Amateur Radio License Plates
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KI7HYI
Member
I feel sorry for a cop in Montana that has to be able to read the largest number of different styles of plates of any state I've seen, and I've driven truck in all of the lower 48.
KE0GXN
Member
Yeah, I am happy about that. My only wish is, I would have preferred them to be embossed like regular plates here, instead of flat. And after reading on here the rates of other States, I have to say, MO is a bit pricey at $15 a year on top of the regular registration fees
KI7HYI
Member
Yeah, I am happy about that. My only wish is, I would have preferred them to be embossed like regular plates here, instead of flat. And after reading on here the rates of other States, I have to say, MO is a bit pricey at $15 a year on top of the regular registration fees
Missouri charges you an additional $15 a year if you have amatuer radio plates? I could have gotten embossed plates, but I don't know why one would bother for an additional $50.
I had to pay $30 to get them, and renew my registration for a year on top of the that, but I'm good until June 2018 and then all I owe is the same registration fee as always.
http://www.flhsmv.gov/dmv/specialtytags/graphics/challenger.jpg
Florida has over 126 different kinds of license plates.
K7MEM
Member
Martin, you must like living life on the edge... You even included your full zip code.
I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I do live in a very rural area. My place is right up against the Kaibab National Forrest, which stretches to the Grand Canyon. Except for electricity and telephone, I have no city services. That means no mail delivery, no water lines, no sewer, no trash pickup, no paved roads, etc.. I have to take care of all that myself. And, no, water wells are not practical. Only 3 or 4 miles north of my place, the power poles stop. People that live out there, make their own electricity. When the local big rancher (> 600 acres) has a mind, we have hundreds of cows wandering everywhere, as Arizona is a free roaming state. If you don't put up a good fence you have cows (and the obligatory cow patties) at your front door.
But, yes, that is my full address and zip code. But it is a little deceiving. It's only the zip code for where I get my mail. The number on the end of the zip code is my box number. Without that number, mail will not reach me, no matter what the address in between says. The rest of the address doesn't matter, because I don't really live in Ash Fork. Ash Fork is actually several miles south of me and in a different county. Most GPS systems, that people use for getting directions, will come up empty with that address.
Previously, someone in this thread said something to the effect of "if you have call sign plates, you might as well put your phone number on your vehicle". Well, I have a horse boarding business, so I not only have call sign plates, but I have my home phone number listed on my car windows. It's good for business.
Martin - K7MEM
Martin, a quick peek at qrz.com gives everything away...
Martin, as an aside; if you don't have water supplied by county services, plus you can't drill a well; what do you do for water?
This is an ignorant question from a city boy, of course.
This is an ignorant question from a city boy, of course.
K7MEM
Member
Martin, a quick peek at qrz.com gives everything away...
Yes, that is because I fixed it so that it would point to my home correctly. I even had to fix, Google maps so that it listed my street name correctly. Left to it's own devices, QRZ is loaded with errors. So I wouln't depend on them for accurate information. There is a ham that lives down the street. If you look up his call sign, it gives the right address, but the map takes you to Chula Vista, California. He is also listed in the wrong county. While my place is a little hard to find, I am not trying to hide. Because of my horse boarding business, I actually want people to find me.
It's actually a fairly involved operation.
As I mentioned earlier, I don't actually live in Ash Fork. Ash Fork is a small town and can't afford to add waterlines to the outlying residences that aren't even in the same county. My town of record is Williams, which is 16 miles away. And they wouldn't think of running water lines that far through the mountains. The cost would be enormous.
The problem with wells is that, the water table is over 1,000 feet. I could certainly have a drilling company drill a well, for a price. But I would never be able to afford to pump it out. Sucking water up 1,000 feet sucks.
So, to get water at my house, I have to go get it with my "water hauler". A "water hauler" is simply a water tank mounted on a flat bed trailer. The mountable water tanks can range from 100 to 2,000 gallons. You just have to have a trailer that can support the weight, and a vehicle that can haul the trailer. In my case I have a 450 gallon tank. Full, it weighs in at about 3,600 pounds. So the trailer is a double axle and weighs in at 1,000 pounds. Together, about 4,600 pounds. I can pull it with my Jeep Cherokee, but usually use my 94 F-150 truck. Both 6 cylinder with out 4-wheel drive.
In my area, "water haulers" are given special dispensation by the DMV, in that, they don't require registration or a license. So you see some pretty odd rolling attractions being dragged around the area. Basically they use anything that rolls.
Behind my house I have a 5,000 gallon cistern, that supplies my house and several hydrants around my property. The hydrants are effectively water faucets with the valve buried several feet under ground and remotely operated by a steel rod. The valve needs to be buried below the frost line to keep it from freezing and bursting. These hydrants are for watering the horses. My furthest hydrant is a run of pipe over 500 feet.
When the water in my cistern gets low, I hook up the trailer and make a few trips to the water station in town. The water station is self service so I just pull up to the station, put the hose in the tank and start the water flowing. When I get home, I off load all of the water into the cistern. The water station off loads the water at 100 gallons/minute, so filling my tank only takes 5 minutes. The same when I get home. I have a pump mounted on the trailer that off loads the water at 100 gallons/minute. So 5 minutes to fill it and 5 to empty it. But you have to add in the time of driving to/from town. So one load of water takes about 30 minutes. On water day, I usually get three loads and go early in the morning, when the water station is less busy.
I also have a 2,000 gallon cistern behind my barn, to aid my water needs. The barn is about 50' x 50' feet and has a sheet metal roof. I have gutters on the roof that feed the cistern behind the barn. So far I have only had to manually add water to that cistern 3 or 4 times a year. The rest of the time mother nature keeps it full, even in the high desert, where rainfall is often less than 10 inches a year.
But that is just getting the water and storing it. Once it's in the cisterns it has to pressurized for my house and the various hydrants and outlets. For that I have a small pump house that contains a pressure activated water pump, filter, and pressure tank. That keeps the water pressure between 40 and 60 PSI. I have a big unit for the house and a smaller one in the barn.
There, that's how it's done. Aren't you sorry you asked. The nice part about it is you learn how to really conserve water. The water I get from town is "potable" and only cost $0.01 a gallon, but you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it flowing in your house.
Martin - K7MEM
No, not sorry I asked at all!
Do you operate HF from this QTH?
Do you operate HF from this QTH?
K7MEM
Member
Yes I do. I operate mostly on 40, 20, and 15 meters CW and PSK31. 15 meters is my favorite band. In the early 80s I lived in Germany and operated as DA2EU. I only had a crummy antenna and a CW only rig, so I operated 15 meters CW, almost exclusively. I haven't actually plugged in a microphone in a while, but I'm going to try out 2 meters FM, in the near future.
It's been a while (50 years) since I have been on 2 meters. I have a old IC-255A, that I picked up at a ham fest. It didn't have tone built in, but I found a TE-32 tone generator, at another ham fest. Then I put my 3 element yagi (also 50 years old) on a Radio Shack rotator (also hamfest buy) on a 20 foot mast. I haven't transmitted yet because I have to install the tone generator, but listening seems to be going well. My receive radius seems to be about 100 miles. But at 100 miles, the signals are pretty weak.
I have lots of space for antennas. The county doesn't bother me about anything I do on my property. I just have to keep all of my wires out of the way of the horses and tractors.
Martin - K7MEM
KE0GXN
Member
Just teasing you Martin, with regards to some of the past commentary on here and addresses, I know all to well about "good for business"....my wife is a fitness instructor and her personnel cellphone number is plastered all over the internet and our town.
KE0GXN
Member
Unless I misunderstood the clerk at the license office, yes, $15 every year on top of usual registration fees.
This is my first experience owning personalized plates of any kind....so I hope I am wrong.
Anybody in MO with personalized plates know different?
KI7HYI
Member
Do you get a new plate every year, or just add a new corner stick-on every year? If the former is true,$15 a year for a new plate wouldn't be out of line. My amatuer radio plate was issued with the new design that will be used for 6 years, and all I've ever had to do is add the stick-up tab for the new year, which costs $100.77 every year, since I have an oldie...
In Georgia, you pay sales tax when you purchase the car and there are no more taxes on the vehicle. They started that 3 or 4 years ago. There's still a $20 tag fee and, in my case, a $35 fee because it's a personalized tag. Those fees accrue every year. The tag stays with the person and not the vehicle here. I've had the same tag for several years. I just add a new "decal," as we call 'em here.
KI7HYI
Member
The tag fee is a tax that you pay for the privilege of owing it. I wouldn't give them more for the amatuer tags. I'd just get a custom bumper sticker instead. $15 would buy a very nice custom bumper sticker of your own design or choice.
KE0GXN
Member
No new plate. just a decal every year or two, depending on how many years you are wiling to pay for with two years being the max. I got a two year decal that expires in 2018.
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