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Hello,
This Forum is primarily designed for the discussion of Amateur Radio technology.
We tend to steer clear of political discourse here, as we also do on the Ham bands.
Personally, I have not listened to commercial radio in a long time. I have found it to either be bland and generic, or some form of a carnival act attempting to ‘poke’ its audience in order to get some reaction from them.
I would rather spend my time with an enjoyable QSO (conversation), or a good book.
Vy 73,
Roy AC2GSHello,
This Forum was intended for the discussion of Amateur radio for new Hams, rather than about remote control transmitter-receivers for remotely controlled model planes, but let me give this a try.
By the way, most people here are probably not that familiar with terms like “bec” (battery eliminator circuit), or esc (electronic speed controllers).
It is my understanding that most receivers like the Spektrum AR636 do not use a separate, dedicated power input line, but utilize DC blocking capacitors on their channels, so that direct current power can power the receiver by route of any open available channel on the AR636 receiver package, like its auxiliary input channels.
I hope that this information is of some help to you.
If you have any further questions (hopefully pertaining to Amateur Radio), feel free to post them!
Vy 73,
Roy AC@GSHello Steven!
That’s sort of like asking that you will be taking your DMV test, and what car would we suggest
. It depends upon your budget, your interests, your desirable feature set, durability, user friendliness, etc.
Chinese HTs are so cheap that you can’t go wrong by owning one, even as a “disposable radio”. And Baofengs have the most “bang for the buck”.
If you are familiar with Amazon just search for:
BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio (Black)
and you’ll find a serviceable HT for a mere $24!Is it the best HT that you can get? Nah, but it is certainly a bargain at this price.
It will only operate as an analog radio. If you want to try your hand with digital voice repeaters you would need a more expensive DMR, Fusion, or D-Star HT.
You can, theoretically “field program” it (from the front panel), but most people use something free like CHIRP or something powerful like RT Systems software to program repeaters into it.
You will need a “programming cable” to program it on a computer, and it is probably not a good idea to buy the cheapest programming cable around – they usually use pirated chips and drivers don’t always work the way they should.
You might also want to pick up a well known antenna for the HT, rather than the one that is shipped with it (these options are available on the Amazon page).
A bit of advice – don’t get too comfortable with your Baofeng – it’s a great tricycle, but you might want to upgrade to a ten speed bicycle or a race car one of these days!
Good luck!
Best regards (73),
Roy AC2GSWell, feel free to read some of the original articles, and ask any questions that would like.
We also have a semi-monthly technical Net on the second and fourth Wednesdays at 9 PM on KC2RC at 146.730 MHz.
73(Best Regards),
Roy AC2GSHello Konstantin,
I see that Milen KG2C already answered some of your question, but let me add my two cents worth –
There are approximately 750,000 Hams scattered throughout the United States. Probably more than half of them are not very active. Few of the active ones are that interested in Clubs, unfortunately.
There even smaller clubs scattered throughout the metropolitan area.
This hobby skews towards more “mature” hobbyist, although technical High Schools, like Brooklyn Tech have an active Radio Club. I recall the sense of magic that I saw in radio waves. Young people today seem a bit jaded by all the high tech that they’ve inherited – their loss.
We have a monthly meeting – the most recent one was just this past Wednesday. We have our meetings on the first Wednesday of every month, in the Methodist Hospital (The Carrington Conference Room on the first floor, between the Gift Shop and the Cafeteria). Everyone is welcome to come, member or non-member, Ham or unlicensed interested party. We arrange an informal technical question and answer session from 7 PM to 8 PM. The General Meeting commences at 8 PM and runs until 9-10PM. We sponsor numerous Nets on the radio. Our Club Repeater KC2RC operates on 146.730 MHz 2 Meter FM, but we stream the audio on the internet at http://stream.KC2RC.com. We have weekly Nets at 9 PM on Tuesdays (club check-in Net), and Thursday (Yaesu’s Digital Fusion technology Net) as well as a Quest and Answer Technical Net on the second and fourth Wednesdays. Every Sunday we have a Net on the 10 Meter band at 28.380 MHz upper sideband, that is streamed at http://live.KC2RC.com.
Toward the end of June Hams have a big annual event called Field Day. We will have stations up and operating over the weekend and you are free to visit at any time that you wish. Keep checking our Club website for all the specifics as they develop. Some of our present members got their first opportunities on some bands during a Field Day event!
Don’t worry about not knowing “enough” – we ALL started out not knowing much about this hobby. The fun thing is learning and practicing what we’ve learned, and we are all here to help out newcomers.
If you ask three different Hams for the best way to study for a license you’ll get a dozen different methods.
Personally, I think that you shouldn’t try to earn a home correspondence Electrical Engineering degree. Just focus on passing the test.
ALL the questions are available as a public pool. There are books, for those that prefer books from the ARRL and from Gordon West. There are MANY websites, both free and commercial that offer drilling through the public question pool. I, personally. like the AA9PW.com exams, but if that doesn’t suit you, just “Google” a few more. I wouldn’t pay for the commercial sites, they don’t seem to offer that much more than the free sites (IMHO).
I just ran through the questions and the answers again and again and again…
To a degree I took my exams as soon as I could to just stop continually doing that.
If something piques your interest, you can always look it up, but first things first, pass the exam. Plenty of time to learn all the fun stuff afterward!
I think that text based study would go much faster than 400 videos.
The ARRL has a very nice website (www.ARRL.org) that offers a list of some of the local exam sessions offered. Our Club sponsors a Volunteer Exam Session every two months – our most recetn one was this past Sunday – two guys got their Tech license and another upgraded from his General license to an Extra license.
Our next one will be July 22, across the street from Methodist Hospital, Wesley House 501 Sixth Street, Room 6B at 1 PM, but if that isn’t convenient you can find others in the area.
You should let Milen KG2C know a few weeks earlier than the exam if you intend to come, informally.
My first “radio” when I got into this hobby was my iPhone – I talked to a fellow in Romania on an EchoLink connection.
It is difficult or possibly impossible to tell someone you don’t know “what is the best radio” for them – it would be like answering what the best shoe might be for me
. I think that you can’t go wrong with a very inexpensive Baofeng Handy-Talkie. They go for $30-$60 (my Japanese HT’s leather accessory covering cost more than that!). It is ridiculously cheap and almost disposable but will let you list to all the FM repeaters on the 2 Meter and 70 cm bands, and once you get your Tech license you can press down on that “push to talk” button and join in!
Later on, you can consider what path you might wish to follow – this hobby has many different tributaries and what would be the perfect radio for one hobbyist might we a waste of money to another.
That is where knowing other Hams and having a means to discuss these things can be very useful!
We are here to offer guidance, based on our own experiences and the knowledge that we have accrued.
Take a look around the website, especially “Roy’s Place” you might find some articles of interest.
…And remember to have fun!
Best regards (“73”),
Roy AC2GS
Historically, there are four “classes” of call signs available, depending upon your license level. Higher license levels may choose “lower” class level call signs, but not vice versa:
Group A — Amateur Extra Class
Contains all K, N and W 1×2, most 2×1 and most “AA-AK” prefixed 2×2 call signsGroup B — Advanced Class
Contains most K, N, and W prefixed 2×2 call signsGroup C — Technician, Tech Plus. & General Class
Contains all N 1×3 call signs. Unassigned W and K prefixed 1×3 call signs are not issued under the sequential call sign system, but are available under the Vanity call sign systemGroup D — Novice Class
Contains most K and W prefixed 2×3 call signs. The letter X may not be the first digit of the suffix. No provision has been made for the issuance of AA-AL and NA-NZ prefixed 2×3 call signs and these call signs are not issued to anyone.So, the short answer is, yes, you can request a call sign that begins with a “W”.
73,
Roy AC2GSHistorically, there are four “classes” of call signs available, depending upon your license level. Higher license levels may choose “lower” class level call signs, but not vice versa:
Group A — Amateur Extra Class
Contains all K, N and W 1×2, most 2×1 and most “AA-AK” prefixed 2×2 call signsGroup B — Advanced Class
Contains most K, N, and W prefixed 2×2 call signsGroup C — Technician, Tech Plus. & General Class
Contains all N 1×3 call signs. Unassigned W and K prefixed 1×3 call signs are not issued under the sequential call sign system, but are available under the Vanity call sign systemGroup D — Novice Class
Contains most K and W prefixed 2×3 call signs. The letter X may not be the first digit of the suffix. No provision has been made for the issuance of AA-AL and NA-NZ prefixed 2×3 call signs and these call signs are not issued to anyone.So, the short answer is, yes, you can request a call sign that begins with a “W”.
73,
Roy AC2GS
