Monthly Archives: January 2011

First Contact!

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First night on the radio was Friday 1/14/11.

Made my first radio contact around 8:45pm that night with Adam Melancon KD5QZG using a repeater in New Iberia, 145.410.

Also spent some time scanning for others to listen to and came across 443.800 were I heard many contacts / calls actually between a few guys who appeared to be in Alaska.  They were mostly talking about things in Anchorage I believe, some of their calls were KL7XJ and KL7BM.  Still not entirely sure how the heck I was hearing them so clear, need to get a better understanding of that.

Both the TX and RX that night was done using an ICOM IC-281H with a simple mag mount that was all lent to me by Dr. Swan.  He pulled his old gear out of his attic just so I could play around and learn on.  Can’t say thanks enough for that!

Also, the other bit of awesome news for tonight was that I got my FIRST radio the same night from HamCity via UPS around 6:45pm.  This is the first ham radio I purchased and is a handheld Kenwood  TH-F6A “triband” covering the 144/220/440 mHz spectrum.

I went ahead and did something I probably shouldn’t admit to just yet but I request a new call sign (vanity) call sign, did the application and paid the $13 for it but it takes up to 18 days before you can get it sometimes.  I requested W5DLD, simplest one I could think of and that would have meaning to me.  You use your call sign so much that I don’t understand why more don’t get or at least try to get a simpler one.  My current one can be a bit of a tongue twister I must admit, and hearing some of the ones out there are very hard to make out and copy down quickly.  Anyway, fingers crossed!  Hopefully I will have it by birthday!  :-)

First Ham Radio “Net”

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Participated in my first ham radio “net” last night – 1/17/2011

It was the Acadiana Amateur Radio Association – W5DDL

I managed (wanted) to particpate using the handheld despite having just finished mounting the antenna for the mobile unit earlier that day.  The W5DDL repeater / net is pretty well centered in Lafayette and it was a good test for the handheld I thought.

It was not what I was expecting but in a very good way.  It was much more formal than I expected and I enjoyed that as it was easy to catch on and follow along.  Net control seemed really on top of things, clear, concise and seemed like a pro thats for sure.

The way the “net” went was net control basically did a roll call asking who was participating and listening.  He did so by requesting those with call signs that began with a certain set of letters to checkin.  Funny how this process reminded me of boarding a plane and how they use groups to board now so that not everyone just rushes in.  Could really use this sort of control on many of the phone conference calls we participate in at work.  It’s usually one big free for all mess when taking roll.

After everyone was checked in they went through any notes and news and upcoming events.  Once that was done they basically called off the callsign of each person who checked in and gave them the floor or radio waves for the moment to say anything on his/her mind.  Most were just polite and wished people a safe and happy week ahead and then gave things “back to net control” who then moved on to the next person and so on.

Not the most interesting or enthralling thing by any means but I understand its importance and procedure particularly in times of emergencies and calling upon ham radio for help with communication challenges.

I really enjoyed being a part of it and seeing how it was done and who all is out there lurking on the waves.  Until that night on that repeater I hadn’t heard one peep from that repeater for a few days so I was starting to wonder if I had done something wrong or if I had the incorrect info or if there really wasn’t anyone out there.

First Antenna is Up!

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Put my first ham / amateur radio antenna up yesterday 1/18/2011.

It’s at a height of about 23″, that’s counting the poles and the antenna itself.

Hardest part was driving that darn 8ft copper grounding pole in, yeah I’m an idiot and did it by hand using just a hammer.  Even managed to take a nice little tumble off the ladder when I first got started (again, I’m an idiot) but the good news is I had bushes and tree to break my fall / tumble.  It really wasnt a bad kind of fall, just an idiot clumsy move that made me a little sore is all.

In the end it took about one hour to hammer in that darn grounding rod, stupid hammer and stupid tired old hands and arms.

Pic of the grounding rod and wire from the antenna:

Grounding Rod

It then took me about another hour to get the mast pieces together, attach the antenna and the grounding clamp.  Then ran the 4 gauge bare copper from the grounding clamp that clamped around both the base of the antenna and the mast down the mast of the antenna and zip tied it to the mast down to the bottom.

I then stood up the antenna and positioned it at the base (ground) and used my 250+ lbs of heft to push it into the ground a bit.

View from the top before it was secured to the house:

Antenna From The Roof

Then went up and used some metal straps to secure it to the top of the house.

First Ham Radio Antenna

All in all it went very well for my first time putting up a basic antenna.  I still have lots of questions and concerns regarding the grounding though.  For instance, was it right or wrong to place the grounding clamp around the base of the antenna and the mast and then run the copper grounding wire all the way down the pole with it attached to the pole?  My thought was the more metal surface and components it came into contact with the better.  But maybe I wasted 20+ feet of 4 gauge copper wire by doing so?  Maybe all I need to do was just ground it at the base of the mast to the grounding rod?  I don’t know the answers but these are thing I think about and want to know.

Really helped reception I think which was evident in the clarity of some of the repeaters in the area.  Its already taught me a little both in using the right tool for the right job and got me on the track to learn a little more, particularly about grounding due to its importance both from a safety stand point but also questions on RF grounding and how it impacts or affects things.  Still so much to learn.

Working on Ham Radio Antenna and Grounding

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Currently working on putting a Cushcraft AR-270 antenna right outside of my man cave / office / radio shack.

This is a vertical dual band 2 meter and 70 cm (144-148mHz / 430-450mHz) antenna that is approximately 45″ long with 6.75″ radials.

Here is a small picture of it:

Cushcraft 270

I am going to keep things simple for now, especially since this was donated / loaned to me. I do want to take care of it and protect it but I am more concerned with the radio and gear in the house then I am about the antenna.

I went and got an 8ft copper grounding rod, four 5ft RCA crimped antenna mast pieces and 40ft of various gauges of bare copper. I will drive the grounding rod into the ground tomorrow and then raise and mount the antenna to the side of the house. It won’t be very tall, should just past over the top of the house but it will be better than the little mag mount I’m currently using inside the house on the loaned mobile ICOM IC-281H I’m using.

Here is all the parts I’ll be using:
First Antenna Project

The antenna should be well grounded when I am done and my plan is to simply keep it disconnected from the radio when not in use, with an obvious part of that strategy being not to use it when bad weather is near.

Thats why and what I have my nice little Kenwood TH-F6A for.

So far the new hobby is tons of fun, best part has to simply be all that I am learning about.

Childhood Geek Dream Realized

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Yesterday, Jan. 6th 2011, I passed my Amateur Radio Technician license.  It’s never really been anything I’ve talked about nor had I really shared the fact I was ever interested in ham radio growing up but I was.  Anyone who knows me knows I’m not much of a talker or social-able person.  My interest in it lied purely from the technical aspect.  Despite how little I actually like to communicate with people I absolutely love understanding all the technologies that allow us to communicate and the tech behind it.

One thing that kept me away from ham radio as a kid (despite the obvious, money and access) was that I was always under the impression one needed to be proficient at morse code.  Knowing how deaf I am and how hard it is for me to focus on sounds without being distracted I figured it was not something I could ever master.  Of course around this time computers came along for me and I got sidetracked with other forms of communications focusing on the networking side of things which I luckily was able to turn into a career.

I decided that with the new year upon us I would make it my goal to get my ham radio license and of course get my call sign and finally fulfill a childhood dream.

I have to be honest and say that I have other motives for this as well.  I want to be able to teach and share with my daughter the knowledge that comes from ham radio.  It’s so much more than just having the privileges to speak on a radio with others.  There is a ton of study material which focuses on knowledge of electrical systems and electrical components, radio frequency as well as the natural forces of the earth,  ionosphere and the atmosphere as a whole.  There is so much I want her to have exposure to in order to possibly plant some seed or open her mind to all that is out there.  I believe the more that one (especially a kid) is exposed to, even if they don’t fully understand those things now, there is great potential to open their mind later to things (science and technology) which could one day influence her to pursue an amazing career in some field she finds fascinating that she may otherwise have never imagined.

Now the real fun begins as I get to keep checking the FCC database daily for the next week or so for my name to show up and I FINALLY get my call sign!!!

I also now get to start looking into buying myself a radio, might try to save up and get something for my birthday present since its at the end of the month anyway.

I am also going to start studying for my General license class now.  Going to try knocking it out on Feb. 3rd.