Author Topic: If you're interested in ham radio, there's no excuse to not get a license...  (Read 15967 times)

sanglant

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,475
not working in firefox and you have to login, but i think this thread needs this link. [popcorn] probably wrong though.

White Horseradish

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,792
not working in firefox and you have to login, but i think this thread needs this link. [popcorn] probably wrong though.
Works in my Firefox fine. How far do I have to watch to see relevance?
Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.

Robert A Heinlein

sanglant

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,475
when the prisoner says he has to go to the bathroom. :laugh: and then when Raylan asks him where he got the shank. was a good episode though, the ending was funny as all get out. guess you had to watch the rest of the series to get it though.

tyme

  • expat
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,056
  • Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?
    • TFL Library
One of the better entry-level (lower power) HF transceivers I know of is the portable (but not hand-held) Yaesu ft-817dn.  $600-ish, probably slightly cheaper at swap meets or ebay.  Older variants (used) might be several hundred cheaper, particularly factoring in other stuff they'll be sold with with like accessories or antennas.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/1817.html

More prices...

Mobile FM: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/fm_txvrs.html
Handhelds (FM): http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht.html
HF transceivers, some mobile, some base: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht.html
Support Range Voting.
End Software Patents

"Four people are dead.  There isn't time to talk to the police."  --Sherlock (BBC)

KD5NRH

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,926
  • I'm too sexy for you people.
One of the better entry-level (lower power) HF transceivers I know of is the portable (but not hand-held) Yaesu ft-817dn.  $600-ish, probably slightly cheaper at swap meets or ebay.  Older variants (used) might be several hundred cheaper, particularly factoring in other stuff they'll be sold with with like accessories or antennas.

Yup; a good used 817 and VX-5R (or 7R if someone's selling cheap enough) have been on my wish list for a while now.

mtnbkr

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 15,388
Tyme, QRP is not entry level.  It's actually more difficult to work with than high power because your stuff has to be *right* in order to make contacts and be heard. 

I have the 817nd.  Why I called it an "819" in my earlier post, I have no idea.

Great radio.  I love the internal battery pack, which is something other QRP rigs lacked.  My longest contact has been out to California with that radio and a 120ft wire dipole, ladder line, and a tuner kit I assembled.

Chris

KD5NRH

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,926
  • I'm too sexy for you people.
Tyme, QRP is not entry level.  It's actually more difficult to work with than high power because your stuff has to be *right* in order to make contacts and be heard.

Good; starting out QRP forces you to avoid getting into bad habits like hook-up-any-old-chunk-of-metal-and-let-the-tuner-handle-it.

Heck, with some salvaged fence wire, three fishing poles, and about 15 minutes of tweaking to get it exactly resonant I was able to talk into Canada from Texas with 3 watts on 10m SSB.  Great signal reports with 12W AM from that same setup, too.