Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

[helen]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

You can always listen in, you don't need an Amateur license for that. It is needed when you want to transmit.

For about $120 you can purchase a Pro-404 scanner from Radio Shack which is what I got a couple of weeks ago.

Beside being able to receive the Amateur bands it can pick up Marine (as in boats), police/fire, aircraft and the NOAA weather bands.

A couple of nights ago I came across somebody talking on 444.7250 MHz which was winding down. Last night I tried just after 8pm HST to listen to that frequency and it was getting voice traffic from the US West Coast, then as the time went on had people from Alaska, Nevada, Florida and even someone from Israel joining in.

At first my reaction was that little handheld scanner powered by 4 AA batteries with 8 inch (guessing on the length) antenna was able to pickup signals from far away places in the middle of urban Honolulu, but after doing some web searching I come to find out that I stumbled across a system of repeaters that has a location on Oahu at 444.7250 MHz.

What I was listening to was something called the Insomniac Trivia Net.

[Kaonohi]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

You enthusiasts are... too cool!

Had I my 40 year old brain, I might join in! Alas, those days are 25 years gone.

[tlp123]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

Congrats to those who master morse code. It has the ability to be heard
and deciphered through large amounts of QRM.

Yes, morse (CW-emission mode A1A) is the only mode I use in ham radio. Most of the time, a straight key with my favorite hf xcvr here;

[lensperson]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

A talented group of students recently found a way to use maser amplifiers at
room temperature.

Maser amps are closely akin to lasers and were one of the few ways to amplify

microwave signals with a decent signal to noise ratio.

Thus enabling very weak signals from satellites and various space probes
to be read.

Parametric amplifiers were used earlier,and are another fascinating topic
worthy of lots of reading and research.
Congrats to those who master morse code. It has the ability to be heard
and deciphered through large amounts of QRM.


The early models used liquid ammonia gas and were pesky to operate.

Later on , new semiconductors like Gallium Arsenide made the use of microwave bands seem routine.

[tlp123]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

I took the practice test a few weeks ago, didn't pass the parts dealing with antenna safety and FCC regulations.

Do have the study guide and will attempt the test later in the fall.

Good deal Helen, I'm sure you'll get it

[helen]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

I took the practice test a few weeks ago, didn't pass the parts dealing with antenna safety and FCC regulations.

Do have the study guide and will attempt the test later in the fall.

[tlp123]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

One of these days need to go for the Technician amateur license.

Hopefully, you will be interested in studying and passing the exam. You may find it's not difficult.

Also, you may already know there is much information available across the internet on ham radio.

www.qrz.com is a popular website.

There are free practice tests for the technician class license here;

http://www.qrz.com/ht/?op=start&t=t2010

Your interests may motivate you to find a radio club & VE (volunteer examiner) team to administer the test when you are ready.


Best wishes to you as you pursue your interests.

[helen]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

Picked up a Radio Shack scanner a couple of weekends ago. This one can pickup the 10 meter, 6 meter, 2 meter and 70 centimeter amateur bands.

One of these days need to go for the Technician amateur license.

[tlp123]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

Thanks! Field Day was great. I made a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWAOjXXJe-M

And posted some photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawaii/...7630258274930/

And I took and passed the exam to upgrade my license to General!

The dropping of the morse code requirement opened things up quite a bit, but there are still people studying and practicing it.

Good deal!

Fine business on the videos.

Best wishes to you in the ham radio hobby. It has many, many aspects to examine. Hopefully, you will find many to enjoy, and upgrade to Extra soon.

de KU5Q

[pzarquon]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

Have fun on Field Day! My callsign is KU5Q.

Thanks! Field Day was great. I made a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWAOjXXJe-M

And posted some photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawaii/...7630258274930/

And I took and passed the exam to upgrade my license to General!

The dropping of the morse code requirement opened things up quite a bit, but there are still people studying and practicing it.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

And this week, Burt and I took our Technician class license exam, and passed. Our forms are on their way to the FCC, and in about a week, we'll have our callsigns.

However archaic it seems, it's still relevant in terms of independent communications and emergency response. Amateur radio is pretty "old school," the first global "social network" in a way, and that certainly appeals to me as well.

Kinda makes me wish internet use was also similarly licensed. Would do wonders in filtering out the immature, potty-mouthed riff-raff that has ruined/curtailed many a once-quality online forum, HT not excluded.

[lensperson]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

One very interesting site for the homebrew enthusiast is www.sparkbangbuzz.com
The focus is on using commonly available stuff to make oscillators and such
from various minerals including Iron Pyrite.
The author includes oscilloscope traces of his fascinating experiments.

[tlp123]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

I cant wait to get my first radio, get on the air, and go to my first "Field Day" (June 23). So I thought I'd share, and ask if anyone else here is a ham?

Have fun on Field Day!

My callsign is KU5Q.

I operate CW most of the time.

[lensperson]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

One of my pleasures in this realm is building equipment from scratch.
Obviously that excludes high end store bought radios.

I really enjoy antenna construction and mast mounted low noise pre amplifiers.
A very enjoyable pastime is trying to catch ducting , which funnels transmissions here
and there via weather related events. Carry on Gentlemen and Gentlewomen.!

[pzarquon]

Re: Got ham? Amateur radio in Hawaii!

Thanks! I got on the air on UHF (70cm) after some fumbling, but I'm learning a lot of activity lives at the VHF (2m) range, so I probably bought the wrong starter gear. Mel, you can get a dual-band handheld ham radio for $100, though the good ones will run you $400-$500. Once you start building a "ham shack" at home with receivers, power supplies, antenna, and so on, you could be looking at thousands.

I'm already studying to try and get my licensed upgraded from Technician to General class. The last, highest class is Amateur Extra, but the 700-question exam pool changes next month, so I'm going to let that settle for a while.

If you want to see hams doing what they do, come down to the front lawn of Bachman Hall on Saturday, June 23. It's international "Field Day," where amateur radio folks around the world gather to make contacts and practice their emergency preparedness.