Author Topic: If you're interested in ham radio, there's no excuse to not get a license...  (Read 15968 times)

Tallpine

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 23,172
  • Grumpy Old Grandpa
I think my daughter got the license, but she doesn't have a radio.

I'm wondering if our local emergency services radios are functionally the same as "ham" ?? (but different frequencies)

They're going to go digital pretty soon, and there should be a lot of surplus analog portable and mobile radios.
Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy. It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice may be a hard one. The road goes upward toward the light; but the laden traveller may never reach the end of it.  - Ursula Le Guin

KD5NRH

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,926
  • I'm too sexy for you people.
I'm wondering if our local emergency services radios are functionally the same as "ham" ?? (but different frequencies)

It's fairly common; my Kenwood mobile is identical to the radio a friend had when he was working for a nearby county, except that mine cost half as much and has the ham faceplate. (which allows it to be programmed directly from the faceplate rather than using an external programming setup)  Pull two diodes off the board on his, pop my faceplate on it, and we were able to get him set up on the frequencies they'd reassigned before the overpaid programming guy got there.


Tallpine

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 23,172
  • Grumpy Old Grandpa
It's fairly common; my Kenwood mobile is identical to the radio a friend had when he was working for a nearby county, except that mine cost half as much and has the ham faceplate. (which allows it to be programmed directly from the faceplate rather than using an external programming setup)  Pull two diodes off the board on his, pop my faceplate on it, and we were able to get him set up on the frequencies they'd reassigned before the overpaid programming guy got there.




Yep, that's what I have sitting in on the dining room table - a cute little Kenwood.

But after everything goes digital, we will all have to use the big boxy Bendix-Kings, and the Kenwood will be nothing but LOS walkie talkies (unless used for Ham).

Thanks for the Info  =)
Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy. It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice may be a hard one. The road goes upward toward the light; but the laden traveller may never reach the end of it.  - Ursula Le Guin

280plus

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 19,131
  • Ever get that sinking feeling?
What if you're just interested in ham?  =)

Avoid cliches like the plague!

S. Williamson

  • formerly Dionysusigma
  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,034
  • It's not the years, it's the mileage.
Ham is delicious.  =)  ;)

If one were to go ahead and get their license, what sort of equipment costs are they looking at?
Quote
"The chances of finding out what's really going on are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
"And are you?"
"No, that's where it all falls apart I'm afraid. Pity, it sounds like quite a nice lifestyle otherwise."
-Douglas Adams

280plus

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 19,131
  • Ever get that sinking feeling?
Sorry, I've been reading the word "ham" for three or so days now and I couldn't resist anymore. I just had to get it out of my system.  :laugh:  >:D
Avoid cliches like the plague!

Brad Johnson

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18,381
  • Witty, charming, handsome, and completely insane.
I just had to get it out of my system.  :laugh:  >:D

I you have ham you will eventually, by default, get it out of your system no matter what you do. :laugh:

Brad
It's all about the pancakes, people.
"And he thought cops wouldn't chase... a STOLEN DONUT TRUCK???? That would be like Willie Nelson ignoring a pickup full of weed."
-HankB

sanglant

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,475
i thought red meat stayed in the colon for eight thousand years? [popcorn] surely the hippies can't be wrong.

280plus

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 19,131
  • Ever get that sinking feeling?
I you have ham you will eventually, by default, get it out of your system no matter what you do. :laugh:

Brad
Hmmm, now that I think about it...See ya in a while...  =D
Avoid cliches like the plague!

mtnbkr

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 15,388
If one were to go ahead and get their license, what sort of equipment costs are they looking at?

Depends on what you want to do.

$100-$10000+.

Seriously.

Chris

280plus

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 19,131
  • Ever get that sinking feeling?
Sounds a lot like guns.
Avoid cliches like the plague!

mtnbkr

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 15,388
Sounds a lot like guns.

Not far from it.

Chris

KD5NRH

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,926
  • I'm too sexy for you people.
Sounds a lot like guns.

You have guns in your colon?

sanglant

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,475
for when smart carry is just to conspicuous?

Boomhauer

  • Former Moderator, fired for embezzlement and abuse of power
  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 14,513
Quote
If one were to go ahead and get their license, what sort of equipment costs are they looking at?

As mtnbkr said, $100-1000+.

The CHEAPEST way to get into ham is with a VHF mobile or handi-talki. I would go the mobile route simply because I like the additional power. I have examples of mobiles and handitalkis. They are not too bad on the cost range. But you only pretty much talk locally...

Getting into HF- that is, talking around the nation/world, is going to cost you a pretty penny more.



Quote from: Ben
Holy hell. It's like giving a loaded gun to a chimpanzee...

Quote from: bluestarlizzard
the last thing you need is rabies. You're already angry enough as it is.

OTOH, there wouldn't be a tweeker left in Georgia...

Quote from: Balog
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! AND THROW SOME STEAK ON THE GRILL!

KD5NRH

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,926
  • I'm too sexy for you people.
Getting into HF- that is, talking around the nation/world, is going to cost you a pretty penny more.

Not necessarily; a good older HF multiband base station can be had for $300-400.  Either add a tuner for $100-300 more or pick your frequency ranges and make resonant antennas.  You wouldn't be the first guy with a spiderweb of wire antennas over the house for just that reason.

If you're really cheap, learn Morse, bust up an old TV and play on the colorburst frequency.


mtnbkr

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 15,388
Avenger, I said 10K+. :)

How would you spend 10k or more?  Buy a multi-kilobuck contesting rig, add a legal limit amp, a tuner, a multi-frequency beam antenna, tower, rotator, hardline coax, etc.

Or, you could build a CW only HF kit (couple hundred) and a resonant wire antenna for the band of your choice (several examples here: http://www.qrpkits.com/).

I'm somewhere in between.  I have a Yaesu 817 with a bunch of mods ($1k total for radio and mods).  When at home, I'm connected to a multiband vertical ($50 used, about $150 new) with about 35yds of LMR-400 coax (paid about $80 for the 50yd portion).  In the field, I use a homebuilt tuner ($50) with a wire antenna of some sort (let's say about $15-$20 worth of wire and connectors).

If you forgo the internal mods of the Yaesu 819, you can frequently get one used for as little as $450.  New, they're near $700.

Chris
« Last Edit: May 17, 2010, 06:00:18 AM by mtnbkr »

KD5NRH

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,926
  • I'm too sexy for you people.
Or, you could build a CW only HF kit (couple hundred)

Geez, I need to start selling you random piles of parts.  :P  CW QRP kits are best made from junk for free.  Maybe $20-30 worth of crystals if you don't want to build a VFO.  If you want an amp, that's still pretty easy from a well-stocked junk box.


mtnbkr

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 15,388
Geez, I need to start selling you random piles of parts.  :P  CW QRP kits are best made from junk for free.  Maybe $20-30 worth of crystals if you don't want to build a VFO.  If you want an amp, that's still pretty easy from a well-stocked junk box.

I was quoting figures for folks who don't have a well stocked junk box or the skills to take a pile of random parts and make a functioning radio.  If you can do that, obviously your costs are going to be lower.

And yes, you can even find CW kits for very little, but I had some of the more feature-rich kits in mind when I wrote that.  I assume anyone who's new to the hobby would need more features to ease them into things.  A Tuna Tin CW Transceiver is probably not a good first radio.

Chris

280plus

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 19,131
  • Ever get that sinking feeling?
You have guns in your colon?
Not that I'm aware of but I wouldn't mind crapping myself a nice Hamerli...  ;)
Avoid cliches like the plague!

KD5NRH

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,926
  • I'm too sexy for you people.
A Tuna Tin CW Transceiver is probably not a good first radio.

It's the perfect first radio; he'd have to go ahead and take all three tests at once, saving him about $28 in fees, and he'd have a really strong incentive to come up with a better radio  :laugh:

mtnbkr

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 15,388
It's the perfect first radio; he'd have to go ahead and take all three tests at once, saving him about $28 in fees, and he'd have a really strong incentive to come up with a better radio  :laugh:

Taking all three at once to save that $28 is the Ham Way (ie cheap SOBs).

Speaking of cheap hams, some of us in our club have proposed raising the YEARLY club fee from $10/year to $15 or $20 A YEAR!!  Would you believe some folks have complained and claimed they don't have the money?  We're talking less than a dollar a month increase at most.

Chris

RocketMan

  • Mad Rocket Scientist
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 13,980
  • Semper Fidelis
Dear Lord, how I do miss Heathkit.   =(
If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

Conservatives see George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale.  Progressives view it as a "how to" manual.

My wife often says to me, "You are evil and must be destroyed." She may be right.

Liberals believe one should never let reason, logic and facts get in the way of a good emotional argument.

Brad Johnson

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18,381
  • Witty, charming, handsome, and completely insane.
Speaking of cheap hams, some of us in our club have proposed raising the YEARLY club fee from $10/year to $15 or $20 A YEAR!!  Would you believe some folks have complained and claimed they don't have the money?  We're talking less than a dollar a month increase at most.


Couple hundred dollars for a new amp, base unit, or high-gain stick?  Necessary expense.  A few bucks for toothpaste, soap, and deoderant?  Totally optional.

Brad
It's all about the pancakes, people.
"And he thought cops wouldn't chase... a STOLEN DONUT TRUCK???? That would be like Willie Nelson ignoring a pickup full of weed."
-HankB

mtnbkr

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 15,388
Couple hundred dollars for a new amp, base unit, or high-gain stick?  Necessary expense.  A few bucks for toothpaste, soap, and deoderant?  Totally optional.

Brad

I gotta say we don't have any that fit *that* particular ham stereotype, but we sure do have a bunch who fit the cheap thrifty stereotype.

Chris