Update.. Got the book on Thursday, spent some time with it today. Not overly impressed by this book. It does cover spectrum pretty well, but after the introductory stuff, it's basically test questions. I ordered the ARRL book tonight, and have reached out to the test VE in Bath NY. Test is on 1/18/2020.. and I plan on passing. Oh.. as an aside, I mentioned 70% as passing.. that's incorrect, 74% is passing. ARRL book is supposed to arrive 1/7 and I've narrowed down my weak sections. So, a bit more study and I feel I'll be ready.
Guess who passed his tests today. Me!! For kicks n giggles I also took the Am Extra exam as well. Needless to say.. Didn't fare well on that one. I accomplished my goals, so I'm very happy.
Will be looking into making a dipole antenna soon. Will be stuck in the UHF/VHF as far as the baofeng goes. Still much to learn. 73 indeed.
thanks for the link. I checked it and it has been renewed and updated. Guess they will send a new license soon.
Was informed that they no longer mail anything out. You print it from the website. Glad you're renewed.
I got my license in 92 in N8 land (PM me if you want to know my call sign). Sat at the tech level until 2010-ish, then made the leap to general, then to extra a year or so after that. When I got my extra license, I applied for and got a 4 character vanity call, had some second thoughts and applied for my old original call sign a year or so later. Got it back, now get to pay the vanity call up charge to keep it. Oh well. I got my ARRL VE credentials a while after I passed my extra exam. Did a lot of PSK31, RTTY, some SSB voice and even tinkered with code, but I admittedly am not that good with it (maybe 8 WPM on a good day). Tinkered with D-Star for a bit too. A storm took my antenna down (just a G5RV, no big loss) about 3 years ago, life got busier and I never fixed it. About 18 months ago I moved, remodeled a house, and never put my station back together. I’m hoping to do that this summer - got a great place for it, just need to make the time. There is a radio club not far from me - need to get off my rear and go check them out.
Excellent 343amc Not sure when/if I'll put the effort into the Extra class license. I'll undoubtedly learn more electrical over the years. I wanted to attain General to open up more of the HF bands. Probably won't be getting an HF rig this year unless I spot a good deal on a used unit. So, for now, just waiting on a call sign, then can wade into the VHF/UHF pool. Have 2 repeaters fairly close, hope the mag mount antenna I've got coming will reach them.
The tech exam was the hardest for me, but then again I was in high school at the time. A guy I knew back then got me interested in ham radio, and that wasn’t long after the ‘no code’ rules went into effect. Back then not knowing code and being on the local repeater was like farting in church - the old timers tended to look down on the new fangled lowly VHF only people. I went to college for electronics technology, and I knew quite a bit going into that just from studying for the ham test. All I had for years was a Radio Shack 2M HT. I had to use the auto patch a few times when the car broke down in the days before cell phones. Didn’t do much for years until I met another guy who got me back into it and convinced me to go for the general license. A couple months of studying and I got that one, then figured what the heck and went for extra after that. My HF rig is a Yaesu FT-450, and I have an Icom IC-91AD HT. One of my sticking points has been trying to figure out what kind of an antenna I’d use. I liked the G5RV setup I had before - made it to South Africa and Asia several times with just the 450’s 100W output. I have a lot more trees here, and a lot more wind. Need to chew on that some more. I’m glad I came across this thread - getting back into radio has been in the back of my mind for a while. Just shot an email off to the local radio club to see what they may have going on. Their website is a little stale, but a quick look shows their secretary/treasurer is about 10 miles north of me.
Went to "Winter Field Day" yesterday at the club where I tested last weekend. www.klara.us Keuka Lake club out of Bath NY. It's about an hour away on I-86, so an easy drive. They were 4I, 4 stations setup indoor. 2 of the guys were doing contacts on PSK31, one was set up for SSB, but they were having antenna issues at that rig, and one gal was kickin it on CW. Seems like a nice group, and I was forewarned that "This group likes to eat" They had 3 crockpots going, many snacks & cookies. I think I can hang with those folk. I didn't snack though, I hit the Arby's for a beef n cheddar fest before arriving. I guess they do rigatta events at the lake during the summer. Could be interesting.
Anyone have some input/experience with the Icom 7300? I've been "browsing" and it seems a solid HF radio at a very good price point. Was watching a You-tube review that mentioned R&L Electronics in Ohio. Here's their offering. ICOM IC7300RLPS30MSP Not a bad price for the package. Thoughts?
