New to Ham

[KF5BET]

Hey everyone:

My daughter and I just got our Tech licenses. We took a class together through her school science class.

Wanted to get into ham radio for a long time, just never did.

Was cruising around RV.net and ran into a link to this forum.

Great idea and glad to be a part of it. I expect to learn a lot from all of you.

Got a 2 meter radio for the truck, looking for a handheld for DD (told her I would buy her a radio if she passed and she did!) Will have to save pennies (and quarters) for home setup.

Galen KF5BET

My daughter Abbi is KF5BEW

[Radio]

:hello:

Welcome to ORR.net! There's a bunch of interesting and helpful people here on the forum.

Feel free to jump in anytime!

BTW...that's an interesting set of callsigns...did you type them in right?

[Andy N1ORK]

Welcome to the ORR forum Galen and Abbi. Great bunch of people here and a lot of info too. Your calls come up as France, are you from there? Or are these new/special calls for USA?
73
Andy - n1ork

[wa8yxm]

You might wish to look at a Kenwood TH-D7A. Now, I can not really recommend this radio over any other radio out there... But should you upgrade (And even if you do not) the TH-D7A is kind of unique among handhelds in that if you pop a TS-2000 in your rig (or park next to a ham who will authorize you) you can control the TS-2000 using the D7A via Kenwood's "Sky Command" features

I can do limited control of the D7a with my Yesau hand held, but the Kenwood D7A is closer to a true 2-way remote control,,,, Transmit, Receive, change bands or frequencies or even modes all from the hand held, even turn the radio off I think (though ON is not possible)

[One Country Boy]

Good morning Galen,

Welcome to the ORR forum and congratulations to you and your Abbi. How old is Abbi ? My son and nephew studied together one summer a few years back and got their tech tickets. My son was 15 and the nephew 14. Always gives us a boost to have our kids following in our footsteps. It made me think I may have done something right. My son went on to get his General ticket. I urge you and Abbi to do the same. It's a most enjoyable hobby and a great public service when needed. Did a local club promote the science class to do this ? How many new hams did the science class produce ? I'm just full of questions. I think it's great. Amateur radio is not as popular as it once was. I'm told most new hams are in the 50's to 60's, so it nice to have young folks getting involved.

Welcome to the group and just give a call if we can be of assistance. Good bunch here and someone usually has an answer. Most of the time it's correct too. ;)

73,
Jim

PS ~ Happy Memorial Day everyone !!!:flag:

[KF5BET]

Well...I feel like the village idoit. Our call signs are not as stated. Mine is KF5BET and Abbi's is KF5BEW. Where the FT came from I haven't a clue..

We just got our callsigns last thursday..So I hope all of you will forgive me.

I am 41 and Abbi is 12.

We really enjoy camping and now we see a place to enjoy both hobbies.

Anybody know how to change your username, or am I stuck with the idiot name I gave myself.

[aintgotnun]

can do.

I just sent you a PM. Let me know what you want it to be and I can change it for you.

and WELCOME


greg

[KF5BET]

Jim:

Just got home from work, so can answer your questions.

Yes a local ham club did sponsor the class (Acadiana Amateur Radio Association, Inc.) They taught the class at our local Children's Museum where they have a shack set up.

There were 14 students and 2 dads in this last class. There were 6 who passed the Technician test (both dads and 4 students). Most of the students took the class as a required physics project for their 6th grade science class. Abbi had already done her project, but wanted to take this class as well (I just tagged along because I wanted too!)

Hopefully we will get radios fairly soon and then we can really start learning. I downloaded echolink to the computer, but still have to get it all worked out.

Thanks for the welcome to the forum. I might be asking a lot of questions real soon. I do plan on joining the local club here as well.

Galen

[One Country Boy]

Jim:

Just got home from work, so can answer your questions.

Yes a local ham club did sponsor the class (Acadiana Amateur Radio Association, Inc.) They taught the class at our local Children's Museum where they have a shack set up.

There were 14 students and 2 dads in this last class. There were 6 who passed the Technician test (both dads and 4 students). Most of the students took the class as a required physics project for their 6th grade science class. Abbi had already done her project, but wanted to take this class as well (I just tagged along because I wanted too!)

Hopefully we will get radios fairly soon and then we can really start learning. I downloaded echolink to the computer, but still have to get it all worked out.

Thanks for the welcome to the forum. I might be asking a lot of questions real soon. I do plan on joining the local club here as well.

Galen


Galen,

Please do not feel bad about the call sign thing. I had WB4QBW since about 1970. I never liked the call. It was terrible when running CW and giving it out phoenetically was even a pain when using voice. After some consideration I changed my call recently to my current call of W4EWA. A good CW call (in my opinion) and when you drop the 4, it is the nick-name for the small town I live near, Wewahitchka. Wewahitchka is normally called Wewa by the locals because most people cannot pronounce the indian name.:) Anyway, I said all thay to say; At time I'm have a bad time saying my new myself when operating voice. I've screwed it up on several occassions, so don't worry about the confusion on your calls.

I think that is admirable of you and the other father taking the time to go through the course to get your licenses. It says a lot about you. Tell Abbi, if she is interested to create an identity and jump right in here too. I assure you this is a good bunch of guys. I don't think we have any YL's on the forum, she would be the first. We're kinda small but growing. ORR is "Radio's" brainchild and he, Greg and Mike do a great job with the forum. I can't say enough good things about them.

I'm just full of questions Galen. What do you do to bring home the bread up there ? I retired the end of July, 2005 after spending a number of years in law enforcement. I'm in the Florida panhandle, 25 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and 25 miles east of Panama City. Some great places to RV near the beaches here if you get the oppertunity.

Welcome again Galen, we're looking forward to your posts.

73,

Jim

[Radio]

Well...I feel like the village idoit. Our call signs are not as stated. Mine is KF5BET and Abbi's is KF5BEW. Where the FT came from I haven't a clue..


Maybe you were looking at Yaesu radios and something stuck to your brain.

I shall assign you a penance to assuage you of your guilt...check in often, ask good questions and make good posts...and don't worry about it.

:beer:

[jagco]

Welcome to the group Galen and tell Abbi welcome too. There's a great group of folks here and they are very knowledgeable. I have been a ham since 1985, but really do more 2 meter than anything else. My grandfather and father both had interest in ham radio but never got their tickets. I was the first in the family. Anyway ask all the questions you want. If we don't know the answer we can send you in the right direction.

[wa8yxm]

Where did the FT come from.... Well.. When you are sitting at the keyboard have you ever told your fingers to press T H E in that order and seen TEH appear on the screen? I know for a fact I have and in fact one hunk of software I use (or used) the ICON for Spell Check was the letters TEH in that order.

Now that's just one example of the TYPO

There are many others, one common one is wrong hand I mean you plan on hitting The but hit Yhe instead (Same finger position, wrong hand, for a touch typist)

And then there is just flat "I hit the wrong button"

Now,,,, The only thing that saves me from dozens of typos per message is auto-speil clunk

[One Country Boy]

Where did the FT come from.... Well.. When you are sitting at the keyboard have you ever told your fingers to press T H E in that order and seen TEH appear on the screen? I know for a fact I have and in fact one hunk of software I use (or used) the ICON for Spell Check was the letters TEH in that order.

Now that's just one example of the TYPO

There are many others, one common one is wrong hand I mean you plan on hitting The but hit Yhe instead (Same finger position, wrong hand, for a touch typist)

And then there is just flat "I hit the wrong button"

Now,,,, The only thing that saves me from dozens of typos per message is auto-speil clunk

You mean to tell me you hit a wrong button occassionally John ? Hard to believe.:poke:

I thought you were with me, in that group of people that never make mistakes.:whistle:

Maybe some of us just don't admit to them. Hi Hi.... I tell my wife that all the time. If something goes wrong and I can't blame it on her then "Hank did it". Hank is the family Daschund. She often tells me I'm on her nerve. Not plural you understand but "nerve". Like it's her last one. Hi Hi.... We've known each other long enough she knows me.:worthy:

[KF5BET]

Galen,

Please do not feel bad about the call sign thing. I had WB4QBW since about 1970. I never liked the call. It was terrible when running CW and giving it out phoenetically was even a pain when using voice. After some consideration I changed my call recently to my current call of W4EWA. A good CW call (in my opinion) and when you drop the 4, it is the nick-name for the small town I live near, Wewahitchka. Wewahitchka is normally called Wewa by the locals because most people cannot pronounce the indian name.:) Anyway, I said all thay to say; At time I'm have a bad time saying my new myself when operating voice. I've screwed it up on several occassions, so don't worry about the confusion on your calls.

I think that is admirable of you and the other father taking the time to go through the course to get your licenses. It says a lot about you. Tell Abbi, if she is interested to create an identity and jump right in here too. I assure you this is a good bunch of guys. I don't think we have any YL's on the forum, she would be the first. We're kinda small but growing. ORR is "Radio's" brainchild and he, Greg and Mike do a great job with the forum. I can't say enough good things about them.

I'm just full of questions Galen. What do you do to bring home the bread up there ? I retired the end of July, 2005 after spending a number of years in law enforcement. I'm in the Florida panhandle, 25 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and 25 miles east of Panama City. Some great places to RV near the beaches here if you get the oppertunity.

Welcome again Galen, we're looking forward to your posts.

73,

Jim

Jim:

To answer your question...

I am an architect by trade. We mostly do commercial work, specializing in schools (K-12 and university work). We also do government work at the local and state level as well. We also do industrial and retail.

Now on to the fun stuff...camping.

We really enjoy camping. We bought a 1995 21' Nomad 5er about three years ago from a coworker who upgraded. The camper was in new condition even for its age. We have mostly camped at the state parks here in Louisiana as well as in Texas. We have gone to Seaworld in San Antonio and have also gone to Disneyworld in Orlando with it. Even though the camper is small (2 adults and 2 girls), we really have fun spending time together seeing new things.

Last year we went for a long weekend late September to Grayton State Park in Santa Rosa Beach. We really enjoyed the park very much. The park was a little over half full. We had the beach to ourselves. The water was beautiful and the weather was so nice, although the jellyfish were pretty bad. The girls have informed me that we will be doing the beach on a yearly basis. I heard Topsail is pretty nice, but very hard to get into.

Several years ago we stayed at Camping on the Gulf, but I did not like that park as well as Grayton.

OK now for a radio question.

I was given a Kenwood radio model TM-221A 2 meter mobile. The lights for the front display are burned out. I have taken the little lamps out but have no idea what the voltage or wattage is. There is a local electronics store here that carries the lamps, but I need the voltage. Does anyone out there know by chance what the voltage for those lamps would be? I found a service manual on the internet, but I am not sure I want to spend a whole lot of money on it seeing as I don't even know if it works yet (haven't hooked it up yet). Right now it is spread out in a bunch of pieces on the bench.

Any help would be most appreciative.

Thanks in advance,

Galen

[Andy N1ORK]

Galen,
according to the schematic each pilot lamp is on an 8vdc line in series with a 10 ohm resistor to ground. I can send you the service manual (3meg zipped pdf file) if you send me an email to n1ork(at)arrl(dot)net.
73
Andy - n1ork

[One Country Boy]

Jim:

We really enjoy camping. We bought a 1995 21' Nomad 5er about three years ago from a coworker who upgraded. The camper was in new condition even for its age. We have mostly camped at the state parks here in Louisiana as well as in Texas. We have gone to Seaworld in San Antonio and have also gone to Disneyworld in Orlando with it. Even though the camper is small (2 adults and 2 girls), we really have fun spending time together seeing new things.

Last year we went for a long weekend late September to Grayton State Park in Santa Rosa Beach. We really enjoyed the park very much. The park was a little over half full. We had the beach to ourselves. The water was beautiful and the weather was so nice, although the jellyfish were pretty bad. The girls have informed me that we will be doing the beach on a yearly basis. I heard Topsail is pretty nice, but very hard to get into.

Several years ago we stayed at Camping on the Gulf, but I did not like that park as well as Grayton.

OK now for a radio question.

I was given a Kenwood radio model TM-221A 2 meter mobile. The lights for the front display are burned out. I have taken the little lamps out but have no idea what the voltage or wattage is. There is a local electronics store here that carries the lamps, but I need the voltage. Does anyone out there know by chance what the voltage for those lamps would be? I found a service manual on the internet, but I am not sure I want to spend a whole lot of money on it seeing as I don't even know if it works yet (haven't hooked it up yet). Right now it is spread out in a bunch of pieces on the bench.

Any help would be most appreciative.

Thanks in advance,

Galen

We were just over in Destin this past weekend. Not camping but visiting and took the wife for a little shopping. Camping on the Gulf is right in the middle of all the traffic this time of year, located right on US Hwy 98. I checked it out awhile back, seems like it was a little on the expensive side. We were shopping right across the street at Silver Sands Outlet. I'm sure you went to Silver Sands since you are apparently outnumbered by the women in the family. Ha ha...

Topsail is one of the most popular SP's in this part of the state. They had a fire there last week that consumed over 100 acreas. You have to make reservations there pretty far in advance. It was once a privately owned park, later bought by the state. It's the only Florida state park I'm aware of that has full hookup, concrete pads and cable TV.

We've never been to Grayton Beach. My YL mentioned it the other day on our way back. I'm not a lover of Panama City Beach, but there is a nice SP there also. St. Andrews SP is located on St. Andrews Bay and is very nice. It's on Panama City Beach, but in a remote area, away from the crowds and in a wooded area. My nephew was a ranger there for awhile. They run a good clean family oriented park.

If your girls want to come back to the beach, there is St. Joseph SP, located between Panama City and Apalachicola. It is in the county where I live. Located on St. Joseph Peninsula, the GUlf of Mexico is on one side and St. Joseph Bay on the opposite side. Very nice park with the tallest sand dunes in the state of Florida. Most of these parks require some advanced reservations, especially in the summer.

I see Andy has already gotten you an answer on your Kenwood radio. I'm a little partial to Kenwood. That's about all I've ever owned.

I've got some photos of the St. Joseph State Park if you think you may be interested.

[KC1BUD]

Hey everyone:

My daughter and I just got our Tech licenses. We took a class together through her school science class.

Wanted to get into ham radio for a long time, just never did.

Was cruising around RV.net and ran into a link to this forum.

Great idea and glad to be a part of it. I expect to learn a lot from all of you.

Got a 2 meter radio for the truck, looking for a handheld for DD (told her I would buy her a radio if she passed and she did!) Will have to save pennies (and quarters) for home setup.

Galen KF5BET

My daughter Abbi is KF5BEW

Galen,

Welcome to the net, Congrats on the tech with your daughter, none of my kids or family wants to get into ham radio. I just passed the general today 33 out of 35. :bounce: Not to shabby for a couple of weeks on Hamtestonline.com. :whistle:

[KF5BET]

That's great Dan:

I was just looking at ordering the arrl general book this afternoon. Good for you.

I don't think I will have much time this month to do much studying. We are trying to get my mother in laws house ready to sell (she passed away a couple of months ago). We are having to do some general cleanup and some minor repairs so we can put it on the market.

Hopefully I can get back to the hobby soon.

Galen

[One Country Boy]

Galen,

Welcome to the net, Congrats on the tech with your daughter, none of my kids or family wants to get into ham radio. I just passed the general today 33 out of 35. :bounce: Not to shabby for a couple of weeks on Hamtestonline.com. :whistle:


Dan,

That is GREAT. Congratulations to you !!!

I think I saw where you came into the "DX Spotter" yesterday. I stayed connected to it most of the day but was in and out. Sorry I missed you. I'm going to start trying to stay connected to it when around the house, incase any of you guys want to attempt a contact on HF. If I'm not right by the computer I will be marked as "away" or "busy". I keep the computer audio turned up so I can tell if anyone enters. The spotter is a very nice addition to the ORR Forum and wish we used it more.

That is an achievement Dan and proud for you. Thirty-three out of 35 ain't shabby abit by this "Country Boy's" way of thinking. Let me know when you are ready to attempt a contact on HF.

Jim

[One Country Boy]

That's great Dan:

I was just looking at ordering the arrl general book this afternoon. Good for you.

I don't think I will have much time this month to do much studying. We are trying to get my mother in laws house ready to sell (she passed away a couple of months ago). We are having to do some general cleanup and some minor repairs so we can put it on the market.

Hopefully I can get back to the hobby soon.

Galen


Glad to see you are ready to upgrade Galen. You will not regret it. There are some fine links on the internet to assist you in your studies.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your mom-in-law. I don't envy you with the house preperations. My mother passed away about two years ago. We sold her home not long ago. We didn't want to rent it while it was for sale due to problems attempting to show it to prospective buyers and those type issues. They sure deteriorate rapidly if no one resides in them. The housing market here in Florida has been such a mess. It was a 3 bedroom home, very nice with 1.25 acres of chainlinked property and large oak trees. My sister and I finally reduced the price to sell it before we had to put some major work into it. Good luck with it and like I said, I sure don't envy you.

Jim

[KC1BUD]

That's great Dan:

I was just looking at ordering the arrl general book this afternoon. Good for you.

I don't think I will have much time this month to do much studying. We are trying to get my mother in laws house ready to sell (she passed away a couple of months ago). We are having to do some general cleanup and some minor repairs so we can put it on the market.

Hopefully I can get back to the hobby soon.

Galen

Galen,

I do know what you are going through, we moved my F-I-L in with us a couple of years ago, converted a 2 car garage into a nice little apartment for him. My M-I-L died 16 years ago but we had to deal with clearing out her stuff as well as moving my F-I-L out. His house went up in a housing market in a small town that had homes up for sale for years. We priced his reasonably and it was sold in 30 days. I do enjoy his living here and he seems to like it as well.

[KC1BUD]

Jim,

Thanks, I think I even suprised myself with the score. I am already studing for the extra. I have an electronics background(which helped) going back to the early to mid 70s, but haven't worked in it since the mid 80s.

Yes, sorry I missed you in DX spotter yesterday.

Did I ever tell you I have 2 brothers named Jim? It is true, but not as odd as you might think. One is a step brother and one it my full brother. When I tell people that I am from a family of 17 the first question I am asked is; "Catholic?". Too which I respond "Half" this confuses them more, then I explain that "that half is Catholic and this half is Baptist" I end it by saying that it also proves that Catholics and Baptists can get along.

[bikerman]

Thats great both interested in the same hobby, hope to chat with you both down the log.73s

[Radio]

:hello:

And we welcome bikerman to the ORR.net forum!

[donnie]

Welcome to the group and congrads on passing the exam.