If there happen to be any Western #Oregon or #Portland#HamRadio folks out there, what are some of the most popular VHF/UHF repeaters in the area? Just moved to #PDX and trying to find some traffic to listen to.
I'm already listening to the PARC repeaters and they don't seem to have much traffic.
I feel like I've been cut off from the #HamRadio community since my move because all my shit's been stuck in a warehouse or on a truck. And when I get my gear in a day or two I still won't have any antennas.
Good thing Ham Radio Outlet is just down the road!
It’s time for quarterly #transmitter maintenance at one of my sites today. I always enjoy this one because I get to light up this #VacuumTube powered beauty and put it on the air! Ever since I had that Flexstar exciter repaired, it can even do HD Radio on a tube!
Two members of Congress have reintroduced a bill in the House to remove private land use restrictions that prohibit, restrict, or impair the ability of #amateurradio operators from operating and installing reasonable antennas on property that they own or control. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4006
@thenewoil In light of last week's DHS threat assessment highlighting ongoing threats to the power grid, I still argue it is wise for everyone to consider #radio capabilities, especially #GMRS (because it's cheap and easy) and #AmateurRadio (because it's so much more capable in an infrastructure emergency).
Congress might get sat phones but how will you communicate?
Per them, my minimum safe distance on my QRP rig is... 9 inches.
The only ones in danger are the Grindr guys self-declaring their sizes trying to get spicy on my erected Buddipole. Shrug (Of course, if they're telling the truth no one is in danger. 😉)
Been trying to figure out why radio is appealing to me. The serotonin bump is nice, yeah, but there has to be more to it.
Ultimately, I can't help but feel that it's a different sort of challenge. No routers to contend with, not nearly as much software to futz with, just throw some metal in the air and go. Probably why QRP operations, particularly mobile, interests me too. Somehow, declaring "Maximum firepower!" Just feels like cheating to me.
Besides, it also circles back to electronics, another interest I'm pushing myself back to.
Having a tendency to stress-buy, a hobby that is not cheap in most iterations (looking at you, HF), and a potentially legitimate need for a piece of hardware (depending on who you ask) is kind of an awful combination.
I might be able to afford it, but 'can' and 'should' are two very different things.
After many delays, we finally got a long end-fed half-wave antenna wire up into the Very Tall Tree on the edge of our lot. We used a drone to lift fishing line up and over, and a weight to keep it below the prop blades. Then pulled a paracord line, then the antenna wire up. Secured with bungee and counterweights to allow for wind - fingers crossed 🤞on that. (Zoom in on the second photo to see the wire)
I passed my #Ham Technician Class license exam today.
Although I didn't study for it (because the new General License Manual will be released on the 15th), they encouraged me to take the General class exam, too. Came actually close to passing, I was 2 questions short. But I do want to read the manual anyway, as to not make a fool of myself.
As soon as I have my call sign, I'm looking forward to play around with the transmission mode of my HackRF One.
Ope, I forgot about my instance’s upcoming move between servers, which is now no longer upcoming. However, my post from last night got lost to the void, so I’ll do another one about it now.
This past weekend, I rebuilt my old fan dipole and put it up on a temporary mast. It currently covers 40m, 20m, and 10m. It also does OKish on 15m.
Future plans include getting it raised higher on a permanent mast and adding some loading to the elements to cover the WARC bands. 80m may be a possibility as well, though I may also just do a vertical for that one to get the lower takeoff angle.