Amateur Radio Club

[junbe]

At last year's Interntional I attended the seminar given by the Amateur Radio Club and it caught my interest. Since then I have passed the 4 tests and now have an extra license. AB9IK
Now the question: I have no equipment, have never been on the air, and know no one in the radio club. Cannot make it to this year's national. Any recommendations on what kind of radio to buy, where to buy it. Should I put it in my Airstream or in my tow vehicle?

Thanks for reading.
Jack
#16281

[blucloud]

CONGRATULATIOS OM!
Contact your local Sky Warn, (National weather service) they have amateurs who help track storms. From there you could get in touch with a local Ham Club.
The WBIII has an Amateur Radio Group, contact them.
WBIII AMATEURS
The ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) may be able to put you in touch with a local club. ARRL

WHOA! on puchasing equipment....join a club and get to see what type of rig you would like. Ham equipment can be very very pricey.

Good Luck es BCNU
Dave, wv8p@adelphia.net

[53flyingcloud]

Originally Posted by junbe

At last year's International I attended the seminar given by the Amateur Radio Club and it caught my interest. Since then I have passed the 4 tests and now have an extra license. AB9IK
Now the question: I have no equipment, have never been on the air, and know no one in the radio club. Cannot make it to this year's national. Any recommendations on what kind of radio to buy, where to buy it. Should I put it in my Airstream or in my tow vehicle?
Thanks for reading.
Jack
#16281

Jack,
Congrats~!!
That's quite accomplishment in a year's time~!
Your question about equipment is very broad, to say the least~
Tell us what you're interests are.
For example..

• A.Are you wanting to just talk to the locals on repeaters?
  B.Do you plan to chase after awards, like DXCC?
  C.Are you wanting to work SSB mostly or CW, maybe both?
  D.Which area of the bands are you interested in?
  (10-15-20 mtrs or all band?)

Mobile operation:
For ease of operation, the best choice would be; VHF repeaters.
You might enjoy this more as you can transfer the equip from your tow vehicle to the trailer as needed..(while traveling, and then at the camping site, transfer your unit inside the Airstream)
Another bonus for VHF, is that your ant. could be mounted on top of the Frig vent cover via the Frig vent cavity.
Equipment~
I've owned Collins KWM2A, Yaesu, Icom..
Best go to a Ham Radio Outlet store, they have the largest number of outlets..(Be prepared to spend hours~!)
For the store nearest you...
http://www.hamradio.com/
For VHF, the best all around value for your money, is ICOM~
For HF, KENWOOD, YAESU, ICOM all make great products.
Mobile Ant..
'Outback' is an excellent one for the low bands~!
Austin Ant for VHF is an excellent choice.(I personally have known this individual for years~!! I swear by him, and his products~!!)
I've tried them all over the years.
I'm still amazed at what comes out "new"~!
And last but not least, you can always try:
ECHO LINK..
http://www.echolink.org/
This is a PC Ham radio..check this forum for thread from previous posting~
ciao
53FC aka K4NEH (since 1959)

[DPeakMD]

I'll echo the other's congratulations, Jack!!! What an accomplishment. I've only been licensed since '98 and still a general.

Advice on a new radio is a broad topic and subject to a lot of individual preferences. I will say from my limited experience that a 2m mobile is what I use by far and away the most in our travels. We have one in the trailer and the truck. Mounting antennas is pretty easy for 2m. The fridge vent works wonderfully for the trailer antenna. The ARC at the International will use a 2m frequency for all club contacts.

On the HF side things get a little harder. I'll tell you from my perspective, I've backed off on operating HF mobile. There are just too many other things to attend to with trailer pulling. I can't justify the tinkering that's needed to make that possible. I just settle for having my HF fun when parked at the final destination. If you have an HF rig in the trailer you can also listen to the anouncements at the International that are made over the 11m band.

Congrats!

'73 de KB9QPE!

[rschulz]

Congrats! Jack
I was a Tech Plus for about 12 years and got a wild hair one day and in about a month I got my extra class ticket. Haven't got any equipment in the Airstream yet but have been thinking about it.

Rod K7BUG
I drive a VW New Beetle diesel and wanted the vanity plates Looks like it's going to be sold for something with and little more towing ability and I'll be looking for a new call sign soon.

[DPeakMD]

Rod, you could always keep the call sign and convince people that you're into collecting vintage Morse Code keys (i.e., "bugs")!

-Dallas (KB9QPE)

[rschulz]

It's a thought Dallas and I do have a couple of old keys laying around. But I've been looking at a couple of callsigns I like better on www.vanityhq.com that are coming up this year.

[53flyingcloud]

IT JUST DAWN ON ME...Another 4 years and, I'll have been in HAM radio for 50 years...Oh my GAWD...
Seems like just yesterday I was a snutty nose teenager..
Reflections:
Tis was when I first saw and purchased my first transistor..CK722, ($4, when I was making .35 cents an hour...Oh yes..That was the time when I purchased my first rcvr too, S-38b or whatever for $25...lol)
Built my first xmitter using 117L7GT and a 40 mtr crystal...Morse code if you plse..
Send hundreds, if not thousands of CQ's before someone decided I wasn't freq standard signal and, answered...lmao..Turns out he lived just up the street from me..
Hey, what did you expect for #47 lite bulb dummyload??
ciao
53FC..
aka K4NEH