KY_Ham_64
Member
Hello all,
I just opened an account on here to chat with others about all things Ham radio.
Some background, I worked in the electronics industry for about 30 years in TX, we're now in Kentucky, been here 10 years. My education way back in the 80's covered a semester of radio circuitry, including building an AM/FM radio kit stage by stage. So I vaguely recall some of the circuitry involved, like tuners, RF and AF amplifiers, demodulators, etc. But my schooling emphasis was more in digital, amplifier, IC's. My jobs concentrated more on various power supplies, server rack systems and so on.
Before I went to tech school one of my favorite gifts I ever got was a ten band radio which had two shortwave bands. I thought it was very cool to be able tune into stations in Germany, Japan, UK etc. Back then the tuner had an knob, so it wasn't as sophisticated as now, so you had to do a little tweaking to get that station tuned in.
My interest in SW was recently renewed and I ended up getting a Tecsun PL-880. The sensitivity and abilities of this little receiver is very good. It has SSB capability, so I can also hear Ham radio operators.
We have a couple older HT FRS/GMRS Cobra radios, and wanted to be able to legally transmit on the higher power bands so I signed up for a GMRS license for me and my my wife. I got a couple newer GMRS radios, but I wanted to get into other bands so that's where I stepped into the Ham radio universe.
I found out about the various bands available and thought I'd like to get at least a General license. So after some intensive studying the question pools, I felt confident enough to take the exams. I had to drive 90 miles to take the tests as I didn't know about any local clubs. I drove to Lexington last month and got 33/35 on the Technician and 35/35 on the General.
They asked if I wanted to take the Extra test and I said yes, but I hadn't really studied for it. I got 24/50, so I failed but I was happy passing the General. Since then I've been studying for the Extra, and will be taking it in a few weeks at a local club. I got my call sign a few weeks ago, so I'm now officially a General license holder.
I've been doing a lot of research on a lot of aspects of amateur radio since then. But for now all I have bought is a Yaesu FT65R with a Diamond antenna. It's a fairly easy radio to operate and program. Last week I made my first ever contact via a local repeater. It was with a fellow who belongs to the local club I was talking about. I ended up talking 15 minutes with him, he was very nice, and invited me to their next meeting next week. So I look forward to that.
Anyways, I've rambled way too long, but just wanted to say hey.
Bob
I just opened an account on here to chat with others about all things Ham radio.
Some background, I worked in the electronics industry for about 30 years in TX, we're now in Kentucky, been here 10 years. My education way back in the 80's covered a semester of radio circuitry, including building an AM/FM radio kit stage by stage. So I vaguely recall some of the circuitry involved, like tuners, RF and AF amplifiers, demodulators, etc. But my schooling emphasis was more in digital, amplifier, IC's. My jobs concentrated more on various power supplies, server rack systems and so on.
Before I went to tech school one of my favorite gifts I ever got was a ten band radio which had two shortwave bands. I thought it was very cool to be able tune into stations in Germany, Japan, UK etc. Back then the tuner had an knob, so it wasn't as sophisticated as now, so you had to do a little tweaking to get that station tuned in.
My interest in SW was recently renewed and I ended up getting a Tecsun PL-880. The sensitivity and abilities of this little receiver is very good. It has SSB capability, so I can also hear Ham radio operators.
We have a couple older HT FRS/GMRS Cobra radios, and wanted to be able to legally transmit on the higher power bands so I signed up for a GMRS license for me and my my wife. I got a couple newer GMRS radios, but I wanted to get into other bands so that's where I stepped into the Ham radio universe.
I found out about the various bands available and thought I'd like to get at least a General license. So after some intensive studying the question pools, I felt confident enough to take the exams. I had to drive 90 miles to take the tests as I didn't know about any local clubs. I drove to Lexington last month and got 33/35 on the Technician and 35/35 on the General.
They asked if I wanted to take the Extra test and I said yes, but I hadn't really studied for it. I got 24/50, so I failed but I was happy passing the General. Since then I've been studying for the Extra, and will be taking it in a few weeks at a local club. I got my call sign a few weeks ago, so I'm now officially a General license holder.
I've been doing a lot of research on a lot of aspects of amateur radio since then. But for now all I have bought is a Yaesu FT65R with a Diamond antenna. It's a fairly easy radio to operate and program. Last week I made my first ever contact via a local repeater. It was with a fellow who belongs to the local club I was talking about. I ended up talking 15 minutes with him, he was very nice, and invited me to their next meeting next week. So I look forward to that.
Anyways, I've rambled way too long, but just wanted to say hey.
Bob
