On 10/22/2024 I was issued my Amateur Radio Technician License and started my adventure into the world of ham radio. On December 28th I was issued my General license. Below are a collection of resources for myself.
Links
My Antennas
My Power
My Radio Posts
Skymo Radio Mount
Facebook ads – yeah they work. Last week an advertisement popped up for a radio mount for my truck which caught my attention. It hangs from a cupholder and doesn’t require any drilling or modifications to the vehicle. For the past 8 months I’ve had my radio sitting in a less-than-ideal spot and previous searches…
Keep readingAntenna Move
Two weeks ago I moved my main antenna from my front yard to the first floor roof – above my garage. I was skeptical of how well it was going to work, but tried it anyway, screen and all. The results were positive – that little antenna continued to do great for DX on 10…
Keep readingFixing My Mobile Antenna Wind Noise
A couple of months ago I purchased the Comet SS-680SBNMO UHF/VHF antenna for my truck and paired it with a mounting bracket. It has worked very well except for one major annoyance. Wind noise above 60mph. As soon as I go over 60, the high-pitched whistling gets louder and louder. After 6 hours in the car…
Keep readingHam Radio Reference Binder
I’ve grown tired of being disorganized with respect to getting on the air and having “everything” I want at my fingertips. I’m often grabbing a random pencil and notebook to scribble callsigns and feel like nothing is at hand when I need it. I have some difficulty copying callsigns as I hear them. It’s almost…
Keep readingMagic Carpet and Ice
Since I only started in ham radio recently, and I haven’t gotten a permanent antenna setup yet, I’ve been running with a 10 meter vertical sitting in my front yard on a “magic carpet”, also known as a screen door screen. Fancy, isn’t it? I put it out there quickly before we had a bunch…
Keep readingLaser Engraved Amateur Radio License
It’s it silly how many times the government issues a license or “important” document, one which you’re supposed to carry with you, and it’s just a piece of paper? That’s how these ham radio licenses are. Print-at-home, cut-and-fold, watch die in your wallet. I figured, hey, I have a laser engraver. Why not have a…
Keep readingPencil Case
Having gotten into ham radio, I’ve been assembling a small, portable kit of essentials for getting on the air and making contacts. Because I have a hard time hearing and recalling callsigns, I write down their fragments as I hear them if I am not by a computer for immediate logging. So I need to…
Keep readingNew Callsign: W9EAJ
Upon upgrading my amateur radio license to General last month, I begin looking for a vanity callsign to replace my KE9BPH originally issued when I first got my Technician license. I know I hadn’t been at this radio thing very long, but I was continually fumbling when trying to clearly speak the callsign. Difficult to…
Keep readingHam Radio Observations
It has now been a few months since my first interaction with ham radio. In that time I’ve: passed the Technician and General tests; purchased and learned how to program a pair of handsets; purchased and programmed a mobile UHF/VHF radio for my truck; added an antenna to the truck; and setup and used a…
Keep readingGeneral Upgrade
I passed my test for the Amateur Radio Technician license back in October. It took all of a few hours for me to get curious enough to dive deeper into the subject and start preparing for the General license. Not wanting to just memorize the test bank, I hit Amazon in search of good reference…
Keep readingExplorer QRZ-1 and CHIRP
Last week I took advantage of the New Ham Jumpstart Program offered by QRZ.com and Gigaparts. As I only have a pair of Baofeng UV-21Rs, I thought it would be good to have another inexpensive, but higher quality, radio to compare and constrast with. The Explorer QRZ-1 arrived last Friday. I won’t go into a…
Keep readingHam Radio Nets
This is more for me to look back on in the future (but what isn’t on the blog, right?). I’ve been participating in a couple of the local “nets” put on by the Sangamon Valley Radio Club (http://www.svrc.org) since I got my Technician license last month. One problem I’m constantly having is the 2 meter…
Keep readingHam Radio Technician License
I was issued my amateur radio Technician license and callsign on 10/22/2024. So, hello from KE9BPH! A big shout-out to the remote testing offered by the Tennessee Valley Exam Team (sign up at Hamstudy.org). It operated like a well-oiled machine while being friendly and encouraging. When the time comes to get my General license, I’ll…
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