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Hobbies 🪙 The amateur / ham radio, CB, GMRS, MURS, SWL, AM DX, and RF hobby thread

Dan

Dan

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I dug out an old handheld amateur radio transceiver out of the closet, as part of the process of simplifying my life. I turned it on, scanned through the two meter band, and ... nothing. The band was completely silent. The radio was working just fine, since I was able to hear taxi dispatchers and general business radio operations outside of the two meter band just fine. Eventually, I came across a lone man on one of the repeaters, just saying his call sign followed by "listening". There was no response.

Several years ago, I let my amateur radio license lapse. I was enthusiastic when I first got it, but hearing repeaters filled with old men who ragchewed endlessly on just a few pet topics -- weather, aches and pains, and how things aren't what they used to be since the no-code techs started coming onboard -- I gave it up. I suspect that I'm not alone.

Hams of Cyburbia, and others interested in radio hobbies: is amateur radio dying?
 
God, I hope so. My ex- was obsessed with ham radio. How many antennas can you fit on a 4,000 sf lot? It was mostly really old guys, and the one "convention" he took me to? Star Trek conventions probably had fewer geeky people. It can make a spouse crazy, not to mention the cost. :-@ Well... sorry, Dan... it just seemed to encompass really marginal personalities, altho' I'm sure that's not everyone involved.

And yes, from seeing how most cell phones were not in service after the '04 central FL hurricanes, and most people didn't have land line service... I can see where ham radios can still serve a purpose. At least here in FL, most EOCs have a ham radio area.
 
Because of the problems with loss of cell coverage in a power failure or earthquake, ham radio operators are an integral part of our emergency preparedness. But yes, I think they are dying off, along with CB radios since everyone now has a cell phone (yes, I know you can't razz the truck in front of you on the cell, but I don't think that's why most people had them.)
 
I've worked through several declared disasters where the Hams get dedicated space at the EOCs. I have no clue why. They're useless. Just a bunch of old men with too much time on their hands. Just my experiences.

Sorry, Hams and old men.
 
It might be semi-topical to mention I'm acting in a radio play this weekend called "Dead Air". It's a murder mystery set in the mysterious, glamorous, and exciting world of ham radio operators! The story was written by a vet who just got discharged after WWII, who intended the story to air on Armed Forces Radio. Because of some rights issues itt never got produced and this will be the first time the show ever got aired.

I guess at one time amateur radio must have been seen as at least a little bit sexy.
 
Not really dying. The ARRL (American Radio Relay League) has some 150k members. Just looked up their website. Never a ham myself, but have known several including a college roommate years ago. There are a large number of options these days for freq. and type of communications.
 
RichmondJake said:
I've worked through several declared disasters where the Hams get dedicated space at the EOCs. I have no clue why. They're useless. Just a bunch of old men with too much time on their hands. Just my experiences.

Sorry, Hams and old men.
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I am a Ham, have been to several disaster sites, had my RACES card, and did plenty. (I did the code thing) We did mostly the more "personal" side of the disaster. Contacting someone three states away to let them know their relative was alive and well seems useful to me. Just my experience, sorry yours wasn't as good...
 
So a prepper friend of mine was giving me grief over the weekend because he is sitting for a ham radio tech license next month, whereas I am not. He bought a couple of these little hand held radios and from what he explained, he can listen but can't broadcast on them until he gets his license.

I keep thinking about what are the odds that one would ever need something like that, but then 9/11 keeps popping into my head as cell phone communications where overloaded, but the technology is so much better today than it was 10 years ago.

What are your thoughts on Ham Radio Licences? Do you have one? Was the test difficult? Other than being a prepper, what do you think is the benefit to having one?
 
Sorry, my experience is either people who are into weird hobbies like my ex Captain or preppers. The old Captain, who no one liked, was an amateur radio buff. He was kicked out of his own ships radio room for playing with the dials because he thought he knew what he was doing. He also had a ham radio or something in his car. He had a giant antenna that was mounted to the bumper and tied down. We used to cut the cord about once a month when we passed his car just to mess with him. On the good side I've heard plenty of stories of radio operators bouncing signals to get phone calls home or helping with communications when things go to crap. If you decide to take it up please don't become a radio nerd. Just enjoy the hobby.
 
Does every county have this as part of their EMA ?

The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES) who are volunteers.
created under the rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
RACES members provides communications assistance by acting as an interface between those emergency services who do not have direct communications or as a replacement communications in situations where "normal" communications may fail.

In my fair county they act as weather spotters also.
 
dvdneal said:
Sorry, my experience is either people who are into weird hobbies like my ex Captain or preppers. The old Captain, who no one liked, was an amateur radio buff. He was kicked out of his own ships radio room for playing with the dials because he thought he knew what he was doing. He also had a ham radio or something in his car. He had a giant antenna that was mounted to the bumper and tied down. We used to cut the cord about once a month when we passed his car just to mess with him. On the good side I've heard plenty of stories of radio operators bouncing signals to get phone calls home or helping with communications when things go to crap. If you decide to take it up please don't become a radio nerd. Just enjoy the hobby.
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If I took it up, I think it might be for emergencies only... but then I wonder if I would even need a licence if that was the case.
 
Around here the Ham Radio Operators often volunteer to provide comm support during half marathons, marathons, and 50ks. I don't think I've ever seen one of the operators out there who isn't 300 pounds, wearing jorts, sneakers with tube socks, and wrap-arounds or some tactical looking sunglasses. Without fail.
 
Don't be this guy.
Don-Our%20Hamfest%20Czar_2224.jpg
 
I'm a licensed HAM operator, and used to be a RACES member as well.

If you didn't know, my MIL still lives where my wife went to HS... Shanksville, PA. It should ring a bell. On 9/11, you couldn't get through to the area. I fired up the radio, found an operator in the area, and he looked in on her and made sure she was fine. It sure was a moment when my wife was glad I had that ability.

A tech license used to be different from the rest (novice/general/extra), because you don't have to take the Morse code portion of the exam, and could only operate on the 2m band (fairly short range). But, since they changed the regs, a general license doesn't require Morse, and now a tech can operate on almost all available bands. Before the internet, it was one of the only ways to communicate with people around the world. HAM shacks would be plastered with postcards from people they reached, and have maps with pins and whatnot. Just another change brought on by technology! (My ex-FIL holds the record for the longest distance amateur TV signal.)

DSC000010.jpg
 
My sister in law's father (not sure what you call that relation) was an avid Ham radio operator. He was an engineer by trade and loved all the tinkering. They lived in northern New Jersey and he even erected his own tower in his tiny yard. He was pretty old school all around (he would have been in his 90s today) and I think this all must have seemed really cutting edge back in the day. Imagine - being able to communicate with someone half way around the world with just the touch of a button (and a few dozen dials and meters and...)! And now I can do that with a device that sits in my pocket. Still, to hear an actual voice. Imagine what it must have felt like in the wake of WWII to connect with someone from Japan or Germany or Italy.

One col thing my sister in law still has is coffee table covered in little call number plates (not sure what these are called) from his fellow Ham radio buddies. There is stuff from all over the world - China, Japan, South Africa and so on. Pretty cool.
 
I used to be an Emergency Response Officer volunteer. That prompted me to finally get my amateur radio license. It's 4 years now. I have a handheld transreceiver that I turn on from time to time.
 
Coragus said:
I used to be an Emergency Response Officer volunteer. That prompted me to finally get my amateur radio license. It's 4 years now. I have a handheld transreceiver that I turn on from time to time.
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The handheld that by buddy has in his bag is a Baofeng UV-5RA. I think he paid $35 for it which makes me question how good it is. Do you know anything about this radio?
 
dvdneal said:
Don't be this guy.
Don-Our%20Hamfest%20Czar_2224.jpg
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And that's why I didn't renew my ham license when it was about to expire. There were no peers in the hobby; no young adults that weren't total nerds or whacker-types. Repeater activity was waning fast, and what remained was excruciatingly dull - mostly old men talking about their medical issues and surgeries, the weather, antenna configurations, how no-code Techs (like me) were ruining the hobby, the buffet at some Las Vegas hotel or on a cruise they had last year, and the like. There were nets, but I never got the point - just more old farts checking in with their call sign, to say "here" and little more. Contests? Meh.

I've always been drawn to RF hobbies, but it's everybody else that's involved that pushes me away.

Should you get your ham license? Sure, if ...

* you've got other friends that are hams, and they're active.
* you have easy access to a group of supportive peers, like a ham radio club at a college/university.
* you frequently find yourself outside of the range of cell towers, and want to have a reliable and legal form of backup communication.
* you're passionate about RF, or
* you have tacticool whacker tendencies, and think being involved in first responder-like e-comm activities will give you an ego boost and add some excitement to your life.

Becoming a ham is easy. There's not much to lose, except the time and cost involved in getting your license, and $40 for a cheap Chinese HT. (I'd stick with a Japanese brand like ICOM, Yaesu, Kenwood, or Alinco, and use a Chinese HT as a backup or disposable beater, but that's just me.) Staying involved in the hobby is much, much harder, if you don't have a good support network of peers and elmers.
 
I thought the test was easy...but staying active in the hobby a little harder, so many other activities keep pulling me away but once you have your license you can be involve or not. My local club meets often but I usually only go to a meeting once a year. If you have kids they might like it.
 
Dan said:
Should you get your ham license? Sure, if ...

* you've got other friends that are hams, and they're active.
* you have easy access to a group of supportive peers, like a ham radio club at a college/university.
* you frequently find yourself outside of the range of cell towers, and want to have a reliable and legal form of backup communication.
* you're passionate about RF, or
* you have tacticool whacker tendencies, and think being involved in first responder-like e-comm activities will give you an ego boost and add some excitement to your life.
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Well, that eliminates me.
 
michaelskis said:
The handheld that by buddy has in his bag is a Baofeng UV-5RA. I think he paid $35 for it which makes me question how good it is. Do you know anything about this radio?
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Another no-code tech here, who basically just listens during weather events. Like all electronics except TI-85 calculators, prices are dropping on generic stuff while the name brands try to keep their reputation and market share. The Baofeng and other Chinese radios are very popular on the low end of equipment, so there's some decent info and support for them if you look around. They usually work, but are a little weird and sometimes have mysterious failures. Say 90%+ of the utility of a bigger name brand, at 25% or less of the cost.
 
When I was a dorky kid, one of my hobbies was SWLing, or listening to shortwave radio stations. I wasn't a tinfoil hat-wearing teen; I was just fascinated that, with a decent radio and a long wire antenna, I could receive radio signals from all around the world. If I verified reception with a station, sending them a signal report and a self-addressed envelope with a couple of international reply coupons, I'd receive a QSL card in return. The 1970s and early 1980s were the golden years of shortwave radio. The Cold War was still being fought, Vladimir Posner was the articulate English-speaking voice of Radio Moscow, and manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic made inexpensive, user friendly, yet very sensitive portable shortwave radios, some of which are highly sought after today.

I still have a few radios that can receive shortwave broadcasts, but the post-Cold War pickings are slim. Radio Pyongyang is still blasting out its bombast, and a few legacy broadcasters still air news and cultural programs. However, 90% of what comes through the speakers are conspiracy theory and prepper rants, loud bullhorn-on-the-plaza calls for revolucion in Spanish, and Jesus. Lots and lots of fire, brimstone, and snake oil. With local market radio from around the world on my phone, I have no reason to flip the band switch from AM to SW1. Active SWLers may deny that shortwave radio is dead, but for those in English-speaking countries, it seems to be in hospice.

So, have you listened to shortwave radio lately?
 
Had a guy come in to apply for a HAM radio tower permit. I'm not a radio guy though.

A couple funny stories about one of my Captain's in the Navy. This guy was an avid radio guy and generally no one liked him. He was an ass that made us all play buy the rules, but would never follow them for himself. So one day he goes in the radio room. Which he's allowed, it's all top secret, but not a problem. He starts messing with the dials and knobs and stuff and apparently screwed up our IFF (identification friend/foe) signal. He was banned from his own radio room and they assigned a messenger to deliver things right away to make sure he never showed up.

Part two of the story. He had this giant antenna coming off the bumper of his car that he used sash cord from the ship to tie down. You're obviously not allowed to use ship's equipment for your own personal use. So every time one us walked by the car we would whip out the knife and cut the cord. He would drive off with this giant antenna flopping around behind him. It was bolted to the bumper, but it couldn't have been good for it.
 
I gather the internet and email has played a big role in decline of ham radio. I understand one can send and receive QSL 'cards' electronically/instantaneously now. Which kind of defeats the purpose of the card if you ask me. Receiving a card in the mailbox postmarked with interesting stamps from, say, Mongolia, has a certain exotic allure. Getting an email confirmation of the same...not so much. Heck, a request for aid from a Nigerian prince has a more 'exotic' flavor than that.
 
I used to have an amateur radio license, but let it lapse several years ago. I don't want to shell out the big bucks for HF voice. I don't think I have the patience or real estate for QRP. Also, the VHF and UHF repeaters around here are silent, even with the region's educated and geeky population. Not interested in nets, or idle chit-chat about radio equipment or antenna design. Even though I may be AARP eligible now, I still feel like a youngster compared to the OMs that dominate the ham bands.

Not to get all #metoo about it, but I've never heard a woman on the amateur bands -- HF, VHF, or UHF, when I had a license or when I listen on a SDR. I know the ARRL has been trying to get women interested in amateur radio for a few decades, but I don't think they're having much success.

There's still a part of me that wants to take an exam, get a new no-code license, and buy a $25 Chinese dual band HT just to have around.

Maister said:
Receiving a card in the mailbox postmarked with interesting stamps from, say, Mongolia, has a certain exotic allure. Getting an email confirmation of the same...not so much. Heck, a request for aid from a Nigerian prince has a more 'exotic' flavor than that.
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When I was a kid, getting little pins and pennants from radio stations in the Eastern Bloc was a thrill. They may have been communists, but they knew marketing. I've been waiting for my QSL card from Radio Pyonggang for 35 years now, though.
 
There are certain forms of geekdom that shall forever be the sole province of guys. Ham radio is one of these. As are model railroading and steam engine enthusiasts. I'm not saying the cause for this is necessarily genetic, but the reality is that 99% of these enthusiasts are of the Y chromosome variety.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to post something on pinterest about my latest crochet and hook latch rug creations.
 
One of our junior folks here at work does the ham radio thing, but for him it's more because he's an equipment guy. My site visits occasionally involve AM radio transmitter sites, some of which have been in place since the 1920s...I like to taunt him with the pictures of the older hardware.

2ijkxfp.jpg
 
Is that a glowing tube? With the decline of AM radio -- and its nonexistence in some countries -- I wonder how hard it would be to get parts for those old transmitters. I would imagine the cost of replacing an old transmitter may be one reason many AM stations are going dark.
 
There ain't no party like a DX party in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In case you were wondering, the receiver is a Tecsun PL 880. Despite multiple attempts using a long wire dropped from the roof of the Hale Koa Hotel, and one attempt from atop Diamond Head, the shortwave signals were few and far between.
2018-09-02 12.39.04.jpg
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One last thought for Dan regarding female hams. I read a quote somewhere recently that went something like this, "If you don't believe humans have been successfully cloned for at least 8 decades, you have obviously never been to a Ham Fest. Even the ear hair is identical."
 
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el Guapo said:
There ain't no party like a DX party in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In case you were wondering, the receiver is a Tecsun PL 880. Despite multiple attempts using a long wire dropped from the roof of the Hale Koa Hotel, and one attempt from atop Diamond Head, the shortwave signals were few and far between.
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I did the same thing for my honeymoon in Kihei on Maui. A little bit after sunset one night, I walked out to the beach with my little Tecsun, and tuned around the 49m, 41m, 31m, and 25m bands. Found a broadcast of a rugby game from New Zealand, a few Mandaran language broadcasts, and WWVH. Not much else. I didn't bother to SWL or AM DX in Alaska.

I took a Grundig Yacht Boy to Iceland with me, because I was curious about that I could receive in a small, remote country with no AM/MW broadcasting. Late at night, with aurora borealis activity and 10 khz spacing, I heard no American or Canadian clear channel AM blowtorches, not even WKBW at 1520. With 9 khz spacing, I barely got one station from Ireland. Northing on longwave, except a station from Morocco I can sometimes get in the northeastern US if the conditions are just right. The FM band sounded no different than what I'd hear in the US, except for the Icelandic language DJs and commercials.

One last thought for Dan regarding female hams. I read a quote somewhere recently that went something like this, "If you don't believe humans have been successfully cloned for at least 8 decades, you have obviously never been to a Ham Fest. Even the ear hair is identical."
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Damn.

rgFyU6I.jpg
 
Dan said:
An amateur QSL card from the real Dear Leader, Kim Jong Un!

View attachment 63729

Also, late last year, I decided to take the exam and get my Technician license again. I passed! I applied for a vanity call, and got it - N2FTW.


Never mind that. Try http://jimlill.com:8075/ 7200 MHz LSB.
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So, you plan to catch up with all the ailments 85 year olds are suffering from?
 
Maister said:
So, you plan to catch up with all the ailments 85 year olds are suffering from?
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I was thinking about creating the WAA award, for :"Worked All Ailments", There'll be a list of 50 ailments common among members of the amateur radio community, When you work a ham and they make the ailment known during the QSO, note the time, frequency, and call sign. (HIPAA doesn't apply, because the afflicted person made their ailment known on the public airwaves.). When you work all the ailments, send the WAA form to the ARRL, and get a nifty certificate suitable for framing;
 
And, for what it's worth, I've had my General license for the past few months, which means I can work the HF/shortwave ham bands now. Unfortunately, I live in a Farady cage of an apartment, but I'll be moving to an apartment with woopd frame construction, where I can put a Wolf River Coil out on the balcony.
 
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