Newbie in New Jersey

[DSC45]

Hi!
I've been giving some thought to get into the amateur network here in New Jersey. Been hunting for information but not coming up with the answers I'm looking for. Therefore I thought to go to my friends here on RadioReference for some help. Those friends have brought me through some tough times getting acquainted to digital scanning of public service radio.

I live in Central Jersey and wright up against the Watching Mountains here in Somerset County. Those mountains have definitely played havoc for my digital scanning.

I'm aware of the presence of Ham Operators working off the Watching Mountains I imagine with towers or repeaters. Excuse the newbie and his terms.... I knew a gentleman living in Green Brook,
Eric Lund, rest his sole. Eric and his father were always the encouraging word here in Somerset County regarding the technology of radio.

Can anyone share their thoughts on getting started?

Thank you.

 

[N8IAA]

Dave, I looked in my repeater directory for Somerset county. There are four 2m (145MHz) repeaters in the county.
Two located in Green Brook: 146.625 and 146.940. One in Hillsboro: 147.135, and one in Martinsville: 147.285.
You should be able to program them into the scanner and listen for activity.
There are six 440MHz repeaters in the county as well. 443.900, 442.250, 444.500, 447.125, 448.725, and 443.650.
HTH,
Larry

 

[fishon]

You also can register with echolink.org. You can connect to repeaters, users all over through your computer or from your iPhone or droid. I'm in NJ as well

N2JKR


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[DSC45]

Thank you N8IAA and fishon for this great information!

 

[K7MEM]

You might want to get in touch with the people at this URL: W2QW Repeaters 146.625 - PL 141.3 442.250 - PL 141.3.
They have their meetings not to far from you. They offer testing sessions and the membership doesn't seem to be too expensive. I am sure they have several hams that will help you get started. Just be wary of the old guys, like me, or they will have you learning Morse code.

Having a mountain range on your side can certainly cause issues. The same issues you had with scanning will cause a little grief on the VHF and UHF bands, but there are usually lots of repeaters to help you around that. If you get a license and use the low bands, 80, 40, 20 meters, the mountains won't be as big an issue.

I am pretty familiar with the Watchung Mountains. I lived in New Jersey until I was 26. In the early 70s I use to work for Burroughs Corporation, which had a production plant in the Watchung Mountains. For much of the time I was with them, I had an apartment in South Bound Brook. I use to climb that mountain every day. I would often ride my bicycle (10 miles each direction). Going up was tough, but coming home it was "all down hill". Before I lived in South Bound Brook, I lived in Iselin. From there I was very active on 2 Meters. However, at the time it was all AM. But for the last 40 years I have been living in Arizona. Now I'm retired and live in the mountains (~5,500 Ft. Alt).

Good Luck.

 

[AK9R]

Can anyone share their thoughts on getting started?

Are looking to get your amateur radio license or are you just interested in listening to the amateur radio repeaters in your area?

 

[DSC45]

Thanks K7MEM for more great information! Do you miss Jersey? HaHa I know the answer!

 

[DSC45]

Are looking to get your amateur radio license or are you just interested in listening to the amateur radio repeaters in your area?

Yes, getting the license is the the best way to go, as long as I don't have to learn the morse code!
To old to go thru that trouble.

 

[K3YGX]

Aw c'mon CW, (morse code) is great -- it's the only language I know that I can use with a mouthful of food and still be understood. di di di dit dit dit

 

[k6cpo]

Yes, getting the license is the the best way to go, as long as I don't have to learn the morse code!
To old to go thru that trouble.

The Morse code requirement was removed in 2006...

 

[fishon]

Best thing about CW is my computer is far better then me at understanding it.


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[W2JMZ]

Best thing about CW is my computer is far better then me at understanding it.


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Hahaha same here. Although CW was the reason I got involved in the first place.

Point is what ever your reason, getting your license is easy and fun to have. Most all mobile and portable units have massive memory banks. What I did was program all of nj's repeaters, some NY and some PA into my rigs. From there I use the repeater book app to select which once I'll use depending on where I'm at.

Also don't think that you're limited to the repeaters just rift "near" you. My mobile rig can hit some machines 50+ miles away!


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[K7MEM]

Do you miss Jersey? HaHa I know the answer!

That's a yes and no. I do miss the New Jersey of my youth. I think it was a great place for a kid to grow up in. But as you grow your needs change. My last trip to New Jersey was to help my mother and was surprised at how little changed. But since she has passed, I have no more reason to travel there.

 

[DSC45]

That's a yes and no. I do miss the New Jersey of my youth. I think it was a great place for a kid to grow up in. But as you grow your needs change. My last trip to New Jersey was to help my mother and was surprised at how little changed. But since she has passed, I have no more reason to travel there.

I'm just a Jersey boy, think about leaving and always finding a reason to stay. Retired seven years ago, and just became a volunteer firefighter. Another reason to stay.

 

[Fizz306]

Dave,

Feel free to PM me.

I too am plagued by the Watchung hills, and have all kinds of trouble scanning/hamming west of Berkeley Heights from my home in Scotch Plains.

Try our club's repeater - W2LI

147.255 Output
147.855 Input
PL: 141.3 Hz

Good coverage for it's location. I'd love to connect off line, learn about your interests, and let you know more about our club.

73,

Rob
K2RWF