Amateur Radio FAQ

E.Shell · Jan 31, 2023

Ham Exams Next Week !!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, February 7, 2023 5:45 PM

American Legion Post 175,
832 Manhattan Beach Rd
Severna Park, MD

Administered by Laurel VEC & Maryland Mobileers.

Walk-Ins are OK.

Pre-registration is appreciated (saves ALL of us time when you get there), but is NOT required. We can process you when you arrive.

It DOES make things smoother for YOU if you have already gone to the FCC site, registered there and have been issued an "FRN" (Federal Registration Number). The FRN is used in reporting your successful exam results to the FCC. ( https://www.fcc.gov/rofrn )

EXAM Pre-registration info:
https://sites.google.com/view/mmarcveteam/pre-registration

Note that the FCC is now charging a $35.00 license fee. We do NOT collect the fee at the exam, we will send successful exam results to the FCC for the candidate and they will have 10 days to pay through the FCC site. This fee does not apply to upgrades (Tech-to-Gen, Gen-to-AE).

Side note:
If you're interested in Amateur Radio ("ham"), would like to eventually get licensed, have read through this thread and STILL don't know where to start: https://www.ar15.com/forums/outdoor..._learning_basic_VHF_UHF_operations/22-646491/

jc1240 · Jan 31, 2023

Here's a good video on coax type and length vs quality of signal.

jc1240 · Feb 2, 2023

Just made my first DX contact - S57DX in Slovenia on 18.136. My end 100 watts from an FT-891 using a Wolf River Coil antenna out in the front yard much to my wife's...uh...amusement.

E.Shell · Feb 2, 2023

Congratulations!!

Maybe your wife would be happier if you replaced that unsightly end-fed with a nice Rohn...

NY Transplant · Feb 2, 2023

E.Shell said:
Congratulations!!

Maybe your wife would be happier if you replaced that unsightly end-fed with a nice Rohn...

With a Steppir DB36/DB42.

jc1240 · Feb 2, 2023

Yeah, that'll work.

She hated the regular TV antenna that was on the roof. I'm kicking around some ideas for a stealth antenna, but too much in flux at the moment. As for the WRC - I do get people to stop by asking if I'm trying to contact aliens. The small orange cones I have marking the ends of the radials prob helps with that.

K31 · Feb 2, 2023

E.Shell said:
Congratulations!!

Maybe your wife would be happier if you replaced that unsightly ~~end-fed~~wife with a nice Rohn...

FIFY. The Rohn never gets any wider, never asks for more money, and never complains when you want to climb it.

E.Shell · Feb 5, 2023

K31 said:
FIFY. The Rohn never gets any wider, never asks for more money, and never complains when you want to climb it.

LOL.

!!! GENTLE REMINDER !!!

Ham Exams This Tuesday Evening, February 7, 2023, at 5:45 PM.

Severna Park VFW

Please see my post above for the specifics:
https://www.mdshooters.com/threads/amateur-radio-faq.120717/page-166#post-6967917

gamer_jim · Feb 16, 2023

Question about grounding for portable operation:

My radio and the tuner both have grounding lugs. Do I need to ground them when operating QRP portable?
If so, would a suitable solution be something like a dog tie-down stake? Then connect braided cable from the radio and tuner to that stake?

gamer_jim · Feb 16, 2023

Question: How many radios do you need?
Answer: Just one more

Got my new Yaesu FT-818ND today. Yaesu discontinued manufacturing these last December. HRO got one last shipment in of which I pre-paid. Learning CW now and hope to do QRP POTA later this year.

K31 · Feb 17, 2023

gamer_jim said:
Question about grounding for portable operation:

My radio and the tuner both have grounding lugs. Do I need to ground them when operating QRP portable?
If so, would a suitable solution be something like a dog tie-down stake? Then connect braided cable from the radio and tuner to that stake?

Grounding and Bonding for Portable Amateur Radio Stations

Operating from a temporary setup—in a park, on a summit, from a rare grid or county, or for a special event—has become very popular. This is a great thing for […]

www.onallbands.com

Mark75H · Feb 17, 2023

Without a doubt POTA Greg knows. He's the new Region 3 POTA activation king

chale127 · Feb 17, 2023

gamer_jim said:
Question about grounding for portable operation:

My radio and the tuner both have grounding lugs. Do I need to ground them when operating QRP portable?
If so, would a suitable solution be something like a dog tie-down stake? Then connect braided cable from the radio and tuner to that stake?

SWR does not change with power....if you need a ground at 100W you need it at 5W

when operating remote, you should always bond the tuner and radio at a MINIMUM then run from ONE of those to a ground point (running from each to ground after bonding them is how you create ground loops)

that's the real answer...that being said, i've seen random wires with sky high SWR work fine simply because the transmitter could easily dissipate the heat...

a dog tie down stake will work as long as you have bare metal in the ground and to connect to (i'v seen guys say they dont work and then see they have a brand new powdercoated stake...) Old tent stakes work, a small piece of pipe, use something you already have

chale127 · Feb 17, 2023

Mark75H said:
Without a doubt POTA Greg knows. He's the new Region 3 POTA activation king

I was talking to him yesterday via text, he's going on a road trip soon....I've hit him twice at North Point just barely.....with where he is going we all can make contact....hehe Greg's a good friend of mine

And that is a bold but true statement that Greg and Teddy are more well known than Jason that runs POTA and he lives in Severna Park

chale127 · Feb 17, 2023

gamer_jim said:
Question: How many radios do you need?
Answer: Just one more

Got my new Yaesu FT-818ND today. Yaesu discontinued manufacturing these last December. HRO got one last shipment in of which I pre-paid. Learning CW now and hope to do QRP POTA later this year.

That's a great little rig for sure

gamer_jim · Feb 17, 2023

chale127 said:
That's a great little rig for sure

Thanks! I can't wait to try it out in the field.
Sad Yaesu discontinued them. I guess everyone wants an SDR these days.
This thing only consumes 300mw while receiving.

chale127 · Feb 17, 2023

On another note...

What are some cool/Interesting Contacts you've made? Famous Person or cool station
My top two in the last year are
N1UL - Ulrich Rhode of Rhode & Schwartz antennas
DK0BMW - Amateurfunk Clubstation BMW Werk Regensburg (The BMW plant in Regensburg has a station manned once a week by plant workers)

Antarctica · Feb 17, 2023

chale127 said:
On another note...

What are some cool/Interesting Contacts you've made? Famous Person or cool station
My top two in the last year are
N1UL - Ulrich Rhode of Rhode & Schwartz antennas
DK0BMW - Amateurfunk Clubstation BMW Werk Regensburg (The BMW plant in Regensburg has a station manned once a week by plant workers)

Ulrich Rohde!!! Cool!! I've had some email exchanges with him in the past regarding high precision time systems. Neat guy. Very cool that he 'took up the business' if you know what I mean. I thought it funny once when he asked someone to sell him an HP 8640B sig gen. He operates from multiple stations - one in jersey. I have one of his early books on Phased Locked Loops/synthesizers on my shelf...

Without a doubt, the highpoint of my radio 'career' were the few nights I created pileups out of Palmer Station Antarctica.

chale127 · Feb 20, 2023

Yeah, he was on his deck playing with a backpack type radio (pic of it was on his QRZ profile at one point), had a nice little chat with him
He also holds a DE call if I recall

motorcoachdoug · Feb 20, 2023

I know this might be a little bit off topic but I am looking for a good used HF Rig to receive only since I live in an apartment here in Aspen Hill area of Silver Spring,the home of 12 zip codes, and do not have much room to string a dipole antenna. I am using the magnetic loop and a couple of SDR Dongles with a converter that will let me pick up the HF range that the SDR dongles will not pick up without it.
So what would you recommend. Budget , I would like to keep it under $300 if I can as I am going to order the remote kit for a Harris XG100M with the CH100 color control head and that is $595.
Thanks

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