On 2010-03-12, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

Far better would have been a satellite based emergency locator transmitter.
Originaly designed for airplanes, they are available for hikers, etc.

Yep. When I first looked them up a few years ago, the prices were
prohibitive. Now, world level locators are down to the same as a good
HT and continental locators down to $100.

As for CW, even QRP saving him, it's possible but not likely. HF location
is too coarse to find him, unless he had a GPS unit and was able to transmit
an SOS with the correct coordinates, had a big enough antenna to be heard,
and so on.

So I'm rapidly learning.

Spent much of last night reading ARRLs older Gen class book. A real
eye opener. I need to get the technician book tuit de suit and
knuckle down. I actually know most of the math and basic electronics
in general class, but am so damn rusty it'll take awhile to clear out
these geezer cobwebs. I think better to get my element 2 license and
get on the air and worry about general class and QRP fantasies,
later.

Thanks for the reaity check.

nb

On 2010-03-11, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

Steve, I want to present a different direction. IMHO he should study for and
take the technician exam as soon as possible. (assuming he is in the US).
Then he should get a 2m HT and get on the local repeaters.

Being on the air is a good way to meet other hams, and find an elmer
(ham lingo for a mentor). Then he can move up in class, branch out into
other things, such as learning morse code, etc.

I'm beginning to agree with you, Geoffrey. I'm pretty far out there.
I'm within twenty miles of two small towns (2-4K pop), but 100 miles
from any real metro. So far, I've only located one local club and I'm
not really sure they are hams at all (repeater assn). I'm beginning
to think getting on-line and getting an affordable HT is the way to go,
if only to connect with some radio ppl. There's got to be some hams
somewhere around here. Lot of remote farms and homes, hereabouts.

Apparently, there's one ham near me, but he may be seasonal, this
being mainly a snowbird park. If I get on-line, I'd have a much better
chance of finding an elmer. So, I'm temporarily dismissing the
romantic aspects of ham radio and ordering/joining ARRL. I will go
ahead and build the code oscillator in this general manual. I have
most of the parts and a cheapo key and have downloaded a couple computer
code programs (G4fon, Just Learn Code, etc) and will plug along while
I fast-track the traditional get-a-license approach.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply, even if I'm in the
wrong group. It was all good info and much appreciated.

nb

On 2010-03-11, bpnjensen wrote:

Hi, notbob - here is the moderated one, if you are looking for really
clean material...

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...pics?hl=en&lnk

Good luck - first, you may want to read the items in this thread by
Mark Holden and Michael Black.

As a rule, I don't like moderated usenet groups, but will watch it. I'm
watching three other rra groups, but despite enormous server retention, there
seems to be almost no current traffic. I joined eham.net and will
look at other web forums. Thanks for your comments.

nb

On Mar 12, 7:53*am, notbob wrote:
On 2010-03-11, bpnjensen wrote:

Hi, notbob - here is the moderated one, if you are looking for really
clean material...

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...ted/topics?hl=....

Good luck - first, you may want to read the items in this thread by
Mark Holden and Michael Black.

As a rule, I don't like moderated usenet groups, but will watch it. *I'm
watching three other rra groups, but despite enormous server retention, there
seems to be almost no current traffic. *I joined eham.net and will
look at other web forums. *Thanks for your comments.

nb

I don't care for the moderated groups either - but if, as you
suggested, a noise-free group is what you're looking for, moderated is
the way to go. If you posted there, you'd probably get some
responses. In any case, the eham route is also a good one, that
should work out well for you. Best of fortune!

On Mar 11, 8:23*am, "Mark S. Holden" wrote:
notbob wrote:
I'm new to these newsgroups and amateur radio. *I would like to study
for my ticket but am confused on the dates of the question pools. *

In the Mar '09 issue of CQ magazine, an article on A Beginner's Guide
To Becoming a Ham Radio Operator, element 3 dates are given as,
"Element 3 (General) pool between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2011".
Yet, two study guides I've dwnlded (pdf) from the web, both give the
ending year for General as 2010. *Which is it? *What am I missing?

Another question. *Being a big usenet user, but new to amateur radio,
I've been looking at all the groups available. *This one appeared to
have the least noise for a general discussion group, so I posted here.
Is this type of question ok, here, or is there a more appropriate
group for rank newbie questions I'm sure to be pestering the ham
community with? *

notbob... fearless geezer *

Different question pools have different expiration dates.

Here are the dates for current question pools:

Technician class (Element 2) Pool is effective July 1, 2006 and is valid
until June 30, 2010.

General class (Element 3) Pool is effective July 1, 2007 and is valid
until June 30, 2011.

Extra class (Element 4) Pool is effective July 1, 2008 and is valid
until June 30, 2012.

You need to pass the Tech test before you can take the General.

You need to pass General before you can take Extra.

If you pass one test, you can take the next test immediately. *I took
Tech and General on the same day. *If I'd had time to prepare ahead of
time, I could have taken Extra too.

This web site has some good practice tests:

http://www.qrz.com/testing.html

It is worth looking for a local ham radio club as often they'll be able
to help you find testing sessions.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for this.

Hmm - are these practice tests typical? I just took several of the
technician tests and passed with flying colors, no study at all. I
can only assume that they are easy. I cannot see why any radio person
would be concerned about these tests.

I tried two General tests, but missed because of shortcomings in my
knowledge of a few of the most technical equipment and computer-
related terms. I would guess a couple hours' study of the manual
would fix that problem.

Bruce

bpnjensen wrote:
On Mar 11, 8:23 am, "Mark S. Holden" wrote:
notbob wrote:
I'm new to these newsgroups and amateur radio. I would like to study
for my ticket but am confused on the dates of the question pools.
In the Mar '09 issue of CQ magazine, an article on A Beginner's Guide
To Becoming a Ham Radio Operator, element 3 dates are given as,
"Element 3 (General) pool between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2011".
Yet, two study guides I've dwnlded (pdf) from the web, both give the
ending year for General as 2010. Which is it? What am I missing?
Another question. Being a big usenet user, but new to amateur radio,
I've been looking at all the groups available. This one appeared to
have the least noise for a general discussion group, so I posted here.
Is this type of question ok, here, or is there a more appropriate
group for rank newbie questions I'm sure to be pestering the ham
community with?
notbob... fearless geezer
Different question pools have different expiration dates.

Here are the dates for current question pools:

Technician class (Element 2) Pool is effective July 1, 2006 and is valid
until June 30, 2010.

General class (Element 3) Pool is effective July 1, 2007 and is valid
until June 30, 2011.

Extra class (Element 4) Pool is effective July 1, 2008 and is valid
until June 30, 2012.

You need to pass the Tech test before you can take the General.

You need to pass General before you can take Extra.

If you pass one test, you can take the next test immediately. I took
Tech and General on the same day. If I'd had time to prepare ahead of
time, I could have taken Extra too.

This web site has some good practice tests:

http://www.qrz.com/testing.html

It is worth looking for a local ham radio club as often they'll be able
to help you find testing sessions.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for this.

Hmm - are these practice tests typical? I just took several of the
technician tests and passed with flying colors, no study at all. I
can only assume that they are easy. I cannot see why any radio person
would be concerned about these tests.

I tried two General tests, but missed because of shortcomings in my
knowledge of a few of the most technical equipment and computer-
related terms. I would guess a couple hours' study of the manual
would fix that problem.

Bruce

Those tests are the actual questions. When you take the actual test,
you might get a different mix, but if you can reliably pass every
practice test, you'll do great on the real one.

On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:12:05 GMT, notbob wrote:

Another question. Being a big usenet user, but new to amateur radio,
I've been looking at all the groups available. This one appeared to
have the least noise for a general discussion group, so I posted here.
Is this type of question ok, here, or is there a more appropriate
group for rank newbie questions I'm sure to be pestering the ham
community with?


Most of the talk is on qrz.com and articles are on eham.net. There are a
lot of yahoogroups for different radio models and QRP, HFPack operations.