Well, I took my first Ham Radio Class on Sunday (010409). Iam taking the class at the Mesa Fire Station that Virgil posted on the board a few weeks ago. We have eight people in the class and the instructor is great. He knows his STUFF!! 8 more sessions to go. I'll let you Know. -- Doug --

Sounds like Larrys class.

Took it a few years ago & got my Tech. Lic.
Also meet Dave (KE7NEG) there too who has recently jumped on our board too :)g)

Good luck with the class!

Awesome. Any other Jeepers in the class? I know 2 guys that are in the General class, but hadn't heard back on the Technician.

Iam the only Jeeper. Iam in the Tech Class on Sundays. The general class is on Friday nights. My plans were to take the tech, see how I like it and move onward to the general class later. So far it's Cool. I guess I will learn in the future, do I buy a portable ham radio or a mounted unit? I have two jeeps and I use them both. The big thing will be the distance the portable can reach out and touch someone. Iam still reading and learning. -- Later -- Doug

P.S. -- Yes it's Larry teaching the class.

I'd get a mobile unit first over a handheld. (Basically for the 50 Watt output.) You can buy extra power leads with the quick connect for approx. $12. I have mine wired into each Jeep with a mag mount antenna, so I can move it back and forth fairly quick. I also bought an AC to DC power supply to run the radio from my living room too.

As with JEEP standing for Just Empty Every Pocket, you'll soon find out HAM stands for Have Alotta Money.

Thanks for the information. I like the idea....

K7AZV wrote:I'd get a mobile unit first over a handheld. (Basically for the 50 Watt output.) You can buy extra power leads with the quick connect for approx. $12. I have mine wired into each Jeep with a mag mount antenna, so I can move it back and forth fairly quick. I also bought an AC to DC power supply to run the radio from my living room too.

As with JEEP standing for Just Empty Every Pocket, you'll soon find out HAM stands for Have Alotta Money.

I agree 100%
I swap my Yeasu between my work truck, Jeep & Durango.
And yeah I opted for the 50watts too :)g)
It DID pay off too --> HERE

Nice clean up job. I was out there in November with another group cleaning up. The Ham radio does work ANYWHERE. Thanks for the Info.. Any Brand I should be looking at or stay away? Doug..

As of now I only have the Yaesu FT 8800 great radio & like the dual band and the 8800 also has some other features such as cross band repeating.

And I DID :'( have a Kenwood 710A and I will have one again along with an AvMap :)g)
Also the guys at HRO are friendly & helpful too!

Thanks for the information guys. Next class is this Sunday. I'll let you know how it goes. Going into the Ohms, Volts, and Amps theory..

Well another week over at the Ham Radio Class and it's getting harder. Now I need to know Tera, Giga, Mega, Kilo, Hecto, ect, ect.. This is reference to the metric units... WHO CARES!!!!!. I just want to push the button and talk. But I must play the game to get my license, so I will PLAY.. Later. Doug

Doug wrote:Well another week over at the Ham Radio Class and it's getting harder. Now I need to know Tera, Giga, Mega, Kilo, Hecto, and ect, ect.. This is reference to the metric units... WHO CARES!!!!!. I just want to push the button and talk. But I must play the game to get my license,so I will PLAY.. Later. Doug

1.21 gigawatts!

LOL!!!! :)g)

I just use the handheld Yaesu VX-6R with 300 milliwatts.

1.21 Gigawatts. Now that's funny.

Well Another week of Ham Radio class. I missed last week, but made it this Sunday. We are up to antennas. Had to learn another formula, and then another. Oh well, Iam in the swing of things now, so it's not bad. I have all my Tera, Giga, Mega, Kilo, Hecto, ect, ect, down. I even have the, where to move the decimal left or right down. Things are good.

I don't think you need to worry about that on the test. I just use Google for conversions. Type in and do a search for "300 milliwatts in watts" or '50 liters in u.s. gallons" etc.

It was good to talk to you this afternoon Doug. Sorry my HT battery died in the middle. I had to run out the Jeep to get "reconnected".

Hey Virgil. Thanks for the contact during class. Things are going good. Iam getting into this and the formulas don't really bother me anymore. Last class is this Sunday and then on March 16, I take the test. I feel pretty good about it. I took all the test in the back of the book and missed nine out of 400, so I think Iam ready. Thanks for you help. I looked at radios today. I do like 7800r for $234.00 and the FT8900-r for $394.00. For starters I think I will do the 7800-R. I didn't see the 8800, but I will check out other outlets.

Later -- Doug

A BIG THANKS goes out to Virgil for posting information on the board. I read his posting the first of the year about ham radio classes, checked it out, and took the class. Last night (Monday) I took the test and passed. Without that posting, I would still be wandering around doing nothing. So fellow readers, keep posting STUFF. You never know who will read it and need the information. Thanks again Virgil.


Thanks for all the posting guys. I should get my call sign next week -- Thanks -- Doug ---- Soon to be KF7-???