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#71
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"Frank K3EKO" wrote in message news:uKKhb.724332$YN5.647633@sccrnsc01... Dee D. Flint wrote: "Frank K3EKO" wrote in message news:uqKhb.724221$YN5.646872@sccrnsc01... Dee D. Flint wrote: And after restructuring. Since I am teaching a class, I have read the current FCC rules and the current ARRL "Now You're Talking." Technicians who pass a 5wpm code test get the old Tech+/Novice HF privileges. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE VE for ARRL and W5YI This arguement is pointless. You can't talk to a brick wall. I'm done here. 73 Frank K3EKO Paragraph 97.301(e) clearly lists the HF privileges for any Technician who has passed the 5wpm code test. So the brick wall is you and you have yet to state where you get your source of information. It certainly is not the FCC rules. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE VE for ARRL and W5YI This is from the W5YI website. http://www.w5yi.org/AmRadio.htm#TECHNICIAN TECHNICIAN Almost all radioamateurs begin their ham career as a "Tech." The privileges of a Technician Class operator license include operating stations while transmitting on channels in any of 17 frequency bands above 50 MHz with up to 1,500 watts power. It also allows access to the two most popular ham bands, 2 meters and 70 cm ...otherwise known as "450" (MHz.). To pass the Technician Class examination, at least 26 multiple choice questions from a 35 question written examination must be answered correctly. There are a total of 384 possible questions in the pool from which these 35 questions are drawn. All questions in the various question banks are known and widely published. There are no secret questions. The Technician Class is the most popular license with about one-third of all radioamateurs holding this license class. You will find Technician study materials here and here "Channels" ?? Dan/W4NTI |
#72
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Mike it is correct. Take the tests and good luck! Welcome to ham radio! You'll read posts from a few knoblicks here, ignore them. Welcome to the hobby/service! Thanks! |
#73
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Mike it is correct. Take the tests and good luck! Welcome to ham radio! You'll read posts from a few knoblicks here, ignore them. Welcome to the hobby/service! Thanks! |
#74
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I strongly recommend joining a local club and getting involved with them. There should be plenty of people willing to help and even let you try out their gear to get a feel for it. Also it is kind of nice to have someone mentor you through your initial CW contacts. You should be able to find a club by checking the ARRL website. If there appears to be nothing there, use an internet search machine and type in the name of your nearest medium to large city with the words amateur radio. For example, when I moved into this area, I typed in Detroit area amateur radio and found a club in the nearest suburb to where I lived. I plan to start off with low-power CW and need to know what equipment I'll need to get started. I searched the archives, but did not get much solid info. Minimum: Radio, antenna, and straight key. The antenna will need to be matched to the frequency on which you will be operating. Optional Multiband antenna with an antenna tuner, electronic keyer and paddle. I plan on getting a basic "learning transceiver" off eBay to begin with, then after I know what options I need and learn more, I'll get a new one. Unless you are an experienced eBay user, I would recommend joining a local club and buying of a local club member or getting one of them to advise you and buying at a local hamfest. I've gotten good stuff off there BUT "It worked the last time I turned it on" can also mean "before I dropped it down the basement stairs". eBay is very much a buyer beware situation. What features will I need to be able to start to do low-power CW, and is there a preferred brand or model to look for? Low power CW transceivers are often only single band with almost no additional features. But they are simple and easy to use. I hear that MFJ makes some good ones. Actually, I recommend getting a used standard HF transceiver. You will have a decent selection of features to try out and it will be ready to go as you get more experience and when/if you decide to upgrade. It can be used for the 10 meter voice & data modes that you will be eligible for as well as the 15m, 40m, and 80m CW privileges that you will have. Kenwood, Icom, and Yeasu are all good brands. I would personally recommend something new enough that it doesn't use vacuum tube finals as they require that you tune up the radio itself before transmitting plus if you don't follow proper procedures, you can easily damage those tubes. On the other hand, many new people have started successfully with older tube type radios. I can recommend the Kenwood TS-130 series, TS-140 series, TS-430 series, TS-440 series among the older, out of production radios. Also a nice current production radio that you should be able to easily find used at a reasonable price is the Kenwood TS-50 mobile transceiver. These should all be available at reasonable prices. I'm not as familiar with Icom or Yeasu but they made similar radios. There was a Yeasu 757 series (I think) and a 767 series that were both well thought of. Again I recommend finding a club and getting the help of an experienced ham. Plus in a club there will be different people personally experienced with radios from different makers and you will have the opportunity to try some of them out. Most hams are friendly people and will gladly help you learn about equipment (and show off their own!). Dee D. Flint, N8UZE You suggestions make alot of sense. I'll look for a halfway decient rig to get started. MikeB |
#75
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I strongly recommend joining a local club and getting involved with them. There should be plenty of people willing to help and even let you try out their gear to get a feel for it. Also it is kind of nice to have someone mentor you through your initial CW contacts. You should be able to find a club by checking the ARRL website. If there appears to be nothing there, use an internet search machine and type in the name of your nearest medium to large city with the words amateur radio. For example, when I moved into this area, I typed in Detroit area amateur radio and found a club in the nearest suburb to where I lived. I plan to start off with low-power CW and need to know what equipment I'll need to get started. I searched the archives, but did not get much solid info. Minimum: Radio, antenna, and straight key. The antenna will need to be matched to the frequency on which you will be operating. Optional Multiband antenna with an antenna tuner, electronic keyer and paddle. I plan on getting a basic "learning transceiver" off eBay to begin with, then after I know what options I need and learn more, I'll get a new one. Unless you are an experienced eBay user, I would recommend joining a local club and buying of a local club member or getting one of them to advise you and buying at a local hamfest. I've gotten good stuff off there BUT "It worked the last time I turned it on" can also mean "before I dropped it down the basement stairs". eBay is very much a buyer beware situation. What features will I need to be able to start to do low-power CW, and is there a preferred brand or model to look for? Low power CW transceivers are often only single band with almost no additional features. But they are simple and easy to use. I hear that MFJ makes some good ones. Actually, I recommend getting a used standard HF transceiver. You will have a decent selection of features to try out and it will be ready to go as you get more experience and when/if you decide to upgrade. It can be used for the 10 meter voice & data modes that you will be eligible for as well as the 15m, 40m, and 80m CW privileges that you will have. Kenwood, Icom, and Yeasu are all good brands. I would personally recommend something new enough that it doesn't use vacuum tube finals as they require that you tune up the radio itself before transmitting plus if you don't follow proper procedures, you can easily damage those tubes. On the other hand, many new people have started successfully with older tube type radios. I can recommend the Kenwood TS-130 series, TS-140 series, TS-430 series, TS-440 series among the older, out of production radios. Also a nice current production radio that you should be able to easily find used at a reasonable price is the Kenwood TS-50 mobile transceiver. These should all be available at reasonable prices. I'm not as familiar with Icom or Yeasu but they made similar radios. There was a Yeasu 757 series (I think) and a 767 series that were both well thought of. Again I recommend finding a club and getting the help of an experienced ham. Plus in a club there will be different people personally experienced with radios from different makers and you will have the opportunity to try some of them out. Most hams are friendly people and will gladly help you learn about equipment (and show off their own!). Dee D. Flint, N8UZE You suggestions make alot of sense. I'll look for a halfway decient rig to get started. MikeB |
#76
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"MikeB" wrote in message ... Mike it is correct. Take the tests and good luck! Welcome to ham radio! You'll read posts from a few knoblicks here, ignore them. Welcome to the hobby/service! Thanks! Let us know when you get your call sign. Be happy to work you on the bands. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE |
#77
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"MikeB" wrote in message ... Mike it is correct. Take the tests and good luck! Welcome to ham radio! You'll read posts from a few knoblicks here, ignore them. Welcome to the hobby/service! Thanks! Let us know when you get your call sign. Be happy to work you on the bands. Dee D. Flint, N8UZE |
#79
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In article ,
says... I am taking the Tech+ test soon and have some equipment-related questions. I know alot about electronics but nothing about amateur radio, nor do I know anyone who does, so I hope this is the best newsgroup for info, if not, let me know which group to ask my questions in! I plan to start off with low-power CW and need to know what equipment I'll need to get started. I searched the archives, but did not get much solid info. I plan on getting a basic "learning transceiver" off eBay to begin with, then after I know what options I need and learn more, I'll get a new one. What features will I need to be able to start to do low-power CW, and is there a preferred brand or model to look for? Low-power operation is referred to in the amateur radio lexicon as "QRP." If you search on that keyword in Google or Yahoo, you'll find that there are many different options available to you in that category. You could purchase a QRP CW transceiver such as the Heathkit HW-8 or HW- 9. They're easy to operate, fairly low-tech. But they are capable of operating CW and ONLY CW. If you get the itch to move on to SSB or digital modes, you'll need a different radio. Also, it's ONLY able to operate on HF, so if you decide you want to work some of the VHF or UHF bands, it won't go there. Your best bet would be to get a transceiver that can accomodate multiple modes. My first rig was a Kenwood TS-520, a very forgiving radio that offered CW and SSB operation on the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands. It was all solid-state except for the final amplifier, which used tubes. You can find these on the used market nowadays for under $200 in decent condition. It operates at around 100 watts, but can be cranked down to very low power levels if you need to. (One of the rules in Amateur Radio is to use only the power output necessary to carry on the contact, and 100 watts is often overkill.) My personal preference these days is the Yaesu FT-817 transceiver. It only puts out five watts, but it supports operation on all of the HF bands, plus 6m, 2m and 70cm. It also provides a general-coverage receiver for HF, plus receives (but won't transmit on) public-safety VHF-hi communications, the FM broadcast band, and the VHF aircraft band. With a device like a RigBlaster and just about any present-day computer, you can also operate just about any digital mode with the '817. (Obviously I'm a big fan of the 817! There's also the FT-857 if you want to have a little more power on tap if needed.) Hope that helps. -- -- //Steve// Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS Fountain Valley, CA Email: Web: http://home.earthlink.net/~kb6ojs_steve |
#80
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I plan on getting a basic "learning transceiver" off eBay to begin with, then after I know what options I need and learn more, I'll get a new one. What features will I need to be able to start to do low-power CW, and is there a preferred brand or model to look for? Low-power operation is referred to in the amateur radio lexicon as "QRP." If you search on that keyword in Google or Yahoo, you'll find that there are many different options available to you in that category. You could purchase a QRP CW transceiver such as the Heathkit HW-8 or HW- 9. They're easy to operate, fairly low-tech. But they are capable of operating CW and ONLY CW. If you get the itch to move on to SSB or digital modes, you'll need a different radio. Also, it's ONLY able to operate on HF, so if you decide you want to work some of the VHF or UHF bands, it won't go there. Your best bet would be to get a transceiver that can accomodate multiple modes. My first rig was a Kenwood TS-520, a very forgiving radio that offered CW and SSB operation on the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands. It was all solid-state except for the final amplifier, which used tubes. You can find these on the used market nowadays for under $200 in decent condition. It operates at around 100 watts, but can be cranked down to very low power levels if you need to. (One of the rules in Amateur Radio is to use only the power output necessary to carry on the contact, and 100 watts is often overkill.) My personal preference these days is the Yaesu FT-817 transceiver. It only puts out five watts, but it supports operation on all of the HF bands, plus 6m, 2m and 70cm. It also provides a general-coverage receiver for HF, plus receives (but won't transmit on) public-safety VHF-hi communications, the FM broadcast band, and the VHF aircraft band. With a device like a RigBlaster and just about any present-day computer, you can also operate just about any digital mode with the '817. (Obviously I'm a big fan of the 817! There's also the FT-857 if you want to have a little more power on tap if needed.) Hope that helps. Thanks for the info, I'll check out those models also. I will probably be trying out all modes of operation on all bands eventually, as I learn more, so how many watts of output power will I need for most contacts? I don't want to start out undersized! Also, does anyone know of a website that has side-by-side compairsons of rigs? Thanks, MikeB |
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