AM and SSB at night...

[ND88]

Alright guys, Just had my furthest contact yet!!! And it was around 10pm at night! Just across the state line in Caney, KS. That's 20 miles from here. The guy was talking on a Cobra 148 base station running an antron 99 70ft in the air. Said he couldn't believe I was mobile on a stock galaxy, said it was "walking the dog". He mentioned something about running a shop up in Kansas and he gave me his phone number, said he'd tune my radio anytime if i wanted to hahaha.

This is awesome, I am super excited about my first out of state contact.

 

[Nick23]

Here in Topeka, Kansas the local channel is 28. We have 10+ people on every night. Channel 19 is busy with truckers and some Topeka locals that don't know about 28. Don't have a ssb radio so can't say about that...

 

[Nick23]

Glad your making some contacts ND88. Is that with your new MIC?

 

[ND88]

Yep, that's with the new Road Devil. Seems to cut right through, I've gotten good reports so far. Loving the feel of it.

 

[hayseed]

PM

Hey ND88,

Check your PM's

 

[Nick23]

Those power MICs make a big difference, especially for stock un-tuned radios.

 

[RadioGuy772]

Congrats on the contact, you have officially been "bitten by the bug". I remember my first SSB contact, right around the time I got my tech license, but didn't have HF privilages, I worked a station about 21 miles away. That was a big deal for me with my TRC-465 and an 8 foot whip mounted on a peak of the house with a home made ground plane, and my home made 5 amp regulated power supply which I felt so smart that I built it myself from an old battery charger... it was filtered and regulated too!

Now a days, that would be no big deal, but to me, at age 12 and a half, it was the world! I immediately took out the phone book (strange for some reason I know, but I remember it had a local map in there) and began to inturrupt my parents' TV watching telling them how excited I was.

Of course, I was pretty much ignored, and they absolutely didn't get the excitement at all, even discouraged actually when later on I wanted help putting up antennas, or running cables, but I stuck with it and have had fun.

My point is, don't let anyone belittle your accomplishments (should they), because they are a big deal to you, and should be.

 

[Staybolt]

Lots of locals hear at night to chat with.. problem is my g/f shares my radio room with my radios and sleeps in the evening due to her 1 am work schedule so i dont get on that much anymore..

 

[ND88]

man, that sucks. Move your radios bro. get back on the air.
I'll be glad when I have my base station set up and no longer have to sit in the truck. Like right now it's 18 degrees with freezing rain. I'm sure it will be miserable this summer, that's why i've gotta get my station up by July. Planning on running a V5/8 Maco with my 959, that's gonna be a talker....
I'll move my cobra 29 Classic to the truck.

Congrats on the contact, you have officially been "bitten by the bug". I remember my first SSB contact, right around the time I got my tech license, but didn't have HF privilages, I worked a station about 21 miles away. That was a big deal for me with my TRC-465 and an 8 foot whip mounted on a peak of the house with a home made ground plane, and my home made 5 amp regulated power supply which I felt so smart that I built it myself from an old battery charger... it was filtered and regulated too!

Now a days, that would be no big deal, but to me, at age 12 and a half, it was the world! I immediately took out the phone book (strange for some reason I know, but I remember it had a local map in there) and began to inturrupt my parents' TV watching telling them how excited I was.

Of course, I was pretty much ignored, and they absolutely didn't get the excitement at all, even discouraged actually when later on I wanted help putting up antennas, or running cables, but I stuck with it and have had fun.

My point is, don't let anyone belittle your accomplishments (should they), because they are a big deal to you, and should be.

That's really cool. You were doing stuff at 12 that I can't do at 25, so you can take pride in that lol.
The last sentence really hits home. The reason I have to run everything out of my truck right now is because my girlfriend will not let me erect an antenna on the house or in the yard. It's pissing me off and i'm going to do it anyway.

 

[Mudfoot]

Good for you!

 

[222DBFL]

Women don't understand the need for us having an antenna setup lol!!! What they see as ugly, we step back and say look at that work of art I just erected! Woman, can't live with them, can't live without them. Put that antenna up and paint it pink and then tell her you did it for her lol. Maybe then it will be okay. Anyway, good luck getting the setup completed and god bless.

 

[Brake Weight]

Read up on dipoles. My antenna tower is on the drawing board, but mainly awaiting a shop to be built later in the year with a radio room. I got England once and New Zealand long enough to acknowledge me before conditions deteriorated in a train wreck of stations. Felt good, though. Both from my truck around daybreak.

 

[kryppy]

Personally I'd count myself as lucky if there were no locals intentionally plugging my ears to show their displeasure with the 305portable making contacts all over the country while they have trouble talking a few miles.

 

[RadioGuy772]

Just a thought, and certainly don't want to get into your personal business, but since you mentioned that she doesn't want an antenna up in the air, look at it this way.

1: You are doing something you enjoy AT HOME. Not out with the guys, not away from her, not out around some other group of women, but AT HOME. Not drinking spending money with the guys away from home once again, but HOME, learning a hobby.

2: Let her know that it is more than an antenna and radio, and plug and play. Maybe try to explain to her a bit about the hobby, and WHY it excites you. Tell her you can bounce signals up off the sky and back down to Earth, and that, that is the way people used to do things to make contacts long distance way before satellites and the first trans-Atlantic cables.

Anyways, just some ideas.

 

[Grinder74]

My wife used to have a nice setup in the 80's, beam and all and she thinks I'm crazy to talk radio these days. I have a setup that is pretty stealthy so she is cool with it.