Anyone else here a ham radio operator?

[catiii]

Got my tech-plus in 2008 and upgraded to General not long after. They let me take Extra after passing General just for fun and since I'm not an electric engineering major, I epically failed it. They all laffed but said it didn't hurt to give it a go and congratulated me on General!!

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

What does all of that mean? I doubt if I get into being an operator, but just curious. My uncle had a tower outside of his house when I was a kid.

 

[catiii]

What does all of that mean? I doubt if I get into being an operator, but just curious. My uncle had a tower outside of his house when I was a kid.

He was almost certainly a ham then if he had an antenna tower. This will help explain it. http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio/
Famous hams include http://www.dx-qsl.com/famous-ham-radio-operators.html. and https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/Famous_hams
The radios run off DC power which means a car battery will do if your power supply is out because the electricity is out - and a simple wire dipole antenna at the proper height can get you round the world. Used a lot for emergencies and disasters when nothing else is working due to power failures. You can also transmit locally via repeaters on UHF/VHF. My longest HF contact on the 20M band was 15,000km to New Zealand using morse code.
Many hams exchange QSL cards which are personalized postcards from round the world to verify your contact. Fun hobby for kids and especially us oldies who have more time on our hands.
It's used by the military to communicate as well on the battlefield sometimes, though today satellite radios are in wide use.
Ham radio is also used to report to the NWS conditions on the ground in severe weather and for storm/tornado spotting and chasing (Twister).
It was also used in the TV series JERICHO after the bombs dropped and FREQUENCY with Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel and of course the SOS from the TItanic.

 

[catiii]

No idea why it;'s just Walter Concrite.who was also a ham. Google sux.

 

[cowboyec]

i wish i was.
good way to track ufo chatter.
also good way to listen to game officers talking about bigfoots in the area...aka "hobos" in code from what i was told.

 

[nobody]

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

There are several sites to control short-wave receivers and listen to various bands. That's one of them.

 

[Cowpolk]

KTX-1121

 

[Cowpolk]

I built my transmitter receiver and antenna in high school as a project and passed all the tests for my license dont remember what I was licensed for But i could broadcast on am and FM also and was an emergency responder

 

[Corso]

I have a handheld and learning how to use it.

 

[Cowpolk]

I have a handheld and learning how to use it.

I still have an antenna and a modified Cobra 148 That will get me on lots of channels that it was not designed to I also built a 250 watt linear amplifier into it

 

[Corso]

I still have an antenna and a modified Cobra 148 That will get me on lots of channels that it was not designed to I also built a 250 watt linear amplifier into it

I am very interested in learning how to use this stuff.
Only thing interesting I've done with it is listen in on a church convo where the pastor was *****ing about Easter so I interjected and some dude ordering Costco employees around the parking lot like it was a drill, lol.
It took those employees a full 20 before they figured out they were getting pranked.

 

[Hardline]

I never had a ham radio but 10 years ago me and a bunch of friends installed CB radios in our trucks.
I had a whip antenna with a super tuned Galaxy 44 CB hooked up to a 2000 watt liner amp. At night I could talk to people in Jamaica from Ft.worth Texas

 

[OmerV]