When you become a amateur/ham radio operator

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N1XDS

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Nov 3, 2004
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As for myself I became a Amateur Radio operator back in late 2006 in Nashville, Tennessee before moving back home to Florida. First learned the basics of ham radio in Panama City Beach, Florida by a local ham operator who taught me learning how to use the radio, repeaters, and etc.

While I became a ham operator I learned how to operate a repeater with the help with one of the local repeater owner in Nashville he gave me duties of listen on to the frequency and help out if necessary with any disruptions with fellow hams and etc.

Now coming to back to ham radio I'm now a QRZ Forum Moderator in certain areas of the forum, mostly my duties are add the foreign ham's to the QRZ callsign database, soft delete spam posts then report the spammer to the administrator team and deal with the problem post.

73' Jamie (N4CYA)
 

K9WG

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Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Messages
1,366
Location
Greenfield, Indiana USA
First licensed (Novice) in April 1977 WD9CYI
Upgraded to Technician in July 1977
Upgraded to General in February 1978
Upgraded to Extra 2005

I have also held WI9NDY prior to K9WG

Quite a few changes since 1977 ;)
 

LtDoc

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Joined
Dec 4, 2006
Messages
2,145
Location
Oklahoma
I did the Novice in 1966, WN5LZK, didn't upgrade, so couldn't renew (did try a couple of times though). Then another Novice when the license term changed, WN56HKI. Then started college, discovered girls, no ham radio for a while. Sometime around 1978 or so, got talked into getting another license, N5KAT, Advanced, and then after getting my head around those @#$ Smith charts, Extra the same year. (I 'cheated', got an electronics degree in college.) Kept the 'KAT' call till the new 'AA' series started, got a wild hair for one and got AA5AN (Awful Nasty!). Some time in the 80's wanted my original call sign back so applied for it. Guess they thought I couldn't remember all those letters so gave me W5LZ instead. Oh well. Also held one of those 'NNN0' calls for a number of years.
End of brag tape.
- 'Doc
 

KC0KM

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Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
278
Location
Kansas City (Raytown) MO
I had always been into radios, mostly into scanners ( I have buried three in the past), and still have three (twin Bearcat 245XLT, and a Pro 2051). I went the ARRL Field Day held by our local club one year, interested in getting into Amateur Radio. I was told to go to Radio Shack and get the book, Now You're Talking (Tech book), study it, and come take the test. I started to study it, and it was "clear as mud", and after awhile gave up. Years later, while at a NOAA/NWS spotter class, I heard about classes. I took took a tech class, and passed it. Ten months later, I made General, and made Extra in May of this year. I am an active member in the Raytown ARC, and have been in three Field Days.
 

cacherjoe

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Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
117
Location
Beaver Bank, NS
Ham Radio was always something that interested me, but the reason I actually went ahead and got licensed is probably very different that most people. I am an avid hiker and most of the places I would go hiking had no cell reception. Being a ham operator with a portable radio gave me another line of communications while out hiking. To this day I bring my radio with me on every hike along with my jacob's ladder antenna. I have not had to use it in an emergency and now added a SPOT Satellite tracker to my kit list. It gives me some more peace of mind knowing that if I get high enough and with the Jacob's Ladder antenna, I can bring up the repeater network across New Brunswick/PEI and Nova Scotia and know that someone will be listening. The area that I hike most allows me to do this.

Since then I have got involved in emergency communications and the other fun stuff that Ham radio brings.

73

Joe
VE9 JJC
 

reedeb

Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2006
Messages
849
Location
Dallas Texas
I've been hooked on Scanners since my uncle [a volunteer firefighter] brought over a scanner one day for my parents to listen to. [I was about 12] I then ot into CB [during the 70's] when I bought a RAdo Shack kids HT [Space Patrol] It only transmitted on ch 14 BUT woould recieve the other channels and we would have great fun listening to the CBers and some of their hi jinks [even back then] My folks enjoyed listening in on it as much as I did. I got on the Fire Dept in 1978 [1979 became the radio operator] and scanners have been a part of my life since then.

I was into the CB hobby for a long tme and in 1995 I had a friend [thanks Ed] [who ran a CB/ TV repair shop asked me why I didn't get into ham. He told me what it was like and what I could do so I bought a study book and in 3 weeks of studying passed my then No Code Tech. [ I had been in Public Safety communications a bit for a while so with that and CB and such I pretty much knew the stuff]. He then told me about R.A.C.E.S. [he was the assit. coordinator] and got me hooked on RACES. [till I moved to So Carolina [2001] and then Texas[ 2009].

I have kept my original call since day one [simply because I consider it a major accomplishment AND it rools off my tounge] N1VAT [ OR as I've been called Numba One Value Added Tax]
 

kb2crk

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Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
137
Location
arnoldsville ga.
I was on the air with CB's in the 70's at the ripe old age of 7. In the early 80's a friend of mine got his ham ticket and tried to get me to go for mine. I tried for a few years and the theory was the easy part, I did not have a good ear for code. finally in January of 87 I passed my 5wpm test and was waiting on my license.
In march, still waiting for my novice in the mail, I took and passed my tech/general theory exam and was now a tech. two days later my novice ticket showed up in the mail. I was on the ham bands. I tried for quite a few years to get the 13wpm code to upgrade to general but could not quite get it. when the requirement was reduced to 5wpm I went and applied and was grandfathered into General. been there ever since
 
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