I got my license, now what?

[Se7en]

Congratulations !

Sent from my SCH-i605 on Verizon 4G LTE.

 

[RatsoW8]

Congrats man! Are there any local hams you can chat with and maybe get a look at their stations? I did that long before getting my license and it was a big help. One ham even sold me my first HF rig on the cheap.

 

[w9cll]

Heyya Tall !

With the general class ticket try to find a all mode HF radio of some kind that covers 160 to 10 meters..$300 to $500 should get you into a radio,an antenna tuner of some kind and a simple dipole antenna that covers at least part of the HF bands will get you all the action you will crave.

the antenna.....if it were me I would stay away from the G5RV type of antenna,not very effective ..it was really made for 20 meters ...go with an off center fed windom/dipole or a fan dipole ....I have an off center fed that a built in tuner with the radio will tune ,under a 3 to 1 swr on all bands I run...Fan dipole will have a radial for each band that is resonate for that band,usually no tuner needed

10 meters has been pretty quiet ,I do hear it open once in a while,but it is a hit and miss thing

12 meters is about the same as 10 but when it is open there are some pretty good contacts to be made


15 meters is doing pretty well,hearing stations from all over the states and a few from Europe/South America

17 meters is really good ( and my favorite band ) opens up about 7 to 8 AM my time ( centeral time zone ) and is open till after dark most every day ...I do hear Europe/Africa/Russia in the mornings and fading to stateside midday for the most part and long path to Europe/Russia as well as Japan during the evenings till band fades

20 ...well it is a nuthouse for me really strong stateside stations and is open till well after dark and alot of the time is open late night

30 ...is a CW/digital band ,no voice allowed , and will be open 24/7 alot of the time

40 .... for me is somewhat a night time band ..when it is open it is really open world wide contacts are possable,....during day time good regional stateside stations and several nets to check into

80.....for me also night time ....alot of nets to check into here as well off and on throughout the early morning and late afternoon ...the two nets I try to check into are on 3.987.5 starting at about 5:30AM cenetral and again in the evening with prechecks starting again at about 5:30 PM( the 3987.5 nets are the same bunch,Centeral States Traffic Net ( morning) and The Arkansas razorback Net ( afternoons)... and 3.916 starting at about 8 PM centeral till whenever ..The Tailgaters /Freewheelers nets

160...I cant really say since my antenna dont like 160 meters


There is my run down for the bands I run for what it is worth.

Hope to hear you on the air soon !!

Chris


edit...

as I am posting this I hit the 20 meter button,hearing Italy,Africa and South America fairly strong at 2:15 AM

Yet another edit :

man I hate it when I cant sleep.

OK I looked at your first post again.I see you have VHF/UHF radios.... Have a look at radioreference.com ,they have almost every vhf/uhf repeater in the country listed there .Go to their site,click on your state,then county,then the amateur radio tab....if no repeaters in your county start moving out from your county.I can almost promise you there are repeaters not very far away from you,program those into your radios and then start listening,most of the repeaters will have a net of some kind .Check into those nets to get your call sign out there and before ya know it you will be chatting away...and try to get a HF radio when the dollars will allow it,then you will be spoiled

Lots of really good info here. I am also a fan of 17 meters. I easily work into Europe from the car on 17. I have JA's and LU's from the mobile as well.

To the OP, don't over look the older radios. I currently run a Yaesu 101ZD at home, yes it's old but it hears everything and has very good audio, it's also fun tuning it up for each band. I am working on a Yaesu 901DM that I inherited in so called Non-working condition. Here are some good cheap choices:

Alinco:
70th

Icom:
735
720a
730

Kenwood:
520
530
830
430
440

Yaesu:
101ZD
902
757gx


There are plenty of others that I didn't list but if your on a budget as I am, ok really I am just cheap, there are some good choices out there that will not set you back a lot of money. Sure you are giving up some of the bell and whistles but when you press the mic button you will be heard and you will hear the other stations.

As for antenna's a simple fan dipole inverted V will allow you to work the world on 100 watts. Ham radio can be done on the cheap, Ebay and Home Depot are your friends.

73's and welcome to the fun world of Ham Radio!

W9CLL

 

[kd-5-bgt]

Alinco:
70th

Icom:
735
720a
730

Kenwood:
520
530
830
430
440

Yaesu:
101ZD
902
757gx


I will agree with any of these radios as well,any of them would make a great starter rig unless you are planning on going with a new radio

 

[n8fgb]

The TS 430 has a board full of relays in the back.Start tunning the VFO at the AM broadcast up. Every couple megs or so, you will hear a relay go tick. If the receive drops, walk away. Some of the 440's had a plastic coating on some of the boards,as it ages it becomes conductive. Most of the 101's have been cb'd to death. The 757's were a problem from day one, and now you are lucky to get it repaired.
Do your homework before you buy. THere a lot of good used rigs out there.
Rich

 

[KC9Q]

I'd add the Icom IC-718 to the list too.

 

[Tallman]

There are plenty of others that I didn't list but if your on a budget as I am, ok really I am just cheap, there are some good choices out there that will not set you back a lot of money.

I'm existing on my budget, not living. I am using your recommendations as a primary list for my hunt. Money is real tight, but I have a lot of time on my hands. That's the reason I went for my license. It will take me some time to get up to speed, not with the electronics theory part. I have worked in electronics for my entire career starting as a technician in the Navy until I got to the point of engineering and designing in 1985.
Thank you for your recommendations!
Tallman

 

[Tallman]

Congrats man! Are there any local hams you can chat with and maybe get a look at their stations? I did that long before getting my license and it was a big help. One ham even sold me my first HF rig on the cheap.

Thanks! Do you think he might have another one?

 

[kd-5-bgt]

Most long time hams will have 3 or 4 radios on hand.Some will have 10+ .If you run into a local ham that has a few radios on hand ,and you let him know you are just starting in radio ,chances are good he will be willing to sell you a radio or maybe even loan one out to you .

If he doesnt have an extra rig chances are good he knows someone that will

 

[Tallman]

Contact!

Congrats man! Are there any local hams you can chat with and maybe get a look at their stations?

I went over to a hams house that replied to one of my "WANTED" ads and he was showing me a Yaesu FT-850. We scanned up and down all of the 160 meter band and it was dead. He switched bands and when he got up to the 20 meter band all kinds of activity was present. Picked a clear frequency checked and no one was using it. He called CQ a few times and rattled off his sign and got a response almost immediately. Sicily! Now how cool was that got a five by eight report on signal with a vertical antenna with the low power setting to boot. I'm scraping up my cash now to get that radio. $350.00 seems a little steep but it is in great condition.:drool:

 

[kd-5-bgt]

That price isnt to bad for that radio,if it looks good and output is where it should be,around 85 to 100 watts depending on band I would say jump on it....

Talk to that ham about a low priced antenna tuner as well unless that radio has a tuner built in,MFJ makes tuners that will work...and last but not least,to save you a few dollars make your own dipole antenna,...

Those can be made for around $30 or so and that can save you up to $100 for a premade antenna

 

[Tallman]

Patients is a virtue for real...

I got another response from my WANTED: ad. This one has me panting like a high school boy around the sexiest woman on earth. This one is a Yaesu FT-890 from a non-smoker house hold. 160 meter up through 10 meter all modes with a working computer interface. As he was doing the demo I noticed all of the computer gear surrounding his station. I asked what's all this? Auto-logging of incoming signals and the system could scan whatever he wanted. Now my pulse is pounding. He has this all setup to automatically log his communications that he has with other stations.:::
I really want this radio! As soon as I have my funds scraped together I'm heading back over there to make the purchase. I gave a 10% deposit to hold it for ten days. I'm on this one like white on rice. In other words MINE.

 

[w9cll]

Good deal on the radio, hope you can get it soon. Build a dipole and let us know what band your on and lets see if we can get a contact.

73's
W9CLL
Chris

 

[hookedon6]

I got another response from my WANTED: ad. This one has me panting like a high school boy around the sexiest woman on earth. This one is a Yaesu FT-890 from a non-smoker house hold. 160 meter up through 10 meter all modes with a working computer interface. As he was doing the demo I noticed all of the computer gear surrounding his station. I asked what's all this? Auto-logging of incoming signals and the system could scan whatever he wanted. Now my pulse is pounding. He has this all setup to automatically log his communications that he has with other stations.:::
I really want this radio! As soon as I have my funds scraped together I'm heading back over there to make the purchase. I gave a 10% deposit to hold it for ten days. I'm on this one like white on rice. In other words MINE.

ya might want to slow down a bit and find out EXACTLY what all that "auto" logging/scanning stuff is about.

I'll bet what he is saying and what you are hearing are two different things. good luck

 

[Onthecoast]

Congrats getting on the air. I'm a tech and getting bored with 2m. We have great repeater coverage locally, but there are long stretches where activity is low. 10 meters was fun when it was wide open, but I haven't had as much luck lately. Still waiting for an opportunity to take my general. Really wishing I would have just taken it from the get go instead of waiting. I've been trying to find an opportunity to test for general for a few months now.