Ham Shack Update

I may have been quiet on this blog, but I have not been quiet on the airways.  I am a regular on a local 2meter net as well as a net that I access through Echolink.  I am giving a try to being a net control and learning that.  I am doing well at that and just have to get rid of the nerves.  It is no different that just talking to friends around a table and they let me guide who talks next. For some reason it still seams scary and unnaturally to me but I have a feeling that will go away with time since I am getting more comfortable about it.

I have added a mobile radio that I am using as a base station.  The hand held came first followed by echolink. The three together has made for a nice base of equipment to start from.  From here, I need to figure out what functionality and what bands and what modes I want and need to get the biggest bang out of my ham radio dollars.  Being able to run the radios on and off grid is one important goal for me as well as getting a better antenna.  Being able to work digital sounds interesting but there is some learning to be had to see what is needed to pull that off.  Recording the ham radio adventure and what I have learned in this blog is also a goal that I have not been doing very well.

Ham radio is a huge hobby with a lot of avenues to explore.  Sounds like I just may never be boarded with it as long as I am trying something new.

Another Radio Club

I found out about another radio club at this website Here. I wish I had found this sooner. Really not sure why I did not. Closest thing I figure is that I have been busy and not giving any one project or hobby enough time to get things done. I am really hoping if not to get less busy in the new year, then at least better focused so I can get better results and more done. I have gotten my license which is really, really good but have done little else or at least little else resulting in anything. I got a feeling that once I can get my logjam broken up, then a lot of things will get better including my ham radio activity. Here is hoping.

There' a new ham in town

Another Fort Wayne Hamfest came and went and this time I took the plunge and got my technician license. Fortunately for me, I passed and I get to start transmitting as soon as my call letters come in. I wish I had known they let you take as many levels as you want as long as you keep on passing. My goal was to get my technician license and that is what I got which is good but I could have gone further on the same money. The important thing is that I got my foot into the door and I can aim for the other two levels next year.

There was one thing that made me kinda sad though, I could tell that the economy has really been taking its toll. The number of vendors at the hamfest seamed to be really down from the ones I have been to earlier. I do not know what that means for the further of the hamfest but I am hoping it continues or grows as things hopefully get better. At worst, I hope it just means it goes to a smaller venue and continues on. It takes money and attendance to keep any convention going. Money is tight and I am not seeing that change anytime soon unless it is going to tighten up even more. I would absolutely love to be wrong on this. I just hope things like hamfest do not fall in the mean time. I have enjoyed them in the past and now that I got my initial license there, I am always going to be fond of them.

The biggest help in studying that I had was an app for my android phone called ham study. It is portable so it let me study anywhere and the information I got from it was spot on. I will definitely be using it to go for the general and the extra class ticket.

Speaking of where I want to go next with being a ham, I am hoping to go to next year's hamfest and get the next two upgrades to my license. I am also going to trying to get my equipment so I not only know where it is but also set up and ready to go do whatever projects and abilities that I want. It is definitely going to be a year of research, learning and skill obtaining. I have scanners that I will using to listen with to more than just the police bands. I will setting up Echolink and other computers programs to do the digital side of the hobby with. I will also be trying to learn more electrical stuff so I can be more than just an appliance operator. I do not know how much of a home brewer I will be but to know nothing of the equipment I am using is not my style either.

Before getting my license, I was scared of trying to get my license. Now that I have it, I both excited and scared to start exploring what I can do in the realm of ham radio. Hopefully, I can report back here after I learn a few things. It is a big world out there.

Local Clubs

So far I have found two local ham radio clubs. Only down side is that they are in Fort Wayne/Allen County rather than a bit closer to my location. It is not an outrageous distance away and I was able to hear an on air club meeting. That was cool for me. Between hearing the club meetings and some rag chewing, it is giving me a flavor of the local hams. One of the clubs has a website HERE the other one is HERE. I will be taking my time to pick a ham club. I want to make sure the club is a good fit. I do not want to sound like some hard ass but I have been burnt by civic groups before and without putting blame on anyone, it was a bad fit. I will not claim that either I or the group was 100% clean on it going bad. I just want to make any dealings I do good for everyone. Maybe I am just getting some smarts as I get older.

Fort Wayne Ham Fest

I said I was going to try to have or get my ham license by the Fort Wayne Ham Fest. This year it will be on November 19th and 20th. I might get it before that if I am ready and able to get it at a testing site before then but that is the latest I want to go unless all plans get totally nuked. Considering the time line I have given myself, i should have ample time to get it done. Hopefully, I have not given myself too much time and waste it all. I have a hard result with a hard deadline. Let us get on with it.

Ham Operator in the making

This blog has been dead for a while. I think it is time for a resurrection. The reason being that i finally got myself a 2 meter hand held ham radio. The motivation to get my ham license has gone from wishful thinking to time to get this done by November and the Fort Wayne ham fest. I am hoping to use this blog not only to tell of my trip to becoming a ham but the trip of me being a ham. We shall see how the future will unfold.

Random Post

I have not been posting for a while but hey, life gets in the way. I have som enews from these parts on the rf front. First of all, WAWK, the local daytime only AM station has picked up a FM station so they can go 24/7. I am happy about this since they are an excellent station with local flavor. I just hope they do not go corporate. I am not against comercial radio since they have to pay the bills somehow but I do not care for corporate radio that sounds the same no matter where you go. WAWK may not always be the most polished station but they do handle local information and entertainment and the needs of the community much better than any station that follows some corporate formulam into service for success. I will get off my soapbox for now but there it is.


The other piece of news is that my wife and I have been doing some cleaning around the house. I have found some of my old radios I have not used for a while. I think it is time to press them into service. It remains to see what will come of my use of them. Hopefully, this mean si will be getting into the hobby more and maybe, just maybe I will be posting tp this blog more. Time will tell.