Radio comms

[davelectronic]

Hi every one.
I Thought i would pop in here, as some friends are trying to talk me in to taking the amateur radio foundation course / test over here in the uk.
Ive used CB radios for years, well a few anyway, but the use of them has diminished over the years, i only use them for the occasional over, and keep contact with me mum, as she's just had a knee replacement op.
Any way i was given a pair of scanners, screw driver jockeys had messed them about a bit, not so bad i was able to repair them.

So i listen to the harbor vhf 156.700 MHz, and two amateur repeater stations, GB3SK 70CM RB06 433.1500 434.7500 ANALOGUE JO01MH CANTERBURY TR137599 SE 103.5Hz WWW G6DIK 51.2981,1.064 OPERATIONAL, and,

GB3EK 70CM RU71 430.8875 438.4875 ANALOGUE JO01QJ MARGATE TR370702 SE 103.5Hz WWW G4TKR 51.3813,1.4045 OPERATIONAL.
I listen in all the time to these to stations, i have a new friend up my local maplins store also an amateur, no store discount lol, any way there's a few trying to talk me in to taking the foundation test, i am very interested, it only bad health putting a damper on it, if i can pick up physically a bit i want to do my foundation test.

I did notice a couple of amateurs or radio hams on the forum, i mentioned it to my new good friend up at maplins, i asked about the VK bit of there call sign, so he told me.

I am told by close friends the test poses no real problems, ive looked into our UK examples, keen to give it a go, as at the moment i can listen to our local amateurs and all the inserting stuff they talk about, but as yet can not get involved, thought i would share my latest interest as there are amateurs on the forum, and iam curious if any have made it into 70cm repeater stations above. Dave. PS there is no restrictions on me listening to the above stations in the UK.

 

[davenn]

hey Dave,

good to see you have an intererst in Amateur Radio I have been licenced since 1980. I had a few years on CB prior to that but got sick of the restrictions...
low power, 0 gain antennas, restricted freq's of use, not allowed to modify gear etc etc
I was originally licenced a ZL4TBN - ZL is New Zealand call area, 4 is the southern 1/3 of the South Island of NZ, and the T of the TBN indicated that I was a Technician class operator. 50MHz and up (ie. no HF bands) A technican class meant that on thos VHF,UHF and higher bands I had all the priviliges of the full class operators. But without passing the Morse code test I couldnt go on HF bands 1.6 - 30MHz
11 yrs ago I moved to Australia and got my VK callsign VK2TDN. The T still indicating a Technician class, with all the priviliges as back in NZ (ZL).
A few yeasrs ago, ~ 6, the Morse regulation was dropped, as it has been in many countries and now I can also operate on the HF bands.

Australia also has a Foundation licence and much like the UK one it is an entry level into amateur radio. Restricted power levels and bands etc that are allowed to be used. But its a great start and with the restrictions it encourages those op's to sit their higher licence exams and become a full call once they get some good experience behind them.

any other Q's just ask

cheers
Dave
VK2TDN

 

[davelectronic]

Hi Dave. yes the old cb has alot of restrictions by ofcom in the uk, we also have a fair share abusive idiots, the amateurs have etiquette and the protacal, its more civilised, they are interesting to listen to. The foundation test seems staight forward, iam not sure of the bands i could use, but the power as an M foundation amateur would be 10 watts, there are two other levels as well indermediate and advanced. If my health improves i will do my foundation test, amateur use has great appeal. Dave.

 

[shrtrnd]

I think Amateur Radio is in trouble in the States. Beside hard-core DXers, the appeal was to have auto-patch capability so you could tap into local phone lines from your radio. But that all went away with the advent of cell phones. I trained all my kids, but
they dumped ham radio when cells phones hit the market.
I don't know the UK system, but Hams are generally pretty good eggs. They do it because
they like it, and are reasonably polite as well as skilled.
I heard there's a movement underway to grab some of the US ham freqs, to use the
bands for some of the new communications technology.
If you're in poor health. Amateur Radio is a good way to stay active and meet a lot
of over-the-air friends. You'll like it if you do it.
I'm Extra-Class (since the early 1980's like davenn) in the States.
I wish I had time for more DX work, but it's nice to run 2-meter voice when I'm in the car.

 

[davelectronic]

Hi shrtrnd.
Yes thats a shame the use of the amateur / ham radio bands over there in the states are suffering, mobile phones are life style, or reality in the 21st century, but radio can teach loads from others, ive not taken my foundation course yet, the first part allowing me 10 watts and a wide range of band frequency use. That means i would be a call sign beginning with an (M) above that there are two more levels, intermediate and advanced. in the advanced you have morse code to pass so many words a minute, and you have to build a fully functional transceiver, but not every one goes that far.

My health is not best at the moment, but ive been given a phone number of an amateur who helps people get through the test, my maplins friend said give him a call and sought something out, the numbers in my back pocket, i will call, if only to have a chat about it.

Over here its very much alive, 70cm 4m 6m and other bands, i listen to all the locals on two repeaters, one in margate Kent, and the other in the city of Canterbury Kent. Its very civilized, nice people, on the CB over here is not all that friendly, ive been back on it for the past 7 years or more, mostly keep in contact with me Mum.

As you said about the other bands, SSB USB LSB AM yes a lot of the regulars have moved from CB FM to those other modes, its not legal over here, and CB your only allowed 4 watts, i can do more than 20 miles with that in good conditions, but there is not many out there, i could go in the back door buy a multi mode radio, but i would like to do it properly. After passing my foundation test i would start with a dual bander, say 4 meters and 70cm which is mostly through the two repeater stations, nice to here there are other radio amateurs / Ham's out there, my heads all geared up on radio now, i will probably give the chap me mate told me about a bell, i have had one or two overs on the CB with him in the past, me maplins friend is the second friend to give me his phone number, i think there is a higher power at work so to speak, i will have to give him a ring.

Any way i will be of to bed in a bit fired up on the radio idea. Dave.

 

[KJ6EAD]

Goats on the air. Ham radio fun.
http://www.youtube.com/user/goathiker

 

[shrtrnd]

Most Hams are part-timers who get on the air when they have spare time.
But there are a lot of guys who I find monitoring their most popular frequencies virtually
any time I monitor them.
It's good you've got somebody who'll help you get started. It's a lot easier when
somebody is readily available to answer questions and point you in the right direction.
Only thing I can think of that detracts from the Ham experience, is that when I travel
across country, SOME repeaters are home to cliques of people who will ONLY talk
to one another, and won't even bother responding to new people.
I'm just mentioning this for trivia sake.
When you first start, you may find some other Hams reluctant to converse.
There may be others however that are more than willing to help a new guy.
I just wanted to mention that if you run into a problem just starting-out, calling people
who don't respond. Don't get frustrated. When others hear you on a repeat basis,
they're a lot more willing to converse.
And when you find a repeater you really like and are heard on it often enough, you
can make a lot of worthwhile friends.
Good luck.

 

[davelectronic]

Yes i guessed that kind of closed shop thing amongst regulars happens in some areas bands, is it not like that in real life ? as a youngster back then people had time for each other, now today at the age of nearly 41 people dont seem to have time for each other, i dont know about other parts of the world, but the uk is like it, kind of if your face fits, sad really, ive got three kids, two daughters and a son, whats the future hold for them. Better than my expectations i hope, emphasis on others. Dave.

 

[shrtrnd]

Isn't modern technology great?
When I was a kid, we'd walk down the street and pick-up a couple dozen kids for a
baseball game. I look down the street now, and there's not a kid in sight.
They're either on a computer game, their cell phone, or some other computer or
television system.
Some people here in the States now know their next-door neighbor, but don't know
anything about the people in the 2nd house down. Everybody here is all wrapped-up
in cyber-socializing. Human contact with the people around you is on the decline.