Thanks for the advice Jimmie, it is indeed a strong temptation but I've
resisted it so far.

Bud, I'm on that! I've got two pages of repeater frequencies for all
over the Dallas/Ft Worth area (I'm conveniently in Arlington right
between) and I've been listening off and on for weeks. I feel like as
soon as I get my call sign, I could hop right in! That is, if my
antenna transmits as well as it receives... no ground plane, as I've
explained. Do you think the bottom of a peanut can would be enough?

Weirdly, I'm waiting on getting my call sign before I register on
eham.net, since I'm gonna use my call as my username. I'm sort of a
google fan anyway, I get to usenet through google groups-beta and
that's good for me.

QRZ search tool is news to me, I'll try that out.

Nelson Blaha

On Jan 16, 8:16 am, Bud wrote:
hi nelson,

You've got to start somewhere, and listening in on qso
is one of the best ways to learn.

Not sure where you are, check to see if there are any
nets on the repeaters in the area, our club has tech net
weekly, great way to learn about what others are doing
(right or wrong ?) !

Try a search for other hams in your area using qrz or other search tool.

have you visitedwww.eham.net?

73

Nelson Blaha wrote:
I have to confess, I expected a much kinder reaction from
uk.amateur.radio, but some of them gave me some harsh words just
because I wasn't licensed! It's good to know I can get friendly help
somewhere.