Testing tomorrow

[fritz_monroe]

Subject says it all.

Heading to the testing location tomorrow.  Plan on the technician, but hope to take general as well.

Will report back tomorrow. 

BTW, this is in response to the (apparently fake) story about California no longer supporting hams.  But as long as it got me moving, right?

[iam4liberty]

Good luck!

[FreeLancer]

Best of luck. 

[fritz_monroe]

Woot!

Just passed the Technician and the General exam.

I wish I would have studied for the Extra too, but didn't decide to do the General until Thursday, so...

[Mr. Bill]

Yay Fritz!!!

[fritz_monroe]

Yay Fritz!!!

Thanks, now I need to figure out what I want to do with it.

I don't know any local hams.

[FreeLancer]

I still haven’t figured that out, although it didn’t stop me from buying a bunch of expensive radios, unfortunately. 

[fritz_monroe]

Yeah, I'm going to try to avoid that.  I'm starting out real slow.  Ordered one of the Chinese radios the other day, should be here tomorrow, the same as when I should get my callsign.  I do think that once I get some experience under my belt, I'm likely going to sign up for my local RACES/ARES groups.

So how do you guys make use of your radios?

[Bradbn4]

https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

Look at Chrip to see if it supports the radio.  Program the local Freq would be the next step.

The first two tests are 'easy'.  The 3rd is a bit harder.

What to do with the radio depends on which radio you picked up.   Another Freq to program is NOAA

All NOAA Weather Radio stations broadcast on one of eight frequencies in the VHF Public Service band: 162.400 megahertz (MHz), 162.425 MHz, 162.450 MHz, 162.475 MHz, 162.500 MHz, 162.525 MHz, and 162.550 MHz

I just poked my head into a real Ham radio store yesterday.  Some real nice hardware, I should have made time to pick up a few antennas....

[armymars]

I use mine a lot for MARS. Used HF equipment can be a good way to go. Prices are down right now because of the IC 7300 selling for $1079 with power supply. It's quite the radio at that price. I've been asking $350 for my Ten- Tec Paragon with no takers in part of the IC 7300. I've had my 7300 for about a year and only wish I could get it to talk with my ALE software. Very stable and good ears.

[iam4liberty]

Yeah, I'm going to try to avoid that.  I'm starting out real slow.  Ordered one of the Chinese radios the other day, should be here tomorrow, the same as when I should get my callsign.  I do think that once I get some experience under my belt, I'm likely going to sign up for my local RACES/ARES groups.

So how do you guys make use of your radios?

One of the best starting points is to get a VHF/UHF transceiver, even a  handheld, and start checking in on your local repeater's weekly emergency prep net.  Most also have a weekly ragchew time you can listen in on.  This way you will hear what others in your area are doing and have interests in.  If you hear something you are interested in, speak up!  They would love to talk with you and help you.  Many will even let you try out their equipment so you can get a feel for it.

[fritz_monroe]

I use mine a lot for MARS. Used HF equipment can be a good way to go. Prices are down right now because of the IC 7300 selling for $1079 with power supply. It's quite the radio at that price. I've been asking $350 for my Ten- Tec Paragon with no takers in part of the IC 7300. I've had my 7300 for about a year and only wish I could get it to talk with my ALE software. Very stable and good ears.

So I know MARS is something to do with the military, but what exactly do you do with that?

I've watched a couple videos about that IC 7300 and it looks like a great radio.

[LvsChant]

Congratulations, Fritz!!!

[armymars]

  Way back when we ran phone patches for service people over seas. Today we do whatever the DOD wants us to do. Mostly gather county status and weather reports without using the internet. As always it's to proved back up communication when the normal systems are down.