Any Ham Radio Guys here?

[Pbass 0]

I have noticed a lot of musicians on this site just wondering how many Ham Radio Operators are here?

[petelangevin 0]

I let my license lapse,  there was no one on locally and i was not operating hf.   Thought about doing it again but not sure.

[Pbass 0]

2 minutes ago, petelangevin said:

I let my license lapse,  there was no one on locally and i was not operating hf.   Thought about doing it again but not sure.

I can totally understand that happening. We do have a local club here in the small town I live outside of. We have a repeater on the mountain that is tied to 9 other repeaters so with a hand held HT I can talk around 200 miles. Then the repeater has echolink and that ties to repeaters around the world. No HF for me but still fun. I just looked up Repeaters in Somervilles MA and it looks like you would have a lot of options. If you have echo link on your repeaters or instal a node at your house on wifi you could be talking all over. Let me know if you get your license again. We could talk over the echo link. There are even Echolink apps for phones that make your phone operate like a radio but over the internet. 

[petelangevin 0]

I will let you know but my ticket has been expired for a long time.  Would have to take tests again.  Not sure i could pass them again.   

[mikechell 0]

First ... since there's now Skype and other free video chat sites, I don't see HAM radio making a big comeback.  Like a lot of that technology, the people who still do it will be a huge commodity when the apocalypse comes!

Second ... Pbass, you live in northern Idaho.  Ham radio is the only signalling device that reach out farther than smoke signals, right?😉

 

😄

[Pbass 0]

12 minutes ago, mikechell said:

First ... since there's now Skype and other free video chat sites, I don't see HAM radio making a big comeback.  Like a lot of that technology, the people who still do it will be a huge commodity when the apocalypse comes!

Second ... Pbass, you live in northern Idaho.  Ham radio is the only signalling device that reach out farther than smoke signals, right?😉

 

😄

Some truth to that! No Doubt our county has better Ham radio coverage than cell phone. At my house cell phones only work over the internet. If the internet is down or the power is out... No phones at all.  

 

[Jaydub 0]

Licensed since 1976. I haven't been very active for the past few years. I was mostly interested in HF. I need to get an antenna up and dust of the gear. 

[Pbass 0]

1 hour ago, Jaydub said:

Licensed since 1976. I haven't been very active for the past few years. I was mostly interested in HF. I need to get an antenna up and dust of the gear. 

Wow! Thats great! Get back on the air. I am only a Tech  so I am limited but still enjoy Ham. If you have any 2 meeter 70cm repeaters in your area we might be able to connect. Assuming you have a mobile radio in that "Van Down By the River!"

Thanks

[vicrider 0]

NOGYM,  but like some others no longer active. General license and kind of lost interest after my dad and the friends I had on the bands either died or moved, or I moved. Used to always have a 2 meter with me for years but now with cell phones, computer, skype, and other face to face links out there the bands just don't have a pull for me anymore. When I lived on the Air Base Hill in Finland MN I had 2 meter and di-pole and tuner to talk to my dad in WI. He was very active with MARS and other clubs but for me my spare time was for fishing not talking. At the time it was great to have linked towers that had phone patch but then cell phones made that a lot simpler for making calls and I always hated the word "destinated" anyway. 73s to you.

[Pbass 0]

On 8/7/2020 at 6:55 PM, vicrider said:

NOGYM,  but like some others no longer active. General license and kind of lost interest after my dad and the friends I had on the bands either died or moved, or I moved. Used to always have a 2 meter with me for years but now with cell phones, computer, skype, and other face to face links out there the bands just don't have a pull for me anymore. When I lived on the Air Base Hill in Finland MN I had 2 meter and di-pole and tuner to talk to my dad in WI. He was very active with MARS and other clubs but for me my spare time was for fishing not talking. At the time it was great to have linked towers that had phone patch but then cell phones made that a lot simpler for making calls and I always hated the word "destinated" anyway. 73s to you.

I totally understand. Times are changing. 73s to you as well.