Ham radio license

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Already had the word on Gordon, so never bought anything of his.  Used the ARRL book and an online practice test.  Tried the test before I ever opened the book to humble myself, see how bad I was to start with.  Didn't try guessing, that will skew your initial assessment of knowledge.  Got about a 50%.  Using the study guide to build an understanding of the no clue areas. 

There were no classes, just read, work and try.  I passed on first shot with 1 wrong, first to finish, I use your method.  I do go over to be sure everyting is filled in. 

Been a VE for a bunch of years now, but haven't found a group to help with down in FL yet.

(with a schedule that will fit with mine)

 
Well you can go to the ARRL home page and follow the links to find testing sessions in your area,  Find ones that match your sked and then join the sponsoring club.

I found the teacher helped to explain a few concepts I was having problems wraping my mind about.  Smith charts for example.

But it's fun having the E=Ticket
 
I think all RV Forum hams should bring their rigs to QZ this year.  Especially if you have 2 meters.  I plan to bring both my HF and my 2 meter handheld.  2 meters could be a lot of fun at QZ.

Anyone else planning to do this??

I have about given up on getting anyone at QZ interested in karaoke, so maybe ham radio??? ;D
 
Smoky,

I always have 2m with me, mobile in car and MH, and several HTs.  This year I will have my HF rig but may not have a decent antenna as I can't make up my mind on the antenna.  :))  I want one that will operate both mobile, Pat drives, and parked which seems to be  a problem when I throw in a few other requirements.
 
Smoky said:
I think all RV Forum hams should bring their rigs to QZ this year.  Especially if you have 2 meters.  I plan to bring both my HF and my 2 meter handheld.  2 meters could be a lot of fun at QZ.

Anyone else planning to do this??

I have about given up on getting anyone at QZ interested in karaoke, so maybe ham radio??? ;D
Click to expand...

I have a handheld with me but, I am able to talk to everyone around the campfire without using it.  ;D

Phil
 
I'm one part from having a roving repeater.. I had 2m and 70cm last year, the hams convene a few miles farther south and they had a repeater set up there with IRLP and a bunch of other stuff... I paid them a visit or two during the weeks.  Plan on re-visiting this year as well.
 
Jim:

I made up a 40 meter dipole using two 40 meter ham sticks.  Mount it on a pole attached to my ladder.  Can rotate it like a beam.  when traveling it packs up inside a PVC tube.

Phil:

True about the campfire, but hey!  Don't you like toys!!  ??  ;D  Are you back at Happy Trails yet?

Smoke
 
James Godward said:
This year I will have my HF rig but may not have a decent antenna as I can't make up my mind on the antenna.  :))  I want one that will operate both mobile, Pat drives, and parked which seems to be  a problem when I throw in a few other requirements.
Click to expand...

Jim,

I think you're making it too hard.

In the past I've thought just having a mobile in the truck and a long remote cable.

Currently I'm assessing whether or not I want HF in the rv since I rarely play with the vhf/uhf stuff in the RV.

If I do, I'm thinking in terms of a 40M OCF inverted V.  I just put up a 135' OCF dipole at home and I'm very happy with it.

Take a look at ? Antennas for Travel Trailers and Campers (members-only) (1,576,179 bytes, PDF file)
QST March 1969, pp. 34-38 if you are a member of ARRL.  He did some objective tests and concluded that a horizonal wire in better than a vertical.

What kind of mobile HF rig?

Joel
W4JNM (new call)
 
James Godward said:
This year I will have my HF rig but may not have a decent antenna as I can't make up my mind on the antenna.  :))  I want one that will operate both mobile, Pat drives, and parked which seems to be  a problem when I throw in a few other requirements.
Click to expand...

Jim,

I have a telescoping 22 ft aluminum pole that I replace the upper whip of the mobile antenna with when I am parked.  It makes a great all band vertical antenna that's easy to put up.  I can use it alone or with a base section and coil.  All the work to change the antenna is done from the ground.

Phil (Back at Happy Trails for the winter)
 
I'm thinking a G5RV jr for on the road and I took down my vintage Hustler Multi-band Trap vertical and I think I'm going to mount it in place of the push up pole I have used in the past.  ABTV is 40 through 10 IIRC but I'll be with the KAT at the base it will load on 80 as well. (Kenwood Antenna Tuner)
 
On my way home from the Alabama Rally not long ago, I saw an interesting (to me) sight at a rest stop.
  A Class A Rv with toad in tow. The toad had 3 antennas permanently mounted (verticals). The largest was a multiband HF antenna (probably a screwdriver type), a VHF and a CB antenna.

    A coax cable was run from the coach to the toad at that time. I presume he had the rig in the coach, had preset the HF antenna for the band of the day/time and would be ready to communicate while traveling.

  Possibly he could have VHF and CB coax as well, but I did not see them connected. Further, to be more sophisticated, he could also have had the HF antenna control cable available for attachment so that band changing or tuning would be possible.

    Certainly not a wild idea and relatively easy to install. At camp, just place the toad behind the coach and away you go.

    Got me thinking; perfect ground plane all the time, always in tune (SWR wise,VHF and CB) and probably a lot cheaper and easier than wiring the coach in 3 places.

  What do you think?

carson FL
 
I have a TS570S that will be tied to a 23' Shakespeare vertical that should cover 80 through 10 with tuner.  I want to be able to raise it remotely as I'm no longer intersted in climbing the ladder to do so.  Also I will be able to operate while traveling as it will be isolated from the roof.  6M will require another antenna and I'll probably get some tips on that at the QZ Hamfest.  I really haven't thought about that one though so am open there for comments.  I am waiting for delivery of a linear actuator and the coax to start installation in the MH.

One thng about living in MT, you wait for everything as it must always be ordered.  :-(  The way it is going, Ill probably be installing on the road.
 
James Godward said:
.....as I can't make up my mind on the antenna.  :))  I want one that will operate both mobile, Pat drives, and parked which seems to be  a problem when I throw in a few other requirements.
Click to expand...

Jim,

When I was operating HF in the Air Force we used a 1000 foot trailing wire. Would that work??  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D
 
Don,

It should work fine!!  The submarines had one that was almost a mile long if I remember right.  We had to correct position data for the length and drift in current because of it.  I only wrote the program for correcting, I didn't sail on one!!

I guess I could leve the vertical up while traveling.  It would work for a while just like your wire!!  G
 
One thing I'm considering is a long pipe, basically a 40 foot pipe (more or less) that will run from the front of my 37' rig to the rear and down the back near the ladder and then over to the KAT-1 Tuner I have tried a "Sample) by running a wire across the roof (did not work) but this will be a few inches above the roof (may make a difference)

however nothing beats a proper long wire. I have 25-50-75 and 100 foot coils of wire, I have a 1 lb weight I tie on one end and throw over a tree (or trees) and the other end goes to the KAT-1 Tuner  That is for HF of course .  I choose a coil of wire based on the site. Uncoil it, TOSS, and press the TUNE button on the TS-2000
 
Since we're on antennas, thought I'd offer my wisdom!!  Have been live-aboard for 6 years, used many antenna systems on my class A.  My favorite system is a telescoping 33 ft. fiberglass pole (from MFJ or a German company) for less than $99.  Wrapped a quarter wave length of wire around it for 40 meters, and fed with 52 ohm coax at the base with a counterpoise leg on the ground, the same length.  Even better is a lightweight 40 mtr. inverted V made from #16 or #18 braided wire.  Works well if you have about 30 ft of space from the center to anchor each leg.  Also tried a 60 ft. piece of wire wound around the pole for 75 or even 160 meters, but you'll have lots of stray RF.  Makes my MFJ antenna tuner sizzle sometimes even with an 8 ft. ground rod.  For close propagation, the vertical won't be so hot, but the inverted V will be more compatible with short-haul horizontal polarization.  For DX, it doesn't matter about the polarization, except that you might have a lower angle of radiation on a vertical.  Either way, works far superior to the hamsticks when parked, camping, etc.  Maybe we should start a thread about portable ham antennas!  I"ve got lots of other schemes and ideas.
  Deen, KC4ZD  Florida
 
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