Amateur radio - please read all :)

[Zebedee]

My H (and N, P and some others I can't remember off the top of my head)

At the Ham College Foundation Course they gave us the mnemonic: "Henry Loves My New Panel Van"

[VK6DF]

Amateur radio has a habit of getting expensive quickly but it doesn't need to be expensive - less than $70 all up will get you on air on 2 metres FM with an ex-commercial rig like a Philips FM-92.

radio= $65
rubber mallet= $5

cheap as

[Tyranus]

sounds like something out of the TARDIS. Old radio for the hell of it and the threat of the mallet to keep it going!

[robbage]

I use the same technique on my DVD burner to get the drawer to open. Why doesn't it work with Windows?

[VK6DF]

off topic a bit but i had 30 fm92 uhf w1 band radio's all local. and i struggled to sell them for $20 each. most of them were just cosmetic issues. but worked pretty well for a 20+y/o radio.

now i have about 15 PRM8030 remote uhf uo band (450-476mhz) that i just cant seem to get rid of.

[vk6hgr]

now i have about 15 PRM8030 remote uhf uo band (450-476mhz) that i just cant seem to get rid of.

Drop me a line

[robbage]

So... what are the odds they can be tuned a little lower... say 430-450? 25 watts?

[vk6hgr]

So... what are the odds they can be tuned a little lower... say 430-450? 25 watts?

Pretty darn good...

[slipknot]

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!

I'm very interested and it's been on my "to do list" now for an embarrassing length of time. (At this point, Gavin will be nodding his head...)

The only reason I haven't done it yet is down to one simple reason - too bloody slack to get myself organised! I got as far as getting the book almost as soon as it came out... and then things stalled again...

In my opinion, its not all becuase we are slack. I am slack myself ill admit but its also becuase Its Very hard to not only pass, but also beucase its hard to get, its very hard to be able to find a radio club, and to order the equipment you need becuase its hard to order some of this stuff.

Its been pretty hard for me getting my course organised. The Standard and Advanced licence is harder becuase as far as i know , its only on twice a year.... unless someone prooves me wrong .

[robbage]

I can't comment on getting the certificate. I got mine 30 years ago and can't remember what I did last week. However, you can get on air for $99 NEW albeit a hand-held. For a couple hundred you can get a very decent 2nd-hand 2 metre mobile rig. With a power supply, it'll do as a base station. You can make a basic ¼ wave gp for less than $10. You can get by without RG213 if you really need to Then save the $$ and get something more substantial when you can. Definitely go to the hamfest.

[Zebedee]

The only reason I haven't done it yet is down to one simple reason - too bloody slack to get myself organised! I got as far as getting the book almost as soon as it came out... and then things stalled again...

In my opinion, its not all becuase we are slack. I am slack myself ill admit but its also becuase Its Very hard to not only pass, but also beucase its hard to get, its very hard to be able to find a radio club, and to order the equipment you need becuase its hard to order some of this stuff.

Well times have certainly moved on since I originally posted that. I did my Foundation course and then sat my Standard regs and theory. Now it's time to see if I can upgrade to Advanced - which is going to be a challenge I admit

And I was only commenting on myself when I was referring to being slack. But it's good to know that I'm not the only one out there suffering from slack-itis!

Thankfully, to anyone who is interested in getting a Foundation licence, the course itself is designed to give you everything you need to pass. It might look a little daunting up-front, but I suspect any of the forum members who have been around scanners or CBs for a while will pass a Foundation course with ease - and it's a bit of fun too!

Its been pretty hard for me getting my course organised. The Standard and Advanced licence is harder becuase as far as i know , its only on twice a year.... unless someone prooves me wrong .

You're right, Ham College only run one Standard and one Advanced course in a year. But if you're confident that you can pass the exams on your own, then there's no reason why you can't just contact them and book yourself in for an exam at one of the monthly exam sessions.

Otherwise, I'd recommend getting your Foundation licence as soon as you're ready, then doing what I did - booking in for the Standard course which runs in the first half of the year, and if you want to keep on going to Advanced, book in for that in the second half of the year.

Then there are Foundation courses that run every 2 months. So at least getting some kind of Amateur licence should be relatively easy.

I can't comment on getting the certificate. I got mine 30 years ago and can't remember what I did last week. However, you can get on air for $99 NEW albeit a hand-held. For a couple hundred you can get a very decent 2nd-hand 2 metre mobile rig. With a power supply, it'll do as a base station. You can make a basic ¼ wave gp for less than $10. You can get by without RG213 if you really need to Then save the $$ and get something more substantial when you can. Definitely go to the hamfest.

Yep - while there's definitely a cost involved in getting yourself set up as an amateur operator, I still think that it's pretty reasonable considering what you can get out of it. The licence is only $1.20 a week ($62 per year), and as you've pointed out you can get a pretty good hand-held 2m or 70cm radio for $99. That's enough to get started, and then the rest can be added on as time and funding permits.

[robbage]

The licence is only $1.20 a week ($62 per year),

Somebody on 2m was bitching about the tax portion of that. Got to agree with them. It's pretty steep for a resource our governing body gets for nothing and I'm not sure why it isn't 10% rather than ~200%

[Zebedee]

The licence is only $1.20 a week ($62 per year),

Somebody on 2m was bitching about the tax portion of that. Got to agree with them. It's pretty steep for a resource our governing body gets for nothing and I'm not sure why it isn't 10% rather than ~200%

Ah yes, where would we be without taxes?

Personally I don't mind paying $62 per year when I consider the amount of spectrum I get to use, vs what the going commercial rates are for, say, a single FM channel in the UHF band.

I reckon we get off pretty lightly

[Lino]

I have been studying for a while & cant wait to sit for my test so i can use all the new gear that i bought.

Regards Lino.

ICOM-92AD D-STAR
ICOM-2820 UT-123 D-STAR BOARD
KENWOOD-TS480SAT
YAESU-VX7R
YAESU-FT8800R
YAESU-FT950

[Zebedee]

I have been studying for a while & cant wait to sit for my test so i can use all the new gear that i bought.

Regards Lino.

ICOM-92AD D-STAR
ICOM-2820 UT-123 D-STAR BOARD
KENWOOD-TS480SAT
YAESU-VX7R
YAESU-FT8800R
YAESU-FT950

I have the Yaesu FT7800R and the Icom 91AD. I like both of them - the Icom is the newest, I've only had it a few days and I'm still trying to make sense of where everything is in the menu system