and join the local club in Fort Smith (FSAARC) and CAREN.

[oscar]

A quick search will pick up this old thread (that could probably use an update): https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=13893

I'm not a ham operator, but I knew there was at least one old thread.

[Flint1979]

I've been into CB radios but not ever a ham operator.

[KeithE4Phx]

WW7KE here, and I hit my 50th anniversary as a ham next May.  I've held an Advanced Class license for all but the first two years.

If you're going to put a rig in your car, be sure to mount it and the antenna as securely as possible, and you might want to put an alarm in your vehicle if you don't already have one.  I had a 2 meter mobile setup that saved my butt when my van conked out in Oklahoma in 1994 (no cellphone then) when I moved from Chicago to Phoenix.  Found a repeater, broke into a QSO, one of the guys called the state cops, and they had me towed to OKC (only a few miles away, as it turned out). 

Unfortunately, it was ripped off at work 2 years later, and I haven't installed another one since.  That's why physical security is imperative in mobile installations.  Nowadays, I see very few mobile ham setups, mostly because of the chance of theft.  Copper thieves are rampant in Arizona.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

WW7KE here, and I hit my 50th anniversary as a ham next May.  I've held an Advanced Class license for all but the first two years.

If you're going to put a rig in your car, be sure to mount it and the antenna as securely as possible, and you might want to put an alarm in your vehicle if you don't already have one.  I had a 2 meter mobile setup that saved my butt when my van conked out in Oklahoma in 1994 (no cellphone then) when I moved from Chicago to Phoenix.  Found a repeater, broke into a QSO, one of the guys called the state cops, and they had me towed to OKC (only a few miles away, as it turned out). 

Unfortunately, it was ripped off at work 2 years later, and I haven't installed another one since.  That's why physical security is imperative in mobile installations.  Nowadays, I see very few mobile ham setups, mostly because of the chance of theft.  Copper thieves are rampant in Arizona.

Is a mobile repeater effective in a vehicle?

[KeithE4Phx]

WW7KE here, and I hit my 50th anniversary as a ham next May.  I've held an Advanced Class license for all but the first two years.

If you're going to put a rig in your car, be sure to mount it and the antenna as securely as possible, and you might want to put an alarm in your vehicle if you don't already have one.  I had a 2 meter mobile setup that saved my butt when my van conked out in Oklahoma in 1994 (no cellphone then) when I moved from Chicago to Phoenix.  Found a repeater, broke into a QSO, one of the guys called the state cops, and they had me towed to OKC (only a few miles away, as it turned out). 

Unfortunately, it was ripped off at work 2 years later, and I haven't installed another one since.  That's why physical security is imperative in mobile installations.  Nowadays, I see very few mobile ham setups, mostly because of the chance of theft.  Copper thieves are rampant in Arizona.

Is a mobile repeater effective in a vehicle?

A mobile repeater is pretty much useless if it's moving.  A repeater needs to be in a fixed location.  If its purpose is to be a short- or mid-range machine that can be moved around as needed, it would be good for emergency uses.

Most repeaters are like FM and TV stations:  On high ground, such as atop a mountain or tall building, in order to maximize its range.  A repeater is used to cover most or all of a metro area, which is something that normally can't be accomplished via FM simplex.

[MikeTheActuary]

N1EN here, and probably picking up a Canadian call in the spring.

I kept a VHF/UHF rig in my prior vehicle, just using a mag mount on the roof for an antenna.

When we bought our current vehicle...well, it was the first all-new vehicle my wife had had an interest in.  So, when I made a remark to the effect of "Great! Now I can take this to so-and-so and get a professional installation done", which after one or two back-and-forths, lead to my wife tearing up and asking, "you're going to drill holes into my nice new car?"

I don't have a mobile setup any more. 

(Probably for the best; with all the airbags they stuff in vehicle front ends and sides these days, I woulda had issues finding some place to mount a control head that wouldn't either risk injury in case of wreck, or gotten in my wife's way.)

I have a big "shack in the box" portable station.  After I get my Canadian license, I'll probably haul it and some batteries up, and go play someplace with the new call.  Perhaps the RAC Canada Day contest.....

[US71]

I don't think he's on the forum, but I believe Steve Williams/ Georgia Road Geek is a ham

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

I don't think he's on the forum, but I believe Steve Williams/ Georgia Road Geek is a ham

Maybe you could outfit your van as a station if you're a ham.

[MikeTheActuary]

One activity that is a favorite for some hams is county-hunting (analogous to our county-counting, with a notable exception of how independent cities and subdivisions of Alaska are handled).

For several states, county-hunting is facilitated by state QSO parties, where an object is to work as many (preferably all) counties during the day or weekend of the party.  To that end, there are some operators who enjoy setting up dedicated mobile contest stations which they drive around on a pre-announced route/schedule.

A van would work better for such an operation than a regular passenger car.

[KeithE4Phx]

One activity that is a favorite for some hams is county-hunting (analogous to our county-counting, with a notable exception of how independent cities and subdivisions of Alaska are handled).

For several states, county-hunting is facilitated by state QSO parties, where an object is to work as many (preferably all) counties during the day or weekend of the party.  To that end, there are some operators who enjoy setting up dedicated mobile contest stations which they drive around on a pre-announced route/schedule.

A van would work better for such an operation than a regular passenger car.

County hunting, like grid-square hunting, is a good pursuit for those with lower-powered stations and/or small antennas, since real overseas DX is harder to work with such setups.  Especially these days with no sunspots.  On VHF and UHF, there is always E-skip and tropospheric ducting that helps.  That's usually in the summer, though.

The biggest problem is in the west.  For example, a 300 mile radius of Phoenix will net you all 15 counties in Arizona, plus Clark County NV, Riverside and Imperial Counties in CA, plus a few each in Utah and New Mexico.  That same radius back east will net you several hundred counties in half a dozen states or more, depending on where you are.  Grid squares are more equitable, since they are all pretty much the same size and aren't dependent on national or state boundaries.

An SSB/CW/Digital rig is preferable to FM, but skip is also possible on FM.  My best 2 meter E-skip was on FM mobile, where I was driving in central Wisconsin and made a QSO via a repeater in Alabama.  This was in 1975.

[SSOWorld]

Topic merged by KD9GBJ (though not much on the air I am slowly gathering equipment - I have to have a better antenna for my handy-talkie at minimum.)

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

Thanks Scott!

I was wondering how many antenna I'd need for a mobile station? I am leaning more and more toward an NMO through-hole mount, but would I need an array for more bands? I'd like to be able to switch between antenna.

[MikeTheActuary]

Thanks Scott!

I was wondering how many antenna I'd need for a mobile station? I am leaning more and more toward an NMO through-hole mount, but would I need an array for more bands? I'd like to be able to switch between antenna.

It depends on bands of interest and budget.

Most mobile operators are focused on 2m or (especially in areas where DMR is active) 2m + 70cm.  There are many, many options out there for mono- or dual-band antennas for those bands, (no antenna switches required, although a few radios might want a duplexer...but that's not common), so choice of antenna and mount becomes one of personal preference, vehicle composition, and frequency of parking in garages.

For HF operation...the choices are still legion.   I know many mobile HF operators who invest in a motorized antenna (push a button, and it adjusts to tune to the frequency/band in question), while others take the simpler/cheaper approach of just getting a set of hamsticks, to change as you change bands.  A multi-band antenna that uses taps to adjust for different bands is also an option, but I haven't seen them used in the wild.

For HF operation, I will note that mobile operation become exponentially more challenging as you target lower bands...and since we're currently in a solar minimum, higher bands are frequently disappointing or are closed.

Personally, I have no interest in operating HF while mobile.  I love contesting and DXing, but HF signals can be weaker/noisier, so I find paying attention to copying them (especially if CW) requires more attention than I am comfortable sparing while driving.  Of course, even on the 2m/440 repeaters...when I had a station installed in the prior vehicle, I tended to make sure it was off when in traffic to reduce distraction.