Which member's are amateur radio operators?

[large_ghostman]

Ok I admit I have intentionally posted in the wrong section, the reason being not everyone goes into the lounge bit, and i wanted good publicity so more people read it , after it is moved it will still leave a trace in this forum so more people will see it! Sorry MODS I know its more work.
Anyway, I am joining the local amateur radio club, and hope to get a license. Since building that little crystal radio a few months back, I have wanted to learn more about radio's. I was wondering who here is already a amateur radio operator?
If possible, would you mind giving details of the band etc, Location and call sign alot to ask I know, but it would be great to get a license and talk to members from here!
I will have to save up loads, as the transceivers seem to cost a fortune! No idea what band I want/need yet, but I do live on a Hill and should be able to mount a decent Ariel.
In a perfect world I would like a tube/valve set or to make a transceiver, but I will settle for anything to get started , I have cleaned out and repaired a very old shed that was hidden in some trees here, its about 300 meters from the house, but will make a great shack! for now I can use the small genset for power, unless we have a power cut of course

 

[dr pepper]

Was but lost interest.
No disrespect to operators.
Your first step will be the beginners licence which gives you a call sign starting M0, then intermediate, then your full licence, which LG you'd manage easily.
HF is a good band to play with 80, 40m, 12 and 10m are all good to play with initially, you can get good distances with little power, second hand gear on these freq's inst expensive, you can even mod cb's to work on 10 and 12m.

 

[large_ghostman]

I like the sound of modding a cb

 

[large_ghostman]

maybe i should have a go at making a receiver first .

 

[PatM]

Licensed since 1963 .
I don't know which country you are from, but in the US you can get a Technician license easily which would allow operation on 2 mtr FM repeaters or limited operation on some of the HF bands.
I was a Tech for about 10 years before upgrading to a higher license.
I mostly work digital modes on 20 Mtrs which is mostly a daytime band.
Later in the evening 80 Mtrs is good, but in the summer has lots of static interference due to thunderstorms.
Start with a easy to obtain license and then upgrade when you want greater frequency privileges.
Pat - W9ZO

 

[Reloadron]

Like Pat M I got my first license back in '63. I was 13 years old. The nice thing about 1963 was here in the US there was literally tons of surplus radio equipment from WWII and Korea on the market. Been decades since I did anything with amateur radio but enjoyed it during those early formative years. I still have an old R-392 Receiver but haven't fired that up in years. Today the hobby is nothing like it was years ago with many new windows open to amateur radio enthusiast. Really pretty cool stuff. Over the years I gave away most of my ham stuff to new aspiring young hams. Go for it as it can be a real fun and great hobby.

Ron

 

[MikeMl]

Me too, since 1963. I hold the Extra Class, Wiskey Alfa Seven Amateur Radio Kilowatt:

.

 

[4pyros]

I have repaired two way radios and held a "Class 2 Licence" to do so.
But I never got into amateur radio, it should be fun.

 

[large_ghostman]

Cool stuff! keep it coming please , Would be really good to contact people once i get the paper work

 

[ronv]

This brings back memories. I got my first license at about 10 years old. K0IFC. I always built transmitters and bought receivers, but things have changed a lot since then. My first receiver was an old console radio that got the 40 and 80 meter bands. My first license was what they called a novice - only code. I built a beat frequency oscillator for the old radio and talked to about 20 states with a 5 watt transmitter on 40 meters. I let my license lapse when I was 18 and got interested in other things. I'm thinking of taking it up again, but cant put up a good antenna where I live now.

 

[rogs]

UK licence since 1978 -- 'Golf 8 Romeo Alpha Juliet'. Was a class B licence, now a class A' lifetime' licence.. not been active for years, I have to admit.... I used to enjoy it more when it was still cheaper to make things than it was to buy them ready made!
Learnt a lot from my contacts with hams over the years.... some really clever guys out there, in the old days... maybe there still are?.... 'CQ- CQ' ? ........73...

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

UK licence since 1978 -- 'Golf 8 Romeo Alpha Juliet'. Was a class B licence, now a class A' lifetime' licence.. not been active for years, I have to admit.... I used to enjoy it more when it was still cheaper to make things than it was to buy them ready made!

Likewise, not been active for a number of years now - last time I was on was with packet radio.

I was licensed a little earlier, Golf 8 Mike Mike Victor.

 

[JimB]

To add to the list, I was first licenced in 1970 as G3ZMA (Got Three Zulus Mighty Angry ).
When I moved to Scotland in 1978, the prefix changed and I became GM3ZMA.

Not very active on the air these days, I am still very interested in many aspects of radio but just don't have the urge to pick up the mic or rattle the morse key.
One day the spark of enthusiasm will return.

JimB

 

[large_ghostman]

To add to the list, I was first licenced in 1970 as G3ZMA (Got Three Zulus Mighty Angry ).
When I moved to Scotland in 1978, the prefix changed and I became GM3ZMA.


JimB

God Made 3 Zulus Mighty Angry OK was worth a try!

Nigel get that radio dusted off!!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

God Made 3 Zulus Mighty Angry OK was worth a try!

An old friend of mine was G8MPT - he used 'God Ate My Prize Tomatoes'

 

[large_ghostman]

LMAO, I wondered how people remembered there call sign!
NIGEL get the radio dusted!!!

 

[atferrari]

LU2AKB and LU5DQE (MM for some time). Amongst my best experiencies, working with Yagi arrays in VHF to see from how far in the open sea we could open (Brazilian coast) repeaters. It was much more than 300 sea miles away but I forgot the details.

My first rig was a CW xmtr (80 and 40 MHz) modified for AM built from scratch just buy reading a schematic (QST magazine IIRC) with the help of nobody. (People seemed very selfish and did not help much, in fact). I collected too many stupid jokes instead of real help, from seasoned technicians coming on board for maintenance of our equipment.

The first time I tuned the final stages wrongly on an harmonic frequency. Retuned, I managed to contact, that night, 8 countries. I felt in glory!

At home, my former made my hobby very hard to practice leaving no space for me. Oh yes!

I lost interest when found that the vast majority of the contacts in this area where kind of "button pushers" that the only knowledge they had was money to buy equipment with trivial chat and lot of time in their hands.

A detail I found ridiculous: people used to call you "my dear friend" and the like but were unable to recall your name. Bah...

 

[JimB]

vast majority of the contacts in this area where kind of "button pushers" that the only knowledge they had was money to buy equipment with trivial chat and lot of time in their hands.

I fully understand your problem!
Appliance operators with no real knowledge of radio/electronics.

JimB

 

[rogs]

An old friend of mine was G8MPT - he used 'God Ate My Prize Tomatoes'

I used to say 'Golf 8 Romeo And Juliet' on occasion, rather than using the more correct phonetic 'Alpha' in the middle.
Unfortunately, 'G8RAJ' can sound almost exactly like 'G8RHA' on air, so the phonetics were quite useful, and folk found 'Romeo and Juliet' easy to remember!

 

[cowboybob]

Got my first Novice ticket in 1959 (11 yo, KN4NFF [New Found Friend], in the middle of Kentucky). Later got my Technician ticket (K4NFF). Only tube type gear (Allied Radio Knight Kits)available then. That was when I started my fascination with, and to a large degree, my career, in electronics.

Course, as a Novice, I was limited to Morse Code (or CW, Continuous Wave) comms and only on tiny portions of 40 and 80 meter wavelengths. But even still I spent many, many perfectly happy days hunting contacts (CQ, CQ, CQ, de KN4NFF...) not unlike panning for gold and just about as likely to reveal a nugget.

Did make, back then, an (illegal ) modulator for my CW only T-50 transmitter from a schematic in my ARRL Handbook. Used it once just to prove the point.

Still (sort of) active, mostly on 40 and 10 meters with, again, tube type (boat anchor) gear.

It's been a life-long hobby that I have thoroughly enjoyed. Let us know if and when you get a license. It would be fun to "chew the rag" with you (if I can get the old DX-60's meager output to jump the Atlantic .

I really ought to get a bigger rig....