Well I just took the ham test today passed the Technician and General tests. I probably should have tried the extra but I had to take a leak bad by that point🤣. Anyway I have so many questions and I don’t know where to begin, I joined the local club that did the test so I guess the next meeting is a good place to start. I want to thank everyone here for their patience and help so far. I’m not sure if I want to screw around with VHF or UHF money is tight and I haven’t heard any real activity on 2M or 70cm at least analog FM near me. Seems like there is some DMR or other digital activity off a couple of repeaters in the area but I don’t know if I want to invest any money into it? I am not a computer person by any means of the imagination, HF specifically SSB phone is something I have a general understanding of. Guess I’m going to be setting up a HF rig in the next couple weeks not sure what band to build my first antenna for yet? As I said a lot of questions and zero knowledge!
Soon to be new ham operator
- Thread starter 285M
- Start date
I'll say this to start it off: You can do A LOT with simple wire antennas and 100 watts on the lower bands. It's fun.
congrads and enjoy the hobby, as long as you have or know your call you can start right now.
Is 2M and 70cm analog FM dead? I’ve been listening to the local repeaters for about a week and I’ve only heard 2 people using one of them and this a linked repeater network covering most of the state. I’m new to this but coming from CB I’m am used to picking up dozens of stations at any given time on a frequency. I’ve transmitted “my callsign listening on x repeater” a couple times but they just seem to be dead. I am definitely getting picked up and retransmitted by the repeater but there isn’t anyone else on them. This is not what I was expecting when I decided to get my license. Is HF any better? I am not set up for it yet but listening to an online SDR in my area it seems very quiet as well but it doesn’t cover all the bands. I’m sorry to ask so many questions, my local club I joined seems to be almost dead as well I haven’t heard anyone on any of their repeaters yet I can hear the automated voice message. This club only has one meeting a month and they don’t haven’t even figured out an exact date yet. I plan on going to the meeting as soon as they post a date for it. Are new hams not really welcomed? No idea what I’m doing here and any advice is greatly appreciated. I don’t want to drop thousands of dollars and a ton of time into a HF rig if there are only a few people on it at a given time.
N1EXA
FT8 Huntin Mudd Duck on the deep end of the pond !
Id say just start small and learn instead of thinking of spending money and play catch up to some Guys who did it for years.
A $15 Dollar Programmable scanner A $35 dollar Baofeng .Buy a $30 SDR Dongle and Get the PC running as a Receiver.
Instead of random Babble of CB or the Local Ham repeater look into FT8 mode for Ham radio Im doing FT8 From A Galaxy Saturn and a $10
Interface card. You will find a long wire will work wonders if set up correctly.
ID say set up an account at QRZ so you can make a contact log and have a watering hole for DX'ers to find you.
Pete N1EXA
A $15 Dollar Programmable scanner A $35 dollar Baofeng .Buy a $30 SDR Dongle and Get the PC running as a Receiver.
Instead of random Babble of CB or the Local Ham repeater look into FT8 mode for Ham radio Im doing FT8 From A Galaxy Saturn and a $10
Interface card. You will find a long wire will work wonders if set up correctly.
ID say set up an account at QRZ so you can make a contact log and have a watering hole for DX'ers to find you.
Pete N1EXA
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ecps92
Member
Depends on where you are, and at What times you are listening for the VHF/UHF, 220 and 900 repeater activity.
Where in Massachusetts and what Repeaters are you not hearing anyone on ??
N1EXA
FT8 Huntin Mudd Duck on the deep end of the pond !
I always monitor 146.5200 simplex and 437.800 for the space station repeater.
I also listen to the 224.8 Repeater in Dartmouth MA but use the 438.8 UHF input because I dont own a 220 rig.
Pete N1EXA
I also listen to the 224.8 Repeater in Dartmouth MA but use the 438.8 UHF input because I dont own a 220 rig.
Pete N1EXA
Congratulations and welcome to ham radio! You can now relax and learn some practical radio knowledge that will help immensely with the material covered on the Extra exam.
You've taken two important first steps--getting licensed and joining a local club. Hopefully, the club will be one that is welcoming to new hams and you'll find your way to some members who can "Elmer" (mentor) you. Take advantage of whatever the club offers--it's a good way to learn. The club itself, or some members, may be able to loan equipment to you. It's a great way to find what your interest are without a significant expenditure of funds.
If there's not a lot of activity on your local repeaters, look into installing Echolink on your phone, tablet or computer. It's free and will allow you to connect with systems all over the world in any mode.
73!
Congrats on your new HRL, the local club would be a good place to start. Ask about any nets they might run. Also look into the East Coast Reflector. Last time I heard they had over 300 linked repeaters. Tonight is their tech net 8:00 PM ETZ
Everybody is going to have their own preferences. I have had my General for over 25 years and have enjoyed FT8 and SSB but recently I have been enjoying VHF and UHF the most. One thing for sure is I think you are going to want a good mobile/base VHF/UHF rig. I would recommend starting there provided the local club runs some nets and or you can find one of the linked ECR repeaters. If not a DMR VHF/UHF HT with a hotspot might be a good start.
Everybody is going to have their own preferences. I have had my General for over 25 years and have enjoyed FT8 and SSB but recently I have been enjoying VHF and UHF the most. One thing for sure is I think you are going to want a good mobile/base VHF/UHF rig. I would recommend starting there provided the local club runs some nets and or you can find one of the linked ECR repeaters. If not a DMR VHF/UHF HT with a hotspot might be a good start.
Congratulations.
HF is quite busy at times, but the days of polite ragchewing have pretty much turned to FT-8 and other digital modes. What is often left of voice are foul mouthed idiots who are intolerant of others they are not familiar with, frequency squatters, etc.
I don't know about MA, but here in AZ, I can drive across the state and never make one contact on analog 2 meters or 70cm. In my small town, there is one repeater that I've never heard any one on. Clubs can be quite insular and unwelcoming to newcomers.
Amateur radio in its traditional modes requires civil social interactions and a sense of community - this is often missing these days.
HF is quite busy at times, but the days of polite ragchewing have pretty much turned to FT-8 and other digital modes. What is often left of voice are foul mouthed idiots who are intolerant of others they are not familiar with, frequency squatters, etc.
I don't know about MA, but here in AZ, I can drive across the state and never make one contact on analog 2 meters or 70cm. In my small town, there is one repeater that I've never heard any one on. Clubs can be quite insular and unwelcoming to newcomers.
Amateur radio in its traditional modes requires civil social interactions and a sense of community - this is often missing these days.
Mainly on the 2 meter ones and one 440 MHz but it’s out of my range. I don’t have a radio that supports 220 or 900mhz. I’m just north of Boston about 8 miles north. I’ve had a handheld tuned to the closet repeater all day basically from 5am till I go to bed. The only one I can hit currently. I do get the occasional person “listening” but I’ve not yet been in a location that I could respond. It’s so sporadic maybe one person every few hours and by the time I go outside to try they are long gone. I’m wondering if I’m not actually being recived enough for the repeater to retransmit anything but static? Going to take a ride closer to it tonight and try again. I don’t have another radio or any other way to listen to my transmissions off the repeater currently. As I said I’m new and have zero idea what I’m doing here! Unfortunately my club who has 7 voice repeaters is just out of range with my current handheld. I’m planning to take a ride up there when I get a chance and see what I can hear. I guess I was expecting a lot more activity on them. Meaning having to wait 10 or more minutes to get a chance to transmit. Unfortunately the repeater that I thought was a 1/4 mile away was moved 10 or more miles north. I might just be out of transmission range of all the local repeaters with a handheld.
ecps92
Member
Should be plenty on these Repeaters
Minuteman Repeater Association
Try tonight, around 8pm they host a Net - feel free to join in
Technical Information and Other Stuff (TIOS) net
Every Tuesday - 8:00 PM
285M, did you find any nets last night?
If you are still having trouble getting out you could try something like (yourcall)radio check please (yourcall) again. Get up real close to the microphone and make sure you know where it is on the HT. They can be very directional. Until you get a report of you are over modulated stay very close to the mic.
A lot of hams will loosely monitory a repeater and will need a longer call to wakeup. That's the case for me anyhow.
I might not even have the transceiver on, just using a good scanner and if I hear a radio check call but no reply I will try to come back but it takes a bit to get the rig going.
Hope this helps, Dale
If you are still having trouble getting out you could try something like (yourcall)radio check please (yourcall) again. Get up real close to the microphone and make sure you know where it is on the HT. They can be very directional. Until you get a report of you are over modulated stay very close to the mic.
A lot of hams will loosely monitory a repeater and will need a longer call to wakeup. That's the case for me anyhow.
I might not even have the transceiver on, just using a good scanner and if I hear a radio check call but no reply I will try to come back but it takes a bit to get the rig going.
Hope this helps, Dale
I was able to check in (sort of) and listen (much better but still not great) last night but I’m just on the ragged edge of the repeater range for my 5W handheld. I certainly learned a lot last night, I hadn’t ever heard of AREDN before (the topic of last nights net). I might try driving closer to the repeater next week for the next net. I know my radio is a pile of junk but I don’t want to spend any money on a radio until I find out if this is really something I’m interested in.
Thanks to everyone who has tried to help me out here, I really appreciate it 🍻
Thanks to everyone who has tried to help me out here, I really appreciate it 🍻
ecps92
Member
Glad you could get into the MMRA TIOS Net, keep in mind the nearest repeater might not always be the best one you can access
Also, from a learning perspective, listen in on Marathon Monday to the repeaters as many will be in use in support of the BAA
