Any amateur radio operators?

[Lebowski]

Drove to Franklin on Saturday from Madison to take my technician class exam. With 32/35, I passed and now am just awaiting for the FCC to issue me my call sign (I know it'll be KD9I--, unsure of last two characters).

Studying for my general now.

 

[Backpacker]

Congratulations. N9ZYE here. Rarely on the air but I keep radios handy for emergency use.

 

[JollyMon]

Same I have mine.... Rarely use it.... I got it so I could keep a police scanner in the car. Have radios that I could transmit with.... but since I am not much of a conversationalist.... dont care about talking to random old guys over the air.

 

[Lebowski]

Same I have mine.... Rarely use it.... I got it so I could keep a police scanner in the car. Have radios that I could transmit with.... but since I am not much of a conversationalist.... dont care about talking to random old guys over the air.

There is so much more to do than just that...

Working DX, doing long distance and foreign contacts, make contacts with satelite, make contact with the ISS when it's overhead, contesting, bounce signals off the moon and meteor trails, decode signals from satellites, download imagery direct from NOAA satellites, etc.

For me, I'm more interested in tracking satellites, building antennas, reaching as far as I possibly can on HF frequencies, and experimentation. I don't really care so much about chatting with some dude 15 miles away. I'd rather collect QSL cards and log contacts from greater distances.

 

[Spear Dane]

Same I have mine.... Rarely use it.... I got it so I could keep a police scanner in the car. Have radios that I could transmit with.... but since I am not much of a conversationalist.... dont care about talking to random old guys over the air.

That's called rag chewing. Thankfully there are SOOO many other things to do with a license besides swap medical horror stories on the weekly gall bladder net.

Lebowski big congrats to you. Don't stop till you have your Extra.

 

[Lebowski]

Still waiting for my call sign... hope it appears today or tomorrow. Got the handheld programmed with CHIRP to include all the 2M and 70CM repeaters in the nearby area. Also in the process of moving out of the valley and up to higher elevation on a hill... house already has two masts for antennas so I guess I'll buy a large omnidirectional antenna and probably a yagi directional antenna and antenna rotor since I am more or less midway between Louisville and Cincinatti and would like to reach those areas.

Once I get my general class license I'll start having a lot more fun with some HF stuff though.

 

[1911ly]

Welcome to the hobby. I am an avid homebrewer. Most of my stuff is either restored vintage or homebrew made by me. I do have some of the cool new stuff too. It's an awesome hobby. I work all bands, all modes. And can run full legal limit on most bands when needed.

W9AMR

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

Welcome to the hobby! I got my Technician license through that same class. I don't get on air nearly enough, I need to take some emcomm classes and get more involved in storm spotting. KC9WLQ

 

[corngrower]

Welcome to the club. Kb9szy here

 

[PistolBob]

Still waiting for my call sign... hope it appears today or tomorrow. Got the handheld programmed with CHIRP to include all the 2M and 70CM repeaters in the nearby area. Also in the process of moving out of the valley and up to higher elevation on a hill... house already has two masts for antennas so I guess I'll buy a large omnidirectional antenna and probably a yagi directional antenna and antenna rotor since I am more or less midway between Louisville and Cincinatti and would like to reach those areas.

Once I get my general class license I'll start having a lot more fun with some HF stuff though.

If you tested in Franklin, you had one of the best teams in the state. On the down side, they are a ARRL VE testing team. The ARRL VEC takes FOREVER to get your paperwork sent to the FCC...I have seen ARRL results come back in 10 days and I have seen ARRL results take three weeks. So don't get impatient...it'll come. If you live close enough you ought to join the Midstate Amateur Radio Club there in Franklin. They meet at the REMC building on US 31 but you knew that.

Dayton hamvention is 3 weeks away, it's a great hamfest and is now in Xenia Ohio. You should go and sit in on some fo the forums and buy an HF rig.

73 de PistolBob

 

[PistolBob]

Oh and the Indiana Elmer Network will be having a Tech to General upgrade class in June, and a General to Extra upgrade class end of July first part of August. They meet at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance on Girl School Rd. No charge for the classes, no charge for the exams. They even have a CW class coming up this fall. They test under the Laurel VEC so there is no fee for exams. They just had a fantastic antenna workshop where everyone built dual band copper pipe J-poles and talked about wire antennas for the camp site.

 

[1911ly]

If you tested in Franklin, you had one of the best teams in the state. On the down side, they are a ARRL VE testing team. The ARRL VEC takes FOREVER to get your paperwork sent to the FCC...I have seen ARRL results come back in 10 days and I have seen ARRL results take three weeks. So don't get impatient...it'll come. If you live close enough you ought to join the Midstate Amateur Radio Club there in Franklin. They meet at the REMC building on US 31 but you knew that.

Dayton hamvention is 3 weeks away, it's a great hamfest and is now in Xenia Ohio. You should go and sit in on some fo the forums and buy an HF rig.

73 de PistolBob

I am a CVE for W5YI and hold test sessions for the ARRL. I have never had it take longer then 4 days from the time the ARRL gets my paper work for a license to be issued. And I have seen them post as soon as 2 days. Someone is being lazy and sitting on the paper work.

 

[Cameramonkey]

First, CONGRATS!!!!

Elmer rocks. I had my call sign in just a couple days after my test last month (KD9IEZ). I think I appeared in the database within 48 hours. Remember you are legal to transmit as soon as you are in the database.* Though I just realized I never got anything official in the mail like a card or some such. The only thing I got was a magazine from the ARRL congratulating me and asking me to join.



Kinda annoyed with the call sign since the last 3 are all of the "similar sound" variety. IEC? ICE? For some reason that I cant explain I DESPISE the "zed" phonetic. But it flows faster than zulu so I think I am forever ...IEZed. And changing/vanity seems like a big hassle. (especially since I dont actually know what I want as much as what I DONT want) I need to start studying for my General so I can play around with the DX gear. Though I am a bit spooked. I studied for several weeks, then used the ARRL practice tests at least 4x and was testing at 90%-ish+ having seen what seemed to be a good covering of the questions, So I sat for the exam. I was surprised with the number of questions that blindsided me that I didnt get in the practice tests. I think I barely passed.

*Search here by name: License Search as soon as you appear you are GTG.

 

[PistolBob]

I am a CVE for W5YI and hold test sessions for the ARRL. I have never had it take longer then 4 days from the time the ARRL gets my paper work for a license to be issued. And I have seen them post as soon as 2 days. Someone is being lazy and sitting on the paper work.

No. The team at Franklin sends the test paperwork to HQ that same day they test. I am a Laurel VE, we submit everything electronically and have new callsigns and updates usually within 24 hours unless it's a Saturday or Sunday test session since the FCC doesn't work weekends. I am also a ARRL VE and I have seen HQ take over 2 weeks from the time they get the package until the time the FCC has the info. Also an ARRL member here but they need to get rid of the testing fee...volunteers don't need to be paid, volunteers well....they volunteer.

 

[Bill of Rights]

First, CONGRATS!!!!

Elmer rocks. I had my call sign in just a couple days after my test last month (KD9IEZ). I think I appeared in the database within 48 hours. Remember you are legal to transmit as soon as you are in the database.* Though I just realized I never got anything official in the mail like a card or some such. The only thing I got was a magazine from the ARRL congratulating me and asking me to join.



Kinda annoyed with the call sign since the last 3 are all of the "similar sound" variety. IEC? ICE? For some reason that I cant explain I DESPISE the "zed" phonetic. But it flows faster than zulu so I think I am forever ...IEZed. And changing/vanity seems like a big hassle. (especially since I dont actually know what I want as much as what I DONT want) I need to start studying for my General so I can play around with the DX gear. Though I am a bit spooked. I studied for several weeks, then used the ARRL practice tests at least 4x and was testing at 90%-ish+ having seen what seemed to be a good covering of the questions, So I sat for the exam. I was surprised with the number of questions that blindsided me that I didnt get in the practice tests. I think I barely passed.

*Search here by name: License Search as soon as you appear you are GTG.

I got my Tech and General same day, missed Extra by like 4 points. I held off retesting it for a while, I think about a year. In all honesty, I memorized enough questions off QRZ.com to pass it, but I don't think I could do it again today. I got a Baofeng handheld as well. As it happens, one of the channels it would reach allowed me to use it as a handheld at work, though I never got it to transmit properly to them. I wanted it more to receive. Sad to say, I think I got on the air one time on a local ARES net. I broadcast my call sign, got acknowledged, and that was it. (they were doing a "roll call" of who was there. That was the only purpose of the net at that time.)

I will say that doing the vanity, to me, didn't make sense until I got the Extra, because it allowed me to request a call that indicated in it my license class (2x2 with AA prefix) Why? A moment of vanity, I suppose.

I'm sure it's a rewarding hobby for some. In no way am I denigrating it. Personally, I have no need to rag-chew, though. I'll still renew it when it's ready to expire in 2020, but I don't foresee getting on the air unless there's a reason to do so.
(I kept wanting to say something like, "Any unit in the vicinity & 1 Adam 12, see the man, intersection of Walk & Don't Walk. 1 Adam 12, handle code 3.")

73,

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Big Rigger]

Congrats to OP! I have been interested in getting started with radio, but haven't started the research yet. Are there some good resources around the net that you can recommend to get started with?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Congrats to OP! I have been interested in getting started with radio, but haven't started the research yet. Are there some good resources around the net that you can recommend to get started with?

ARRL.org has some great resources. The practice tests are pretty good, though after running through the practice exam 5x and getting to the point of hitting the mid to high 90's, I still found a LOT of questions that I dont recall seeing on the actual exam. To the point I think I barely passed. (I wasnt having a good evening due to an incident earlier, so that also could have impacted my results)

http://arrlexamreview.appspot.com/

I also studied using this kindle book and it helped.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ONGIC4S/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

 

[1911ly]

No. The team at Franklin sends the test paperwork to HQ that same day they test. I am a Laurel VE, we submit everything electronically and have new callsigns and updates usually within 24 hours unless it's a Saturday or Sunday test session since the FCC doesn't work weekends. I am also a ARRL VE and I have seen HQ take over 2 weeks from the time they get the package until the time the FCC has the info. Also an ARRL member here but they need to get rid of the testing fee...volunteers don't need to be paid, volunteers well....they volunteer.

Well, that sucks. No one gets paid at our sessions, agreed! The only thing I take is money I pay for snacks/drinks. It's been a few years since I have held a ARRL session. I will remember this delay when it comes to future session.

I help one of the W5YI CVE guys locally when he needs it. And wil be the CVE when he can't. Which is seldom. Lots of the guys that helped me are sadly now SK. So my test session are fewer Most new guys don't want to get involved with testing. Nor to they seem interested in HF :-( I have held 40 plus test sessions over the years. They are a lot of fun!

W9AMR

 

[Deprime]

Congrats! Sad to say I haven't gotten on recently. I haven't gotten my dual band installed in my new truck. KC9YQU